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. At the beginning of Guangxu 23rd year (1897), Kang Youwei gave a lecture in Guilin for the second time. In the spring of that year, in March, Kang Youwei visited Lu Rongting from Guilin under the recommendation of Lu Rongting's old boss, touts Tang and Cen Chunxuan, and held a private banquet in the "unique cave" pavilion in the park. After three rounds of drinking, Kang Youwei looked up at the book plaque hanging on the pavilion and asked jokingly, "There is a hole in the sky, which is a popular Taoist idiom." Do you believe in Taoism or Buddhism? " Lu Rongting also looked at the plaque, waved his hand and said with a smile: "I don't believe in Taoism, I don't believe in Buddhism, I don't believe in it, and even local scholars don't believe it! I only believe in Niu Jiao! " Kang Youwei was surprised and asked, "What education is there in the world? ! What religion is this? " Lu Rongting solemnly replied: "Niu Jiao was written by Lu Rongting when he was in Longzhou." Kang Youwei was even more surprised and asked in Cantonese, "What do you mean by creating this Niu Jiao?" Lu Rongting smiled again and whispered a Zhuang folk song to explain. Kang Youwei was all ears and puzzled. He said in Cantonese, "I don't know! I don't know! " Lu Rongting then said in nonstandard Cantonese: "It's hard to know what went wrong!" Then he immediately said in Liuzhou dialect: "This folk song says: A cow has four stomachs, and it is very strong. Chew it when it's dry, and it's not urgent to digest! " Kang Youwei said with a smile, "This is a folk song, not a religion!"

Then, Lu Rongting looked a little serious and said solemnly, "To tell the truth, I, Lu Rongting, am a lout and know little about the world. I don't know any religion. I only see that the cattle raised by farmers are very skilled. Swallow hay, hay, tender grass and old roots together. When you are full, squat down in the shade and spit it out slowly, chew it, and then swallow it for digestion. Isn't it also very powerful? " He paused and then said, "Dr. Sun Yat-sen sent someone to me to teach me to implement the Three People's Principles; Liang Qichao came to me not long ago and told me to rebel. Now you come to me and teach me how to do it. " After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, Kang Youwei put forward the absurd "Sino-Japanese Friendship". Kang Youwei made no secret in his "Self-edited Chronicle": "(At that time) I made an appointment with Japanese Ambassador Fumio Yano for a grand meeting between the two countries, and the final draft was extremely detailed. Please ask Yano Junxing General Administration to agree, and then you can hold meetings in various provinces. " At the same time, Kang Youwei invited Yang Shenxiu, his confidant, to play in Guangxu, suggesting that "my emperor had a plan to consolidate Britain, the United States and Japan, and did not think that the name of beauty was not beautiful, which was a blessing to the world".

Song Bolu, the backbone of the Kang Party, more clearly revealed the specific content of a "harmonious country". The throne said: "British pastor Timothy Richard came to Beijing to meet Kang Youwei, director of the Ministry of Industry, and told him his purpose. He plans to unite China, Japan, the United States and Britain as allies, and select 100 people who know current affairs and can tell stories in each country to take charge of the military, politics, taxation and all foreign affairs of the four countries, without training several battalions to guard against aggression. I would like to ask the emperor to meet Timothy Richard and Father Ito Bowen, and take Kang Youwei, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, as a counselor to turn disasters into blessings and protect our country. "

The so-called "100 people who are familiar with current affairs and anecdotes of various countries and specialize in military, political, taxation and all foreign affairs of the four countries" means that the existing government structures of countries participating in the "alliance" are completely invalid, and 100 foreign consultants must be selected by Kang Youwei, Timothy Richard, Ito Bowen and others to take over all political, military and financial affairs in China. After the Sino-French War, Kang Youwei rented the "Autumn Academy" as a lecture school in 189 1 (the 17th year of Guangxu) and founded a 10,000-acre thatched cottage, which became the source of the Reform Movement of 1898. In the 18th year of Guangxu (1892), the 10,000-acre thatched cottage was moved to the Kuangshi Ancestral Hall in Jiejie (near Guangwei Road today). In the 19th year of Guangxu (1893), due to Shiduo, he moved to Yanggao Temple in Gong Xue (now the First Workers' Cultural Palace in Wen Ming Road, Guangzhou). Traditionally, the schools run by Kang Youwei in these three sites are collectively called "ten thousand mu thatched cottage".

At the beginning of the establishment of Caotang, Kang Youwei advocated "breaking the conventions of predecessors and creating a new and unique theory". The name of Caotang means to cultivate thousands of trees and talents for the country. The appearance of ten thousand mu thatched cottage is of pioneering significance in the history of education in China. Kang Youwei mainly lectures on the academic origin of China, its historical and political evolution for thousands of years, and touches on the history and politics of western countries. He also pays attention to sports and music. Due to the novelty of curriculum and teaching methods, and Kang Youwei's macro-learning, Liang Qichao, who came to audition, fell in love at first sight, gave up his student status in another academy and joined Kang's school. The 10,000-acre thatched cottage was originally the ancestral hall of Qiu, and it was also the place where Qiu, one of the three great poets in Lingnan in the late Qing Dynasty, gave lectures at ancestor worship. Kang Youwei borrowed this place when he founded the school and accepted apprentices.

In March of the 17th year of Guangxu (189 1), Kang Youwei wrote "The Study of Changxing" as the study criterion of Wanmu Caotang, and conducted moral, intellectual and physical education for students with the Analects of Confucius as the key link. Because the ten thousand mu thatched cottage clearly put forward the purpose of running a school and adopted the educational content of paying equal attention to China and the West. It had a great influence on the college teaching at that time. Later, Liang Qichao gave lectures in Hunan, and basically inherited the spirit of running a school of ten thousand mu thatched cottage. In the 24th year of Guangxu (1898), after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, Kang Youwei began to travel around the world. In the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), Kang Youwei came to Sweden, a Nordic country, and was attracted by the local customs. When describing the beautiful scenery of Sweden in his travel notes, he wrote: "Zimoru Island, Sweden, with countless towers, bright moon in the sky, islands outside the lake, cities in the mountains and cities in Zhongshan, wants to move here." He bought an island in Baden (meaning Salt Lake Bath), a sand dune on the southeast coast of Stockholm, and built a Chinese garden on the island, named "Beihai Caotang", until the thirty-third year of Guangxu (1907).

More than a hundred years have passed, and the "Beihai Caotang" has long been lost under the erosion of the cold wind in the Baltic Sea. However, in order to commemorate Kang Youwei, Nordic Chinese used to call the island "Kang Youwei Island".