Research On Gao Yihan’s Thought Of Political Reform(1914-1927)

Revolution and reform are the two major approaches of changes of Modern China.Although the Republic of China(ROC)achieved a political revolution,the disorder of republican politics prompted Chinese intellectuals to continue thinking about the path of China’s development.Gao Yihan was one of the intellectuals.Gao analyzed politics in articles with reform as the means from 1914 to 1927.Reform was the backbone of his ideas of political and social changes.Gao Yihan’s thought of political reform was not water without a source.The traditional education Gao received may have implanted a moderate cultural heritage in him,while the western education at the New School enabled him to know the West,and the education experience in Japan laid the foundation of his doctrine and the possible orientation of his approach to reform.Gao’s close association with Zhang Shizhao(章士钊),Li Dazhao(李大钊),Chen Duxiu(陈独秀),Hu Shi(胡适)exposed him to compromised,radical and reformist ideological tendencies,which contributed to his progressive revolutionary thought.The theoretical roots of Gao’s advocacy of reform were his adherence to liberalism and its basic principles.Also,his incorporation of traditional Chinese thought and culture,Marxism and evolutionism led him to focus on the so-called Chineseness(中国性),economic basis and sustainability of political reform respectively.The reformist trend of the late-Qing had a possible way of influencing the mind of Gao unconsciously,and the failure of republican politics in the early-ROC prompted him to ponder the issue of improving and even reinventing republican politics.In response to the social and political crisis of the time,Gao Yihan chose "The CulturalIntellectualistic Approach".Gao focused on the national character reform and put the emphasis on the issue of "ideological revolution",which contained the ideas to achieve the goal,including of consolidating the republic,moral reformation,individual liberation,theoretical renewal,and innovative education.And Gao knew that reform must have a nucleus power.The way of selecting the subjects of warlords,young students and the academic-business community showed his elitism tendency,which became obvious around the period of the NationalistCommunist collaboration.Elitism was related to Gao’s consideration of the political situation,the theoretical setting of liberalism and the effectiveness of practice.Considering the general public,Gao turned his attention to the field of "rights" and tried to promote political reform from the perspective of civil rights.The constitution,exercise mode and guarantee condition of civil rights point to the requirement of system construction,that is,institutionalized expression.Gao made choices above in the context of his political ideal of "constitutional democracy".Gao Yihan’s efforts to find the way out of China’s political development were also reflected in his diagnosis and reforms of five specific political issues.Firstly,Gao’s political compromise,with the reformational implications of changing the extreme atmosphere of political culture and balancing political power,pointing to the practical preconception of the National Assembly as the compromise centre and the representative system as the operative system.Secondly,Gao proposed a reformational strategy to safeguard the power of the National Assembly in view of that the parliament’s power had been usurped and corrupted,the unreasonable system of the House of Representatives,the frequent corruption of elections and the poor legal system.Thirdly,in facing of the disorderly change of cabinet,the fragmentation of the central government and the corruption of politics,Gao responded with "Good Men’s Government",which consisting of "good man" as officials in the government,the implementation of three basic principles and the solution of six specific problems.Fourthly,under the theoretical basis of decentralization and interaction,Gao’s provincial system reform was benchmarked against the "federal system",which advocated the establishment of a twofold government,the division of power between the central government and the provinces,the constitutionalisation of the provincial system,and the election of provincial governors by people.Fifthly,Gao advocated the party remolding in terms of its doctrine,class base and organisation based on the idea of "party governance".As well as the implementation of"governing the country by the Party" through "one party-multi faction",which had a tendency of centralize power.Gao Yihan’s thought on political reform was characterized by wandering between the conservative and radical,academic and political intertwined deeply,balance temporary and long-term responses.Meanwhile,the idealistic proposition represented by "constitutionprosperity" view and the proposition of instrumentalization with "effectiveness first" were intrinsic limitations of Gao’s thought.However,his theories on reform were attempts to save and strengthen the country,which also leaded the youth in the process of history.Today,it is an inspiration to us that reform should be guided by the national conditions.Also,we should continue to keep reforming deeply.