| Abstrakt: |
Abstract: The article presents the ideas of Liang Qichao2 (1873–1929) published in the first volume of his new journal Xinmin congbao (1902). After summarizing his wellknown concept of the “renovation of the people,” it focuses on his simultaneously published presentation of “new thought” (xin xueshu). Liang Qichao’s notion that new thought was indispensable for the transformation of China into a strong and modern nation was derived from a simplified image of the history of European scientific progress as it was presented in the West during the nineteenth century. Liang´s knowledge about Western progress was largely derived from Japanese sources including translations from English of popular books on the topic. Liang was particularly fond of the theory of evolution, understood as a universal law applicable to society, including the struggle between nations. In this understanding, he particularly admired the British sociologist Benjamin Kidd. In the conclusion of the article, Liang Qichao´s ideas about the symbiosis of traditional Chinese culture with new thought imported from the West is briefly discussed, as well as some general issues of the nature of intercultural contacts between China and the West in the early twentieth century. |
