Moscow: Publishing house "East Lit-ra", 2001, 287 p.

(c) 2002

The main character of the reviewed book is the famous political figure Liang Qichao, whose name is associated with the most important events in the history of China in the late XIX - first third of the XX century. This indefatigable man combined his active political activity with a huge theoretical work on understanding the Confucian heritage and mastering Western socio-political thought.

The choice of this particular figure for the study of the complex impact of Western political culture on the Chinese intelligentsia, brought up in the Confucian spirit, seems extremely successful. Perhaps there was not a single problem related in one way or another to the reconstruction of Chinese society in order for the country to overcome its dependent and backward position that Liang Qichao did not touch upon. Even today, in China, when academic discussions and political debates about freedom of thought, democracy, liberalism, and the role of traditional culture in the process of modernizing the country are unfolding, participants in debates again and again turn to the writings of Liang Qichao as a source of modern political thought.

At one time, Liang Qichao was regarded by scholars and public figures, mainly as an associate of Kang Yuwei in the reform movement of 1898 ("One Hundred Days of Reform"), as an active participant in the political struggle that unfolded in the country after the Xinhai Revolution. His theoretical works were widely condemned from "revolutionary Marxist positions" and even after the death of Mao Zedong, when the historical thought of China acquired relative freedom, he was often considered not as an independent ideologist, theorist, but as an educator, a bourgeois idealist, unstable in his views, who changed his views dozens of times depending on current events. life. Thus, the historian Li Zehou, in the articles mentioned by L. N. Borokh, who highly assesses the role of Liang Qichao in the socio-political life of the country, calls him not an independent thinker, but just a propagandist.

As a positive feature of Liang Qichao's practical and theoretical activities, his patriotism, indomitable desire for the revival of China as a strong and rich state, and efforts to "renew" the people were noted. At the same time, some Chinese scholars note that, unlike revolutionary-minded figures, reformers like Liang Qichao had a deeper understanding of the difficulties of transforming Chinese society and modernizing it, and they were more aware of the need to change the social qualities of their people in order for China to become on a par with the advanced countries of the world. (By the way, even today in China, at every step you can find the slogan: "Let's reduce the population, improve its quality!")

Highly appreciating the spiritual heritage of Liang Qichao, L. N. Boroch carefully examines the process of forming his views. In her opinion, he did not simply introduce the Chinese reader to various Western philosophical, political and ethical teachings, but sought to compare them with the traditional values of Chinese culture.

At the time when Liang Qichao began his career, in Chinese society, which had suffered the shock of a shameful defeat in a military-political clash with the West, politicians and scientists mainly developed three approaches to the culture of "European interventionists". Some completely rejected any idea of studying, and even more so perception, of European culture, recognizing only the need to borrow military-technical achievements. Others saw the way to national salvation of the country in the complete westernization of all aspects of economic, political and cultural life. Still others considered it possible and necessary, while preserving their national identity, to adopt those ideas and political institutions of European states that could be useful for the development of the country; for them, the difference between "one's own and another's" meant the difference between "old and new".

page 189

"The Western invasion," writes L. N. Vorokh, " not only changed the idea of the universe, but also gave an impetus to the politicization of traditional culture. In this more "mundane" sphere, as a reformer of Confucianism, Liang Qichao, an associate of Kang Yuwei, also tried to correlate "his own" and "someone else's" teachings" (p. 5). While repeatedly calling his hero a disciple of Kang Yuwei, the author also notes in many cases the independent theoretical nature of his works, proving that his views often quite different from the ideological positions of the teacher. Defining the role of Liang Qichao as a reformer of Confucianism, L. N. Boroch convincingly shows that he not only retold books and articles by European authors, but also reinterpreted them in accordance with his ideas about the future of China.

The author of the book builds his research in such a way that the reader can clearly comprehend the process of forming the "theory of theories" that Liang Qichao went to create, overcoming the difficulties that lay in wait for him on this path.

In the first chapter of the monograph, Liang Qichao's method of mastering the basic concepts of Western political culture is shown with concrete examples. In this regard, he relied not only on the excellent translations of Yan Fu , the pioneer of European thought, but also on the works of Japanese translators. In fact, Liang Qichao created a new political vocabulary, trying to convey to the Chinese reader the essence of those European concepts that were unusual for the students of the Confucian school. European principles in the works of Liang Qichao acquired a specifically national form. This concerned both the relations between the state, society and the individual, and the understanding of profit, selfishness (reasonable), the relationship between the principle of destruction and creation. Every time Liang Qichao discovered something new in the approach of European philosophers to certain social and political problems, he interpreted them with an eye to Confucian dogmas. Liang Qichao could not imagine the reconstruction and ordering of society and the state without the Confucian teaching of the observance of te (morality, ethics, virtue).

In the second chapter, L. N. Boroch compares the texts of Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Hobbes, Mill, Spencer and other European thinkers with the interpretation of Liang Qichao. It shows what exactly attracted him to these works and how he interpreted the thoughts of these scholars, without being constrained by a literal translation. From what he read, he creatively identified those principles or provisions that could help in the renewal of the state and society as a whole, as well as an individual. At the same time, he focused the reader's attention on revealing new ideas that were unusual for the Chinese intellectual (for example, Rousseau's doctrine of the natural right to freedom). Sometimes Liang Qichao allowed himself to convey European ideas quite freely, so that they, according to L. N. Borokhov, acquired "some unusual features" (p. 120).

The result of creative communication with European thought and its interpretation in the spirit of revision of Confucian ideas was the theory of renewal created by Liang Qichao - an ethical system that thoroughly considered the problem of combining personal virtue with the virtue of the whole society. While working on this "theory of theories", Liang Qichao repeatedly revised his views, moving from praising republican rule to glorifying an enlightened monarchy, from recognizing the priority of the interests of the individual to thinking about the supremacy of the interests of the state. His views on the path of social and political reconstruction of China changed as a result of painful reflections on the fate of his homeland, on the vicissitudes of its historical path, which led to the humiliation of the once prosperous China by states that had overtaken it in their development. Liang Qichao also closely followed the events taking place in the world.

L. N. Borokh argues that understanding the global processes taking place at the beginning of the XX century (the strengthening of the struggle of the powers for the division of the world, the threat of dividing China), and acquaintance with European statism led Liang Qichao to make a difficult decision for him-to abandon the ideas that for several years he was completely absorbed in and which passionately promoted it. It was "under the pressure of European statism that Liang Qichao even more harshly assessed the potential capabilities of the Chinese to create a powerful state, taking into account the peculiarities of their national character and the established norms of everyday life" (p.166). His idea of the underdevelopment of the state in China as an independent organism that determines the life of all people living in it, was combined with the opinion that the people themselves are not ready for a full-blooded life, to enjoy the benefits of the state. It was a straight line from here

page 190

the way to the conclusion about the importance of "updating" the people, radically improving the qualities of every Chinese.

In those sections of the monograph where the process of creating the theory of "renewal" of the people is analyzed, L. N. Borokh notes the motivations of Liang Qichao's ideological evolution, his incessant thoughts on what is suitable and useful for building a strong and rich China, and what is unnecessary and harmful. Liang Qichao ultimately based this theory on Confucian ethics. However, unlike the traditional ones, they contained the imprint of ideals drawn from the works of European sociologists. As can be seen from the study, it was important for Liang Qichao to create an ethical system that can lead to the improvement of society and the prosperity of the state. From these positions, he reproached his compatriots for their lack of lofty interests, indifference to the idea of progress, and complete lack of understanding of national tasks.

Later, the great Chinese writer Lu Xin in an artistic form confirmed those unflattering reviews about his people, which were given in the writings of Liang Qichao. (It should be noted that today many Chinese democrats who are in opposition to the Communist Party and seek consistent political reform, democratizing the existing system, complain about the passivity of the Chinese, their indifference to political problems, disunity, and concern only for their family well-being.)

L. N. Borokh quite appropriately compares Liang Qichao's speeches with harsh criticism of his people and the impression he made on Chinese society with the impact that P. Ya.Chaadaev's "Philosophical Letters" made in Russia, which sounded like "a shot in the dark night" at that time (p. 196). Like the Russian philosopher, Liang Qichao uncompromisingly assessed the moral and civil state of Chinese society, the political and moral level of his people. In this way, he was very different from many Chinese thinkers, both before and after him, who worked on the problem of the relationship between the norms of general virtue and private virtue. It also remains relevant in modern China.

L. N. Boroch briefly examines the differences between Liang Qichao and his followers, on the one hand, and Sun Yat - sen and his associates, on the other. Touching upon this dispute, the author essentially agrees with those Chinese scholars who give the palm in understanding the peculiarities of the Chinese political culture not to revolutionaries, but to reformers. However, as she notes, in the last years of his life, Sun Yat-sen approached the position of Liang Qichao and began to talk about the unsuitability of the Chinese nation for democratic transformation.

On the whole, L. N. Borokh's monograph, which uses a wealth of concrete material to reveal the peculiarities of the formation of modern political ideology in China, burdened by Confucian traditions, makes a valuable contribution to understanding the processes taking place in this country today. The work quotes Liang Qichao's works quite profusely, which gives a good opportunity to get acquainted with the metaphorical nature of his language, full of artistic images and vivid comparisons, and thereby better understand what the scientist fascinated his contemporaries, why they literally reveled in his articles. Many interesting things are also contained in the notes, which complement the assessments and judgments that are given in the main body of the book.

Permanent link to this publication: