Liang Qichao’s Evolution of Views on Confucianism and How to Cultivate the Citizens during the Period between the Late Qing and the Early Republic of China

This article argues that the origin of the contemporary Chinese thoughts of Mainland New Confucianism(Dalu xinrujia), which "regards this body of teachings as the method to solidate the Chinese nation and to evolve them into a civilized state" is Liang Qichao, who has been the most important political thinker of the twentieth century in China. From the Hundred Days' Reform to the early Republican period, Liang's notions and determinations on the establishment of the nation state and the Chinese nation based on the points of which originated from the Confucianism. As a result, his perceptions on the Chinese different ethnic groups or Chinese nation, state, and the people changed according to time. His ascertainment on the utilities of Confucianism in the Chinese current politics, whereas was consistent. Varying on circumstances, for example, the foreign statements he has made during the Hundred Days' Reform, he asserts the Confucian teachings must be the foundations of the Chinese religions and educations.BR Liang Qichao persists to expect that the Confucian ideology is helpful resource to mold the new characters of the Chinese nation and the state, which has been the common argumentative points he pronounces whatsoever. After the establishment of the Republic, he participates in the Confucian Religion Movement and relates the purpose of this movement with the Republic's nation-building process that develops the Chinese national characteristics(guoxing). This movement, in his point of view, is going to lead the Chinese people into respectively civilized ones with preserving ethical behaviors, enriched with culture, and with a perseverance to follow the citizens' legal duties. These members that Liang has targeted are from middle class or literati class, whose social positions has based on their knowledge of Confucian teachings. This group of people has been compared with the gentry group from the Western societies. Liang considers their intellectual characteristics and cultural backgrounds are the identities of people qualified with the characteristics that can upgrade the Chinese presence and future into another level.BR Liang Qichao appraise the development of the qualified characteristics of Chinese civilians(gongmin) based on their engraved Confucian backgrounds and their understandings on Western political thoughts and moralities. The contemporary Chinese thoughts of Mainland New Confucianism, however, eschews the Western democratic values; and they promulgate only the Chinese values to build up the universalistic, Chinese characters. For example, Chinese local and central government, lately, reduced their original scales of commemorating the May Fourth Movement. Therefore, worldwide intellectuals have been criticized these present-day actions from China. Chinese actions are the authoritarian gestures of the Chinese government trying to impress their people with the declaration of 'the Chinese Dream(Zhongguomeng)' and the 'rejuvenation of Chinese values(ZaiZhonghuahua)', which the outside world comprehends as the 'Dream of Being a Hegemonic State(Qiangguomeng)'. Chinese, in a recent year, try to 'escape from the Western values(Quxifanghua)' and take the top-down measures to realize the universalistic, Chinese characteristics, which the outside scholars disapprove of because they sense that these efforts have Sinocentric distinctions. To criticize these present Chinese behaviors and actions, it is still effective to take Liang's determination of following the combination of Confucian values and the Western ideology in order to establish the Chinese nation and their state.