Abstract:
Although different in many ways, both Kang Youwei’s “two investigations” and Liao Ping’s “two reviews” were of historical termination of Confucian classics. Just as Liao’s studies of classics indicated the termination of classics in terms of classical theory, so Kang’s “two investigations” presented it politically. Confucian classics were utilized as a theoretical frame by Kang in his “two investigations” and, because they had received wholesome criticism since the West Han Dynasty, also as a theoretical weapon to criticize feudal despotism and advocate modern capitalism. Ironically, however, his attempt to realize his political purpose by means of studies of classics ended in failure following the failure of the Hundred Days of Reform, which showed that Confucian classics could not serve as a theoretical weapon to solve modern political problems.
