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Overview Other names Life and dates Family Key source chapters Career and standing Places and affiliations Learning and skills Works and attributed material Events and relationships Assessments and attributes Source notes References in the histories
Overview Kang Youwei was a scholar and Reform Leader.
Identity Historical · Male
Other names Type English Chinese Pinyin
Changed name
Zuyi
祖詒
Zuyi
Courtesy name
Guangxia
廣廈
Guangxia
Alternate name
Gengsheng
更生
Gengsheng
Life and dates Death Age Attested activity AD 1927 丁卯民國十六年，1927
AD 1917 丁巳民國六年，1917
AD 1898 二十四年
AD 1898 二十四年
AD 1895 光緒二十一年
AD 1898 光緒二十四年
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AD 1911 宣統三年
AD 1924 甲子民國十三年，1924
Key source chapters
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 473
Volume 473 Biographies 260: Zhang Xun, Kang Youwei
30 passages
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 464
Volume 464 Biographies 251: Li Duanfen, Xu Zhijingzi, Ren Zhu, Chen Baozhen, Huang Zunxian, Ceng He, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong With: Tang Caichang, Lin Xu, Kang Guangren
15 passages
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 445
Volume 445 Biographies 232: Wu Kedu, Zhu Yixin, Tu Keshou, An Weijun, Wen Ti, Jiang Chunlin
8 passages
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 437
Volume 437 Biographies 224: Rong Lu, Wang Wenshao, Zhang Zhidong, Qu Hongji
2 passages
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 442
Volume 442 Biographies 229: Xu Shuming, Xue Yunsheng, Zong Shiyanxu, Zi, Hui Zhang, Wang Mingluan, Zhang Lin, Zhou Jiamei, Zhou Derun, Hu Yufen, Zhang Yinhuan
2 passages
Career and standing secretary in the Ministry of Works 工部主事
Appointed
vice president of the Palace Lectures Institute 弼德院副院長
Appointed
Zongli Yamen secretary on detached duty 總理衙門章京上行走
Appointed
Clerk 主事
AD 1898 二十四年 · Held
secretary in the Ministry of Works 工部主事
Held
punishment 獲譴
AD 1898 二十四年 · Punished
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Places and affiliations Qing 清
Relation Served
Polity Qing 清 · Relation ServedAt Nanhai, Guangdong 廣東南海 At Japan 日本 · Relation Exiled toAt Qingdao 青島 · Relation Died atOrganization Society to Protect the State 保國會 · Relation FounderWorks and attributed material Works many listed in s0114Book of Great Unity 大同書
Relation Author
his writings on reform 所著書籍
Relation Author
Inquiry into Confucius as a Reformer 孔子改制考
Relation Author
Inquiry into the Forged Classics of the Xin Learning 新學偽經考
Relation Author
Memorial · Author
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Events and relationships Discussed new policies with emperor
AD 1898 光緒二十四年 · Political · Advisor
Established Society to Protect the State
Political · Founder
Hundred Days' Reform
Political · Participant
In close contact with Zhang Yinhuang when reform proposals arose
Relation Associate of · Person Yinhuan (廕桓) Relation Teacher of · Person Kang Guangren (康廣仁)
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Assessments and attributes Assessment extraordinary natural gift; opened new intellectual currents · Mode historian-judgmentReferences in the histories
No matching passages.
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 436 Volume 436 Biographies 223: Shen Guifen, Li Hongzao, Weng Tonghe, Sun Yuwen · 1 passage
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 437 Volume 437 Biographies 224: Rong Lu, Wang Wenshao, Zhang Zhidong, Qu Hongji · 2 passages
是時上擢用主事康有為及知府譚嗣同等參預新政，議變法，斥舊臣，召直隸按察使袁世凱入覲，超授侍郎，統練兵。
The emperor was then promoting Kang Youwei, a secretary, and Tan Sitong, a prefect, among others to take part in the new policies; reform was debated, veteran ministers were pushed aside, and Yuan Shikai, Zhili surveillance commissioner, was summoned to court, given a leap promotion to vice minister, and placed in command of military training.
榮祿不自安，御史楊崇伊奏請太后再垂簾，於是太后复臨朝訓政，召榮祿為軍機大臣，以世凱代之，命查拿康有為，斬譚嗣同等六人於市，以上有疾，詔徵醫；
Uneasy at these developments, Rong Lu watched as Censor Yang Chongyi asked the empress dowager to resume regency behind the curtain; the empress dowager then took up government again, recalled Rong Lu as a Grand Councilor, put Yuan Shikai in his former post, ordered Kang Youwei arrested, and had Tan Sitong and five others executed in public; because the emperor was said to be ill, physicians were summoned by edict;
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 442 Volume 442 Biographies 229: Xu Shuming, Xue Yunsheng, Zong Shiyanxu, Zi, Hui Zhang, Wang Mingluan, Zhang Lin, Zhou Jiamei, Zhou Derun, Hu Yufen, Zhang Yinhuan · 2 passages
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 443 Volume 443 Biographies 230: Sun Jianai, Zhang Baixi, Tang Jingchong, Yu Shimei, Shen Jiaben · 1 passage
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 445 Volume 445 Biographies 232: Wu Kedu, Zhu Yixin, Tu Keshou, An Weijun, Wen Ti, Jiang Chunlin · 8 passages
御史宋伯魯、楊深秀聯名劾以守舊迂謬，阻撓新政，諭應騤明白回奏，覆奏稱珍惜名器，物色通才，並辭連工部主事康有為，請罷斥驅逐。
Censors Song Bolu and Yang Shenxiu jointly impeached him for conservatism and obstruction of the new policies; the throne ordered Xu to reply clearly, and in reply he spoke of cherishing offices and seeking able men, also implicating Kang Youwei of the Ministry of Works and asking that he be dismissed and driven out.
文悌以言官為人指使，黨庇報復，紊亂臺諫，遂上疏言：「康有為向不相識，忽踵門求謁，送以所著書籍，閱其著作，以變法為宗。
Wen Ti, holding that remonstrating officials were directed by others, engaged in factional shielding and revenge, and threw the censorate into disorder, therefore memorialized: "Kang Youwei was previously unknown to me when he suddenly came to my door seeking an audience and presented his writings; reading them, I found reform to be his doctrine.
乃知康有為之學術，正如漢書嚴助所謂以春秋為蘇秦縱橫者耳。
Thus Kang Youwei's learning is just as Yan Zhu in the Book of Han said of using the Spring and Autumn for Su Qin's vertical and horizontal alliances.
曾以此言戒勸康有為，乃不思省改，且更私聚數百人，在輦轂之下，立為保國會，日執途人而號之曰：'中國必亡，必亡！
I once admonished Kang Youwei with these words, yet he would not reflect and reform; instead he privately gathered several hundred men under the capital, established a Society to Protect the State, and daily seized passersby crying: 'China must perish, must perish!'
設使四民解體，大盜生心，藉此以集聚匪徒，招誘黨羽，因而犯上作亂，未知康有為又何以善其後？
Suppose the four classes dissolve and great robbers take heart; using this to gather bandits and entice partisans, and thereby rebel against superiors—who knows how Kang Youwei would then set things right?
曾令其將忠君愛國合為一事，勿徒欲保中國而置我大清於度外，康有為亦似悔之。
I once told him to join loyalty to the ruler and love of country in one matter and not merely wish to preserve China while setting our Great Qing outside consideration; Kang Youwei also seemed to repent.
以康有為一人在京城任意妄為，遍結言官，把持國事，已足駭人聽聞；
That Kang Youwei alone in the capital acted wantonly, bound censors everywhere, and controlled state affairs is already enough to shock the ear;
康有為之變法，何以異是？
How is Kang Youwei's reform different from this?
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 464 Volume 464 Biographies 251: Li Duanfen, Xu Zhijingzi, Ren Zhu, Chen Baozhen, Huang Zunxian, Ceng He, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong With: Tang Caichang, Lin Xu, Kang Guangren · 15 passages
維時康有為上書請變法，兼及興學。
About this time Kang Youwei submitted memorials calling for reform and for the expansion of education.
二十四年，密薦康有為及譚嗣同堪大用。
In the twenty-fourth year he secretly recommended Kang Youwei and Tan Sitong as men capable of high responsibility.
未幾，有為等敗，端棻自疏檢舉，詔褫職，戍新疆。
Before long Kang Youwei's party fell; Duanfen submitted a memorial denouncing himself, and an edict removed him from office and banished him to Xinjiang.
子仁鑄，時以編修督湘學，倡新學，書告致靖舉康有為。
His son Renzhu, then a compiler serving as Hunan's educational commissioner, promoted the new learning and wrote urging Zhijing to recommend Kang Youwei.
未幾，詔果求通才，於是致靖奏有為堪大用，並及梁啟超、黃遵憲等。
Soon an edict did call for broadly talented men; Zhijing then reported that Kang Youwei was fit for high office, and also named Liang Qichao, Huang Zunxian, and others.
會康有為言事數見效。
At that time Kang Youwei’s policy proposals had repeatedly shown results.
上令應騤自陳，奏上，劾康有為夤緣要津，請罷斥，詞連深秀，上不之詰也。
The Emperor ordered Xu Yingkui to explain himself; in his reply Xu impeached Kang Youwei for currying favor at key posts and asked that he be dismissed, implicating Shenxiu in the wording, but the Emperor did not pursue Shenxiu.
御史文悌劾深秀傳布有為所立保國會，並暴有為交通內外狀，德宗責以代人報復，反獲咎。
Censor Wenti impeached Shenxiu for disseminating the Baoguo Society founded by Kang Youwei and exposed Youwei's dealings inside and outside the court; Emperor Dezong rebuked Wenti for retaliating on another's behalf, and Wenti himself was punished.
時康有為倡言變法，先於京師立粵學會，以振厲士氣，而蜀學、浙學、陝學、閩學諸會繼之。
When Kang Youwei began calling for reform, he first founded the Guangdong Study Society in the capital to stir scholarly morale; the Sichuan, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, and Fujian societies followed.
康廣仁，名有溥，以字行，有為弟。
Kang Guangren, whose personal name was Youpu and who went by his courtesy name, was Kang Youwei's younger brother.
有為上書請改革，廣仁謂當先變科舉，庶人才可出。
When Youwei memorialized for reform, Guangren urged that the examinations be changed first so talent could emerge.
於是廣仁語有為：「今科舉既廢，宜且南歸興學專教育，俟養成多數有用才，數年後乃可云改革也。」
Guangren then told Youwei, "With the examinations gone, you should go south and devote yourself to education, train many useful men, and only after several years speak of reform again."
有為不忍去。
Youwei could not bring himself to leave.
及初聞變，廣仁復趣有為歸。
When news of the coup first came, Guangren again urged Youwei to flee.
有為走，廣仁被逮。
Youwei escaped; Guangren was arrested.
Draft History of Qing, Chapter 473 Volume 473 Biographies 260: Zhang Xun, Kang Youwei · 30 passages
康有為，字廣廈，號更生，原名祖詒，廣東南海人。
Kang Youwei, whose style name was Guangxia and sobriquet Gengsheng, was originally named Zuyi and came from Nanhai in Guangdong.
中日議款，有為集各省公車上書，請拒和、遷都、變法，格不達。
When the Sino-Japanese peace terms were negotiated, Kang gathered provincial examination candidates to submit a joint memorial requesting rejection of peace, transfer of the capital, and reform; it did not reach the throne.
二十四年，有為立保國會於京師，尚書李端棻，學士徐致靖、張百熙，給事中高燮曾等，先後疏薦有為才，至是始召對。
In the twenty-fourth year Kang established the Society to Protect the State in the capital; Minister Li Duanfen, Academicians Xu Zhijing and Zhang Baixi, Supervising Secretary Gao Xiezeng, and others successively memorialized recommending Kang's talent; only then was he summoned for audience.
有為極陳：「四夷交侵，覆亡無日，非維新變舊，不能自強。
Kang stated urgently: "The four barbarians press in on every side; ruin may come any day; without renewing the old order we cannot make ourselves strong.
有為曰：「就皇上現有之權，行可變之事，扼要以圖，亦足救國。
Kang said: "With the authority Your Majesty already possesses, carry out what can be changed, seize the essentials and plan accordingly, and that too is enough to save the state.
有為連條議以進，於是詔定科舉新章，罷四書文，改試策論，立京師大學堂、譯書局，興農學，獎新書新器，改各省書院為學校，許士民上書言事，諭變法。
Kang submitted proposals item by item; thereupon edicts fixed new examination regulations, abolished essays on the Four Books, changed the test to policy essays, established the Imperial University at the capital and a Translation Bureau, promoted agricultural studies, rewarded new books and new devices, converted provincial academies into schools, permitted scholars and commoners to submit memorials, and proclaimed reform.
舊臣疑懼，群起指責有為，御史文悌复痛劾之。
Old officials grew suspicious and fearful; they rose together to denounce Kang; Censor Wen Ti again memorialized bitterly against him.
上先命有為督辦官報，复促出京。
The emperor first ordered Kang to supervise the official gazette, then urged him to leave the capital.
上雖親政，遇事仍承太后意旨，久感外侮，思變法圖強，用有為言，三月維新，中外震仰。
Although the emperor personally ruled, in affairs he still followed the empress dowager's intent; long feeling foreign humiliation, he thought to reform and strengthen the state, adopted Kang's words, and for three months carried out the Hundred Days' Reform, astonishing court and country alike.
以有為結黨營私，莠言亂政，褫職逮捕。
Kang was charged with forming factions for private gain and wicked words disturbing government; his office was stripped and he was ordered arrested.
有為先走免，逮其弟廣仁及楊銳等下獄，並處斬。
Kang fled first and escaped; his younger brother Guangren and Yang Rui and others were seized and imprisoned, and all were executed.
復以有為大逆不道，構煽陰謀，頒硃諭宣示，並籍其家，懸賞購捕。
He was again charged with great treason and fomenting secret plots; a vermilion rescript was promulgated, his household goods were confiscated, and a reward was posted for his capture.
有為已星夜出都航海南下，英國兵艦迎至吳淞。
Kang had already fled the capital by night and sailed south by sea; a British warship received him at Wusong.
時傳上已幽廢，且被弒，有為草遺言，誓以身殉，將蹈海。
At the time it was rumored that the emperor had been secretly deposed and even assassinated; Kang drafted a final testament, swore to die for him, and was about to cast himself into the sea.
英人告以訛傳，有為始脫走，亡命日本，流轉南洋，遍遊歐、美各國。
The English told him it was a false rumor; Kang then escaped, fled to Japan, wandered through the Southern Seas, and traveled throughout Europe and America.
有為聞之，首發其謀，清議爭阻，外人亦起責言，兩江總督劉坤一言「君臣之分已定，中外之口難防」，始罷廢立。
When Kang heard of it he was the first to expose the plot. Qing faction memorialists disputed and blocked it, foreigners also protested, and Liangjiang governor-general Liu Kunyi said, "The bond between sovereign and minister is already settled; opinion at home and abroad cannot be silenced." Only then was the plan to depose him abandoned.
拳匪起，以滅洋人、殺新黨為號，太后思用以立威，遂肇大亂，凡與有為往還者，輒以康黨得奇禍。
The Boxers rose under the banner of destroying foreigners and killing reformers. The empress dowager hoped to use them to assert her authority, and great chaos followed. Anyone who had dealt with Kang was labeled a Kang partisan and met extraordinary punishment.
甲子民國十三年，1924，移宮事起，修改優待條件，有為馳電以爭，略曰：「優待條件，系大清皇帝與民國臨時政府議定，永久有效，由英使保證，並用正式公文通告各國，以昭大信，無異國際條約。
In the jiazi year, the thirteenth year of the Republic (1924), when the palace was to be moved and the terms of favorable treatment were revised, Kang sent an urgent telegram of protest. In essence he wrote: "The terms of favorable treatment were agreed between the Qing emperor and the Republic's provisional government. They were meant to remain permanently valid, guaranteed by the British minister and formally notified to all nations—no different from an international treaty.
明年，移蹕天津，有為來覲謁，以進德、修業、親賢、遠佞為言。
The following year, when the court moved to Tianjin, Kang came to audience, urging the emperor to advance in virtue, cultivate learning, draw near the worthy, and keep the crafty at a distance.
丁卯民國十六年，1927，有為年七十，賜「壽」，手疏泣謝，歷敘恩遇及一生艱險狀，悲憤動人。
In the dingmao year, the sixteenth year of the Republic (1927), Kang turned seventy and was granted the character "Longevity." He wrote a tearful memorial of thanks, recounting the emperor's kindness and the hardships of his life—its grief and indignation deeply moving.
時有為懷今感舊，傷痛已甚，哭笑無端。
By then Kang, brooding on the present and grieving the past, was in such pain that he wept and laughed without reason.
宣統三年，鄂變作，始開黨禁，戊戌政變獲咎者悉原之，於是有為出亡十餘年矣，始謀歸國。
In the third year of Xuantong (1911), when the Hubei uprising broke out, the ban on political associations was lifted and all those punished in the Wuxu coup were pardoned. Kang Youwei, who had been in exile for more than ten years, now planned to return home.
時民軍決行共和，廷議主立憲，而有為創虛君共和之議，以「中國帝制行已數千年，不可驟變，而大清得國最正，歷朝德澤淪浹人心，存帝號以統五族，弭亂息爭，莫順於此」。
At the time the revolutionary armies resolved on a republic while court debate favored constitutional monarchy, Kang Youwei advanced the plan of a republic under a powerless monarch, arguing: "China's imperial system has lasted for thousands of years and cannot be changed abruptly; yet the Great Qing gained the realm most legitimately, and the virtue of successive reigns has permeated the people's hearts. Preserving the imperial title to unite the five peoples and still contention is the most fitting course."
有為知空言不足挽阻，思結握兵柄者以自重，頗遊說當局，數年無所就。
Kang knew that words alone could not hold back the tide. He sought alliances with military leaders to strengthen his position and lobbied those in power for years, but achieved nothing.
丁巳民國六年，1917，張勛復辟，以有為為弼德院副院長。
In the dingsi year, the sixth year of the Republic (1917), Zhang Xun restored the monarchy and made Kang Youwei vice president of the Palace Lectures Institute.
勳議行君主立憲，有為仍主虛君共和。
Zhang argued for constitutional monarchy; Kang still advocated a republic under a powerless monarch.
事變，有為避美國使館，旋脫歸上海。
When the restoration collapsed, Kang took refuge in the American legation, then escaped and returned to Shanghai.
有為天資瑰異，古今學術無所不通，堅於自信，每有創論，常開風氣之先。
Kang possessed an extraordinary natural gift and mastered learning ancient and modern. Confident in his convictions, he often opened new intellectual currents whenever he advanced a novel doctrine.
唯丁巳復辟，甲子移官，實為遜位後兩大案，而勳與有為又與清室相終始，亦不可遂沒其人。
Only the dingsi restoration of 1917 and the jiazi palace removal of 1924 were truly the two great cases after abdication. Zhang Xun and Kang Youwei were bound up with the Qing house from first to last, and their lives likewise cannot simply be erased from the record.
此卷是上卷移來的勞乃宣傳、沈曾植傳，無張勛傳、康有為傳。
In this edition the chapter contains only the biographies of Lao Naixuan and Shen Zengzhi carried over from the previous scroll, with no biographies of Zhang Xun or Kang Youwei.