In the 24th year of Guangxu (1898), the Reform Movement of 1898 began. After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, he fled to Japan, claiming that he held the imperial edict, organized a royalist society, advocated enlightened autocracy and opposed the revolution. After the Revolution of 1911, as the leader of the royalist party, he opposed the republic and always planned to restore Puyi. In the sixth year of the Republic of China (19 17), Kang Youwei and Zhang Xun launched the restoration and made Puyi emperor. Soon, they failed under the crusade of the then Prime Minister Duan of Beiyang Government. Kang Youwei always declared his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty in his later years. After being expelled from the Forbidden City by Feng Yuxiang, Puyi personally went to Tianjin to visit the Jingyuan where Puyi lived. He died in Qingdao in 16 (1927). As an activist in the late Qing Dynasty, Kang Youwei advocated the reform movement, which reflected the direction of historical progress. But later, he and Yuan Shikai became the spiritual leaders of the Restoration Movement.
General theory of historical evaluation
Kang Youwei's life, at that time, was mixed with later generations. Those who praised him called him a reformer. "Who is the director of Guangsha?" Mr. Kang Youwei from Nanhai. Jinshi Zhang III wrote to the Qing Emperor seven times. In sexual persuasion, Changxing Ji and Wanmu Caotang established learning rules. The book of human justice, the heartless. "As an activist in the late Qing society, Kang Youwei advocated the Reform Movement and led the Reform Movement of 1898, which reflected the direction of historical progress. Those who belittle him call him a royalist and criticize his conservative thoughts in refuting Kang Youwei's On Revolution. The more important reason is that he did not choose death like Tan Sitong, but chose to flee. In the early years of the Republic of China, he contributed to the trend of respecting Confucius and restoring ancient ways. When he was the spiritual leader of the imperial restoration movement with Yuan Shikai, he stood on the opposite side of history and changed from a political giant to a realistic dwarf.
Furthermore, although Kang Youwei's efforts to combine Confucian tradition with western constitutionalism became a "tragic history", as a method, the idea of transplanting and drawing lessons from foreign legal experience and taking into account China's national conditions was inherited by later scholars. For a long time since the 1950s, the academic circles had a low evaluation of his role in the development of modern history. This is because there are two statements that have been accepted by most researchers. One is that Kang has illusions about imperialism, "falling into the trap of imperialism" and becoming his "tool to carry out aggressive policies", which is no different from "controlling foreign countries with foreign countries" advocated by the Westernization School. One said: After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, Kang's political thought regressed to the position of opposing civil rights and worshipping monarchical power, and eventually degenerated into a royalist party, which became a stumbling block to social progress. The second source of Kang Youwei's conservative constitutional thought is his "Tongzhi Complex", that is, the kingship of China. Later, when Liang Qichao tried to cooperate with the revolutionary party, Kang Youwei strongly opposed it and accused Liang Qichao of failing his kindness. The reform advocated by Kang Youwei is still a dispute resolution mechanism within the ruling class, and it is a self-"reform", which has not risen to revolution.
Kang Youwei's constitutional thought has inspired and influenced the constitutional theory of later generations, but it also has many conservative elements, mainly manifested in the compromise of monarchical power, the absorption of traditional and dominant thought of rule of etiquette and the confluence of Confucianism and law. The reformists represented by Kang Youwei lack the support of mature class forces. Kang Youwei lacks a deep understanding of the value of western constitutionalism. Due to the limitation of the times, Kang Youwei's understanding of western learning still stays on the basis of "implements" theory, and it is impossible to strictly distinguish bourgeois democratic politics from feudal enlightened politics. Therefore, Kang Youwei's understanding of the Constitution is inherently contradictory.
Celebrity evaluation
Liang Qichao: "Mr. Wang is the most confident person, and no one can shake the doctrine he adheres to." This is true academically, and it is also true when doing things. I never want to accommodate my own doctrine, but I often misinterpret the facts to accommodate his doctrine. Therefore, people who criticize my husband always say that he is arbitrary, opinionated and arbitrary. "
When talking about the ideological origin of the Reform Movement of 1898, Chen once said that his ancestors Chen Baozhen and Chen's political thoughts and origins were different from those of Kang Liang: "When Mr. Nanhai Kang learned to govern rams in modern times, Confucius attached words to the reform. Unlike those who want to learn from the West and change the old laws in China. Therefore, in Yiwu, the ancestors saw Mr. Zhu Dingfu's new "Answers to Questions in Innocent Hall", which refuted the theory of Nanhai Ram in the Spring and Autumn Period and was deeply impressed. According to it, Yu's main reform is the origin of his thoughts. "
Ann Wei Jun: "It is impossible to mislead the world and slander the people without holiness".
Zhang Taiyan: "The country will die; Being old and not dying is for ".
Mao Haijian: "Kang Youwei's remarks are full of exaggeration, so be careful everywhere." .