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How Did Kang Youwei Influence Chinese Culture

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Kang Youwei was generally seen in two very different ways throughout Chinese history. The first view of Youwei consists of a revolutionary man who loved Confucianism, but humiliating defeats of China by the West and Japan, turned him towards a constitutional monarchy and Chinese nationalism. Unfortunately, the negative view of Youwei in China, came from his posturing in leadership, self-importance and views detrimental to Chinese society of the time. He was the first real opposition to the Qing Dynasty and how it adversely ruled over the people of China, with little regard for their welfare. This seemed to be an ongoing dynamic in Chinese history, monarchy first and people last! Regardless of how Chinese history, portrays Kang Youwei, it is evident, he did not appreciate the treatment of China from the outside world or the Chinese government. “In the Dà Tóng Shu, Kang describes a utopian world, the Dà Tóng itself. He envisions …show more content…

With the order of capture and execution looming over his head, he become more relentless in creating a new and improved China for the future, and motivated Chinese people living abroad to improve their status and cooperation amongst one another. Kang Youwei naively pushed his ideas of reformation to a monarchy unwilling to listen or execute, allowing common people to have a say in governmental issues. For this reason, many historians believe his actions during the “Hundred Days of Reform” not only got his brother executed but many great future reformists that could have helped China tremendously. Unfortunately, this is also where many historians believe Youwei pushed his own agenda for promotion and self-importance. The movement persuaded greatly by Kang Youwei’s dealings with the naïve and inexperienced emperor, did not come with a plan of action but merely idle

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