Thinker

Liang Qichao quotes

4 passages in English · 1873–1929 · Modern Chinese reform thought.

Overview

Liang Qichao (1873–1929) was a leading late-Qing and early-Republican intellectual who introduced Western political ideas and reshaped Chinese historiography and public opinion.

Main ideas

New historiography serves national awakening; liberty and civic virtue must be cultivated; cultural reform joins political change. Journalism is a philosophical-political practice.

Major works

  • essays on new historiography and civic education
  • Intellectual Trends in the Qing Period

Legacy

Liang is central to China’s intellectual transition to modernity and mass political culture.

Themes in this archive

Philosophy (3) · Responsibility (1)

  1. The two sayings I have found most useful in life are these: responsibility, and delight.… What I speak of today as respect for one's work is responsibility; delight in one's work is interest. I deeply believe that a reasonable human life should be like this.
  2. Every occupation has its interest — if only you keep at it, interest will naturally arise.
  3. If the youth are wise, the nation is wise; if the youth are prosperous, the nation is prosperous; if the youth are strong, the nation is strong.
  4. By “renewing the people” we do not mean abandoning all that is old to follow others. Renewal has two senses: to refine what we already have, and to supply what we lack.