Liang Qichao (1873–1929)

Abstract Liang Qichao was easily the most popular, if not the most influential, Chinese intellectual of the twentieth century. As China's first‐generation modern thinker, Liang embodied the transformation of a traditional Confucian literati whose raison d’être could no longer be assumed under the pressure of mounting political crisis in late nineteenth‐century China. Along the way Liang proved himself to be a man of many intellectual and literary talents. In addition to classical Confucian scholarship, Liang's published works cover a wide range of subjects, including Chinese philosophy, Chinese and world history, historiography, Buddhism, and western thought. He was a journalist who was instrumental in introducing the modern press to China. As a prolific essayist and an occasional novelist, Liang wrote for a broad audience, thereby pioneering the modernization of the Chinese language.