The Bushido of China cover

The Bushido of China

Rating 4.0
Word count
60K words
Chapters
48

Tags

Summary

Liang Qichao wrote The Bushido of China in [month/year]. At this time Liang was [age] years old and, having been pursued by the Qing government after the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform, was living in exile in Japan.

He wrote this book to promote the martial spirit of the Chinese nation and to hold up the martial virtue of the forebears as a model for later generations.

He selected many famous figures from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and by commemorating their spirit of sacrifice—their readiness to stake their lives for personal honor or the interests of the state—he sought to awaken and renew the spirit and thought of the Chinese people.

Editor's review

Written during Liang Qichao's exile in Japan, *The Bushido of China* draws on the deeds of figures from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods to celebrate the spirit of sacrifice—the willingness to risk one's life for personal honor or the interests of the state—with the aim of reviving the martial spirit of the Chinese nation and holding up the martial virtue of earlier generations as a model for those who came after. Organized around individual figures, the book bears the unmistakable stamp of its era: a call to national salvation and an intellectual awakening. Readers will both feel the characteristic emotional force of Liang's argumentative prose and come to understand how modern intellectuals used ancient resources to reshape the national character. It is best read against the intellectual context of the late Qing and early Republic, attending both to how the author selects and evaluates his subjects and to the historical point of his advocacy of a "martial spirit." Suitable for readers interested in modern intellectual history, debates on national character, and stories of pre-Qin figures; it can serve as an entry point into Liang Qichao's thought.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers interested in Liang Qichao's thought and modern intellectual history
  • Readers concerned with discussions of national spirit and the martial spirit
  • Readers who enjoy stories of pre-Qin figures and biographical portraits
  • Students seeking background on the salvationist currents of the late Qing and early Republic

Not a good fit for

  • Readers expecting an objective, neutral, scholarly general history
  • Readers who want only light storytelling and no argumentative prose
  • Beginning readers unfamiliar with modern political classical Chinese

Reading tips

  1. First learn the background of the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform and Liang Qichao's exile in Japan, then read the main text.
  2. For each figure, note the author's criteria for selection and tone of evaluation, and sense his contemporary point.
  3. Read alongside works on pre-Qin history to compare the deeds, distinguishing historical fact from the author's commentary.
  4. After finishing, revisit the book's central thesis and consider what the "martial spirit" was aimed at in its time.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 蒋叙
  3. 杨叙
  4. 自序
  5. 凡例
  6. 孔子
  7. 曹沫
  8. 弘演
  9. 鬻拳
  10. 先轸 狼瞫
  11. 郑叔詹
  12. 先縠 栾书 郤至
  13. 庆郑 魏绛
  14. 李离
  15. 鉏麑 奋扬 子兰子
  16. 卞庄子 华舟 杞梁及其母
  17. 晏婴
  18. 公孙接 田开疆 古冶子
  19. 北郭骚及其友
  20. 齐太史及其三弟 南史氏
  21. 邢蒯瞆及其仆
  22. 程婴 公孙杵臼
  23. 伍子胥 江上渔父 溧阳女子
  24. 申包胥
  25. 要离
  26. 子囊
  27. 雍门子狄
  28. 田基
  29. 成公赵
  30. 申鸣
  31. 豫让
  32. 墨子 孟胜 徐弱
  33. 聂政 聂荣
  34. 赵武灵王
  35. 蔺相如
  36. 侯嬴 信陵君 朱亥
  37. 毛遂
  38. 鲁仲连
  39. 王歜
  40. 虞卿 平原君
  41. 缩高
  42. 荆轲 高渐离 燕太子丹 田光 樊於期
  43. 张良
  44. 项羽
  45. 田横及其客
  46. 樊哙
  47. 贯高 田叔 孟舒 赵午
  48. 朱家 剧孟 郭解

FAQ

What was the background to Liang Qichao's writing this book?
The book was written during Liang Qichao's exile in Japan. After the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform he was pursued by the Qing government and took refuge in Japan, where he invoked the martial virtue of Spring and Autumn and Warring States figures to call for a renewal of the national spirit and thought, with a clear intent of salvation and enlightenment.
What does "bushido" mean here?
The book does not discuss Japanese bushido; rather, it uses Spring and Autumn and Warring States figures to celebrate the spirit of sacrifice—the willingness to risk one's life for personal honor or the interests of the state—holding up the "martial virtue" of the Chinese nation's forebears as a model for later generations and promoting a martial spirit.
Is this a rigorous work of history?
It is closer to biographical portraits and political commentary that use the past to discuss the present; the selection and evaluation of figures serve the author's aim of promoting the martial spirit and reforming national character. Readers should distinguish historical narrative from the author's commentary and not treat it as a neutral scholarly general history.
Can I understand it without a background in modern history?
Yes, but it will be easier to grasp its contemporary point in invoking the ancients if you first learn about the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform and Liang Qichao's exile in Japan. Most of the figures are drawn from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, so it can also be read alongside works on pre-Qin history.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Liang Qichao Author · China · 1873–1929

Liang Qichao, courtesy name Zhuoru and pseudonym Rengong, was a native of Xinhui, Guangdong. He was a thinker, politician, historian, and man of letters of the late Qing and early Republican periods, and one of the leaders of the Hundred Days' Reform. He founded the newspapers Shiwu bao and Xinmin congbao, and advocated the "revolution in poetry" and the "revolution in fiction," exerting a profound influence on intellectual enlightenment and literary reform. In his later years he served as a tutor at the Tsinghua Institute of Chinese Studies, continuing academic research and teaching. The library holds 131 of his works, spanning categories such as examinations, comprehensive biography, classic works, historical reading, and Eastern philosophy. Representative works include A History of Chinese Scholarship in the Last Three Hundred Years, The Biography of Li Hongzhang, An Introduction to Qing Dynasty Scholarship, The New Citizen, and the supplemented collection of writings outside the Yinbingshi Collected Works. His writings cross history, philosophy, and political commentary; his prose is vigorous and fluent, his reasoning clear, and his work combines scholarly weight with strong appeal, making it important material for understanding the intellectual transformation of modern China.

More by the same author

Top rated in the same category