China and the West

Hou Hongxun über Liang, Qichao : Liang's flair for writing in a popular and vernacular vein, he used his writing to introduce to the Chinese the teachings of individuals such as Montesquieu and Rousseau. His political and legal thought was influence to a rather great degree by their teachings. Montesquieu's L'esprit des loix had become, subsequent to its publication, the 'model for the reforming of the system in many counries, and its contribution is no less than that of Rousseau’s works. With the influence of Montesquieu's teaching, Liang emphasized greatly the role of law. He considered the question of whether or not law was developed as the principal standard by which human beings and animals or beasts can be distinguished from one another and by which civilization can be differentiated from barbarism. He believed that 'rule by personal goodness' (ren zhi) is inferior to 'rule by law' (fa zhi). He praised Montesquieu's theory of the division and separation of powers, saying that it was 'truly worthy of being the root of the establishment of government'. He believed that the implementation of the tripodal system of the three powers was the 'principal source of the effectiveness and codification of governmental order' in the Western countries. Furthermore, he also repeatedly described the necessity to carry out a system of constitutional monarchy in China. He said that if China is to be strong and prosperous, it would have to implement a system of constitutional monarchy which is to have its foundation in the separation of the three powers. From arguing that China must carry out a constitutional monarchy, he withdrew to a position that emphatically advocated China must first carry out something he called 'enlightened despotism' ; from enthusiastically calling for Rousseau's Contrat social, 'hoping for its coming eastward', he retreated to an attitude of criticizing it, claiming that 'it has failed in every country where it has been applied'. In the past, Liang had acclaimed Montesquieu's theory of the separation of the three powers as 'the model for the reforming of the political system in all subsequent ages' ; now he began to attack it, saying that 'it is most surely not to be realized' in China, and even saying that if China were to carry out a system of the separation of the three powers, there would be 'imponderable danger'.
Liang Qichao introduced successively Montesquieu's theory of the separation of the three powers in No 3-4 (1902) der Xin min cong bao, commenting that this was Montesquieu’s 'immortal insight, a creative thought that shall stand for all time', that it was 'the creation and estalishment of the politics of freedom' by the state, and a 'model form of government' that guarantees the 'right of freedom' of the citizen.