Before we find out, we might as well learn about the origin between Zhang Taiyan and Kang Youwei:
Zhang Yan hated Manchu rule because his ancestors and parents had nationalism. 1895, he was very excited when he heard that Kang Youwei "wrote a letter on the bus". He immediately sent 16 yuan to Kang Youwei's "Strong Society" and applied for membership as a "disciple of Kangmen". On the other hand, Zhang Taiyan, a master of park studies, fundamentally opposed Kang Youwei's theory of "new learning", especially his famous "learning by imitating Confucian classics" and "reforming Confucianism".
Later, Zhang Taiyan joined Liang Qichao's current affairs and witnessed the words and deeds of Kangmen disciple Zan. He was even more angry and said angrily, "Can Kang Youwei compare with Confucius?" Then I parted ways with the times. Although he joined Liang Qichao's Xinmin Cong Bao during his exile in Japan, and once tried to reconcile the relationship between Sun Yat-sen's revolutionaries and Kang Youwei's royalists, he was still extremely dissatisfied with Kang Youwei's restoration of royalists. At the age of 70, Kang Youwei specially presented a satirical book "The country will die, the veteran will die".
The background of Zhang Taiyan's refutation of Kang Youwei's revolutionary theory is that Kang Youwei published a book "Answering the Chinese Revolution in North and South" overseas, expounding his position against all-round revolution and advocating constitutional protection for the emperor. It is pointed out that constitutionalism is easy, revolution is difficult, constitutionalism is beneficial and revolution is harmful; It can only be constitutionalism, not revolution. Therefore, fundamentally speaking, Zhang Taiyan wrote articles to refute Kang Youwei's fallacies, clarify people's thoughts, and publicize revolutionary thoughts at the same time. Specifically, it can be divided into the following points:
First, whether Manchu and Han belong to the same clan. Kang Youwei pointed out that the Chinese nation has been unified, and quoted the biography of Xiongnu, saying that Spring and Autumn Annals came from. "Historically, Qiang, Xianbei and other ethnic groups changed their surnames to 96, while Luo, Yi and Guang in the south of the Yangtze River had Han and Xia surnames. I am afraid there is no way to re-examine their surnames and eliminate them. " It is pointed out that the stone, Qiang and Xianbei in the north, Luo, Fujian and Guangxi in the south all live together with the Central Plains people, and the races are difficult to distinguish.
In this regard, Zhang Taiyan believes that "modern racial discrimination is limited by historical ethnic groups, not natural ethnic groups." He also said that if it is natural, then' six continents and five colors, who can't think of one?' Most importantly, this chapter strictly points out the difference between Luo, Min and Guang and Manchu, points out that Luo, Min and Guang are "naturalized Han Chinese, not China people", and puts forward "Is Manchuria a naturalized Han Chinese today?" Are there any Han people in the mausoleum system? " The reason why Manchu revered Confucius and pursued Confucianism was just "the skill of the south, the plan of the ignorant."
In addition, Kang Youwei also pointed out that at that time, everyone was used to arguing about clothes, but if you want to change back to the clothes of the Song and Ming dynasties, you will feel uncomfortable. Finally, Zhang Taiyan retorted that long-term compulsion, study, sexual development and self-discipline are not enough to determine right or wrong. It is also pointed out that during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, everyone had hair, but in less than 10, when Xiang Jun broke the Taiping Army and had to have a haircut, everyone had "relatives and friends, but for the first time, he felt that his hair was pointed and strangely shaped". In this way, it can be proved that clothing debate is just a forced habit, not assimilation. Finally, "Man Zhan has his own teeth, which dogs despise." If it's long-term, it's inaccessible. "There is a saying that is extremely ironic.
Second, whether Manchu rulers are friendly and equal to Han Chinese. Kang Youwei pointed out that just as Russia ruled Poland and Britain ruled India, as long as the people paid rent and taxes, they had no right to rule. Man and Han were equal in Qing Dynasty, and Shen, Li, Weng, Sun, Zeng, Zuo and Li were ministers of Han Dynasty. As for political corruption, it is not unique to the Qing dynasty, but inherited by the Han, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. More specifically, it points out that "the sacred ancestors established a whipping method, and Nadine was on the ground, and this difference will be restored forever." Today, Tang and Yu are nameless places, unprecedented. "
As for the equality between Manchu and Han, Zhang Taiyan simply pointed out that Zeng Zuo was always just a buffer zone and did not participate in internal affairs. Even if the Taiping Army was defeated, he was a "cabinet in name only". Fu Kang 'an, the Manchu, was defeated too late and was named the king of Beizi County. Regarding the method of flogging, this chapter puts forward that "although there is no tax on fame, it is better than confession". When "Mi Nan" needs to be requisitioned as a garrison, it is still levied with "good reputation" knowing that the people are dissatisfied.
Since then, Zhang Taiyan has put forward a very interesting statement. The original text is, "A few southern expeditions are not as good as Hengshan Mountain, so they have the reputation of being gentle and gentle in Yao, Shun and Tang, which makes the lucky bad guys gather indirectly, better than the miners who increase taxes." In other words, Kangxi Qianlong visited the south many times, and the image of being close to the people seems to be comparable to that of Yao and Shun. In the process of welcoming them to patrol, the villains collected even more wealth than raising taxes. Zhuang sheng has a saying: jealous people will be angry and happy. The name is not worthy of the name, and it is mixed.
3. Is the Manchu monarch really willing to make a constitution? Here, the failure of the reform movement led by Kang Youwei became a natural goal. "As for modern times, people have long felt the reform movement of 1898. It is said that the politics of Manchuria is unprecedented for all countries in the world. Alas! The land in the city is unprecedented! " He also pointed out that as long as the emperor "regards heaven as nothing", he can talk about the constitution. From a historical point of view, Guangxu supported reform at that time. "Its traces are open, and its heart only protects my strength." Zhang believes that human feelings are loyal. "If the husband is the master of the so-called saint, then he is not far from human feelings. If he can lose the Huang family and give up all donations to benefit the Han people? "
The chapter also pointed out that even if Kang Youwei said that the emperor had never seen the Han Dynasty, the new law was not successful, which was a matter of the emperor's personal ability. Since there is no genius like Peter the Great of Russia, how can we expect a person to complete the New Deal?
In fact, at that time, the government had implemented the New Deal, followed the example of constitutional countries and set up the upper house and the lower house. However, in Zhang Taiyan's view, this is only a form, not a reality. It is in the upper house with decision-making power. "Who is it?" Royal family, prince, humble position is already; If it is noble, it is inner and outer Mongolia; If he were a monk, he would protect the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. "Obviously, this has nothing to do with the Han people. Later, this pen pointed out that the homeland of Manchuria had long been taken away by the Russians. His words were sharp, and he said, "If the husband regards this landless man as the master of the Han Dynasty, he regards the sinner as a prison and the king as a servant!"! '
Fourth, the revolution is bleeding, but can constitutionalism be avoided? One of the main reasons why Kang Youwei advocates constitutionalism but not revolution is that "for a long time, he thought the revolution was miserable, the blood flowed like a river, and the dead were numb and could not die." This chapter cites the examples of Britain, Austria, Germany and Italy, and points out that constitutional government must go through several civil reforms in order to obtain the right to freely discuss politics. Regarding Kang's "monarchical power reform", Zhang thinks that "consolidating monarchical power is also autocratic and non-constitutional", and draws the conclusion that "rivers of blood make the dead numb, which is the inevitable result of constitutionalism"
Zhang Taiyan believes that compared with the revolution, constitutionalism has a dilemma, which lacks both top-down talents and bottom-up public opinion. However, this revolution obviously suffered setbacks.
Kang Youwei pointed out: "China people today have ambiguous axioms and ancient customs." After the revolution, I was destined to fight every day and drag out an ignoble existence every day. How can we reform and save the country and rectify internal governance! "Zhang sneer at a way is there only one person in the world, the whole world is not beautiful? He also said that it is precisely because the people's wisdom has not been developed that it is necessary to strengthen the people's wisdom in the form of revolution. As for Kang Youwei's Today's Speech Revolutionist, either foreigners are invited to carry weapons, or foreigners are invited to train, or they are signed with foreigners, or foreigners are invited to ask teachers. "This chapter says," Today's revolution has to link snakes with foreign countries. Although it is very special, it still needs outsiders to intervene. " For example, when Japan overthrew the criticism of the Tokugawa era, some French people proposed to rectify the chaotic situation.
In addition to refuting the above viewpoints one by one, Zhang Taiyan also spent a lot of space commenting on Kang Youwei personally, mainly involving the relationship between Kang and the royal family of the Qing Dynasty and the change of Kang's attitude towards the revolutionary party. Finally, he hopes that "if you always regret it, you must look forward to the internal resources and look at the status quo from the outside." He was called "Xiao Wei and Su Long" in Henan Opera, and his disciples talked more about revolutionaries than reformists. "
Judging from the above viewpoints refuted by Zhang Taiyan, the first point is obviously inconsistent with today's viewpoint. Fifty-six famous families have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Although their clothes and braids are different, they are all members of greater China.
Second, historical issues are difficult to study carefully. Zhang's sentence "it is difficult for people to be happy, but it is also difficult to die" can probably explain one point. However, Zhang Taiyan put forward an influential point here, that is, Kangxi and Gan Long won the reputation of being close to the people through their southern tour, but they didn't know that the losses they brought to the people in this process might be greater than the benefits. This is worth pondering!
The facts mentioned in the third chapter are obvious and irrefutable, because the failure of the Kang Reform occurred first and was blocked by the Qing court. This is a natural goal, so it is no wonder that Zhang Taiyan will attack on a large scale.
The fourth one is very interesting. At this point, this chapter seems to be written more for the purpose of attack, which shows that his Chinese level is high, his reasoning is chaotic, and even contradicts many of his own views. For example, he said that he was not sure whether there were great talents like Napoleon and Washington in the revolutionary party. In his "The Customs of Teacher Taiyan", he talked about his disappointment with the revolution at that time more than once. He said that although there are many revolutions, few can achieve great things. Including Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing and various warlords. In Zhang's view, they are not enough to undertake major responsibilities and blind strategies. For another example, Zhang refuted Kang's statement that the revolution introduced foreign troops. One of his greatest dissatisfaction with Sun Yat-sen is his constant collusion with foreign troops for the sake of revolution.
In fact, Kang Youwei put forward that "after the revolution, there must be a Japanese struggle". In the later historical development, it has been proved that the warlords fought for many years until nearly half a century later, and the people suffered the most. Li Ao praised Kang Youwei as a "prophet" in his masterpiece Fayuan Temple, but he was born at the wrong time. At least in the prediction of revolution, Kang Youwei achieved "prediction".
Mr. Zhang Taiyan is of course a great revolutionary, and his independent personality in the revolution is admirable, but the revolution is still constitutional and cannot be judged by our generation. Perhaps as Dai Yan said, there is a lack of a great genius here.