Liang Chʻi-chʻao and modern Chinese liberalism

"Among the intellectual leaders of China in the early part of this century, Liang Ch̕ i-ch̕ ao stands out as the most eloquent and influential spokesman for the liberal program. In this original study, Philip Huang examines Liang's political ideas and their origins and discusses the intellectual tensions and challenges Liang encountered in political action. Liang's liberal ideas about the nature of man and the needs of modern China represented a fusion of selected Confucian, Meiji Japanese, and Western ideas. At the heart of his liberal program was the concept of the 'new citizen,' a combination of the Confucian stress on morality, his own concern with liberty of thought, and the Meiji conviction that an awakened citizenry would generate the energy for both liberal democracy and national power. Any program of change, Liang felt, must begin with the modernization of the attitudes and values of the people. But Liang learned painfully that the exigencies of national survival required strengthening the existing government to prevent revolutionary destruction. Caught between his belief in individual liberty and his sense of the need for a strong state, Liang followed the Confucian precepts of compromise and moderation and cooperated with the military. Still Liang persisted in his hope that education would create the 'new citizenry,' one that would translate his ideals into reality. Although Liang's liberal program failed, the conviction that China's modernization must begin with a transformation of the attitudes and values of the people remained to shape Chinese thought." -- Cover jacket.