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How were Wang Tao’s reform ideas formed? What role did Hong Kong play in it? |
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See answer below. |
Wang Tao was a famous thinker in modern China. He was also a political commentator on reformism during the late Qing period. In 1849, he was invited by a British missionary to work in Shanghai (上海), where he translated and compiled English books for 13 years, and got to learn about the social science of Western society. He was wanted by the Qing authority for intending to contact the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In 1862, he took refuge in Hong Kong, where he helped the British missionary James Legge translate ancient Chinese books into English. He was later invited by Legge to translate books in Britain. He took the opportunity to visit Britain and countries such as France, and studied how these countries became strong and powerful. After gaining insights from his trips, Wang founded the Universal Circulating Herald in Hong Kong in 1874. He then had a field trip in Japan in 1879 and returned to Shanghai in 1884. In the many books Wang wrote, he put forward influential ideas in reforming aspects such as politics, economy, society, and culture.
Wang Tao was considered the founder of the political commentary in the Chinese press as he wrote a lot of political commentaries in Hong Kong newspapers. In 1875, he published three famous political treatises in Hong Kong regarding reform and self-strengthening. He was the first person to advocate reform in modern Chinese history, which came 18 years earlier than Zheng Guanying’s (鄭觀應) Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity (《盛世危言》), and 23 years earlier than the Hundred Days’ Reform led by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao (梁啟超). According to historian Lo Hsiang-lin’s (羅香林) research, Kang travelled to Hong Kong in 1879, during which Wang was the Chief Editor of the Universal Circulating Herald and he wrote a lot of political commentaries on reform. Therefore, Kang’s reform ideas were likely to be influenced by Wang. In 1894, Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) visited Wang. Wang helped him modify his petition to Li Hongzhang (李鴻章), which was published in A Review of the Times (《萬國公報》). Wang had a great contribution to reforming modern China, and Hong Kong played a very important role in it.
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How were Wang Tao’s reform ideas formed? What role did Hong Kong play in it? |
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Wang Tao lived in Hong Kong for about 20 years. He witnessed the changes in Hong Kong and saw how it advanced. While assisting James Legge in translating Chinese classics into English, he had the opportunity to visit countries such as Britain and France. These experiences nurtured his reform ideas. Once wanted by the Qing authority, Wang took refuge in Hong Kong, from where he set out his overseas trips. He also ran a newspaper and published many political commentaries in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was crucial for Wang in developing reform ideas. |