Why did Liang Qichao and other exiles choose Japan after the Sino-Japanese War?

The Asia Society, founded in Shanghai from 65438 to 0898, has a very important position in the history of modern Sino-Japanese relations, which can be said to be the first formal alliance between Chinese and Japanese people. From Kiel Island, which was generally despised before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, to the model of reform after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, to the allies who fought against the great powers and saved the crisis when Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay, and finally became accomplices in plotting against the Qing Dynasty, the relationship between China newcomers and Japanese groups in China was progressive. However, the Asia Society of Shanghai not only has a strong symbolic significance, but also has a certain organizational and personnel background. Some Japanese people and public opinion prefer to call it "Asia Promotion Association" and regard it as an alliance between Chinese and Japanese people to jointly save the crisis and further revitalize East Asia, not just an overseas branch of a specific Japanese group to China. Faced with the attempts of European and American powers to carve up China and the inaction of the Qing government, the Shanghai Asia Society not only shows the efforts of non-governmental organizations in China and Japan, but also shows the gradual convergence of new forces seeking alliances between Japanese parties and China, which is the potential driving force of the Shanghai Asia Society. Because of this potential, various factions in China United against the rule of the current dynasty during the Gengzi period, while the East Asian Literature Alumni Association, including the Asian Society, which was formed by the merger of Japanese groups in China, fully intervened in the joint anti-Qing conspiracy in the south.

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Since the late 1980s, the research of Shanghai Asia Society has made remarkable progress. Hiroyuki Fujitani's East Asia Society of the Reform Movement of 1898 (No.2, Ishigaki, pages 65438+March 3 1, 0989, 4 1-62) was compiled according to Review of Science, Zheng Ji and Tokyo Asahi Shimbun. Yi Huili's Zheng Chuan (Nanjing University Press, 1998, pp. 536-548) focuses on the differences of views and positions of Zheng and others on the Shanghai Asian Society by using the newly published Zheng Diary and other historical materials, and corrects its establishment time. Zheng Jianye's "Shanghai Asian Society during the Reform Movement of 1898" (Nara History No. 16,199865438+February) is a special article on this association, using the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Professor Naoki's Historical Investigation of Early Asianism (East Asia No.410-416, August 5438+0-February 2002) dialectically analyzes the origin and attribution of the Asian Association in Shanghai on the basis of systematically sorting out the origins of various groups of early Asianism in Japan. (1) At the same time, Liao Mei's "Wang: From Civil Rights to Cultural Conservatism" (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 200 1 Edition) discusses the Shanghai Asia Society from the perspective of Wang.

After the above research, according to the existing data, this short-lived organization has no meaning of existence. However, after careful study, there are still differences in the understanding of some important links, and some inferences still have room for further discussion, all of which are related to an important judgment, that is, the influence of the Shanghai Asian Association.

Shanghai Asia Society was established in June 1898, and according to its articles of association, it will carry out various undertakings. "Suddenly, things changed in Xia Xia, and people were surprised, so they dissolved, and many people regretted it." (2) Its existence time is quite short, and there is no record of any specific activities. Therefore, the researcher thinks: "The Asian Society, like other groups during the Reform Movement, has no specific influence. Its historical significance lies in that it is the first non-governmental organization in China's intellectual and gentry circles influenced by Japan and has obvious pro-Japanese tendencies." (3) As far as the organization of the Asia Society is concerned, this is of course a fact. However, the influence of the group sometimes does not depend entirely on the survival or abolition of the organization. If you don't stick to the form and name of the organization, the influence of Shanghai Asia Society is actually quite far-reaching. In other words, the undercurrent reflected by the Shanghai Asia Society is the confluence of various factions in Japan, the alliance of various factions in China, and the collusion and alliance between Chinese and Japanese, which deserves further study.