-Reasons for the success of Meiji Restoration in Japan

Abstract: The modernization process of China and Japan started at the same time, but the results were quite different, for many reasons. Traditional politics, economy and culture are the main factors, and the factors of leaders can not be ignored. External forces have also had a great impact on the modernization process of the two countries.

Keywords:: comparison of modernization between China and Japan in recent twenty years

From 65438 to 1960s, both China and Japan began the process of modernization reform. This is no accident. Both countries embarked on the road of reform under the circumstances of internal troubles and foreign invasion. But the difference is that the Japanese gradually became stronger through the Meiji Restoration, and China's repeated reforms did not make China rich and strong, but intensified the steps of dividing up the powers.

Japan is a country that is good at learning. It is a constitutional monarchy with its own characteristics, which was formed by the total sinicization in the reform process, the total introduction of western culture in the Meiji Restoration, the introduction of advanced western technology in domestic industries, and the combination of western capitalist system and domestic emperor system, so that Japan was unified under the ruling class centered on the emperor.

The comparative study of modernization between China and Japan was widely carried out after the Cultural Revolution, and it was also the most fruitful study of modern Sino-foreign relations. In the past twenty years, many scholars have done a lot of research in this field. His main works include Modern Japan and Modernization between China and Japan-Comparison with China, Comparative Study of Modernization between China and Japan, Historical Issues of Modern Japan and other historical monographs. The papers discussed mainly include: Gaowang Reform in the late Qing Dynasty and Meiji Restoration in Japan: an analysis of the influencing factors in political development; Tian, A Comparative Study on the Modernization of China and Japan in the Past Hundred Years: Dong Yishan's comparison between the Westernization Movement in China and the Meiji Restoration in Japan; and Liu's comparative study of the Meiji Restoration and the Reform Movement of 1898.

I. Social, political and economic situation of reform

Before the reform, both China and Japan were faced with the situation that domestic people's uprisings continued and foreign powers' aggression intensified. Therefore, the modernization road of the two countries is full of fierce struggles. However, due to the differences between the traditions of the two countries and the social, political and economic conditions at that time, it had a far-reaching impact on the modernization process.

Before modern times, it was undoubtedly the traditional political system that had the greatest influence on the societies of the two countries. Before the reform, China and Japan were feudal autocratic countries. Japan's traditional system belongs to the feudal hereditary lords system. Under the wooden model system, Japan is a loose country with several governors, who have great autonomy, which can be said to be local autonomy; However, these governors had a strong concept of emperor-centered, which made the establishment of centralization of authority in Meiji government relatively simple. Different from Japan, China is a centralized bureaucracy, and its power is concentrated in the huge bureaucracy of the Emperor, so it is difficult for the people to form various social forces similar to those during the Meiji Restoration. It is difficult to expand the social foundation of political power, and the road to reform will be tortuous. The ruling class of the Japanese government is facing constant people's struggle. Large-scale peasant riots broke out one after another in the 1930s, and the governors had great autonomy, which led to the subsequent reform of forcing governors. These small-scale reforms also trained a group of leaders with practical experience for the Meiji Restoration.

Under the wooden model system, the hierarchy was strict, the ruled class was oppressed by the ruling class and foreign aggression, and the anti-feudal and anti-aggression struggle of the Japanese peasant class rose sharply, which became the most fundamental driving force for the success of the Meiji Restoration. This series of resistance makes the already dangerous ruling order even more unstable.

Both China and Japan are post-modernization, but Japan is both post-modernization and exogenous. Some scholars believe that the key to a more thorough reform in Japan lies in the fact that leaders who are determined to promote modernization have mastered the actual political power of the country, can transform traditional political leaders into political leaders with modernization tendencies, and maintain a high degree of unity within the leading group. [Gao Wang: "Constitutional Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty and Meiji Restoration in Japan: Analysis of Influencing Factors in Political Development", 200 1.5]

The emperor, the nominal supreme ruler of Japan, had no real power in the shogunate era. At the end of the shogunate, the powerful shogunate rulers were unpopular, which led to domestic people's dissatisfaction with their internal and external policies and led to the ruling crisis. This enabled Japan's bourgeois revolution to be launched and succeeded. The emperor without real power and the lower bourgeoisie can unite to seize real power, and the lower bourgeoisie can oppose the shogunate in the name of the emperor. None of these conditions are available in China. [Dong Yishan: "A Comparison between the Westernization Movement in China and the Meiji Restoration in Japan", Journal of Shandong University, 1995. 1] Under the slogan of "respecting the king", all classes naturally supported the emperor, so that the emperor actually gained sovereignty.

China's constitutionalism in the late Qing Dynasty was only a self-help movement of the ruling class. Its goal is not to change the backward appearance, but to strengthen control over the people. The decrees issued by the Qing government were written and not really implemented. Although the Reform Movement of 1898 involved the political system, Emperor Guangxu had no real power, and his decrees were not binding on local officials and could not be implemented. Reformists do not pay attention to mobilizing the masses. Reform is limited to some intellectuals, and there is no such powerful basic force as Meiji Restoration. The reform measures put forward by Kang Liang and others rarely involve the vital interests of the peasant class.

Japan's domestic unified market was formed earlier, and the phenomenon of trying to organize commodity production or commodity circulation was only seen in the early edo period. By the end of the shogunate, both shogunate and vassal realized the reality of commodity production and circulation. China's traditional economic outlook is mainly centered on Liu Xihong. He put forward the viewpoint of "farming in Chang 'an" and opposed the development of industry and commerce. His main point is to strengthen the feudal exploitation of farmers in order to maintain feudal rule and prevent the disintegration of feudal society. He strongly opposes the use of new means of transportation to promote the circulation of goods and prevent the development of industry and commerce.

Japan has established a unified domestic market, and commercial capital has developed by leaps and bounds. In order to expand profits, Japan attaches importance to overseas trade. By the end of the shogunate, ideas such as trade revitalization theory and commodity creation theory appeared. With the gradual collapse of the traditional economic outlook, China's traditional economic outlook has been shaken after Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan and others, but it is not as thorough as the Japanese. For a long time, the feudal concept of natural economy still dominates. [Eternal Cliff: A Comparative Study of Modernization between China and Japan (Shanghai Far East Press, 200 1, 1), pp. 233, 240-24 1, 252]

During the Reform Movement of 1898 in China, the economic level was equivalent to the last years of the shogunate. At that time, there were some formal capitalist enterprises in China. During the shogunate period, "Japanese capitalism was still in its predecessor stage-the stage of commercial usury bourgeoisie", but this class "became the social and economic foundation of reform". [Wu: "Comparison between the Reform Movement of 1898 and Meiji Period" World History, 1987.4] China's rural natural economy took over slowly, which formed a strong resistance to the capitalist mode of production, but the Japanese shogunate's commodity capital broke through the barriers and occupied the production field. Unlike China, where commercial capital stays in luxury consumption, Japanese commercial capital uses capitalist mode of production to expand production and promote the transformation of commercial capital into industrial capital. China's business is scattered and small-scale, often combined with agricultural production and household sideline, which becomes an obstacle to the accumulation of capitalist funds.

After the state funded the establishment of modern enterprises, the Westernization Movement in China implemented monopoly management and excluded businessmen from investing in new enterprises. During the Meiji Restoration, the government not only introduced technology, but also encouraged and supported the operation of private capital.

Second, the traditional and reformist attitude.

Judging from the attitude of traditional culture and reformists towards foreign cultures, there are also great differences between China and Japan. Because China once had a splendid ancient cultural history, the rulers always regarded China as a country and foreign countries as "foreigners". In addition, the rulers have always believed that China is everywhere, and even the wealth of the employers comes from China. The arrogance of ideas has always bound the ruling class, and it is even more difficult to change the existing system. Guo Moruo once pointed out: "The burden of China's inherent culture is too heavy. The culture before capitalism is too long, at least 3000 years. Therefore, with reverence for the past culture and conflict with the new culture, European and American cultures are often regarded as barbarians. Before capitalism, China's culture was brilliant, but because of it, it inevitably became a huge burden in the period of change. Although Japan has its own culture and culture from abroad, in detail, Japan's burden is not as heavy as China's, so it goes faster. "

The Japanese nation has a tradition of absorbing foreign cultures. There were three climaxes of Japanese learning foreign cultures: one was that ancient China selectively absorbed ancient culture, technology and political system, but it was not completely "China"; One is to learn from the west in modern times, absorb and introduce modern cultural ideas and technologies, but it is not completely "westernized"; First, after World War II, western modern culture and technology, represented by American cultural ideas, technologies and systems, were introduced and absorbed in an all-round way, but they have not been "beautified". [Yan Yuan, Hu Hanchang: Comparison of System Imitation of Modernization between China and Japan] Journal of Wuhan University (Humanities and Social Edition) 2004.vol57] In the past, Japan always took China as its teacher and also learned a lot from North Korea and India. Although the shogunate adopted a closed-door policy, it still learned some new knowledge from the Netherlands and other Chinese studies, and formed the "Lan Xue" school that demanded innovation. [Liu: A Comparative Study on Several Conditions of Meiji Restoration and the Reform Movement of 1898], Inner Mongolia Social Sciences, Chinese version, 2003+0438+0]

1840 opium war, China was defeated by Britain. 1853, the American Paley fleet opened the door to Japan, and the Japanese day shift was greatly affected. China, which has always been regarded as a model by the Japanese, was actually destroyed by western ships and artillery. The advanced capitalist culture in the west showed its superiority in the face of ancient China with this kind of colonialism. [Liao Danqing's "On the Differences between China and Japan in Learning from the West in Modern Times"] Since then, Japan has embarked on the road of learning from the West, and advanced western military technology has been quickly introduced by the shogunate and vassals. 19 After the 1940s, the western political system began to be valued by Japan and gradually introduced and absorbed.

The cultural traditions of the two countries have had a far-reaching impact on the modernization reform. When western countries experienced the industrial revolution and entered the era of industrial civilization, the only way for China, Japanese and other eastern countries to transition from the feudal era to the capitalist era is to absorb western culture. Therefore, the way and quantity of absorbing western culture directly affect the modernization process of the two countries.

Judging from the process of absorbing western culture between China and Japan, Japan generally managed the "Naman Period" (1543-1639); "Lockup period" (1639-1720); "Lan Xue period" (1720-1861); "Westernization Period" (186 1 year later). These four periods were the process of Japanese learning from the West, and its culture was westernized step by step, and all walks of life in China were more or less influenced by western culture. From 65438 to 1940s, western colonialists came to Japan one after another, spreading western weapons, consumer goods and culture to Japan. Some feudal lords on the west coast of Japan introduced western new technology into their own territory, developed foreign trade and expanded their military and economic strength. As a result, western intellectuals began to invade the soil of Japanese society through various channels. Some advanced intellectuals in Japan have opened their eyes in contact with western civilization and enthusiastically studied western science, technology and cultural knowledge introduced into Japan. However, China only experienced the climax of learning from the West, and the period outside the climax saw the interruption of cultural learning. [Tian: Comparative Study of World History and Geography between China and Japan before and after the Opium War, Social Science Series 1993 Series 3] Therefore, China's study of western culture is discontinuous and unsystematic, and the affected classes are basically confined to the intellectual class. Because of the traditional cultural view, the rulers are relatively indifferent to the west, while the lower classes often have the habit of blindly following the rulers, which hinders the subsequent reform to some extent. In the form of absorbing western culture, Japan is a "comprehensive absorption type" and China is a "partial absorption type". Japanese "Harmony with foreign talents" and China's "Learning from foreigners" are the same in adhering to tradition and learning from the West. However, "Harmony with Soul" emphasizes the spirit of "nationality", while "Chinese style" embodies the feudal system, which limits what the two countries can learn. The same form leads to completely different results. [Tian: A Comparative Study of Modernization between China and Japan in a Hundred Years] World History, 200 1.3]

Third, comparison in reform.

/kloc-In the late 9th century, both China and Japan vigorously promoted industrialization policies. But as a result, Japan established capitalism in the 1990s and entered the stage of imperialism in the early 20th century. However, in the same period, China failed to establish capitalism, which further strengthened its semi-colonial degree in the face of the development of European, American and Japanese imperialism. [Yoshiya Yoshida: A Comparative Study of Modernization between China and Japan, Shanghai Far East Publishing House, 2004.6438+0]

1After the 1980s, the system and spirit in modern western civilization have increasingly become the object of Japanese attention. The tendency to learn western politics, economic policies and humanities and social theories is also growing. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan further demonstrated its comprehensive absorption of the West from the material, institutional and spiritual levels on the existing basis. Politically, a constitutional monarchy and a cabinet system are implemented, and the cabinet is composed of political parties that have won the majority of votes in the National Assembly. Economically, establish a modern western banking system and introduce western factories and enterprise systems; Militarily, the government hired German army instructors to teach the Japanese army, and the army changed from being subordinate to the ceded aristocracy to being subordinate to the state. In education, the western compulsory education system has been implemented. [Yan Yuan, Hu Hanchang: Comparison of System Imitation between China and Japan in Modern Times] Journal of Wuhan University (Humanities Edition), Volume 57, 2004]

From 65438 to the 1960s, China's Westernization Movement, the Reform Movement of 1898 and the Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty also carried out a series of reforms in feudal education from political, economic, military and educational aspects, which played a positive role in promoting China's modernization. However, they all failed in the end.

(1) Political aspects

During the Meiji Restoration, the most prominent political aspect was the formulation of the capitalist constitution. At the Privy Council meeting of 1888 (the 21st year of Meiji), the core figure of constitution-making said: "The spirit of constitution-making is to restrict the monarch and protect the rights of subjects." The Meiji Constitution stipulates that the appointment and removal of ministers, the right to conclude treaties with foreign countries, the right to declare war, the right to make peace, and the right to open, close and dissolve parliament belong to the emperor, but it also stipulates that the functions and powers of the emperor should be implemented with the assistance of the Minister of State. It is stipulated that the commander-in-chief belongs to the emperor, but the "Military Order" says: "I command the army, but I follow the Committee." It can be seen that the Meiji Constitution places considerable emphasis on "restricting monarchical power". Under such a knowing system, the elders who manipulated this system gradually formed the later military dictatorship with the help of the emperor's authority. [Yitianya: Historical Issues in Modern Japan] Strengthen centralization.

1868 in March, the newly established imperial government issued five oaths, which clarified the basic policies of the new government, and indicated the major policies of "the emperor is in charge of the government" and "the parliament is prosperous, and all opportunities are decided by public opinion". [Wang Jinlin: the establishment of the official system and cabinet system in Zheng Tai during the Meiji Restoration] World history, 1999.5] In April of the same year, The Theory of Government was published, which reorganized and enriched the government organization and determined the constitutional monarchy. Since then, through the establishment of a standing army and police system, military reform and police security system reform have been carried out. By "returning official titles", feudal counties and counties were abolished and local separatist forces were eradicated, and the task of establishing a modern bourgeois centralized state was completed. At the same time, the Meiji government transformed the old hunger exploitation into a new bourgeoisie and a new landlord by issuing a "conscription order" and implementing a "penalty for losing money". 1885, the government implemented the cabinet system again, and set up parliament the following year, thus establishing a relatively perfect constitutional monarchy system and completing the reform in the field of political system. [Dong Yishan: "Comparison between China's Westernization Movement and Japanese Meiji Restoration", Journal of Shandong University, Philosophy and Social Edition, 1995.438+0]

Compared with Meiji Restoration, the Reform Movement of 1898, which was also led by an emperor and involved political, economic, military and ideological and cultural issues, failed. Politically, the reformists in China put forward such ideas as opening the way, advocating civil rights, abolishing bloated institutions and opposing the signing of unequal treaties as the pioneers of the movement before the Reform Movement of 1898. All these are obviously not individual problems or minor problems in social life, but major political problems. Intellectuals, led by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, revolved around Emperor Guangxu in the political arena to achieve the goal of movement, while Japan, with the support of samurai, Changzhou people, Samoans and some people of insight, pushed the emperor to the forefront of history in order to realize its own ambitions. [Sun Guangli: Comparative Study of Meiji Restoration and the Reform Movement of 1898] World History 1998.5]

The two countries also bypassed the emperor and issued a decree, from "the same way" to "special return."

(2) Economic aspects

Economic reform is the basis of political reform and a series of other reforms. The economic situation is directly related to social stability. Both China and Japan involve the economy in the modernization reform, but the social repercussions and results are different due to the different purposes of the reform in the two countries.

Meiji Restoration was a large-scale bloody and violent revolution, not a peaceful improvement. Through the war, the decadent forces were swept away, and Japan was able to show its strength and strive for strength with a new look. In contrast, the Westernization Movement in China was a slow economic reform after the reorganization of the Qing ruling group through the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War. [Luo: Reasons for Different Modernization Roads between China and Japan, Historical Monthly 200 1.6]

The Meiji government first reformed the land system economically. 1870, the Meiji government put forward a land rent reform plan, and then lifted the ban on land never being bought or sold stipulated by the shogunate, and implemented a new currency land rent system that was beneficial to the government and the development of capitalist commodity economy. In terms of industry and commerce, after the Meiji government was established, it adopted a series of measures to directly support capitalist industry and commerce, such as setting up national banks, setting up state-owned enterprises and supporting private capitalist enterprises, which made Japanese industry and commerce develop rapidly. [Dong Yishan: A Comparison between the Westernization Movement in China and the Meiji Restoration in Japan, Journal of Shandong University (Philosophy and Social Edition), 1995438+0]

Westernization school first founded military industry, not agriculture closely related to people's lives; Later, the purpose of the civil industry was not simply to "seek wealth", but to serve the military industry. So it is not recognized by the broad masses of the people. The reform of the Westernization School hardly involves industry and commerce and cannot promote the progress of social productive forces. Most of the enterprises set up are government-run or government-supervised commercial enterprises, and the actual management right is in the hands of the government. Production does not care about costs and benefits, which leads to official corruption, and finally the reform of Westernization School is sluggish.

(3) Military aspects

In the modernization reform, it is very important to establish a new type of army, and mastering the armed forces is the most powerful means to consolidate the political power. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was the first large-scale confrontation between China and Japan since the modernization reform, and the two countries were equally equipped. However, at that time, China's military system was not as perfect as Japan's, and the quality of officers and men, command system and fleet combat capability were not as good as Japan's, which eventually led to China's fiasco in the Sino-Japanese War. This has to analyze and compare the military systems of China and Japan and their formation.

After the establishment of Meiji government, the military system was greatly adjusted. In the aspect of military and political system, the sea area was divided into several naval areas, and regulations were issued to stipulate the charges of guarding yamen, which improved the naval organizational system; Divide the fleet establishment according to the combat capability and task, and maximize the naval combat capability. Although four naval forces, Beiyang, Nanyang, Fujian and Guangdong, were established in the Westernization Movement in China, they were too scattered and the provincial governors did not obey, which made the naval yamen exist in name only. [Yao Jinxiang:1Comparison of Modern Naval Military Systems between China and Japan in the Middle and Late 9th Century, Journal of Nanjing Normal University, 1990.438+0]

In terms of weapons and equipment, the Japanese government pays more attention to actual combat, focusing on the preparation and speed of artillery. During the training, the "Military Order" was formulated, which stipulated that soldiers must abide by the five virtues of "loyalty, courtesy, courage, faithfulness and simplicity", and asked soldiers to do everything only according to the emperor. Moreover, Japan has established a relatively complete military service system, giving volunteers all kinds of care, which not only ensures sufficient sources of soldiers, but also improves the quality of naval soldiers. Relatively speaking, the Qing government's naval equipment was very strong, but it only knew how to assemble it and didn't know how to use it flexibly. In addition, the welfare system is not perfect and the military discipline is neglected, which leads to the decline of the fleet strength.

The contents of the naval construction of the two countries are roughly the same, but the results are quite different and have profound historical backgrounds. First of all, the social systems of the two countries are different. After Meiji Restoration, Japan has become a new capitalist country, and the ruling class demands reform and the establishment of a new type of army. China's Westernization Movement completely relied on the "permission" of the feudal emperor to establish a navy. Secondly, the different purposes of establishing the navy between the two countries have also led to different construction plans. Japan established its navy solely for the purpose of seeking strength, developing foreign trade and expanding overseas; The Westernization navy was established to maintain the rule of the old regime, so it can't be compared with Japan in updating and perfecting. After the Yellow Sea naval battle, Cao Jiaxiang, a naval gunner in Zhenyuan, and Rao Qingqu, a garrison, concluded: "To form a navy, it must be based on western laws and be able to resist foreign aggression. Westerners have established navies for many years, and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed in books. China's naval charter is different from Taixi's, because it is difficult to imitate due to the restrictions of China's North Korean system, so it is difficult to win. " [Selected Archives of Sheng Xuanhuai (III) Sino-Japanese War in the Sino-Japanese War, p. 400]

(4) education.

During the 65438+60s, the two countries took the Westernization Movement and Meiji Restoration as an opportunity to launch a great ship of modern education. Japan constantly updated its education system during the Meiji period for more than 40 years, and thus established a strong education system. Although China carried out educational reforms successively after the Westernization Movement and the Reform Movement of 1898, it never completely changed the feudal educational system.

In Japan, after the Meiji Restoration, the government made education the focus of its civilization policy, and sent a delegation to Europe and America to study and inspect, which effectively promoted the reform. 187 1 just after abandoning the county, I learned that the government immediately set up the Ministry of Education, the school department and the school department to take charge of national education, and the following year promulgated the educational reform decree-"academic system" and officially began the reform. 1879 education order replaced the academic system, and 1880 education order was revised. In order to maintain the newly established modern emperor system, 1890 issued an imperial edict on education in the name of the emperor. In addition, in order to ensure the smooth progress of education reform, the government spared no effort in capital investment and adopted compulsory and protective measures in fund raising and investment, so that the source of education funds was fully guaranteed; Not only central funding, but also private sponsorship has become one of the main sources of school funds. [He Guiduan: A Comparative Study of Westernization Movement and Sino-Japanese Education Reform during Meiji Restoration, Journal of Harbin University, June 2003]

In China, the Westernization School attached great importance to education reform and established more than 30 schools, including foreign language schools, military schools and technical schools, but there was never a unified academic system to manage education. Moreover, the reform was carried out under the "authorization" of Empress Dowager Cixi in the west, which was impossible for the primary feudal autocratic system and its related feudal education system. Reform is a mere formality, and new schools have not developed.

In the Reform Movement of 1898, although Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao wrote to ask for educational reform again and again, their educational measures were limited to intellectuals, which did not involve the vital interests of the broad masses of the people and did not form a complete educational system. The government didn't pay enough attention to education reform, and most of the new schools they run died.

After the establishment of the Meiji government in Japan, in order to change Japan's backward state, safeguard the independence of the country and the nation, and develop capitalism, the Meiji government adopted an all-round and multi-angle absorption mode, and promoted the western system and social lifestyle from the political and economic aspects. In contrast, China was absorbed unilaterally and in isolation with the outstanding problems in different historical development periods. Western culture absorbed in different periods is fragmented and has not formed a perfect whole. Coupled with the constraints and obstacles of various political forces at that time, China still maintained its original political system and backward state.

Fourth, people and ideas.

Man is the main body of historical activities, and the exertion of man's subjective initiative has a particularly prominent influence on the historical process. The figures or similarities between China and Japan on the road to modernization are quite different and comparable.

There are many differences between the leaders of China and Japan in reform, which is also an important reason why the reform of the two countries has developed in different directions.

First, whether there is a unified and powerful leadership core.

The Meiji Restoration was carried out under the unified arrangement of the central authorities. However, the Westernization Movement in China has always lacked strong planning and leadership. 1898 The leader of the reform movement was an inexperienced emperor who was supported by several intellectuals. Japan successfully realized the transformation of the leadership core through the Meiji Restoration, and concentrated the political power in the hands of the reform and opening-up youths headed by Emperor Meiji. [Gao Wang: "Constitutional Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty and Meiji Restoration in Japan: Analysis of Influencing Factors in Political Development", seeking, 200 1.5] They believe that even if modernization means losing privileges, it is worth yearning for. Therefore, the state power is in the hands of the lower samurai, which is quite beneficial to reform. Meiji Restoration is a state behavior, which runs through the authority of state power from beginning to end. [Ho: "On the Difference between the Westernization Movement in China and the Meiji Restoration", Journal of Sichuan Institute of Education 200 1. 12] During the Westernization Movement, although there were nominally various decrees of the Qing government and the management of the Prime Minister's yamen, in fact, it was only Li Hongzhang and others who acted on their own and set up "Westernization" to expand their power, making it difficult for the Qing government to rule. Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others played a great role in the Reform Movement of 1898, doing a lot of propaganda and spreading the reform trend of thought. However, due to the powerful reactionary forces, Emperor Guangxu and Kang Liang and others could do nothing about the coup staged by the diehard forces headed by Empress Dowager Cixi.

In the constitutional reform in the late Qing dynasty, the political leading group did not have the determination and courage to completely modernize, so it was caught in a dilemma in the reform. On the one hand, it has to carry out internal and external reforms, on the other hand, it has to consolidate the original system, making it difficult to form a strong leadership core.

Secondly, the ability and experience of leaders themselves are also very different.

The leaders of Meiji Restoration were closely related to the vassal owners, and they had more say in the political reform within the vassal, and they also had a better understanding of the movements of the lower samurai. In participating in the reform of the buffer region, he consolidated and mastered the real power of the buffer region and accumulated rich experience in political struggle. The political strategy and administrative ability of the main leaders of Meiji Restoration are incomparable to the leaders of the Reform Movement of 1898. They are good at taking advantage of the situation. Before the restoration, they pointed their finger at the shogunate, striving for and using all forces to mobilize the armed forces of civilians and even farmers. After the success of the reform, the policy of redemption was adopted for the feudal nobles, which significantly reduced the fierce resistance of the feudal class and ensured the necessary political stability for the implementation of the reform. I have a better understanding of the west, from 187 1 to 1873, and know that the government sent a delegation to Europe and the United States by reform minister Kimura Longji and others. [Fang: An Analysis of the Causes of the Failure of Modern Japanese-Chinese Social Change 1 1%, Journal of Lvliang University, February 2005]

Relatively speaking, the characters in the Reform Movement of 1898 lacked strategy. They didn't pay attention to uniting various social forces to reduce the resistance to reform. At the beginning of the Reform Movement, Li Hongzhang, the most powerful faction, was excluded. The same mistake was made in dealing with Weng Tonghe, not to mention the connection with mass movements. China's reformists lacked a clear understanding of the cruelty of political struggle and the reactiveness of feudal forces, and were not well prepared. When the diehard forces staged a coup, most of them didn't have the courage to face it and took refuge everywhere. Strategically, there is no organization. In the short 103 days of reform, there are countless letters, some of which are urgent, and almost none of them can be carried out in a solid way. [Liu: Comparative Study on Several Conditions of Meiji Restoration and the Reform Movement of 1898] Inner Mongolia Social Sciences (Chinese Version), 2003. 1 1] As a learning reformist, Kang Liang and others did not systematically study foreign experiences, but initiated reforms on their own initiative, and failure was inevitable. The leaders of the Westernization Movement, such as Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong, were themselves feudal bureaucrats. Although they learned from the west, they only introduced technology and could not have primary feudal rule. All factions continued to struggle to expand their power and weaken the power of reform, and finally failed.

Third, the comparison between leaders and the people.

Sasuke, Xiangshan, Wei Yuan. These two people live in different social backgrounds and hold different views. Sasaki Xiangshan realized the importance of studying natural science and formed an idea that contradicted traditional Confucianism. However, Wei Yuan always believed in "learning from foreigners" and "changing course without changing course", without absorbing the scientific spirit and rational thought of modern western countries.

Yoshida Song Yin and Kang Youwei. They are all disseminators and reformers of modern western thoughts. Yoshida has experienced the test of political storm and is full of fearless spirit. With his own statement, he practiced the oath of "killing himself" and influenced his students to continue fighting. The reformists in China are also enthusiastic, but at the last minute, they have to "cry in public". 1898 After the coup, Kang Youwei took refuge everywhere to protect himself, and no one came forward to clean up the mess. [Wu: Comparison between the Reform Movement of 1898 and the Reform Movement of China and Japan in Meiji Period, World History 1987.4]

Emperor Meiji and Empress Dowager Cixi. Emperor Meiji learned new knowledge, had a good understanding of the social situation at that time, had the spirit of reform, vigorously promoted the Meiji Restoration Movement, and finally realized Japan's modernization. Empress Dowager Cixi, as the representative of the old feudal forces, only wants to consolidate her power, maintain feudal autocracy, conform to the old ways and reject modern western ideas, so it is impossible to promote the smooth realization of China's modernization. [Jiang Duo: Cixi and the Westernization Movement, a historical study, 199 1.4]

Fukuzawa Yukichi and Liang Qichao. They were the enlighteners of China's and Japanese's modernization thoughts respectively, and made great contributions to their respective countries.