• Political Reformer Kang Youwei, 1858

   

Kang Youwei was born on March 19, 1858 in Nanhai, Guangdong province. According to his autobiography, his intellectual gifts were recognized as a child by his uncle. Therefore, from an early age he was sent by his family to study the Confucian classics in order to pass the Chinese civil service exams. However, as a teenager he was dissatisfied by the scholastic system of his time, especially its emphasis on preparing for the eight - legged exams, which are artificial literary exercises done during examinations.

Studying for exams was an extraordinarily rigorous activity, so he engaged in Buddhist meditation as a form of relaxation, an unusual leisurely activity for a Chinese scholar of his time. It was during one of these meditations that he had a mystical vision which became the theme for his intellectual pursuits throughout his life. Believing that it was possible to read every book and "become a sage" he embarked on a quasi - messianic pursuit to save humanity.

Kang called for an end to property and the family in the interest of an idealized future cosmopolitan Utopia, and cited Confucius as an example of a reformer and not as a reactionary, as many of his contemporaries did. The latter idea was discussed in great detail in 'Kongzi gaizhi kao,' or 'A Study of the Reforms of Confucius.' He argued that the rediscovered versions of the Confucian classics were forged to bolster his claims. This idea was treated in detail in 'Xinxue weijing kao' (A Study of the 'New Text' Forgeries). Kang was a strong believer in constitutional monarchy and wanted to remodel the country after Meiji Japan. These ideas angered his colleagues in the scholarly class who regarded him as a heretic.

Kang, along with his famed student, Liang Qichao, were important participants in a campaign to modernize China now known as the Hundred Days' Reform. The reform introduced radical change into the stale Chinese government, angering conservatives who feared losing power due to the influence of the reformers. The conservative faction's most powerful member, Dowager Empress ended the reforms and ordered Kang executed through slow slicing. Kang fled to Japan, where with Liang, he organized the Protect the Emperor Society, traveled throughout the Chinese diaspora promoting constitutional monarchy and competed with the revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen's Revive China Society and Revolutionary Alliance for funds and followers.

After the Qing Dynasty fell and the Republic of China was established in 1912 under Sun Yat-sen, Kang remained an advocate of constitutional monarchy and with this aim launched a failed coup d'état in 1917. General Zhang Xun and his queue - wearing soldiers occupied Beijing, declaring a restoration of Emperor Puyi on July 1. This incident was a major miscalculation. The nation was highly anti - monarchist. Kang became suspicious of Zhang's insincere constitutionalism and that he was merely using the restoration to become the power behind the throne. He abandoned his mission and fled to the American legation. On July 12, Duan Qirui easily occupied the city.

Kang's reputation serves as an important barometer for the political attitudes of his time. In the span of less than twenty years, he went from being regarded as an iconoclastic radical to an anachronistic pariah.

The best known and probably most controversial work of Kang Youwei was the Da Tong shu (大同書). The title of this book derives from the name of a utopian society imagined by Confucius, although it literally means "The Book of Great Unity." The ideas of this book appeared in his lecture notes from 1884, and encouraged by his students, he worked on this book for the next two decades, but it was not until his exile in India that he finished the first draft. The first two chapters of the book were published in Japan in the 1900s, however the book was not published in its entirety until 1935, about seven years after his death. In it Kang proposed a utopian future world that would be free of political boundaries, ruled by one central government, but under democratic rule. In his scheme, the world would be split into rectangular administrative districts which would be self governing under a direct democracy, although still loyal to a central world government. Concomitant with the abolition of political boundaries would also be the dissolution of racial boundaries. Kang outlines an immensely ambitious eugenics program that would eliminate the "brown and black" racial phenotype after a millennia, leading to the emergence of a fair - skinned homogeneous human race whose members would "be the same color, the same appearance, the same size and the same intelligence."

His desire to end the traditional Chinese family structure defines him as an early advocate of women's independence in China. He reasoned that the institution of the family that had been practiced by society since the beginning of time was a great cause of strife. Kang hoped it would be effectively abolished. Replacing the family would be state run institutions, such as womb - teaching institutions, nurseries and schools. Marriage would be replaced by one year contracts between a woman and a man. Kang considered the contemporary form of marriage, in which a woman was trapped for a lifetime, to be too oppressive. Kang believed in equality between men and women and believed that there should be no social barrier barring women from doing whatever men can.

Kang saw capitalism as an inherently evil system and believed that government should establish socialist institutions to overlook the welfare of each individual. At one point he even advocated that government should adopt the methods of "communism", although it is debated what Kang meant by this term. He was surely one of the first advocates of Western communism in China. In this spirit, in addition to establishing government nurseries and schools to replace the institution of the family, he also envisioned government run retirement homes for the elderly. It is debated whether Kang's socialist ideas were inspired more by Western thought or traditional Confucian ideals. Lawrence G. Thompsom believes that his socialism was based on traditional Chinese ideals. His work is permeated with the Confucian ideal of ren (仁), or humanity. However Thompson also noted a reference by Kang to Fourier. Thus some Chinese scholars believe that Kang's socialist ideals were influenced by Western intellectuals after his exile in 1898.

Notable in Kang's Da Tong Shu was his enthusiasm and belief in bettering humanity with technology. This was unusual for a Confucian scholar during his time. He believed that Western technological progress had a central role in saving humanity. While many scholars of his time continued to maintain the belief that Western technology should only be adopted to defend China against the West, he seemed to full - heartedly embrace the modern idea that technology is integral for advancing mankind. Before anything of modern scale had been built, he foresaw a global telegraphic and telephone network. He also believed that technology would reduce human labor to the point where each individual would only need to work 3 to 4 hours each day, a prediction that will be repeated by the most optimistic futurists later in the century.

When the book was first published it was received with mixed reactions. Due to Kang's support for the Guangxu Emperor, he is seen as a reactionary by many Chinese intellectuals. People of this camp believed that Kang's book was an elaborate joke, and that he was merely acting as an apologist for the emperor as to how utopian paradise could have developed if the Qing dynasty was not overthrown. Others believe that Kang was a bold and daring proto - Communist who advocated modern Western socialism and communism. Amongst those in the second school was Mao Zedong, who admired Kang Youwei and his socialist ideals in the Da Tongshu. Modern Chinese scholars nowadays often take the view that Kang was an important advocate of Chinese socialism, and despite the controversy Da Tongshu still remains popular. A Beijing publisher included it on the list "One hundred Most Influential Books in Chinese History. It is worth noting that the source of the controversy surrounding Da Tongshu was the inescapably racist attitude the author takes in this eugenic diatribe against the world's colored peoples."

Kang enumerated sources of human suffering, in a way similar to that of Buddhism.

The sufferings associated with man's physical life are: being implanted in the womb, premature death, loss of a limb, being a barbarian, living outside China, being a slave and being a woman.

The sufferings associated with natural disasters are: famine resulting from flood or drought, epidemic, conflagration, flood, volcanic eruptions, collapse of buildings, shipwreck and locust plagues.

The sufferings associated with the human relationship are: to be a widow, to be orphaned or childless, to be ill and have no one to provide medical care, to suffer poverty and to have a low and mean station in life.

The sufferings associated with society are: corporal punishment and imprisonment, taxation, military conscription, social stratification, oppressive political institutions, the existence of the state and the existence of the family.

The human feelings which cause sufferings are: stupidity, hatred, fatigue, lust, attachment to things and desire.

The things which cause suffering because of the esteem in which they are held: wealth, eminent position, longevity, being a ruler and being a spiritual leader.

He also imagined a hierarchy or religions, of which Christianity and Islam were the lowest, above them he placed Confucianism, then Taoism and Buddhism. He predicted that in the future the lower religions will disappear.

Kang died at his home in the city of Qingdao, Shandong, in 1927. He was 69.