3 Question Answer & A Debate Paper
coco666
Lecture14ReformIdeasofLiang.pdf
Democracy
• Democracy is a political form of government in which governing power is derived from the people, either by direct referendum (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy).
Democracy
• Ancient Greece • Modern Western Nations • Late Qing China
Democracy in Ancient Greece
• The term comes from the Greek: (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was coined from (dêmos) "people" and "power”
• in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens following a popular uprising in 508 BC.
Plato’s Critique
• People are inherently Different • Leading the Tyranny of the majority: Not a
good system
Representative Democracy
• The English Contribution • Age of Enlightenment • The American and the French Revolutions
A Summary
• Democracy as an Idea • Democracy as a Practice
– Separation of Branches of Power – Constituion
Late Imperial Chinese Government and “Democracy”?
• The Imperial Bureaucracy – Emperor – Bureaucracy
Imperial palace - Beijing
Tomb of First Qin Emperor
Reform Thoughts of Liang Qichao
• Liang Qichao and Democracy: the idea of Minquan
• Liang’s Democracy in relation to his other Reform Thoughts
– Nationalism – Democracy (Minquan) – New People: renewing the people
Liang Qichao
• Politician • Journalist
– New Citizen Journal (Xinmin Congbao 新⺠民叢報) – Role of the Newspaper
• Historian • Translator • Poet and Novelist • Educator
Reform Ideas of Liang Qichao
• Nationalism • Democracy (Minquan: people’s rights) • Renewing the people
Nation
• A nation is a group of people who share culture, ethnicity and language, often possessing or seeking its own independent government.
Liang’s Ideas
• Motive: Saving the Country – Promoting Nationalism
• How to do so? – Making Sure people Have Political Rights.
• How to make sure they are qualified to be Citizens? – Public Education – Newspapers – Public Virtue
Liang’s Impact
• These things begin with Liang and became an enduring feature in China.
Four classes of Chinese society (Idealized Version)
• Shi ⼠ – gentry, literati • Nong 農 - peasants • Gong ⼯ - artisans • Shang 商 – merchants
New Social Groups
• Merchants and their changed status • New Intellectuals • New Military men • Urban Proletariat • Women
Merchants (Gentry-turned merchant)
New Military Men
