At the end of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century,Chinese intellectuals had witnessed the great disparity of strength between China and the western countries.Then,they realized that the situation of poverty and weakness in China need to be changed by modernizing the political concepts and systems.Liang Qichao,whose political conception has a great effect on the process of China’s modernization,is one of the intellectuals at that time.With the help of Liang Qichao,Western modern thoughts spread widely in China,which awakened Chinese people from the dream of “Celestial Empire” and provided ideological guidance for numerous patriots.The main objective of this paper is to investigate Liang Qichao’s national concepts.According to the important historical events and the key time nodes that had an influence on Liang Qichao’s thought,the paper is organized as follows.Firstly,the concept of modern country began to germinate in his mind after “The Reform Movement of 1898” and before his trip to America in 1903.During this period,he focused on the issues of “nationality” and “civil rights”.Secondly,the cultivation and formulation of Liang Qichao’s concept is accelerated after his trip to America in 1903 and before his trip to Europe in 1918.He made many assumptions and attempts on the choice of political system,and tried to put his national concepts into practice.Lastly,Liang Qichao has a new understanding of the world after the tour to Europe in 1918.A new concept of “cosmopolitanism” became the part of his national concept.Liang Qichao’s national concept is generated under the circumstance of specific background and historical conditions.The integration of internal and external factors resulted in the perfection of his national concept.Liang Qichao’s national concept is composed of four essential parts,namely,the concept of “nation”,the concept of“civil rights”,the concept of “state power” and the concept of “cosmopolitanism”.In order to further clarify the evolution of Liang Qichao’s national concept,the essence of his national concept is investigated from three perspectives.Firstly,three representatives of modern intellectual are selected to interpret Liang Qichao’s national concept through their discussion about “nation”.Then,the effectiveness of the national construction behavior is validated by observing his administrative activities.Lastly,the value of Liang Qichao’s national concept is measured from the perspective of Marxist state view.To sun up,it is beneficial to understand Liang Qichao’s national concept comprehensively from multi-dimensional perspective.Liang Qichao’s national concept occupies a fundamental place in modern Chinese ideology history.His concept provides valuable ideological inspiration for us to insist on the Chinese road,strengthen modern civic education,and build a community of shared future for mankind. |