Seminar held to commemorate China's leading reformer
( 2003-10-14 00:20) (Xinhua)
Some 150 Chinese and overseas experts and scholars gathered in Tianjin, north
China, Monday to commemorate the 130th anniversary of birthday of Liang Qichao,
one of China's leading democratic reformers.
Together with 20 of Liang's
descendants, the experts, from the United States, France, Japan, and China's
Hong Kong and Taiwan, will attend a three-day academic seminar regarding Liang
and his contributions to modern China's social and cultural
developments.
More than 100 theses on Liang, his thoughts and his
contributions to the continuation and improvement of traditional Chinese
culture, will be discussed at the seminar.
At the end of 19th century,
intellectuals represented by Kang Youwei (1858-1927) and Liang Qichao
(1873-1929) launched a movement for bourgeois political reform, known as the
short-lived Reform Movement of 1898. They demanded that the system of absolute
monarchy be replaced by a constitutional monarchy and hoped that Qing Dynasty
Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908) would use his power to introduce political
reforms.
In 1898, the emperor accepted their proposals and issued a series of
decrees authorizing the reforms. But this reform was later stopped by
reactionaries led by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who put the emperor under house
arrest and took over the reins of government herself.
Liang lived in Tianjin
from 1915 to 1929. In order to commemorate the renowned politician, thinker and
scholar, Tianjin has invested 20 million yuan (2.4 million US dollars) in the
renovation of Liang's former residence and study.
A 14-million-word
collection of Liang's works is to be published soon in Tianjin.
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