Research
A Research on Chang Chiens Reform ideas
Chang Chien (1853-1926) was a native of Nant'ung, Kiangsu. In spite of the Various works on Chang Chien, which testify to the significance of his role in modern China, Chang Chien's Reform ideas is still not well-researched. The purposes of this paper are firstly, to analyze Chang Chien's Reform ideas systematically and clearly in the hope that it may become a useful reference for researchers on modern Chinese political thought, and secondly, to stimulate scholars for further research. This paper depends more on basic source materials rather than second-hand data. Among various source materials, Chang Chien's Diary, The Nine Records of Chang Chien and The Complete Work of Chang Chien are the most important. Chang Chien's Reform ideas may be summarized as follows:1 taking notice of both economic basis and superstructure; 2 elitism; 3 pragmatism; 4 concept of limited change; 5 gradualism; 6 golden means; and 7 government by the people.
On Chang Chienas Change from a Constitutional Monarchist to a Republican — Political Thought with Flexibility as the Underlying Reason
Chang Chien was born on July 1st in 1853 in Haimen Kiangsu and died on August 24th in 1926 in Nant’ung Kiangsu. In spite of his extraordinary enthusiasm in the promotion of a constitutional monarchy, Chang Chien changed from a constitutional monarchist to a republican within less than one month after the 1911 Revolution. Why did he change? This is a significant topic for discussion. So far lots of scholars have done research on this topic; however, the answers to this question have not been completely discovered yet. My finding in this paper contends that though reasons leading to Chang Chien’s change were complicated, the underlying reason could be attributed to his political thought with flexibility that industry, education and self-government were able to be achieved under whether a constitutional monarchy or a republic to save China. It would be unfair to attribute Chang Chien's change only to his personal ambition to maintain his property, his prestige, or to attain political power. Essentially, nit was also due to his pragmatic attitude and his political thought with flexibility which allow him to work out industry, education, and self-government for China whether under a constitutional monarchy or, a republic.
