Early Reformation Thought And The 1898 Reform Movement

Early reform thought which was formed before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and characterized with the reform thought of early Bourgeoisie, was the trend of the time and reflected different kinds of request of the rising national Bourgeoisie. The typical people were the intellectuals detached from the period of Westernization movement, who wrote and formed their own theory proposing to make political reform to make the country more powerful, advocating to imitate the capitalist industries in western world and advising to carry out the regime which advocated that monarch should share the power with people by combining their own experience with the lesson of Westernization movement. They loudly declared the new wester educational theory. The development of early reform thought was indispensable link in the process of Chinese modernization.By analysis, it's found that through a long term publicity of the thought of political reform, the early reformers advanced the national bourgeoisie and expanded its public consensus as well as building up strength for the rise of the 1898 Reform Movement. Although their ideological system didn't take shape, the early reformers'thought make a strong foundation for Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. So we can make a conclusion that early reformers were the forerunner of reformer. It is the early reformers that Kang and Liang absorbed the experience from and advanced a comprehensive ideological system. Finally they lead others to launch the political reform movement. All in all, early reform thought played a active role in the political reform movement.