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Why did Liang Qichao choose to establish The Reformer China in Macao? |
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See answer below. |
Kang Youwei wrote a poem about his experience travelling in Hong Kong and Macao in 1885. In the poem collected in his Mr Nanhai’s Collection of Poetry, he depicted “Hong Kong—what a picture of vast territory and sea! Macao—how like a landscape at dusk! If you ask what I saw in these two cities, I would say bizarre circuses and barbaric clothes.”
Liang Qichao wrote to Wang Kangnian (汪康年) and Wang Yinian (汪詒年) in his hometown Xinhui County (新會), Guangdong Province, in October 1896. In the letter, Liang told the Wang brothers that over ten thousand taels of silver was raised as start-up funds to establish a newspaper in Macao. The newspaper was planned to follow Chinese Progress (《時務報》) to publish every ten days. He knew he would be asked to serve as the chief editor, but he could not promise anything before he came back from Shanghai (上海) with a confirmed schedule. He continued that he planned to leave for Macao for a short stay on the day he wrote the letter to meet up with his newspaper associates. When Liang arrived in Macao, he and his associates including Kang Guangren (康廣仁) discussed the establishment of the newspaper. At first, they named the newly issued newspaper Kong See Boo Poe (《廣時務報》) but later changed it to The Reformer China.
Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and other members of the Reformer Camp were forced to exile abroad after the 1898 Wuxu Coup. They then set up the Chinese Empire Reform Association in Canada a year later. Headquartered in Macao, the association integrated The Reformer China in Macao and The China Discussion (《清議報》) in Yokohama, Japan. Its plan was to rescue Emperor Guangxu, who was placed under house arrest by Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后), by force. Therefore, Macao became an important hub of communication, fund and weaponry transfer for reformers at home and abroad. An association member Tang Caichang (唐才常) planned to take the advantage of the opening when the Eight-Nation Alliance marched to Beijing (北京) to lead the Independent Army for an uprising in Wuhan (武漢). However, the rescue plan did not come true as the promised funds from the association were delayed and the plan was later exposed. Although the association formed its own army overseas, but it did not help much. The public turned to support the revolutionaries when seeing repeated failures of the Qing’ reform movements. The Reformer China was suspended in 1901.
The Reformer Camp attached importance to both establishing newspapers and promoting education. Chen Zibao, a student of Kang Youwei, began to run schools by founding Mengxue College in 1899. To make learning easier for children, he adopted pai-hua (白話), a more comprehensible form of written Chinese based on modern colloquial, and common sayings in teaching. Moreover, the fact that his schools admitted girls was a great breakthrough in promoting women’s education. Chen moved the college to Hong Kong and renamed it Zibao School in 1918. Numerous talents in Hong Kong and Macao were cultivated by his school, including Xian Yuqing (冼玉清), Tsang Pik-shan (曾璧山), and Liu Fung-kei (廖奉基). Many Zibao School graduates devoted themselves to education in the Guangdong area, Hong Kong, and Macao like their teachers.
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Why did Liang Qichao choose to establish The Reformer China in Macao? |
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After issuing Chinese Progress in 1896 in Shanghai, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao found it necessary to publish a newspaper with a similar operation model in the Guangdong area to promote reformist thoughts. In addition to its geographical location, Liang chose Macao for its many translation talents who could help render Western news and articles into Chinese, and more importantly, the financial support from the rich merchant Ho Lin Vong. Their newspaper The Reformer China set up at no. 4 Rua do Campo, Macao, started publishing in 1897. Its articles ranged from reformist ideas promotion and translation of Western news and current affairs, attracting many readers from South China and overseas. |