Abstract

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Title:: Reliance on Self rather than Others: Remarks on Tang Zengbi’s Revolutionary Thoughts in His Early Age

Keywords:: Tang Zengbi; 1911 Revolution; Reliance on Self rather than Others; Anti-Manchuism; consciousness of chivalry

Abstract:: Tang Zengbi was a very influential thinker and activist during the 1911 Revolution. In his earlier years, he went to Japan to further his studies, joined Chinese Revolutionary Alliance led by Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing, and took an active part in the struggle against the Qing government as well. As an advocate of revolution, he once held the post of the chief editor of Min Bao and founded the magazine of Jiang Xi. Under the influence of Zhang Taiyan’s theory of “reliance on self rather than others”, Tang formulated his revolutionary ideas characterized by anti-Manchuism, consciousness of chivalry, national character criticism and moral salvage, which were later developed into a more systematic theory. Once put into practice, his theory soon became a forceful weapon guiding the 1911 Revolution. The most striking feature of Tang’s theory is his pessimistic outlook on human life, which did not only speak of his own characteristic thoughts, but contributed a lot to the development of Zhang Taiyan’s theory of “reliance on self rather than others”.