The grudge between Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao
The evolution of the relationship between Kang and Liang is intriguing. It should be said that both Kang and Liang were pioneers in modern Chinese history who sought truth from the West, and both made their own contributions to transforming China from a feudal system to a capitalist system. However, in the face of historical turning points and major changes, one is stubborn and conservative, refusing to accept new things and changes; the other is good at absorbing, changing with the times, and trying to break away from the shackles of traditional things and culture. The differences and even the final split between teachers and students are Of course.
Kang Youwei was Liang Qichao’s academic and political mentor. Both of them are famous figures in modern Chinese history. Their grievances and resentments are closely related to the development process of modern history.
One Sing and One Harmony Kang Youwei was born in a feudal bureaucratic landlord family who studied Neo-Confucianism for generations. He was smart since he was a child, but he had little interest in the imperial examinations. In 1879, 22-year-old Kang Youwei gained some sensory understanding of Western civilization after traveling to Hong Kong, which had been occupied by British colonists for nearly 40 years. He felt that the British "governed the country with laws" and were not like the so-called "barbarians" in ancient times. "That's uneducated. As a result, he began to delve into Western scientific knowledge and gradually grew into one of the pioneers in the academic and ideological circles at that time. According to the relevant regulations of the Qing Dynasty, ordinary people could not write directly to the emperor. Kang Youwei didn't care about this. In 1888, as a common man, Kang Youwei wrote to the emperor for the first time, analyzing the domestic and international situation at that time, and proposed a reform plan to reform the law, communicate with the people, and guard against villains. Although Emperor Guangxu did not see this letter, Kang Youwei won widespread attention from ordinary people, and people began to pay attention to him. In the spring of 1890, on the recommendation of his classmate Chen Qianqiu, 18-year-old Liang Qichao came to visit the 33-year-old Kang Youwei. At this time, Liang Qichao had just passed the eighth place in the Guangdong Provincial Examination and could be said to be a promising young man. Although Kang Youwei was older, due to the failure of the imperial examination, he was just a supervisor at this time. In terms of "academic qualifications" One level lower than Liang Qichao. According to the imperial examination custom at that time, Liang Qichao passed the examination first and should be Kang Youwei's "predecessor", so Liang Qichao was naturally somewhat complacent. After the two met, they chatted for several hours. When Liang Qichao later recalled this past event, he said that Kang Youwei used "the sound of the ocean's tide as a lion's roar" (a word used by Buddhism to describe the Buddha's sermon). At a loss, what I learned before was just a stepping stone to prepare for the imperial examination, not knowledge at all. After some thought, he decided to become his disciple, Kang Youwei, the supervisor.
This unprecedented and unprecedented move naturally expanded Kang Youwei's influence. As a result, many outstanding young people came one after another. Kang Youwei set up Wanmu Thatched Cottage in Changxing where he gathered his disciples to give lectures. From Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao learned some basic methods of learning, which laid a solid foundation for his future academic activities. "All the learning in his life was achieved in this year." From then on, under Kang Youwei's guidance, Liang Qichao gradually grew into Kang Youwei. 's right-hand man.
Liang Qichao’s apprenticeship with Kang Youwei was not only the beginning of his political career, but also the starting point for him to enter the palace of learning. He once said: "There is really not a single word of Qichao's learning that did not come from Nanhai." However, at this time, the two junior students still had some ideological differences, but these differences were not too big, but they were also important. Sowing the seeds of future grudges.
Ruo Chu Two Starting from June 11, 1898, with the support of reformists such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, Emperor Guangxu promulgated a series of reform policies. However, due to the opposition of Empress Dowager Cixi, the reform movement failed on September 21, lasting only 103 days! Because 1898 was the Year of Wuxu in the old calendar, this reform was also called the "Wuxu Reform". After the failure of the "1898 Reform", Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao fled to Japan. Kang Youwei held the so-called "Edict" sewn into his clothes, claiming to be Emperor Guangxu, and continued to promote his idea of ??protecting the emperor and protecting religion.
At first, Liang Qichao just followed his teacher's orders as before, but gradually, as he read a lot of Western bourgeois writings, his political views changed significantly, and he was "just like two people" from before.
The most important change is that he accepted bourgeois free thought, and especially agreed with the famous saying of John Mill, the British thinker known as "the last man who knows everything": "The evolution of the crowd, Don't compromise on freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press." He wrote a series of articles under the title "Freedom Letter" to promote bourgeois ideas of freedom, equality, and fraternity. He believes that the French Enlightenment thinker Rousseau's "On the Civil Covenant" is a good cure for China's chronic diseases. He believes that if China can adopt his ideas, a prosperous age of great harmony will surely emerge.
Under the influence of Western bourgeois ideas, Liang Qichao’s political views also shifted from royalism to revolution. During this period, he began to have close contacts with revolutionaries such as Sun Yat-sen and Chen Shaobai, sometimes even in the middle of the night. There was also a long discussion, and the result was a plan to jointly form a party. "It is planned to elect (Sun) Yat-sen as president, and Liang (Qichao) as deputy." Liang Qichao even summoned other classmates and jointly sent a letter to Kang Youwei, urging him to retire, "rest in Linquan, and entertain himself in his later years." After Kang Youwei learned about Liang Qichao's revolutionary thoughts, he was very angry. He immediately ordered him to leave Japan and go to Honolulu to handle the affairs of the Royal Society, and reprimanded him for his mistakes in advocating revolution. Since Liang Qichao had developed respect and fear for Kang Youwei over the years, he had no choice but to promise to repent on the surface, but in fact he did not give up his faith in the revolution.
On the issue of respecting Confucius and protecting religion, Liang Qichao also began to intentionally break away from Kang Youwei's shackles. In his early years, Liang Qichao, under the influence of Kang Youwei, often talked about respecting Confucius and protecting religion. After his good friends Huang Zunxian and Yan Fu respectively explained to him the truth that "religion cannot be protected", he began to change his thinking. In 1902, based on the idea of ??"I love Confucius, I especially love the truth; I love my ancestors, I especially love the country; I love my old friends, and I especially love freedom", Liang Qichao published an article publicly, arguing that religion does not need to be protected, nor can it be protected. From now on, he only worked hard to protect the country. He changed from "the heroic general who protects the religious party" to "the enemy who protects the religious party" and was severely criticized by Kang Youwei.
On October 10, 1911, the Wuchang Uprising broke out.
What kind of political system should China implement? Is it a peaceful system or a constitutional system? People at that time expressed their own views from different political standpoints. At this time, Liang Qichao, like Kang Youwei, insisted that China should implement "harmony with a false monarch". However, soon, with the development of the revolution, Liang Qichao changed his opinion to "reform with Yuan Weixuan and force the Manchus to surrender to the Han Dynasty." However, Kang Youwei was still stubborn and unwilling to advance with the times, and the contradiction between Kang and Liang became more and more serious. In his letter to Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao said that in the past few months, when discussing current affairs with you, there were always conflicts and it was difficult to understand what you meant. In the end, he could only agree on the surface. After returning home, he had a headache. "In general, when discussing things with the teacher, no one can explain what he said... The teacher has always had no problems, big or small, and his actions have always been wrong, and the disciples can't be sincerely convinced, no matter what." However, during this period, Although Liang Qichao was dissatisfied with Kang Youwei, the conflict was not made public and was only known to a small extent. Afterwards, due to their different political views on Japan and the imperial system, a great conflict occurred between the two. Liang Qichao even published an article publicly to refute his teacher Kang Youwei, and the relationship between the two seriously deteriorated.
Public debate On New Year's Day, 1912, the Republic of China was established. Kang Youwei was "saddened" and couldn't stand the many problems that arose after the founding of the Republic of China. In order to restore feudal education and ethics, he continued to advocate the old tune of respecting Confucius and Confucianism, regarding Confucius as the quintessence and soul of the country, moving around, organizing the Confucian Church, and even worshiping Confucius as the godfather. With the support of President Yuan Shikai, there was an uproar throughout the country to respect Confucius and read the Bible. Yuan Shikai supported Kang Youwei in honoring Confucius and reading scriptures in order to serve him in restoring the monarchy. However, Kang Youwei believed that only Puyi could be emperor. Therefore, as early as March 1914, Kang Youwei secretly planned with Zhang Xun to restore the Qing Dynasty. When Yuan Shikai restored the monarchy, he not only did not let Puyi become emperor, but also openly called himself Emperor Hongxian. Of course, Kang Youwei could not tolerate it, so he resolutely participated in the war to protect the country against Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Shikai's dream of being an emperor lasted only 83 days, and he died amidst the shouts and curses across the country. Kang Youwei did not learn from Yuan Shikai's failed restoration. On the contrary, he accelerated the pace of restoring Puyi. In July 1917, he teamed up with Zhang Xun, who commanded the Braid Army, to take advantage of the feud between then Prime Minister Duan Qirui and President Li Yuanhong to ask Puyi to re-enthrone as emperor, which was known as Zhang Xun's Restoration in history. Due to his meritorious service in the restoration, Kang Youwei was appointed as the vice president of Bideyuan and wore a turban on his head. Unexpectedly, 12 days later, the restoration failed and he was listed on the wanted list. Kang Youwei had to hide in foreign embassies and concessions to write poems and paintings. It was not until 1918, after receiving an amnesty from the Beiyang government, that he dared to leave the concessions.
Contrary to Kang Youwei's active restoration, Liang Qichao resolutely safeguarded democracy and peace. After Yuan Shikai stole the presidency, Liang Qichao organized the Progressive Party. On the one hand, he wanted to compete with the Kuomintang, and on the other hand, he wanted to supervise and guide Yuan Shikai on the path of party politics. After Yuan Shikai became the president, he felt that it was not enough and wanted to taste what it was like to be an emperor. After realizing the master's will, a group of shameless literati immediately organized a preparatory meeting to discuss the issue of state affairs and cheer for Yuan Shikai's restoration of the monarchy. In response to this countercurrent of restoration in society, Liang Qichao wrote "The So-Called Persons with National System Problems" with his hearty writing style. After Yuan Shikai learned the news, he immediately sent someone with a banknote of 200,000 yuan to persuade him not to publish this article. Liang Qichao refused to be tempted and resolutely published it.
At the same time, he also joined forces with Cai E and others to organize the National Defense Army to attack Yuan Shikai with force.
On December 25, 1915, Yunnan officially declared independence, kicking off the war to protect the country. Many of the communications published before and after were drafted in advance by Liang Qichao. In order to promote the independence of Guangxi warlord Lu Rongting, Liang Qichao went to Guangxi alone. After going through many hardships, he finally forced Lu Rongting to declare independence on March 15, 1916. All important messages were drafted by Liang Qichao. With the support of the people across the country, the war to protect the country was quickly won.
Unlike his teacher Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao not only opposed Yuan Shikai's proclaimed emperor, but also opposed any form of restoration. He firmly believed that the world trend was unstoppable and that no restoration conspiracy could succeed. When Kang Youwei published "Those who prepare policies for national stability" in "Shanghai Weekly" and openly advocated the restoration of the Qing emperor, Liang Qichao immediately published "On Restoration", pointing the finger directly at Kang Youwei, clearly stating that the essence of this article was "Dang Yuan "On", "Additional Theory", "Chou'an New School". As soon as Zhang Xun's restoration occurred, Liang Qichao immediately followed Duan Qirui and swore to Machang to participate in the armed crusade. He not only drafted a declaration of revolt on behalf of Duan Qirui, but also issued a personal statement against the power supply, denounced his teacher as "a shameless scholar who knows nothing about the political situation." It is said that after the telegraph was written, some people were worried that it would destroy the friendship between teachers and students, but Liang Qichao replied confidently: "Junior brothers are junior fellow students, and their political opinions may be different. I cannot become a sinner of the country with my teacher."
After the failure of Zhang Xun's restoration, Kang Youwei not only did not reflect on his faults, but instead vented his grievances on Liang Qichao, cursing him as "Liang Qichao, the thief", likening him to an owl that eats his parents, and doing The poem denounced: "The owl eats the mother, the deer eats the father, and the tiger dances in the sky to guard the pass. Peng Meng bends his bow to shoot at Yi, and sits and watches the sunset with tears in his eyes." (Peng Meng once learned archery skills from Hou Yi, but later he was killed. After the death of Yi.) Kang Youwei expressed his anger towards his disciple Liang Qichao through this poem.
Appearances are in harmony but minds are apart. After Kang and Liang publicly quarreled and turned against each other, Liu Haisu and others actively mediated, and the relationship between the two eased. In 1922, Kang Youwei's first wife passed away in Shanghai. Liang Qichao went to pay his respects in person, but this was just to maintain the friendship between his junior disciples. In 1927, Kang Youwei's 70th birthday, Kangmen disciples gathered in Shanghai to celebrate his birthday. Although Liang Qichao was in the future because of something else, he asked someone to send him birthday couplets and longevity inscriptions. In the birthday couplet, Liang Qichao secretly compared Kang Youwei to Confucius, which was very popular with Kang Youwei, who regarded himself as a "sage". In the longevity article, Liang Qichao fondly recalled his early experience of studying at Wanmu Thatched Cottage and the sincere emotions between his juniors and disciples. He thanked his teacher for his teachings and spoke highly of Kang Youwei's influence at that time and in the future.
The festive atmosphere of birthday celebrations has not yet dissipated. On March 31, Kang Youwei passed away in Qingdao. Liang Qichao was very sad after hearing the news. Seeing that he was in such a pitiable depression after his death, he quickly wired a few hundred yuan as a gift. On April 17, Liang Qichao teamed up with Kangmen disciples to hold a memorial ceremony for Linggong in Beijing and read a eulogy with tears. In this affectionate eulogy, Liang Qichao affirmed Kang Youwei's early historical contributions, but also tactfully criticized his mistakes in restoring the monarchy.
In his later years, the relationship between Kang Youwei and his disciple Liang Qichao had eased, but the seemingly sincere teacher-student friendship could not conceal the differences in their political stances. In his later years, Kang Youwei still did not learn from the failure of Puyi's restoration and continued to advocate the restoration of Confucius. On October 23, 1924, Puyi was driven out of the Forbidden City by Feng Yuxiang. Kang Youwei criticized: "How can we establish a country by searching the palace with troops?" Regardless of his age and frailty, he rushed from Shanghai to Zhangyuan, Puyi's residence in Tianjin, "to see the Holy Spirit." bow". On Puyi's birthday, Kang Youwei went to Zhangyuan again to celebrate his birthday. The day before Kang Youwei's 70th birthday, Puyi sent someone a plaque of "Yue Zhi Yuan Qing" and a jade handle to express his congratulations. Kang Youwei was so flattered that he "immediately set up an incense table, looked north and knelt to thank God."
As for the booming revolutionary movement at that time, he called it a riot and "Russianization". Even before his death, he called the reactionary warlord Zhang Zongchang, asking him to preemptively use heavy troops to fight against the revolution. The Northern Expeditionary Army has approached Shanghai.
Compared with Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao opposed restoration and retrogression, safeguarded national peace, and pursued constitutionalism. He believed that history was constantly progressing and that the feudal monarchy could never reappear in China. Since the Qing emperor After abdicating the throne, "I dare say that the signboard of the Republic of China that has been hung up will never be taken off for thousands of years from now on, no matter how sage you are like Yao and Shun, as violent as Qin Shihuang and Ming Taizu, or as violent as Cao Cao and Sima Yi He is so cunning, and if he wants to be the emperor of China, no one will ever agree." Although there were still all kinds of darkness in the Republic of China and it was not the true Republic of China, it was still better than the feudal monarchy. He firmly believed that the social trend was vast and inexhaustible, and that the Republic of China was more progressive than feudalism. This view was much more progressive than Kang Youwei's theory of restoration.
What is the reason for the grievances between Kang and Liang?
Liang Qichao once looked for reasons from his thoughts, personality and way of thinking, and believed that Kang Youwei "everything is purely subjective, he has strong self-confidence and perseverance. He may despise objective facts, or may Those who want to be strong must obey me." It should be said that Liang Qichao's analysis has some truth.
Reference: "People's Daily Online"