The nation, evolution, and transformation: the new ideas of Wang Tao

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THE NATION, EVOLUTION, AND TRANSFORMATION:
THE NEW IDEAS OF WANG TAO

by
Gregory David Brown

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES)

August 2010

Copyright 2010 Gregory David Brown

ii

*

Dedication

*

To Laoshi
iii

*

Acknowledgements

*

It is my hope to properly express my gratitude here for the help and contributions
of several people in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the
University of Southern California that especially encouraged my growth in knowledge,
fostered my skills in teaching, and made possible the completion of this thesis.
This opportunity allows me to thank my advisor, the department chair, Professor
Dominic Cheung for continuing to freely give of his time in offering care, advice, and
expert guidance since the first day we met. I also would like to recognize the true scholar
Professor George Hayden and express my thanks for his guidance in my preparation of
this paper. My appreciation to Professor Akira Lippit extends to several areas and
especially in learning from the example of his excellent communication style that helps
people embrace new knowledge while more fully developing in our human understanding.
I also have much thankfulness for the care, considerate nature, and responsible diligent
assistance of our department secretary Ms. Patricia Whiting.
I thank you all so very, very much.

June 25, 2010
iv

*

Table of Contents

*

Dedication ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract v

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: Biographical Background Prologue 7
Kunshan Education as Classical Scholar 13
Shanghai Translation Craft 17
Hong Kong Remarkable Affairs 23
A Journey to the West 30

Chapter 2: 变法中 The Central Essay on Reform Prologue 37
Translation of Wang Tao‟s Bian fa zhong 变法中 39
Remarks on Bian fa zhong 变法中 Translation 51
Bian fa zhong Indications towards China‟s Future 59

Conclusion 67

Bibliography 70

v

*

Abstract

*

The translation made here of Wang Tao‟s (1828-1897) Bian fa zhong 变法中
essay links Confucian values with bi-cultural educational and geographical experiences to
aspects of modernity, print capitalism, and cultural identity.
Preceding the translation is a biographical sketch of four periods suggesting
influences from Wang Tao‟s unorthodox path of experiences as contributing to his
developing insights for China and modernity. Combining a classical scholar education in
China, with significant exposure to Western thought, Wang Tao developed his alternate
views towards modernity in his presaging writings on bian fa reforms. At the earliest
stages of reform-minded intellectuals and as a window to late-Qing literati identity, the
individual Wang Tao was the first person preceding Yan Fu (1854-1921) that had
reconciled the “inner vs. outer, constancy vs. change” dialectic from Han (206 BCE –
220 CE), and thus unique in bringing China‟s classical Confucian culture into a synthesis
with the West.
1

*

Introduction

*

The new ideas of Wang Tao (1828-1897) are unambiguously found in his
essay bian fa
1
zhong 变法中 written approximately 1874, and substantiate he was the
only scholar preceding Yan Fu that was successful in pioneering a strategy to bring
classical culture into a synthesis with the West. His particular style with clear use of
language distinguished Wang Tao from literati arguments that were prone to Sino-centric
dogmatism or elitism, yet show that he was still able to communicate with the
intelligentsia by drawing support through his polished literary knowledge to connect with
classical Confucian reasoning such as he quotes from the Yi jing 易经. His title as well,
for this composition and translation presented here in Chapter Two, shows his facility

1
Though it is often translated as reform, Wang Tao described this term to refer to a more complete
transformation including a deeper fundamental change in the underlying weft of society using support
and references he quotes from the Yi jing 易经 Classic of Change.
2

with classical literary allusion dian gu 典故 in the philosophical use of bian 变-change -
of bian fa 变法, to infer the idea of yi 易-change - of the Confucian classic Yi jing 易经
and dynamics associated in that classic text concerning types of processes in change. The
considerable impact of his thought can be traced through the following decades of well-
known leaders in the future, as they continued referencing his thinking and observations
that still held validity in describing early modernity events in China that were continuing
to unfold during the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century.
What can be explained as influences to Wang Tao that gave rise to developing his
perspectives? This paper attempts to trace factors and influences that could be said to
differentiate Wang from other Chinese scholars and contribute to Wang‟s formulation of
ideas. The impetus for reform changes was increasing in its thrust upon China during
Wang‟s formative years from the 1840s through 1870s. The imperial government and
China‟s most celebrated scholars were scrambling to develop answers for China‟s
relationship with the West. How was Wang able to transform himself from a classical
scholar into a modern intellectual that could synthesize a relationship between China and
the West? Moreover, and of particular interest here, how could Western methods and
knowledge be engaged in a way that didn‟t compromise Chinese identity formation based
on traditional Confucian values and teaching? The notion of compatibility between
Western culture and facets of Confucian cultural identity would continue after Wang‟s
life to be examined closely, often while drawing competing and conflicting views. Wang
is seen here to have kept his traditional identity firmly intact throughout his long period
3

of associations with Western missionaries and scholars, while interacting in the midst of
Western society during his travel to Europe, and daily personal experience of two years
living in Britain. In presenting his clear ideas of reform, Wang demonstrates his ability to
synthesize learning from the West with classical Confucian knowledge, and exhibit a
practical union that does not belittle the historical bedrock of Chinese identity.
What was the setting in China during the time Wang formulated his thinking?
How did the environment contribute to early modern changes in mid-nineteenth century
China? More specifically, in the formative years in Wang‟s life, it can be said
circumstances crested as especially significant in pushing scholars to develop a rapid path
to modernity for China. Within the thirty-year span from Wang Tao at fifteen years old,
until he was forty-five years old and writing his reform insights in Bian fa zhong, China
endured thirty years of unprecedented turmoil that caused scholars to turn to the wisdom
of classics for knowledge in finding solutions. In 1842, as defeat in the Opium War
Yapian zhanzheng 鴉片戰爭, (or First Anglo-Chinese War) opened China to externally
imposed changes, Wang was fifteen years old and was being educated as his father had
been in the scholarly tradition. However, he was soon able to begin an atypical path in
augmenting his classical knowledge with alternative views of the world. Over the next
thirty years, his classical sense of social responsibility combined with unexpected
opportunities helped Wang to perceive insights to benefit China‟s relationship with the
West and reached a crescendo with practical observation and understanding through his
travels to Europe. Simultaneously, as Wang was developing his insights within relatively
intellectual settings, China remained embroiled following the Opium War 1839-1842,
4

with fifteen years battling the internal Taiping Rebellion Taiping Tianguo 太平天國
1850-1864 , the Second Opium War 第二次鴉片戰爭 1856-1860, and Tongzhi
Restoration Tongzhi zhongxing 同治中興 1860-1874 imperial Manchu government while
resisting modernity, tried to hastily find remedy to China‟s circumstances of continuing
cataclysm.
Chapter One describes four distinct periods that provided Wang Tao with
education and experience to formulate his expressions of thought. These four periods
trace changes as he moved through distinctly different cultural environments and
geographical locations; beginning from his classical education at his childhood town near
Suzhou, to working in Shanghai in Bible translation at the London Missionary Press, later
moving to Hong Kong in assisting James Legge with translation of the Chinese classics,
and then culminating with a two-year period in Europe. It can be seen how these
components built a framework of content that became visible in Wang‟s essay Bian fa
zhong. These four cultural environments situated increasingly in Western geographical
locations provided Wang with exposure to core thought of both China and the West,
facilitated environs for Wang to metabolize the compatibilities and incompatibilities
between the two in knowledge and cultural interactions, and provides a basis of
references that link to the elements expressed in his core essay Bian fa zhong 变法中, to
be examined in Chapter Two.
5

Chapter Two begins by translating Wang Tao‟s Bian fa zhong central reform
essay. Of note, even before offering Chapter Two analysis, experiences from the Chapter
One biographical sketch can already be more readily observed as it shows how these four
periods contributed to Wang Tao‟s insights, thoughts, and ideas expressed in Bian fa
zhong. The first three periods arguably prepared Wang for the fourth period, i.e. his
travels abroad to Europe, in providing a basis of understanding that enabled him to
recognize the fundamentally key points that would apply to China‟s situation. Without
any one of the four periods of experience and the building blocks they provided, it is
certainly doubtful that he could have reached the same recognitions. In some particular
way, each of the four periods contributed to aspects of the fourth period that were absent
in the other three. So, it cannot just be said that the fourth period in Europe was the only
stage that carried importance in this regard. It is determined here that as Wang moved
through these four biographical periods, he was also moving through four stages in
development of his thought as his exposure increased in understanding fundamental
differences between China and the West. After Wang returned from Europe and
consolidated expression of his thoughts in Bian fa zhong, he drew support from a
quotation in the Yijing concerning a type of change that requires a fundamental
renovation of a previous nature, such as occurs at the end of an era, and marks the
beginning of a new era. Thus these four stages in his development were a personal
evolution of a sort that reflected from his personal experience, but could approach
understanding through scholarly avenues about the fundamental differences between
China and the West. Ultimately, this allowed him to recognize the end of an era, as he
indicates in his essay about the natural emergence of new situations in systems of the
6

world. He repeatedly made reference that, “after one hundred years…” there would be a
commonly known situation of a sort on which he would elaborate briefly. These
comments were not of a prophetic nature, but oriented with a practical observation based
on current progression into the future, and were observations that were still found in the
next century to be quite accurate, such as concerning increasing power through education,
technology, and development of human potential, e.g. impacts of technological
innovation in areas such as communication and transportation, changes in societal values
such as raising women‟s status, and new types of government institutions arising from
outdated or obsolete systems that often had been handed down through a long history.
Furthermore, in the insights put forth in his essay, there arise implications that dispute
speculations on paradigms that question compatibility between traditional cultural
identity and that of modernity in the late 19
th
- early 20
th
century Chinese society. For this
reason, the evolution of Wang Tao as shown in a biographical context is important for
understanding that his ideas were founded on the combination of scholarly knowledge
with situations that facilitated personal experience and observation, but because of the
unorthodox path where his evolution would take place, an integral requirement was a
self-identity that was firmly rooted.

7

Chapter 1: Biographical Background Prologue

In order to understand the development and evolution in ideas and thought of
Wang Tao, it is helpful to situate a foundation of information about his formative
background education, and his occupational and geographical sojourns. By the time of
entering an age of prime and mature expression at a little more that forty years old, four
distinct periods or phases are visible both in educational content as well as geographical
location that each arguably contributed to Wang‟s later writings and wisdom. Much can
later be seen from his early training in the classical Confucian corpus. The extent of the
formative foundation of his classical value-system developed from the young age of three
to almost twenty years old is visible when considering his occupational immersion during
the following twenty years garnering favor within leading Christian missionary circles.
His traditional Confucian education remained demonstrably undiminished, despite
dedication to directly assisting the most dynamic and highly educated scholarly adherents
to Christianity known to Asia. The strengths Wang gained from working with these
passionate scholars in translating the most revered books of the East and West exposed
him to aspects that include knowledge keystones of Christian doctrines through Bible
scripture as well as presenting communication of the Confucian classics within Christian
thought paradigms - all of which cannot be underestimated.
In contemporary critical literature, research has raised questions as to the identity
of late-Qing literati as it relates to the case of Wang Tao as an individual person. In
8

literary analysis, the prolific amount of literature by Wang has lent itself to questions
concerning expression of self or psychological underpinnings of self-identity.
2
It is often
subsumed under the rubric of civil service examination success as being a necessary
component for strong literati cultural identity construction. However, this paper suggests
another avenue for substantiating construction of a strong literati cultural identity.
Although Wang diverged from the examination path at a relatively early age near
nineteen or twenty years old, new methods and opportunities had become available to
fulfill morality-based social responsibilities of Confucian tradition in rendering service to
nation, countrymen and society (e.g. Benedict Anderson‟s
3
explanation of power from
newspaper printing press, invitation by James Legge
4
for travel to Britain). Despite
diverging from the government service conduit, and its function in formation of the
classical scholar identity, it is easily argued that Wang was able to satisfy through other
means (seen in Bian fa zhong) what Nietszche explains as properly using history for the
improvement of common welfare. Nietzsche
5
delineates three ways of using history, i.e.
monumental, antiquarian, or critical, and the strengths in each approach, all of which are

2
Some overlapping or similar questions raised can be found in the following works: Paul Cohen. 1974.
Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang Tao and Reform in Late Ch’ing China.,Lu, Sheldon Hsiao-peng.
“Waking to Modernity: The Classical Tale in Late-Qing China,” New Literary History, Volume 34, Number 4,
Autumn 2003, pp. 745-760., Tsui, Wai. “The Expressions of Self in Wang Tao’s Manyou Suilu ”., Sinn,
Elizabeth. “Fugitive in Paradise: Wang Tao and Cultural Transformation in Late Nineteenth-Century Hong
Kong,” Late Imperial China 19.1 (1998) 56-81.

3
Discussion follows in Chapter Two of this paper developing the relationship of Wang Tao and the
newspaper as it fits with the explanation of print capitalism with nationalism in Imagined Communities by
Benedict Anderson.

4
Indications of the eminent scholar/translator Legge and his respect for Wang’s abilities elaborated below.

5
See Nietzsche, On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life, p. 23, coincidentally first published
in 1874 and coinciding near the same year Wang Tao addressed similar concepts of history when wrtitng
Bian fa zhong.

9

found in Wang‟s Bian fa zhong.
6
Additionally, a biographical description of a person of
Wang‟s varied experience parallels Nietzsche‟s reference to ancient Delphi: “history is
[best] written by the experienced and superior man. If you have not had some higher and
greater experiences than all others you will not know how to interpret anything great and
high in the past. The past always speaks as an oracle: only as master builders of the future
who know the present will you understand it.”
7
This admonition resonates on many levels
with Analects Lun yu 論語 comments by Confucius
8
on benefits from study of the Shi
jing 詩經 Book of Songs
9
, and would be expected to sit well among inherent orthodox
moral inculcations in Qing literati, as well as all literati since Song reforms
10
in the
Confucian instruction corpus.
How can comparisons be offered to the above classical scholar identity
construction? What other aspects could contribute in the construction of identity, or
demonstrate identity of the individual self, i.e. the psychological underpinnings of the
individual man Wang Tao? Can it be said that the different personae seen in writings of
Wang varied just as much as his different geographical experiences that follow in this

6
Wang, Tao., Tao yuan wen lu wai bian, Di 1 ban., Shenyang Shi: Liaoning ren min chu ban she: Liaoning
sheng xin hua shu dian fa xing, 1994.

7
Ibid., p.38.

8
James J. Y. Liu gives much explanation to implications of these well known passages as he discusses
views of poetry carrying a didactic purpose in The Art of Chinese Poetry, pp. 61-69.

9
Credited as the compilation by Confucius of 305 selections taken from ancient songs.

10
Song Dynasty song chao dai 宋朝代, (960-1279) known as Neo-Confucian reforms led by Zhuxi 朱熹
(1130-1200).
10

chapter? For the purposes here in analyzing Wang‟s composition Bian fa zhong, it
appears to follow the format of a cultural norm described by Leo Ou-fan Lee
11
that in the
general spectrum of literary exposition, either poetic or encyclopedic in nature, the
individual identity (or traveler) does not assume any type of romantic individualized
prominence. The four periods of Wang‟s experience in this chapter proceed in
establishing a fundamental background that leads to supporting the above description by
Leo Ou-fan Lee as it applies to Bian fa zhong; however, within the wide range of Wang‟s
writings, there are simultaneously many examples showing breaks from traditional
cultural norms. In literary accounts where Wang demonstrates much self-reflexivity or
awareness of self, it is disputed here that arguments proposing identity conflicts with
modernity cannot be applied if examples are drawn from his writings in other genres. His
prolific writings varied from reporting historical accounts and philosophy across the
spectrum to poetry and fiction and to other areas in light-hearted style of travel journals,
reviews of social entertainment or personal interest chronicles that could be taken out of
context by literal interpretation of a classical literary flourish for which he was known.
Indeed, the facility with which Wang could wield words, combining classical
knowledge and his exposure to Christian and Western thought undoubtedly gives strength
to his bian fa writings. In late 19
th
century, these strengths were voiced not just in China
to shake overly complacent traditional fetters in paradigms based on renderings of history,
as Nietzsche also brought to the attention of his European audience. Coincidentally in
both analogy and the year of 1874 - near the same time Wang wrote his bian fa essay -

11
Leo Ou-fan Lee, “The Solitary Traveler: Images of the Self in Modern Chinese Literature”, Expressions of
Self in Chinese Literature, p.282.
11

Nietzsche portrays the imagined view of his German readership with a disparaging
reference in 1874 of a perceived Chinese societal attitude. His depiction of persons
saddled by encumbering interpretations of history is written as he “who once has learned
to bend his back and bow his head before the „power of history‟ finally nods his „yes‟,
mechanically like a Chinese, to every power, be this a government or a public opinion or
a numerical majority, and moves his limbs precisely in the tempo in which some „power‟
or other pulls the string,”
12
and possibly mires them in a moribund consciousness of
memento mori.
13
Wang mirrors this admonition of Nietzsche, but to a Chinese audience
with his bian fa reform ideas where he also tries to remind Chinese intellectuals to shake
off encumbering views from perceived historical misinterpretations. His advantage, all of
which could not be ignored by the intelligentsia, included his polished literary skill,
scholarly depth and knowledge of Chinese history, long experience interacting with
Western thought, and most of all his ability to clearly apply practical explanation of how
China can benefit from the current unprecedented situation. Nevertheless, he also
recognized that in requirement for this fundamental depth in transformative change, and
with the weight of tradition, it would take some time to properly embrace.
What can be said of any special strengths of note when drawing comparisons to
Wang Tao in his development of thought? Providing a context of relevant background
information supports the significance of Wang Tao in developing his astute perceptions.

12
Nietzsche, On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life, p47., Surprisingly 1874 German
literary circles of Nietzsche commonly held this perspective of a historical outlook norm existing in
Chinese society.

13
Do not forget the coming of death.
12

His demonstrably laid groundwork that many scholars and officials would came to hold
fast and thereby come to be advocates of his explicated critical discourses, is a primary
point being made in this paper. Moreover, there is good reason to accentuate the
pragmatic confidence Wang derived from classical thought. It is seen here how
prominently it pervades the aggregate writings from his life, in contrast to the classical
knowledge base of the well-known and soon-to-follow scholars such as Kang Youwei 康
有為 and Yen Fu 嚴複. “Yen Fu‟s faith was admittedly Western, tempered, to be sure, by
his Chinese education and his own predispositions, but proudly acknowledged as a
universal truth discovered [through men like Darwin and Spencer] and brought back from
the West…as far as Darwinian concepts of progress are concerned, Kang Youwei surely
was indebted to Yen Fu.”
14
In contrast to later reform thinkers Kang Youwei, Yen Fu and
Liang Qichao 梁啟超, there is seen in Wang Tao a demonstrated solid foundation of
classical thought that shows a penetration in his writings to a profoundly deeper level of
understanding of the Confucian canon and indicates his identity being predicated on that
knowledge. Specifically, it provides no substantiated indications of being eschewed
despite his noteworthy interactions in the heart of Western thought such as that affirmed
by Christianity, popular emergence of social Darwinism among European thinkers (or as
developing in Japan), military and technological superiority in Western innovation, or
capitalistic (possibly more appropriately described as mercantilist) economic motivations
so prevalent in the West. Certainly, the historical setting had further changed between

14
Pusey, James Reeve. China and Charles Darwin, p. 15. In his acknowledgements, Pusey thanks his
advisors Benjamin I. Schwartz and John K. Fairbank for their assistance in this research.
13

Wang Tao writing Bian fa zhong around 1874, and the period beginning twenty years
later when reform leaders were struggling with new dilemmas in China. Although the
historical setting had continued to evolve, the advice found in Wang‟s 1874 essay still
provided accurate assessment of institutional underpinnings that needed reform, or
change, or perhaps a better word would include innovation in creating ideas concurrent
with the emerging modernity in the world. Wang‟s insights in this way appear to
recognize that the current struggles with nascent modernity were merely a step in
ongoing and continuing processes of change. His recognition that engaging modernity
was not the end goal for China is shown by his opening paragraph in Bian fa zhong as he
draws support from the Yijing and differentiates the needed type of change for China.

Kunshan Education for a Classical Scholar

Wang was born within a seat of traditional culture just outside Suzhou in the
Kunshan area, (famous for the origination of Kunqu Chinese opera), in the Suzhou-style
small canal-ways town of Puli. To understand the customary extent the classical
education format followed for Wang, he was trained in the long-established structure for
preparation to enter the path of civil service examinations; his mother began to teach him
14

his first lessons at three years old.
15
This was a conventional regimen as detailed in
research by Miyazaki:
It was thought best for a boy to start his studies as early as possible. From the very
beginning he was instructed almost entirely in the classics, since mathematics
could be left to merchants, while science and technology were relegated to the
working class. A potential grand official must study the Four Books, the Five
Classics, and other Confucian works, and, further, he must know how to compose
poems and write essays….When he was just a little more than three years old, a
boy‟s education began at home, under the supervision of his mother …In
cultivated families…these twenty-five characters were taught first:
可佳八尔七化孔上
知作九小十三乙大
礼仁子生士千已人
也

Read vertically from right to left, these beginner‟s characters spelled out an encouraging
verse:
Let us present our work to father.
Confucius himself taught three thousand.
Seventy were capable gentlemen.
You young scholars, eight or nine!
Work well to attain virtue,
and you will understand propriety.
16

15
Wang, Tao, Wen lu wai bian, 11:21.

16
Miyazaki, Ichisada, tr. Schirokauer, Conrad, China’s Examination Hell: The Civil Sevice Examinations of
Imperial China. P14. Includes detailed accounts of the various levels of provincial, metropolitan, and
palace examinations.

15

“A better-than-average apprenticeship for the examinations meant beginning to learn to
write characters at the age of 5
17
, memorizing the Four books and Five Classics by the
age of 11, mastering poetry composition at age 12, and studying ba gu 八股 [eight-legged]
essay style thereafter.”
18

Elman explains the influence of the training for the examination path in pre-
modern times, that “the civil service examination system in late imperial China became a
dominant force in determining the character of Chinese society on the state and cultural
terms that Chinese and Manchus set for themselves before the onset of Western
imperialism. Confucian learning, literati prestige, state power, and cultural practice were
all accommodated to the educational testing system… [It] functioned as a measurable
arbiter of elite culture, politics, and society.”
19

Content in the corpus of instruction also included a particularly important
dialectic found in Wang‟s bian fa zhong essay, as well described by Wolfgang Bauer as
polarities between “Inner” and “Outer”, “Knowledge” and “Action.”
20
Bauer points out
the increasing awareness of this dialectical dilemma in the late nineteenth century, which
assists for understanding the nature of its inclusion in the Wang‟s bian fa zhong argument.

17
Approximated by age 4 in Western age calculations, and subsequent ages also being about one year less.

18
Wakeman, Frederic, Jr. The Fall of Imperial China, p23.

19
Elman, Benjamin A., “Political, social, and Cultural Reproduction via civil Service Examination in Late
Imperial China”, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 50, No 1 (Feb., 1991) p.8.

20
Bauer, Wolfgang. tr. from German Michael Shaw, pp. 338-345.

16

Wang Tao demonstrated the erudition he gained from supervision by his father
Wang Changgui 王昌桂, and his firm foundation in understanding Confucian literature
when he passed the “cultivated talent” xiu cai 秀才 examination at age seventeen to
become a first-level degree holder. The following year his father escorted him to Nanjing
for the provincial level imperial examinations ke ju 科舉 which were only held once
every three years, but he did not pass the second level (of three levels) for the ju ren 舉人
degree.
21
After this examination, Wang Tao refused to continue on the imperial
examination path. In his excellent biographical research, Cohen indicates some
conjecture and correspondence about the psychological disposition of Wang Tao at this
time and period in life.
22
Wang followed his father in the teaching profession, but voiced
strong disdain for aspects of the examination system, e.g. defectiveness of the eight-
legged essay ba gu wen 八股文 requirements, failures of the examination system in
finding ren cai 人才 persons of ability, (these points and others that he clearly delineates
in Bian fa zhong almost thirty years later). Cohen questions if Wang‟s reaction to failing
the latter examination indicated feelings of spiteful rejection in voicing his hostile views.
Other observations can be offered here. One is demonstrated that Wang may not have
agreed with the examination system, but he had no doubts about the quality of Confucian
knowledge. His later writings confirm his unwavering use of classical literature despite

21
Cohen, Paul. Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang Tao and Reform in Late Ch’ing China. pp. 9,10.

22
Ibid. pp. 10-19.
17

spending more than twenty years in strongly Christian environments, and furthermore he
recognized that the reason he was sought out for his later associations with Western
scholars was because of his sophisticated knowledge of the Confucian canon. A second
observation stems from Wang‟s refusal to the urging of friends to take the examination
again, in his response “that there were other and better ways to do honor to one‟s
parents.” This indicates that Wang indeed had a disposition towards not wasting his life,
but was already open to innovative means for fulfilling his potential. This further
supports his recognition of using the printing press, potential of newspaper journalism,
and most of all his historical accomplishments in becoming an “agent of change.”

Shanghai Translation Craft

Nearly twenty years old, Wang made his first visit from within a culturally-
cordoned Chinese existence to visit the poles-apart bustling port of Shanghai a year after
his father had begun teaching there. Wang Liqun‟s recent research indicates Wang Tao
refused a job offer from Walter Henry Medhurst (1796-1857) on this first visit that lasted
only three days
23
; he was extraordinarily impressed with Western technology but
indicated no interest in Western culture or thought. In the following year upon the death
of his father however, he accepted employment with the Medhurst translation team.

23
Wang, Liqun 王立群, The Early Stage Cultural Traits of China’s Treaty Port Intelligentsia 中国早期口岸
知识分子形成的文化特征— 王韬研究, 北京大学出版社 2009/3. pp. 29, 30.
18

As an additional exemplifying sign anticipating Wang‟s future, and indication of
his penchant for literary pursuit of knowledge, he recorded that a foremost item of
interest to him was the existence there (located at his father‟s place of work) in Shanghai
of a movable-type printing press, A translation of Wang‟s account by McAleavy relates,
“The foreign scholar Medhurst was at the time in charge of the London Mission Press,
which was printing books by a machine from movable-type. This was considered to be a
great novelty, and I specially went to pay him a visit…After that Mr. Medhurst took me
to see where the printing was done. The press was turned by an ox and could produce
several thousand impressions a day.”
24
Wang indicates his surprise at the potential from
the speed of the printing machines, and praised them as ingenious and nimble.
25
Wang‟s
interest in seeing this press, preceding his use as the forerunner of China‟s newspaper
journalism and his later ideas for innovative uses of this press, suggest that Wang already
realized the potential of this method of communication as a tool that was previously
unavailable throughout history to serve the goals of any social reform-inspired scholar in
China. Wang‟s future use of this tool follows Benedict Anderson‟s analysis of social and
scientific change amplified by increases in speed of printed communication, as “a new
way of linking fraternity, power and time meaningfully together. [Anderson specifically
gives credit to] print capitalism, which made it possible for rapidly growing numbers of
people to think about themselves, and to relate themselves to others, in profoundly new

24
Translation by H. McAleavy, Wang Tao: The Life and Writings of a Displaced Person, p.4, from Wang
Tao’s, Manyou suilu,. 9809-9810.

25
Wang Tao 王韬，Manyou suilu 漫游随录，岳麓书社，1985 ，卷一, pp. 58-59.

19

ways.”
26
In conjunction with Anderson‟s premise regarding formation of nationalism,
Wang‟s writings framed aspects of nation, but differed from other Chinese that returned
from periods abroad. Wang had a strong traditional base in Confucian education, and that
stands out remarkably in this Bian fa zhong essay as he demonstrated his ability to
synthesize classical thought with modernity.
A view of the next fourteen formative years working with Medhurst in Shanghai
provides clarifying accounts and key indications when considering the development in
thought of Wang Tao. From the below depiction it can be derived that these experiences
gave Wang deep exposure to core principles in Western thought, as well as the principal
detailed discussions for accuracy in translating the Bible and Christian knowledge. There
are also early indications of Wang perceiving compatibility between Confucian beliefs
with those of Christianity or the West. There are three points made in this section that
link to discussion of Wang‟s Bian fa zhong in Chapter Two. One concerns his literary
acumen derived from classical training; two is indicated by both Wang and Medhurst in
crediting the significant role of translation quality as the reason for markedly innovative
knowledge of Matteo Ricci to penetrate China; and three is a classical writing style of
deference that appears throughout Wang‟s writings that may be misinterpreted as
existential dissatisfaction.
The intensity of Bible translation into Chinese was especially focused during the
forty years from 1822 until 1863 with the following editions vying for funding from
Europe-based Bible societies and produced under these auspices: Sheng jing 聖經(1822)

26
Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities, 2006, p.36.
20

Johannes Lassar and Joshua Marshman; Shentian shengshu 神天聖書(1823) Robert
Morrison and William Milne; Xinyi zhao shu 新遺詔書(New Testament) and Jiuyi zhao
shengshu 舊遺詔聖書(Old Testament) (1838) Walter Henry Medhurst and Karl Gutzlaff;
Xinyue quanshu 新約全書 (New Testament) and Jiuyue quanshu 舊約全書 (Old
Testament) (1854) the Delegates‟ Version; and Xinyue quanshu 新約全書 (New
Testament) and Jiuyue quanshu 舊約全書 (Old Testament) (1863).
27

Medhurst had identified as early as 1830, and sought to correct, the failings of
previous Bible translations in two regards; the readability was severely affected by both
the lack of idiomatic understanding by foreign translators, and the Chinese translation
assistants were not recognizably talented in their literary abilities.
28
These were driving
motivations for Medhurst in completing the “Delegates‟ Version” in 1854, and the
success it achieved credits the substantial contribution of the exceedingly trained literary
knowledge of Wang Tao as his principal assistant. Medhurst‟s accolades for Wang Tao
also compared him with his father Wang Changgui that although the younger lacked the
volume of knowledge of the elder, he excelled in applying his knowledge resources in an
incomparable manner.

27
Hanan, Patrick. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, “The Bible as Chinese Literature: Medhurst, Wang
Tao, and the Delegates’ Version”. Jun., 2003., p, 198.

28
Ibid., Hanan, Patrick. P. 200.

21

Medhurst wrote of the lucid and elegant style used by the historic figure of Xu
Guangqi 徐光啟 (1562-1633), the scholar assisting Matteo Ricci with his Chinese
writings, and that “his accurate knowledge of the language enabled him to throw the
publications of his instructor [in religion, i.e. Ricci] into a neat and elegant style, which
contributed to their acceptability with the higher classes of the people.”
29
Wang Tao
mirrored the above thoughts of presenting Christian doctrine in a light palatable to
Chinese intellectuals (unlike previously rendered content in rough dialects or sleep-
inducing styles), and the watershed historical impact of Ricci in China.
Questions raised in the influential work by Cohen
30
, and Wai Tsui
31
, (and likely
others in this theme) as to Wang‟s psychological disposition toward happiness or
satisfaction with his life, can be discerned to cast a different interpretation as seen in an
extant copy of the English version of the submission of application for Baptism by Wang
in 1853.
32

I am now 26 years of age; my abilities are few, and my learning circumscribed.
On the one hand I have not been able to cultivate virtue, nor on the other to
improve my understanding, living in this neglected state for some time,
I became, at length, so engrossed with the love of fame and gain, that I felt no
disposition to reform; my mental vision became obscure, and my perceptions
were daily more darkened. Had death surprised me in these circumstances,
I should have been unable to obtain any deliverance. Thinking of this,
I felt my danger, and bitterly regretted my past conduct.

29
Hanan, Patrick. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, “The Bible as Chinese Literature: Medhurst, Wang
Tao, and the Delegates’ Version”. Jun., 2003., pp.223 225.

30
Cohen, Paul. Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang Tao and Reform in Late Ch’ing China, 1974.

31
Tsui, Wai. “The Expressions of Self in Wang Tao’s Manyou Suilu ”, pp.285-293.

32
See Appendix attachment to Patrick Hanan’s article for full text of the Baptism Application, pp. 235-239.
22

The above opening paragraph in Wang‟s three to four-page baptism application taken out
of context could lend itself to be interpreted as indicating an identity crisis, but it is the
belief here that it is by and large a literary style of courtesy that includes elements of self-
deprecation, humility, and a mature assessment of the human condition. Similar
statements are found in later writings of Wang, and can be seen as not indicating a
personal existential crisis of identity, but as a literary style that entices and enables an
educated readership.
Wang‟s life in Shanghai from twenty to his early thirties allowed him a removed
point of observation in an objective sense. He was not working in the traditional capacity
of a scholar in government or education, yet he was still able to develop his Confucian
knowledge in an intellectual environment, and incorporate his encounter with Western
knowledge by Medhurst and the LMS (London Missionary Society) Press for
introduction to Chinese. What appeared as a dangerous situation in Wang‟s life arose
concerning the incident in which government forces found a letter suggesting advice to
Taiping rebels in 1862. The Taiping forces had taken Hangzhou and Suzhou, and were
nearing Shanghai. A letter suspected as having been written by Wang Tao was discovered,
and led to Wang leaving Shanghai for safe refuge in Hong Kong. Despite the implied
danger and disruption to his life, his move to Hong Kong can be seen in retrospect as
providing Wang with a progression in circumstances for further evolution in his
understandings of the West. While Hong Kong was technically still a part of China, its
special situation would provide the chance to observe firsthand many of the colonial
British systems in government, education, and society.
23

Hong Kong Remarkable Affairs

The Rev. Dr. Legge was allowed to move his mission from Malacca to Hong
Kong by announcement of the „Toleration Edict‟ in 1844
33
. He later reflected of the
progress of the Hong Kong Colony during the British claim to regional autonomy (dated
by The Canton Register as 23 February, 1841)
34
from the mainland with regard to the
increasing affects of the Taiping Rebellion Taiping Tianguo 太平天國, and after
hostilities began between China and Britain in 1857:
It has always seemed to me that this was the turning point in the progress
of Hong Kong. As Canton was threatened, the families of means hastened
to leave it, and many of them flocked to this colony. Houses were in demand;
rents rose; the streets that had been comparatively deserted assumed a crowded
appearance.
35

It was soon after that setting‟s turning point description that Wang Tao entered this scene
of diaspora and resulting burgeoning cultural development. From Hong Kong‟s unique
situation, situated psychologically as well as geographically at the intersection of the
highest echelons of thought between China and the West (e.g. England, Christianity),
Wang could affiliate with the likes of James Legge and like-minded thinkers and it

33
Scollon, Ron, “Hong Kong Newspapers on the Pre-Transitional Stage”, Asia Pacific Media Educator, Issue
2, Article 5, 1997, p.48.

34
Smith, Carl T., “The Emergence of Chinese Elite in Hong Kong”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society, p.79

35
Smith, Carl T., pp. 89, 90.

24

provided a palette to develop the learning and exposure he had already accumulated from
his primary education in the Confucian classical scholar corpus with Christian and
printing knowledge from his Shanghai experiences working for Medhurst. With the level
of education and promotion of understanding China by missionaries such as Legge,
Morrison, Medhurst, and Chalmers, it is pointed out by Zhang Wanmin that Wang Tao is
a good example of the following: “Chinese scholars who came to live in Hong Kong got
to be relatively better informed that their fellow countrymen; they were therefore in a
position to introduce Western education, and political concepts and tendencies to
China.”
36

Additionally useful and suggestive of some ideas in Wang‟s later bian fa zhong,
his refuge in Hong Kong was unique in providing exposure to the most recent
innovations in foreign affairs aspects of government administration as specifically suited
to the British / Chinese relationship. For example, the Hong Kong Cadet scheme in
conjunction with the British Civil Service administrative „cadet officer‟ class as
introduced in 1861 by Sir Hercules Robinson, instituted while Governor of Hong Kong
from 1859-1865, “grew out of a pressing need for correct interpretation and translation in
government, especially in the courts.” In opinions that resonate with Wang‟s later bian fa
proposals, Legge, who was recognized for his knowledge of China, offered even stricter
opinions for policy development, and advocated a deeper understanding through study

36
Zhang, Wanmin., ”Detachment or Confusion? James Legge’s Complicated Attitude towards Chinese
Culture”, E-Journal on Hong Kong Cultural and Social Studies, (Printed Edition) Hong Kong 1, no. 1 (2002)
116-128.
25

before allowing government service.
37
Innovative remedies for administrative issues of
the British in Hong Kong correspondingly resemble later reform methods suggested by
Wang Tao for similar issues and deficiencies that plagued the Qing government, e.g. lack
of officers with foreign language expertise, absence of intercultural investigation through
study abroad.
Regarding Wang Tao‟s employ by Legge in Hong Kong, how did his work
contribute to developing his reform ideas, and in what capacity was Wang‟s involvement
with James Legge? It is difficult to imagine the complexities and details involved in the
monumental undertaking Legge encountered in translating all of the Chinese classics.
Legge acknowledged grateful appreciation for the contribution of Wang Tao in the
Volume III Shu Ching: Classic of Documents Shujing 書經, and thanked “this scholar,
far excelling in classical lore any of his countrymen whom the author had previously
known.”
38
Cohen describes succinctly that, “as Medhurst‟s scholar-helper in the 1850‟s,
Wang had played a key role in the transmission of the West‟s tao 道 to China. Now,
changing hats, he took an equally important part in the transmission of China‟s tao 道 to
the West.”
39
When Wang later traveled to Britain, his experience in Hong Kong likely

37
Lethbridge, H.J. – “Hong Kong Cadets, 1862-1941”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society 1970 - sunzi.lib.hku.hk
38
Legge, James. “Preface,” The Chinese Classics, with a translation, critical and exegetical notes,
prolegomena, and copious indexs. Vol III, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, [1970, c1960]. p. viii.

39
Cohen, Paul. 1974. Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang Tao and Reform in Late Ch’ing China, p.58.

26

provided much practice for Wang in how to word his explanations and descriptions that
he conveyed in speeches about Confucian society ideals.
In Wang Tao‟s working relationship and friendship, how can James Legge be
described? What type of person and thought was found in James Legge? Scollon
indicates that “Legge‟s influence was considerable from the beginning through his
assistant Wang Tao who worked with Legge in translating and editing his monumental
editions of the Chinese classics.”
40
An indication of Legge‟s wisdom and style is found in
a progressive paper he delivered in 1877, quite upsetting to the status quo in evaluating
“Confucianism in Relation to Christianity” as it challenged the British religio-
ethnocentric views of the missionary movement. He indicates a rising crisis in which not
only were the natives confronting the missionaries, but now some missionaries, including
himself as a former missionary, were siding with ancient knowledge from China. These
views included parallels in knowledge from the Confucian classics and the Bible that
could shock Christian sensibilities, to which parallels Legge cautioned “the conference
participants should, above all, strive „to maintain a calm and dispassionate mind.‟
41

Supporting Legge‟s views, the American Samuel Johnson in 1877 published scholarship
pointing out the presumptuousness not just within the Protestant missionary movement
of “exclusive [Christian] ownership in the way of salvation, …and that Christians were

40
Scollon, Ron, “Hong Kong Newspapers on the Pre-Transitional Stage”, Asia Pacific Media Educator, Issue
2, Article 5, 1997, p.52.

41
See Giradot, N.J., discussion of Legge’s challenges to established order of views in academic and
religious scholarship, The Victorian Translation of China: James Legge’s Oriental Pilgrimage, 219-223.

27

clearly „unfit‟ to be „instructors in benevolence‟ to the Chinese.
42
Legge was also active
philanthropically in many roles. Prior to coming to Hong Kong, as principal of the
Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca, he also managed the college printing publications,
and brought those presses to Hong Kong in 1843.
43
His seat on the Hong Kong Board of
Education records his proposal as Chairman of the Board in 1860 for a new system of
management, which received approval in 1862 from the government.
44
This suggests that
Wang could observe first hand from such a person ways to develop a certain
comportment and confidence when delivering critical observation and increasing its
effectiveness and chances for acceptance despite suggesting content requiring change, or
ideas contrary to traditional models. Zhang also indicates a possible influence of thought
in the opposite direction from Wang Tao to Legge; “after close interactions with Wang
and then deep immersion in Confucianism, Legge had been sometimes inclined,
consciously or unconsciously, to put himself into the Confucian tradition and made
judgments typical of traditional Confucian scholar,” and that also seen in later re-editing
during the 1890s, Legge‟s views on Confucius reflected attitude changes.
45

Another primary aspect regarding Wang‟s future writings found in bian fa zhong,
concerns activities, influences, and development of thought while in Hong Kong with his

42
Ibid., Giradot, H.J., p. 212

43
Scollon, Ron., p. 52.

44
Evans, Stephen. (2006) “Language Policy in British colonial Education: Evidence from Nineteenth-
Century Hong Kong”, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 38:3, 293-312.

45
Zhang, Wanmin.,”Detachment or Confusion? James Legge’s Complicated Attitude towards Chinese
Culture”, E-Journal on Hong Kong Cultural and Social Studies, (Printed Edition) Hong Kong 1, no. 1 (2002)
116-128.

28

pioneering development of a Chinese newspaper, and in its printing and journalism. With
both Legge and Medhurst coming from a background in printing and making use of
available access to presses, it is easy to conclude that Wang developed a familiarity with
the potential of printing. Combined with working for Legge, Wang gained expertise as
editor of the Jinshi bianlu 近事編錄 (Hong Kong news), Cohen describes as “a Chinese-
language adjunct of the China Mail.”
46
With Wang‟s straddling of erudite traditional
education, combined with his experience and knowledge gained in Shanghai, it suggests
that Hong Kong offered the best world for Wang to further digest a compatible
explanation for synthesizing knowledge of China and the West. Indicating Wang‟s
interest in technological development, Elizabeth Sinn mentions Wang‟s friendship with
the manager of the London Missionary Society (LMS) press, Wong Shing, Huang Sheng
黃勝 and their joint work Huoqi tushuo 火器圖說 (Drawings on Gunnery) which they
translated from a Western technical book on firearms.
47
During his travels in Europe
when he noticed advancements already made in this technology, this example added to
Wang‟s knowledge of the need for ongoing innovation to keep pace with Western
technology which was continually evolving, and he later includes this recognition in his
premises of bian fa. In this way it is demonstrated that Hong Kong provided a
geographical circumstance that allowed Wang to assimilate in a scholarly manner the
core principles and tenets at the root of cultural differences between China and the West.

46
Cohen, Paul. Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang Tao and Reform in Late Ch’ing China, p.74.

47
Sinn, Elizabeth. “Fugitive in Paradise: Wang Tao and Cultural Transformation in Late Nineteenth-Century
Hong Kong,” Late Imperial China 19.1 (1998) 56-81.

29

Outside of Hong Kong it would have been difficult to have this intellectual freedom to
interact first-hand in such a rapidly changing situation. The time and circumstance in
Hong Kong was unique in its clashing profusion of deeply rooted cultural knowledge and
information. This initial exposure to newspaper editing also gave Wang a special window
to understanding that he understandably later expanded upon. After Wang returned from
Europe he founded the Xunhuan Ribao 循环日报, „The Universal Circulating Herald.‟
The verb xunhuan possibly derives from Wang Tao‟s article “qiang ruo lun” 強弱論
(theory of strength and weakness) in his book Taoyuan wenlu waibian 弢園文錄外編 on
the dao 道 of xunhuan 循环 (the circulating nature proceeding from poles of strength and
weakness), an allusion to China‟s future return to distinction.
48
Scollon explains that the
format Wang developed introduced a combination of sections including both government
edicts and memorials as traditionally found in Chinese publications, as well as a more
European flavor of international news - and prominent in that it noticeably included much
of the content written in a polished literary style.
49
Lu describes Wang Tao‟s literary
penchant during this period of Western collisions with China‟s traditions as a highly

48
Wang, Liqun 王立群, 中国早期口岸知识分子形成的文化特征— 王韬研究. 2009. P. 163.

49
Scollon, Ron, “Hong Kong Newspapers on the Pre-Transitional Stage”, Asia Pacific Media Educator, Issue
2, Article 5, 1997, p.52.

30

literary medium to advocate political reforms and “transformation of China by the
adoption of Western rationality, knowledge, and institutions.”
50

Wang further developed his use of these tools in the years after his return from
Europe, which would lead to an invitation to Japan, and future positions in China.

A Journey to the West

What observations develop from this current biographical sketch before
continuing into this fourth period of Wang‟s western sojourn? Are there circumstances
that distinguish their influence on Wang‟s thought formation and later development of his
bian fa reform ideas? This paper attempts in this chapter to draw attention to a
distinguishing point: the process of incremental stages in Wang‟s intellectual
development through these four periods. This sequential process differentiated Wang
from other Chinese that had either spent time abroad, or others who were developing
reform ideas for China. The sequential movement traversed what can be described as
multiple environment orientations, as well as multiple geographic orientations, and it can
be understood how both would contribute to Wang‟s perspectives and knowledge.
To explain this further, Wang moved between these four periods in a step-by-step
immersion in Western thought and culture that would provide time to assimilate
differences. As a youth raised in Confucian tradition and educated near Suzhou, the
move to Shanghai allowed Wang to both interact with premier Western sinologists, and

50
Lu, Sheldon Hsiao-peng. “Waking to Modernity: The Classical Tale in Late-Qing China,” New Literary
History, Volume 34, Number 4, Autumn 2003, pp. 745-760.
31

learn depths of Christian teachings, but technically still be on China soil. His move to
Hong Kong intensified the level of living in a Western semblance of systems,
government and society, but he was still geographically and culturally attached to China.
It comes naturally to suggest that these three stages would allow a person to absorb and
contemplate the dynamics of foreign thought and culture without being fully immersed
(as follows in this fourth stage). For other Chinese in the mid-to-late nineteenth century
who had spent time abroad, it could be explained as an all or nothing situation. If English
thought and education were embraced, it was already becoming policy of the 1860 Hong
Kong Board of Education that Chinese students should not incur diminished knowledge
of their own language and culture.
51
For example, Rong Hong 容閎, “the first Chinese
graduate from an American university (Yale, 1854), actually had to relearn spoken
Chinese on returning to China, and He Qi 何啟‟s command of the literary language was
so poor that he needed a collaborator to put his Chinese writings into presentable form.”
52

This was not the case for Wang Tao. His classical education was the foundation
throughout his writings
53
It is proposed here that the reason Wang could synthesize the
knowledge from both China and the West was because his Confucian erudition evolved

51
Evans, Stephen. (2006) “Language Policy in British colonial Education: Evidence from Nineteenth-
Century Hong Kong”, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 38:3, 293-312. Schools in colonial
Hong Kong were categorized as either government operated or missionary operated, and primary
medium of instruction was in one of four languages: Chinese, Anglo-Chinese, English, or Portuguese, and
although teaching in English was intended for though with some European descent, attendance often
included Chinese students.

52
Cohen, Paul. 1974. Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang Tao and Reform in Late Ch’ing China, p.76.

53
Ibid.,pp. 338-341. Indicating prolific writings of Wang Tao, Cohen lists no less than forty-seven
Bibliographic entries.

32

under a unique situation; the nearly twenty years he spent in Shanghai and then Hong
Kong prepared him to enter Western culture without compromising the traditional basis
of his identity and also facilitate his thought in identifying a traditionally compatible
explanation for China to enter the world of Western modernity.
In these four distinct periods before Wang Tao returned to Hong Kong from his
travels in Europe, each can be seen to contribute in building a base, and culmination of
this fourth period was certainly a summit in providing for his bian fa proposals‟
formulation. Elizabeth Sinn points out that Wang “emerged from his long overseas visit
better informed and more confident,”
54
and indicates Wang‟s writings came to reflect a
positive understanding of the West. Indeed, it can be said that Legge implemented the
translation he had made a few years earlier of the Confucian classic Da xue 大學 in his
invitation for Wang to come to Britain. Wang Huaiyu‟s research discusses the idiom ge
wu 格物:
The saying in the Great Learning that concerns us here is short and simple:
…致知在格物, 物格而後知至...
James Legge translates this as:
…Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.
Things being investigated, knowledge being complete…
55

54
Sinn, Elizabeth. “Fugitive in Paradise: Wang Tao and Cultural Transformation in Late Nineteenth-Century
Hong Kong,” Late Imperial China 19.1 (1998) p. 60.

55
Wang, Huaiyu. “On Ge Wu: Recovering the way of the Great Learning”, Philosophy East and West, Vol.
57, No. 2, UH Press. April 2007, pp.204-226.

33

It is unclear whether Legge specifically had in mind that a journey to Britain would fulfill
this idiom of ge wu, an intended completion in Wang Tao‟s extension of knowledge
through personal experience and investigation. However, the later enthusiastic reception
of writings that Wang compiled during his travels in Europe indicates a proximity to new
revelations for understanding the West.
What in Wang‟s travels abroad further informed his formulation of his bian fa
proposals? What can be interpreted from his interactions in the cultural environments of
nineteenth-century Europe? The impressions Wang conveyed in his interactions were
often in presenting traditional knowledge from China as an accomplished Chinese scholar
to various audiences. Of remarkable note, he presented Confucian ideas from invitations
in a number of settings including giving a speech in London to the graduating class of
students at Oxford University
56
, and in Scotland at a church in Legge‟s boyhood
hometown of Huntly.
57
This indicates that Wang in a completely Western environment
was welcomed as a being a flesh-and-blood representative from China as a living
example embodying the traditions of a Confucian scholar. The reason for noting this is
that Wang was not being asked to assume a role of question to his self-identity such as by
demonstrating a colonized conversion to Christianity, or expounding accolades for
Western achievements; he was being welcomed and moreover respectfully invited to
expound upon traditional values of China to interested Westerners within the heart of a

56
Wang, Liqun. P. 111, and Cohen, Paul., p. 68, also respectively referenced from Wang Tao’s Manyou
suilu, p. 97, pp. 9830. 9831.

57
Wang, Liqun. P. 110, and Cohen, Paul., p. 71., and Manyou suilu, p. 135, pp. 9846-9850.
34

Western country. This type of experience likely firmed his resolve that synthesis was
possible of Western and his indigenous Confucian belief systems to benefit China
through an evolution in worldview.
Wang recorded some of his developed conclusions from these travels abroad that
began for him on December 15, 1867 until his return to Hong Kong in March 1870. His
passage by ship included stopovers in Singapore, Ceylon, and Cairo that allowed for first-
hand viewing of lands exemplifying historical ancient roots of Buddhism and scenes of
the Christian Old Testament exodus from Egypt, but the primary remarks he wrote
concerned observations drawn from his time in Britain and France.
Six main points describing Britain are noted in Wang‟s later writings, and his
conclusions of their importance for China to take note of.
58
First was the image of Great
Britain as very industrialized with prevalence of industry using big machines. Second
was the strength of the military. In his third point, he draws attention to the British as
having good manners. A fourth point remarks that the British are good at invention and
creativity. In a fifth point, when mentioning that women have equal rights, he continues
to suggest that possibly the social position of women may actually be higher than that of
men. His sixth point regarded the ideas used in government and society through
democratic methods. Overall, his estimation concluded that in comparison to all other
countries, Britain had the most ideal system. In contrast, his remarks concerning France
concerned other types of observations. He described France as having a very developed

58
Wang, Liqun, pp. 144, 145.

35

education system, and a society of many excellent artists, but his conclusions were that in
comparison to other European countries, French culture was below average. He also
indicated less than favorable attributes: the French liked luxury excessively, and
promiscuous behavior was high among both men and women. He did make mention of
French wine as superior. Wang Liqun‟s research
59
indicates that in the Manyou suilu
writings of Wang Tao, his comments on France were almost all positive, but in his later
compilations on France‟s history Faguo zhilue 法國志略, and Account of the Franco-
Prussian War Pu Fa zhanji 普法戰記, Wang Tao‟s comments were more negative about
France. Her research asks if it may be that because France lost the war, Wang Tao began
to attribute that loss to underlying societal and political problems with France.
From Wang Tao‟s visit to Europe, what can be garnered about nationalism, or a
national identity? How did the European idea of a nation-state fit into Wang‟s framework
of orientation for China and the world? When the Ming formally ended and the Qing
dynastic rule began, Europe was establishing a system very foreign to China with the
1648 Treaty of Westphalia. Indications suggest that in traditional Chinese thinking, there
was no concept of nation – because the entire world Tian xia 天下 was all under the
purview of the emperor. Areas such as Japan, Korea, Thailand and surrounding lands
could be imagined as extensions and expressions of Chinese culture. It may sound
unimaginable to a western person, but the far-away West Tai xi 泰西, was possibly

59
Wang, Liqun. pp. 131-133.
36

viewed within that paradigm. Wang Liqun suggests that even for the intellectually
modern and highly informed set of alternative values of Wang Tao, it may have been
difficult for him to develop ideas about nationality and nation until after he had returned
from Europe to Hong Kong.
60
In this sense, it seems fair enough to say that if someone
with the distinguishing knowledge and experience of Wang Tao, and as a leader among
intellectually qualified progressive agents of change, did not readily perceive ideas of
nascent nationalism, then there may be other inherent wisdom that he foresaw. One
possible example he sometimes mentioned and included in his speech to the Oxford
University graduates referred to a view of a future interconnected unity in the world that
fell under description Da tong 大同 Great Unity, and implied a type of great harmony in
the nature of a political utopia among all countries. Nationalism may have been a step in
the process of change, which he viewed as a temporary stage that Europe must
experience and may not be have been required in all parts of the world.
At this point, after this fourth stage of Wang‟s untraditional path of associations
with the West, came the time in which he really began to be able to clarify and produce
explanations of the insights his unique experiences and knowledge had provided for
benefiting the situation in China.

60
Wang, Liqun. pp. 149-156.
37

Chapter 2: 变法中 The Central Essay on Reform Prologue

In translating Wang Tao‟s Bian fa zhong, many events from the biographical
sketch in Chapter One become visible. The influences from these previous four stages in
Wang Tao‟ life become conspicuously apparent in their relationship to Wang‟s
presentation of observations and ideas expressed in Bian fa zhong.
This essay by Wang is taken from one of his most famous and comprehensive
books, “Collection of Essays from The Tao Garden" Taoyuan wenlu waibian 弢园文录
外编.
61
Covering a wide range of topics, Bian fa zhong sits between a previous and a
following essay on bian fa, sequentially titled Bian fa shang 变法上 and Bian fa xia 变
法下. The content of the central essay Bian fa zhong is translated here because it is the
most comprehensive and contains the most essential ideas of the three essays.
Through Wang‟s evolution in thought until his travels in Europe to see personally
how the systems of Britain and Europe actually functioned, his understanding would
likely have introduced him to ideas, but his ability would have been limited in identifying

61
Wang, Tao., Tao yuan wen lu wai bian, Di 1 ban., Shenyang Shi: Liaoning ren min chu ban she: Liaoning
sheng xin hua shu dian fa xing, 1994.
38

key points that would apply to China‟s situation. Not that the unusual path he followed
diminished the importance of the preparatory nature of any one of the three periods
preceding his time in Europe. His path while fulfilling performance of social
responsibility inherent in a scholar‟s Confucian value belief system illustrates, he did not
limit himself to taking a traditional route. In this regard, the weight of his observations
can be argued as demonstrating a level of clarity in his progressive thinking which was
not as inhibited as a scholar who was working under government auspices inside China,
or outside of the foreign controlled concessions. The observations that Wang wrote in
Manyou suilu in summation of his thoughts about Britain and France show that they
directly relate to the four main points of thematic content in this essay Bian fa zhong.
These four points are introduced through dialectic on change from the revered classic
Yijing, prefacing commonly known history and cultural values of China, but the body of
the essay succinctly and pointedly gives pragmatic critique about the structural makeup
areas of government official examination system, the military, education structure, and
legal structures of law. His thought as his exposure increased in understanding
fundamental differences between China and the West, shows distinct differences after he
returned from Europe and consolidated expression of his understanding in Bian fa zhong.
Indeed, perhaps the best description of demonstrated changes in the knowledge of Wang
after he returned to Hong Kong is found in research from Sinn: “He was now heralded as
a great master of Western learning for his comprehensive understanding of the geography,
history, politics, and society of the West. Moreover, he was referred to as „Dr. Wong.‟ He
was no longer a minor degree holder… [And] as he began to publish his works in 1874 to
edit the Xunhuan ribao, his social status continued to rise, and in addition to being an
39

expert on Western affairs, his Chinese [literary works] scholarship also came to be
admired.”
62
An intriguing comment on Wang‟s recognition of using the newspaper is
that his unique combination of classical knowledge and Western knowledge could now
be delivered through an exclusive new medium he learned from Protestant missionaries
in “their deployment and development of journalism as a tool for evangelism.”
63

Translation of Wang Tao’s Bian fa zhong 变法中

易曰：穷则变，变则通. The Yi Jing
64
tells us: “When circumstances
reach a limit there is change, as change proceeds there is penetration
65
.” Nothing

62
Sinn, Elizabeth. “Fugitive in Paradise: Wang Tao and Cultural Transformation in Late Nineteenth-Century
Hong Kong,” Late Imperial China 19.1 (1998) 61, 62.

63
Tao, Zhang (2007) “Protestant Missionary Publishing and the Birth of Chinese Elite Journalism”,
Journalism Studies, 8:6, 879-897.

64
More specifically from the Yi Zhuan 易传, commentaries on the Yi Jing 易经 with most of the ten
sections attributed to Confucius and known in English as the “Ten Wings” shi yi 十翼.

65
The entire Yi Zhuan quote includes a third and final transition reference after the first two, “When
circumstances reach a limit there is change, as the change proceeds there is penetration, penetration
proceeds to sustainable circumstances.” Chang, Wonsuk article, “Reflections on Time and Related Ideas in
the Yijing,” Philosophy East and West, Volume 59, No. 2, April 2009, pp. 216-229, quotes Needham’s
translation on p. 225, as “When one change had run its course, they altered. Through their alternation
they achieved penetration. Through penetration they achieve sustainability.” He continues to explain the
link of bian 变 and yi 易 as, “Alternation (bian 变) in the passage refers to the fundamental
transformation of a situation occurring at a culminating point in its ongoing process (yi 易). At least four
levels of this evolutionary process are identified: cumulative change ( 易), emergent change caused by
cumulative change ( 变), penetration ( 通), and achieved sustainability ( 久). ”

40

in the universe has changeless permanence, 知天下事， From the most ancient
period
66
, the only permanence is the occurrence of transformative change, 未有
久而不变者也。As when the most remote, ancient world transformed to the
middle-ancient period
67
,上古之天下，一变而为中古。And the middle-ancient
era underwent a transformation into the Three Dynasties Period
68
中古之天下，
一变而为三代。Qin Shihuang
69
emerged to conquer the land, 自祖龙崛起
discarded feudalism in favor of commanderies and districts, 兼并宇内，废封建
而为郡县，burned books, buried scholars, and the music, rites, laws and
institutions of the Three Dynasties disappeared. 焚书坑儒，三代礼乐典章制度
荡焉泯焉，无一存焉。

66
Time of the “Three Augusts” Sanhuang 三皇: Fuxi 伏羲, Shennong 神農, Huangdi 黃帝. James Legge
ascribes the time of Fuxi to approximately the 34
th
century B.C., The Sacred Books of China: Part 1 The
Shu King, p. xvi.

67
Time of the “Five Emperors” Wudi 五帝: including Shaohao 少昊, Yao 堯 and Shun 舜.
68
Xia 夏, Shang 商(also called Yin 殷), and Zhou 周.

69
Zulong 祖龙, Qin emperor (BCE 259-210).
41

三代之天下，至此而又一变。Again, after the Three Dynasties was a
transformational change. Since Han, each dynasty replaced the other through
extermination or abdication, and each had its own situation. 自汉以来，各代递
嬗，征诛禅让，各有其局， Although their territories gradually became more
extensive, 虽疆域渐广，而登王会列屏藩者，they knew only of island nations
in the Eastern and South Seas. Outside of only these, they knew nothing. 不过东
南洋诸岛国而已，此外无闻焉。Since the Ming Dynasty when Matteo Ricci
70

arrived in China, 自明季利玛窦入中国，we came to know of two hemispheres
of East and West, 始知有东西两半球，and overseas countries seemed spread out
like chess pieces and stars everywhere. 而海外诸国，有若棋布星罗。Up to the
present, Western countries big and small without exception all have peace treaties
with us, 至今日，而泰西大小各国无不通和立约，叩关而求互市 and knock at
the doors to seek mutual trade 举海外数十国悉聚于一中国之中，Now all the
tens of countries from abroad have gathered together in China; 见所未见，闻所
未闻，unprecedented and unheard of, almost as if all lands becoming one country,

70
Li, Matou 利玛窦, Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) arrived in China 1582, first Westerner invited
by emperor to imperial court in 1601, and remained in Beijing until his death in1610.
42

the whole world becoming one family. 几于六合为一国，四海为一家； The
world since Qin and Han has now reached a time of change again. 秦、汉以来之
天下，至此而又一变。
呜呼！Alas! 至今日而欲辨天下事，At present if wishing to discern the
world‟s affairs, the start must be at Europe. 必自欧洲始. Use the great countries
of Europe for guiding principles in developing wealth and power, and for key
points in manufacturing. 以欧洲诸大国，为富强之纲领，制作之枢纽。
Except in this way, 舍此，their strengths cannot be mastered when formulating
principles for change. 无以师其长而成一变之道. China and the West both have
boats, but theirs use steam. 中西同有舟，而彼则以轮船. Both have transport,
but they also have railroads. 中西同有车，而彼则以火车; Both have postal
communications, but they also have telegraph. 中西同有驿递，而彼则以电音；
Both have firearms, but only theirs are precise. 中西同有火器，而彼之枪炮独
精；Both have readiness in defenses, but their forts and naval mines only - have
especially superb advantages. 中西同有备御，而彼之炮台水雷独擅其胜 Both
43

have armies and navies, but their tactics and strategies only – are remarkable. 中
西同有陆兵水师，而彼之兵法独长. Besides the above, they have observed and
studied things that are yet unknown to us. 其他则彼之所考察，为我之所未知.
They have given particular attention in areas that we are yet to reach. 彼之所讲
求，为我之所不及. Thus, the number of these things is simply beyond what can
be counted on bent fingers. 如是者直不可以偻指数. If our China right now does
not undergo a transformative change, how is it possible to equal the great
countries of Europe, 设我中国至此时而不一变，安能埒于欧洲诸大国, and
compete with them in authority and power! 而与之比权量力也哉！
然而一变之道难矣 Even so, the principles of transformation are difficult.
Regarding Western countries‟ possessions, with flagrant defiance everyone looks
down upon them with disdain. 以今日西国之所有，彼悍然不顾者, 皆视以为不
屑者也。Their words say: 其言曰：We use our methods to govern the world. 我
用我法以治天下. Originally, the Way of the Sages‟ existed. 自有圣人之道在.
They do not know the value of the Way lies in acting according to circumstances
44

only. 不知道贵乎因时制宜而已. Even if Kongzi
71
were still alive today, 即使孔
子而生乎今日， he would categorically not be mired in old ways, 其断不拘泥古
昔 and would not be inflexible – this is obvious. 而不为变通，有可知也。
Now we see what China is good at 今观中国之所长者无他 is nothing
else but: 曰：因循也，following old routines, 苟且也，being resigned to
circumstances, 蒙蔽也 deceiving ourselves, 粉饰也，whitewashing, 贪罔也，
greedy deception, 虚骄也 false pride, liking flattery but hating frank speech, 喜贡
谀而恶直言 and wanting wealth but imposing upon each other‟s profit. 好货财而
彼此交征利. If there are outstanding people with deliberative foresight, they are
certainly discarded without being used. 其有深思远虑矫然出众者，则必摈不
见用. If offering a transforming change theory, chances of not being expelled by
laughter are few! 苟以一变之说进，其不哗然逐之者几希！
盖进言者必美其词曰：Those offering advice certainly beautify their
words to say: China‟s talented persons are numerous, 中国人才之众也 the land is

71
Kongzi 孔子, Confucius.
45

expansive, 土地之广也 the military is strong, 甲兵之强也 financial resources are
rich, 财力之富也，moral standards are virtuous 法度之美也， – not having
these capabilities, Western countries are unable to catch up. 非西国之所能望其
项背也. Alas! It is all like this. 呜呼！是皆然矣.
But those who know the talented persons are numerous, 特彼知人才之
众，do not know how to nourish them for our use; 而不知所以养其人才以为我
用; they know the land is expansive, 知土地之广 but do not know how to
administer the land for our benefit; 而不知所以治其土地以为我益; they know
the military is strong, but do not know how to train the military for our might; 知
甲兵之强，而不知练其甲兵以为我威 they know the financial resources are rich,
but do not know how to nourish their abundance, 知财力之富，而不知所以裕其
财力 increase income and decrease expenditures, so to expend inexhaustibly and
consume endlessly 开源节流，以出诸无穷而用之不匮; know the virtue of
moral standards, but do not perform official duties obeying law, 知法度之美，而
不知奉公守法, do things energetically, but do not look upon them as just
46

perfunctory formality. 行之维力，不至视作具文。All these are deficiencies. 凡
此皆其蔽也. Therefore on this talk of governing, only a transformative change
can cause some consequence. 故至今日而言治，非一变不为功.
变之之道奈何? What are the alternative principles of this change?
其一曰: One point is: the method of selecting talented persons for
government service should be changed. 取士之法宜变也. The eight-legged essay
policy 贴括一道, up to now tends even more towards decline, 至今日而所趋益
下 commonly mediocre, stale, and poor quality to be kept at arm‟s length, 庸腐恶
劣不可向迩 but is still in use for selecting talented persons. 乃犹以之取士. This
is the imperial examination system, 曰制科, which every year selects thousands
of rashly ignorant persons 岁取数千百贸然无知之人， – and calls them scholars.
而号之曰士。 It designates them to govern the people. Can the people be
governed well? 将来委之以治民，民其治乎?
47

So I say 故我曰： if the method of selecting scholars does not change,
then talented persons will after all not emerge. 取士之法不变，则人才终不出。
其一曰: Another point is: the method of training military should be
changed. 练兵之法宜变也. Now in the army and navy, all the registered soldiers
are named - but not real. 今之陆营水师，其著于籍者，有名而无实. Persons in
charge claim insufficient numbers of soldiers to rely upon, 当事者以兵不足恃，
又从而募勇, thereby recruiting more, with ability to assemble - but not to
discharge. 能聚而不能散. Today Tianjin garrison soldiers number one hundred
thousand, 今天津驻防之兵至十万, although sufficient enough to surround and
protect the national capital, 虽足以拱卫神京, including flanks of imperial
domains protected 翼保畿辅 - - with magnificent prestige have repelled attack; 以
壮声威而遏戟铁; but elsewhere all coastal defenses must be reorganized, 而他处
海防均须整顿, coastal camps are full of green-banner conscripts.
72
绿旗满营.

72
Green banner conscripts were synonymous with soldiers of Han ethnicity, not of the Manchu elite
status.

48

Navy warships need changes in weapons, 水师战舰皆当易器械, and changes in
ships, 更船舶 to renovate the fortifications, 使之壁垒一新, and can no longer use
spears and lances, bow and arrows to arm for military engagement. 而不得仍以
戈矛弓矢从事。If still following old ways and not quickly changing methods, 苟
仍其旧而不早为之计, it may be called “using untrained people to fight”
73
是谓
以不教民战, and is tantamount to driving them into a death trap. 无殊驱之就死
地也。
故我曰：So I say: If the military system does not change, the forces
cannot be strong. 兵法不变则兵不能强。
其一曰 Another point is that: Schools‟ outdated structure should change.
学校之虚文宜变也。Currently established officers for staff and curriculum, 今
所设教谕训导, one person in small cities, two persons in big cities, 小邑一人，
大邑两人 meaninglessly waste government stipends 虚糜廪粟 and have nothing

73
DeBary, Wm. Theodore. Volume Two: Sources of Chinese Tradition, From 1600 Through the Twentieth
Century, Second Edition. DeBary translates as “using untrained people to fight,” and attributes to Mencius
4B:8.
49

to do. 并无所事。 Furthermore those officers, 且其人 generally all are inferior
and incompetent, 类皆阘冗无能, decrepit and without shame 龙钟寡耻, and not
satisfactory as models of scholars. 不足为士之表率。 Scholars in charge of
academies 书院山长 seek to obtain fame and prestige, 祈取声誉,
recommendations of praise or blame determines who goes or stays, 以所荐之荣
辱为去留, but every month‟s teaching, 而每月所课, only conforms to following
old routines. 不过奉行故事而已。The imperial government has the name of
cultivating scholars 是朝廷有养士之名 – but not the reality of cultivating
scholars. 而无养士之实也。Contrarily, it does not come up to the Han
establishment of the National Academy; 是反不若汉时所立国子监; scholars
came from everywhere, yet still could achieve entrance for study. 天下士子，犹
得读书于其中也。
其一曰: Another point is that: The over-elaborate formalities of law need
change. 律例之繁文宜变也。In the past when Han Gaozu
74
entered the kingdom,

74
Liu Bang, the first ruler of the Han, after fall of the Qin.
50

昔高祖入关, he made a pact with the people, 其与民约, which had only three
clauses. 不过曰法三章耳。 Now modern officials, 近世之吏， juggle the law to
their own advantage, 上下其手, laws and procedures are more complex and more
confusing, 律例愈密而愈紊, but only for them to pervert the law through
manipulation of legal phraseology. 不过供其舞文弄法已耳。 Sticking to the
letter of the law, 拘牵文义, they commit more fraudulent abuses every day, 厥弊
日滋, always saying that the established statutes are hard to violate, 动曰成例难
违, and the old laws should be followed 旧法当守 - but in all affairs, 而一切之事,
these bind and fetter our freedom of action. 都为其所束缚驰骤矣。The imperial
government has the name of executing law 是朝廷有行法之名– but not the
reality of respect for the law. 而无奉法之实也。Is it not better to reduce clauses
and tenets, 是不如减条教, and cut down on orders and commands, 省号令, speak
frankly and sincerely 开诚布公, and further more meet with people in accordance
with equity and natural laws. 而与民相见以天也。
51

Each of these four things 凡是四者, should all urgently change 皆宜亟变
者也。Once these four things are changed, 四者既变, then use Western methods
at necessary times. 然后以西法参用乎其间。Moreover, the most significant one
而其最要者, is for government above to exercise authority over transforming
social traditions, 移风易俗之权操之自。And the gradual influence on people
will happen invisibly 而与民渐渍于无形 - the transition will happen without
people realizing it. 转移于不觉。So this change, 盖其变也, from the root to the
tips, 由本以及末, from the inside to the outside, 由内以及外, from large to small,
由大以及小, will then not rely only on Western methods. 而非徒恃乎西法也。

Remarks on Bian fa zhong 变法中 Translation

At this point, some remarks can be organized about the classical structure used in
writing as seen in this essay‟s construction, language, and content.
52

Wang Tao opens this essay on change for China with reference to ancient and
ongoing dialectic on processes and types of change derived from the classic Yijing. The
introductory sentence presents the beginning of a systematic argument that Wang
develops as he proceeds through aspects of history, time, sages, and society to expose
fallacy in belief and leads to the closing sentence of the essay that realizes resolution of
conflict in an intellectual investigation. The first sentence introduces an idea, and the last
sentence provides that idea with closure. For Wang‟s application of the Yijing formula to
China‟s current situation, he only needed the first two lines of the three-line formula:
qiong ze bian 穷则变，When circumstances reach a limit there is change,
bian ze tong 变则通 as change proceeds there is penetration.

From this introduction as it applies to Wang‟s argument of how and why change is
needed for China, his closing sentence differentiates this type of change from the
formulaic step-two “penetration.” He elaborates: “The gradual influence on people will
happen invisibly - the transition will happen without people realizing it. And so this
change, from the root to the tips, from the inside to the outside, from large to small…”
That is to say it would penetrate to fundamental roots in China, as demonstrated in the
examples he provides from previous points in history. This type of change that Wang
described for China indicates a leap in advancement from scholars that proposed
superficial use of Western technology, to a deeper fundamental change that would
penetrate society by means of new structures in education and government, and all
without compromising the Confucian value system. The following explanation of the
53

differentiation in “change” for the Yijing formula is found in work by Wonsuk Chang.
75

In contrast to cumulative change, another type of change emerges from occurrence of an
interfering disruption. He explains this three step formula from the Xici Zhuan 2:2
passage of the Yijing:
“When one change had run its course, they altered. Through their alternation they
achieved penetration. Through penetration they achieve sustainability,”
( 易穷则变, 变则通, 通则久). Alternation (bian 变) in the passage refers to the
fundamental transformation of a situation occurring at a culminating point in its
ongoing process (yi 易). At least four levels of this evolutionary process are
identified: cumulative change (yi 易 ), emergent change caused by cumulative
change ( 变), penetration (通), and achieved sustainability ( 久). The passage can
be interpreted to mean that when cumulative and constant change reaches a peak,
novelty emerges, or, in other words, a discontinuous element disrupts continuous
change.
76

As Wang Tao discerned that China had reached the fully extended culmination of the
previous course, as now indicated by the West emerging as a discontinuous element to
the previous course, he explained the Yijing formula as stipulating China had now
reached another point in its long history which is classified as a point of emergent change
(bian 变). This also invites the literary allusion of change in his Bian fa zhong essay title
(bian 变) change to the Yijing classic (yi 易) change. The arguments presented by scholars
other than Wang Tao likely followed a similarly classical structure in argument, but had

75
See Chang, Wonsuk, “Reflections on Time and Related Ideas in the Yijing,” Philosophy East and West,
Volume 59, No. 2, April 2009, pp. 216-229. Chang includes analysis in his article from work by Benjamin L.
Schwartz, The World of Thought in Ancient China, Joseph Needham, Time and Easten Man, A.C.Graham,
Disputers of the Tao, Derk Bodde, Chinese Thought, Society, and Science, and James Legge translations.

76
Chang, Wonsuk. p.225.
54

not yet been able to formulate an intellectual framework to express a reconciled synthesis
of China‟s relationship with the West.
Proceeding through the essay, Wang mediates from his personal knowledge and
experiences in his unorthodox path as mentioned in the Chapter One of the four
biographical periods leading up to his return from Europe. His scholarly knowledge
beginning with early classical education provided the premises for his substantiating that
the current situation calling for “emergent change” had occurred in at least three different
points in China‟s history.
77
Since Han, only one person is listed by name, that being
Matteo Ricci. This can be explained by a number of reasons. One is that Ricci was a
harbinger of Western knowledge. A second is that in Wang‟s work in Shanghai with
Medhurst and the London Missionary Press, both Wang Tao and Medhurst made special
recognition of the importance of Ricci‟s translation assistant, the historic figure of Xu
Guangqi 徐光启 (1562-1633), and drew comparisons to Wang in that “his accurate
knowledge of the language enabled him to throw the publications of his instructor into a
neat and elegant style, which contributed to their acceptability with the higher classes of
the people.”
78
Wang Tao may be mirroring the above thoughts in this case of himself
being one of few that could articulately communicate understanding of the West to
Chinese intellectuals. Furthermore, he clearly marks this point in the essay with, “Alas!
At present if wishing to discern the world‟s affairs, the start must be at Europe.” Not only

77
Both Cohen and DeBary indicate that Wang was refuting claims by Western scholars that history had
shown China to have been in a state of repeating stasis for many thousand years.

78
Hanan, Patrick. pp.223-225.

55

does this delineate himself as being one of few arbiters of true experience with the West,
it strikingly demands attention from any of the essay‟s readers that truly held China‟s
interests at heart. His long periods of association with scholarly Westerners in Shanghai
and Hong Kong and capped by knowledge gained spending two years in Britain were
unmatched by any other Chinese. China‟s continuing-to-increase difficulties in foreign
relationships would serve to only heighten the appeal of Wang‟s perspectives.
Wang continues in the essay to highlight principles found in Europe for
developing wealth and power. The subject of developing wealth and power as the
possible solution for China was long-standing. Wang explains the benefits of various
strengths to be gained from technology. He personally saw during his time in Britain how
quickly technological advances had come in the short time since he and Huang Sheng 黃
勝 had translated not many years earlier in their joint work, Huoqi tushuo 火器圖說
(Drawings on Gunnery) .
79
However, it could be that his most powerful admonition
concerning Western thought and knowledge was that in the West, besides things above,
“they have observed and studied things that are yet unknown to us.” This too, was an area
where he could speak from personal experience; how could he possibly have explained to
the untraveled of differences between China and the West that he had been exposed to
daily in Europe? Of course, at this point he accentuates that, “ 设我中国至此时而不一变
If our China right now does not undergo a transformative change,” to reinforce his

79
Sinn, Elizabeth. “Fugitive in Paradise: Wang Tao and Cultural Transformation in Late Nineteenth-Century
Hong Kong,” Late Imperial China 19.1 (1998) 56-81.
56

previously stated recognition that cyclical change would not suffice, “emergent change”
was necessary.
For tradition-minded scholars, he continues by explaining that even if Confucius
were alive today, the master would recognize that the situation calls for change. He lists
China‟s weaknesses, but they are ineptitudes that are not deep rooted; primarily they are
just old routines as remnants of complacency developed through a long history. Wang
Tao appears to be aware that traditional thinking may be the largest obstacle to overcome
for China to change. He shares his understanding with those bound to tradition, by ending
this paragraph with an injection of humor, “ 苟以一变之说进，其不哗然逐之者几希！
If offering a transforming change theory, chances of not being expelled by laughter are
few!”
Wang continues to outline the many strengths of China: talented persons of ability,
rich resources, expansive lands, strong military, accumulated wealth, and virtuous moral
standards. These are also listed areas of which he had personal observation during his
travels abroad. Most were listed in his six main points describing Britain,
80
industry, the
military, attention to the British having good manners, invention and creativity, women
having equal rights, and his sixth point democratic methods, and remarks comparing
France as having a very developed education system. To recall, after Wang‟s Account of
the Franco-Prussian War Pu Fa zhanji, his comments became negative about France,
possibly because France lost the war, and he attributed that loss to underlying societal

80
Wang, Liqun, pp. 144, 145.
57

and political problems in France.
81
This seems to draw a parallel here in his essay, to
China‟s poor administration throughout the system of governing. Almost all of the
critique in this paragraph blames one way or another as faulty in regards to the persons
that are in charge.
The body of the essay contains four specific areas for change: 1) selection of
talent for government service, 2) military restructuring, 3) educational system
restructuring, 4) law and legal process restructuring. Of the first area, Wang Tao had
already at the age of eighteen voiced his perceptions of the flaws in finding talent through
the imperial examination system, and his disdain for the eight-legged essay. His
comments on the second point of military weaponry were also based on personal
observations abroad. In the third point, it is seen that education was viewed throughout
Wang‟s life as a special place with his reverence for learning, seen in his special remarks
on France‟s education system, his lifetime associations with intellectuals, and oversight
of his early education by his erudite father. Here too, he was speaking from both
experiential knowledge, and his historical knowledge of Confucian ideals first established
during Han. On the fourth point of law, he proceeds through the overly complex
formalities, and corrupt officials and ends the paragraph reaching the conclusion that the
greatest lack of responsibility ultimately lies in performance of the imperial government.
The closing paragraph of this essay that becomes progressively scathing implores
change. He reiterates that Western methods are not the solution, but can be useful if they
are understood. This would answer calls from those who proposed that temporary or

81
Wang, Liqun, pp. 131-133.
58

superficial adoption of Western techniques might be sufficient for China. The next
sentence shows astute prescience recognizing that the obstacle to change was the
resistance from those in power. Wang seems to indicate that social traditions could
change in China, as long as the leadership truly embraced change. Wang had written after
his travels in Britain how impressed he was with the system of rule and the leadership
relationship with the people. That experience would have verified the capability of
success for such a system, and he attributed many benefits from the system to the British
society. This essay in the final sentences stops short of completely calling for removal of
the imperial system, but it seems by concluding with this final point that the most
significant obstacle was the intention of the imperial system. It was not being stated yet
as the imperial system itself, but that imperial system must hold the correct intention. In
recalling Wang‟s return from Europe, a discussion above considers potential difficulty in
developing ideas about nationality and nation until after he had returned to Hong Kong
because in traditional Chinese thinking, there was no concept of nation – because the
entire world Tian xia 天下 was all under the purview of the emperor, and possibly even
including the far-away West Tai xi 泰西. In this regard, despite Wang‟s praise for rule in
Britain, as far as conceptualizing a government authority in China as different from the
imperial system, even for the intellectually modern and highly informed set of alternative
values of Wang Tao it appears to have been a difficult concept to imagine.
82
However, at
the time of this essay, the distinguishing knowledge and experience of Wang Tao
definitely identified him as a leader among the intellectually most qualified, and his

82
Wang, Liqun. pp. 149-156.
59

writings and experiences certainly identify him as highly perceptive, and a recognizable
agent of change.

Bian fa zhong Indications towards China’s Future

What can further be derived from this essay Bian fa zhong as indications of
China‟s early modernity relationship with ideas such as print capitalism, nationalism, or
traditional cultural identity?
This essay Bian fa zhong, or close modification of it, was likely one of the earliest
articles Wang Tao printed in the newspaper he founded in Hong Kong, the Xunhuan
Ribao 循环日报, „The Universal Circulating Herald.‟ Does it follow criteria in
demonstrating development of an imagined community? In 1874 Hong Kong for Wang
Tao, the answer may contain both a yes and a no. If requisites were as Benedict Anderson
indicates as emergence of imagining a national consciousness, then Wang Tao‟s essay
Bian fa zhong fits those parameters. This translated essay and Wang‟s new method of
delivery through newspaper printing comes into consonance with the impact of economic
change, technological innovations in “increasingly rapid communications [that] drove a
harsh wedge between cosmology and history. No surprise then that the search was on, so
to speak, a new way of linking fraternity, power, and time meaningfully together.”
83

83
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. pp. 35,36.

60

These elements are all visible in Wang‟s essay. Furthermore, Wang‟s timing in beginning
use of the printing press, follows in accord to Anderson‟s description that print capitalism
actually arises through panic, and political schisms, crises of competition, maritime
availability for mobility of escape, and religious evangelizing motivations – but always
analogous to some political schism. He continues that print capitalism seems to arise
when people need guidance in a situation of political turmoil, and that sometimes it was
directed not for aristocratic, but for the public sphere. The special circumstances in
historical creation of Hong Kong brought the significant role of merchants from that
public sphere to the attention of Wang Tao, as they assumed roles of the mainland literati,
and signaled a path towards “China‟s attainment of wealth and power.”
84
The content of
Wang‟s translated essay above signals all of these situations, especially relevant to
government administration schisms, and the relationship of time to China‟s need for
change. This references back again to his newspaper title using the verb xunhuan 循环
circulating nature of strength and weakness, an allusion to China‟s future return to
distinction.
85
From within the aegis of British law, the target areas of Wang‟s essay
through his newspaper market were primarily not Hong Kong, but coastal cities from
Guangzhou to Tianjin, and overseas populations in Yokohama and San Francisco.
86
His
essay speaks through literary polish to mainland scholars, with an experiential
understanding from life in Hong Kong where Western systems interfaced with a multi-

84
Sinn, Elizabeth. pp. 74, 75.

85
Wang, Liqun 王立群, 中国早期口岸知识分子形成的文化特征— 王韬研究. 2009. p. 163.

86
Sinn, Elizabeth. pp. 69.

61

level reordering of social strata from China, and provides practical explanation for
removing obstacles to a range of questions for reform-minded leaders. Wang‟s
combination of Beijing government edicts and memorials as traditionally found in
Chinese publications, as well as the European flavor of international news in a polished
literary style,
87
are examples of linking audience fraternity, and using both new and
traditional information of power. Wang Tao was likely not targeting development of a
national consciousness, but his literary penchant combined with unique knowledge of the
West can be imagined to give rise to beginnings of national identity thought formation
through China‟s traditional respect for literary medium; a resulting community likely
developed using the basis of his advocated political reforms for transformation of China
by this new print medium to gain understanding “of Western rationality, knowledge, and
institutions.”
88
In this regard, Eisenstein describes print culture studies as a subset within
a broader history of communications. She draws a contrast with other historical
disciplines with the example of economic historians that “have long made ample room
for the innovative aspects of early printing. From their perspective, the early printer
belongs in the company of other entrepreneurs and early capitalists.”
89
The purposes
behind Wang‟s essay do not seem to coincide with entrepreneurial motivations, but the
power of printing must have appealed to his sense of social responsibility derived in part
from his literary education. When made visible by the LMS (London Missionary Press)

87
Scollon, Ron, “Hong Kong Newspapers on the Pre-Transitional Stage”, Asia Pacific Media Educator, Issue
2, Article 5, 1997, p.52.

88
Lu, Sheldon Hsiao-peng. “Waking to Modernity: The Classical Tale in Late-Qing China,” New Literary
History, Volume 34, Number 4, Autumn 2003, pp. 745-760.

89
Eisenstein, Elizabeth. “A Conversation with Elizabeth L. Eisenstein”, Agent of Change. P.417.
62

he thus could create a new system outside of the imperial examination path for delivery
of his political messages. Anderson‟s list of print capitalism situation emergence above
draws examples from times of panic, crises of competition, maritime availability for
mobility of escape, and religious evangelizing motivations – and all analogous to some
political schism. Contrasting that early Protestants involved in printing were “essentially
non-political and focused on a traditional programme of evangelization through religious
publications,”
90
and Wang‟s initial exposure to printing was in such an environment, his
later essay demonstrates a completely non-religious message, and moreover as Hangqi
Fang says, “Historians of Chinese journalism have often named Wang Tao as the first
leading modern Chinese political columnist.”
91

Technically, in response to Anderson‟s criteria for emergence of imagined
community defined by a national consciousness, the criteria do not apply when
considering if Wang‟s essay traversed classical language in the same way that Europe
had experienced a communication revolution through print capitalism. In the example of
Wang‟s essay Bian fa zhong, dissimilar vernacular characteristics exist between “truth-
languages” of examination Chinese with Latin in Europe. Thus access to sacred language
knowledge of literary Chinese by vernacular print capitalism vs. the vernacular languages
of Europe fully breaking the grip of Latin over access to religion and control of
knowledge by means of print capitalism, are not parallel in many ways. Before print
capitalism, “in effect, ontological reality [was] apprehensible only though a single,

90
Zhang, Tao (2007) “Protestant Missionary Publishing and the Birth of Chinese Elite Journalism”,
Journalism Studies, 8:6, 879-897.

91
Ibid., Zhang, Tao. 879-897.

63

privileged system of re-presentation: the truth-language of Church Latin, Qur‟anic Arabic,
or Examination Chinese,” and this sacred language provided access to conversion from
barbarian to civilized.
92
Wang Tao used the classical literary language, not the vernacular.
In this respect he differed from the Europeans who broke away from Latin to transmit
“truth-language” knowledge through vernacular, and thus give rise between European
states to ideas of national consciousness. As Wang and Medhurst had independently
recognized earlier about the success of Matteo Ricci as attributed to the polished literary
quality of his translation assistant, Wang‟s essay demonstrates not only high literary
polish, and classical formatting, but appeals through newspaper print medium to its
audience as it carries its message supported in content from the highest truths found in
the Yijing. His essay in this case uses a “truth-language,” but delivers the incompatible
underlying message about need for change in China induced by Western incursion. The
impetus for change in Wang‟s essay can be said to only work not because an emerging
imagined community consciousness, but because he had reconciled a synthesis using
“truth-language” sacred content and classical format to support innovation in accepting
Western induced change. The essay format uses traditional truths to introduce
untraditional observations. This newspaper print delivery of Wang‟s essay may be said to
have been a first level precursor of later 19
th
/ 20
th
C. reformers‟ challenges to not only
government and educational institution systems, but also to literary design, vernacular
baihua adaptation, and questioning of classical paradigms in Confucian ideals. Wang‟s
use of print capitalism appears just a few years in advance of a time in China when the

92
Anderson, Benedict., pp. 14,15.
64

three cultural propositions Anderson specifies for imagining a nation clearly congealed at
the time of Sun Yat-sen 孫逸仙 (Sun Zhongshan 孙中山) :
Essentially, I have been arguing that the very possibility of imagining the
nation only arose historically when, and where, three fundamental cultural
conceptions, all of great antiquity, lost their axiomatic grip on men‟s minds.

The first of these was the idea that a particular script-language offered
privileged access to ontological truth, precisely because it was an inseparable
part of that truth…

Second was the belief that society was naturally organized around and under
high centres –monarchs who were persons apart from other human beings
and who ruled by some form of cosmological (divine) dispensation...

Third was a conception of temporality in which cosmology and history were
indistinguishable…ideas rooted human lives firmly in the nature of things,
giving certain meaning to the everyday fatalities of existence (above all death,
loss, and servitude) and offering, in various ways, redemption from them.
93

.
Perhaps the axiomatic grip of tradition had been released on Wang as a result of his long
associations with the West, but he knew that communication could not be too radical, and
must be made through traditional literary expression to have any chance of being
received. All three of Anderson‟s above cultural conceptions can be seen to have some
relationship with Wang‟s Bian fa zhong essay. First, literati education and language was
the traditional and only acceptable access to truth. Second, in Bian fa zhong, Wang‟s
critique is sharp, but there is still an adherence of the divine order of natural organization
through the imperial government. Third, the complacency that Wang identified as a prime
ineptitude in China was relegated to predication upon cyclical cumulative change (yi 易 )

93
Anderson, Benedict., p. 36.
65

that had served China well at times like Song / Yuan foreign invasions, and as such he
admonished that even Confucius would recognize this point in time required not
acquiescence, but emergent change (bian 变). Anderson‟s three cultural conceptions
would arguably be received in different measure and different variations in sequence as
nascent modernity encounters individual cultures in a multitude of subjective ways. In
recognizing China‟s society and outlook at the time of Wang Tao‟s essay, in relation to
the years at the end of the 19
th
century, Jameson describes the trope of modernity, in two
particular maxims: “Modernity is not a concept, philosophical or otherwise, but a
narrative category. The narrative of modernity cannot be organized around categories of
subjectivity; consciousness and subjectivity are unrepresentable; only situations of
modernity can be narrated.”
94
As an indication of developing modernity, Wang Tao‟s
essay does not fit quite into the parameters outlined by Benedict Anderson for emergence
of an imagined community defined by a national consciousness, in comparison to the
Chinese societal outlook developing a mere twenty years later at the turn of the century.
However, as an indication of modernity on a personal level, Wang‟s essay indicates he
had already embraced and assimilated perspectives indicating an outlook associated with
a situation of modernity much further into the future. Chatterjee objects to Benedict
Anderson‟s argument: “If nationalisms in the rest of the world have to choose their
imagined community from certain „modular‟ forms already made available to them by
Europe and the Americas, what do they have left to imagine? History, it would seem, has
decreed that we in the postcolonial world shall only be perpetual consumers of

94
Jameson, Fredric., A Singular Modernity, p. 40, 57.

66

modernity.”
95
This applies when trying to place Wang‟s essay Bian fa zhong into a
readily describable compartment. Perry Anderson aptly discusses versions of 19
th
century
modernity.
96
In Chinese tradition, literature, historical values, and philosophical thought
there are premises far more developed than in modern stages of societal movements, e.g.
modernity, national identity, cultural identity and therefore, any description must be
careful to take a multitude of historical precedents into account.

95
Chatterjee, Partha., “Whose Imagined Community?” The Nation and Its Fragments, p. 5.

96
See Anderson, Perry., “Modernity and Revolution,” discussion on various scholars in the rendering
meanings of modernity, including classical nineteenth century versions that continue to shape and evolve.
67

Conclusion

The essay Bian fa zhong is a testament to the dynamics involved as Wang Tao
developed his new ideas and thought for China. The biographical situations and exposure
to sequential environments of knowledge and culture are seen to be especially significant
in contributing to development of the insights Wang writes in this essay.
Each of the four phases of experience described in Chapter One can later be seen
to influence the content and perspectives in Wang‟s essay. It is also clear that each of the
four periods provided influencing elements that were included in his essay. Regarding the
contributing factors in each period, if any single period of the four experiences mentioned
had not occurred, it is likely that his perspectives would not have reached these full
proportions of development. At the time Wang Tao visited Britain, not many Chinese had
traveled abroad. Those who had traveled abroad did not have Wang‟s formal base of
classical literati education. Furthermore, the twenty years of association with Western
scholars before Wang went to Europe must be also be considered when making
estimations about his abilities in further developing his understanding of Western thought.
The aspects contributed by all of these forces must be credited.
Throughout a long period of working with Christian missionaries, Wang displays
an unmistakable Confucian value system that was unshaken and unquestioned as to its
legitimacy while confronting the fundamental core of Western modernity. Moreover,
68

Wang‟s Confucian ethic did not detract from embracing modernity, including his total
immersion for two years while living in Britain. His Western sojourn also demonstrated
that not only in Hong Kong, but in Britain as well, he had the ability to step from
classical tradition into Western modernity. One basis for this ability was Wang‟s
thorough understanding of Christian doctrine, and the associated cultural attitudes in
Christian countries of the West. An additional strength was a grounded self-identity;
signs exist of a strong self- identity as generating and supporting his cultural openness
and flexibility. A further point of note regards the observable diversity, where his
Confucian identity showed cultural compatibility in his processes and experiences of
personal observation and immersion. This point among his discoveries appears especially
significant to him, as he many times expressed his observation that there were different
paths the various cultures of the world might take to arrive at an equivalent non-exclusive
access to the highest wisdom, or dao 道 in a traditional Chinese sense.
Wang‟s essay also focuses on education. He makes recommendations about
curriculum content, proper stature in representatives, administrative structure, and the
institution as being most important to development of human potential. As seen in his
Bian fa zhong essay, as well as in the above biographical sections, he placed strong
emphasis on educational institutions in recognizing and developing human talent as being
the greatest resource for China. Throughout this essay and biography, his exaltation of
education is prominent. While working on Bible translation in Shanghai, his pursuit of
furthering knowledge in many directions showed recognition by his associates, and the
next two geographically different periods of opportunity came about as a result of support
69

from people such as Medhurst and later Legge, based on Wang Tao‟s proven abilities and
attitudes. This means their special admiration of Wang probably facilitated his move to
Hong Kong, and resulted in Legge‟s remarkable invitation to Wang to come and work
with him in Europe.
A section included here recognizes Wang‟s innovative beginnings in using the
printing press to develop a newspaper promoting political reform and making social
contribution. He established a precedent in this way of using a newspaper as a tool for
promoting social improvement. In the publishing of Wang‟s essay Bian fa zhong by using
an example of emerging print capitalism, this paper touched on Wang Tao‟s possible
perceptions of nationalism, or a national identity. It suggests that in 1874, national
identity was something very abstract to even the most progressive thinkers such as Wang
Tao. However, in regard to modernity, Wang‟s use of classical language, structure, and
literary organization indicates that Wang had arrived at synthesizing Western ideas
within his own Confucian identity. His ability to explain through the most traditional
avenues of thought, i.e. Yijing dialectic of change, shows that he not only found
compatibility, but he was also able to present ideas of change requiring use of Western
means, in a way that could be reconciled with values of the most traditional Chinese. On
this closing point, can the Yijing dialectic also reveal that Wang Tao was simultaneously
– both an agent of change and constancy?

70

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Core Title The nation, evolution, and transformation: the new ideas of Wang Tao

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