Approaching Modern Knowledge via Japan: Liang Qichao’s Efforts

Chinese and Japanese started to reverse their respective status beginning in the mid-19th-century when Japanese became the premier medium to disseminate Western learning in East Asia. Growing numbers of Chinese began to learn Japanese as a means to acquire modern knowledge. Liang Qichao discovered Japan as a source of “information” only by the end of 1896. Under the influence of his teacher Kang Youwei, Liang gradually realized Japan’s significance as a producer of modern knowledge. He tried to master Japanese himself and, using his popularity, called on his compatriots to learn the language and obtain new knowledge from Japanese books. This paper reconstructs and analyzes Liang’s efforts at promoting Japanese between 1896 and 1902