Liang Qichao

Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao in 1901
Born	(1873-02-23)23 February 1873 Xinhui, Guangdong, China
Died	19 January 1929(1929-01-19) (aged 55) Beijing, China
Occupation	Scholar journalist philosopher reformist
Political party	Progressive Party
Spouse(s)	Li Huixian (m. 1891) Wang Guiquan (m. 1903)
Children	9, including Liang Sicheng

Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啟超; 23 February 1873 – 19 January 1929), courtesy name Zhuoru, art name Rengong, was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher, and reformist who lived during the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China. He inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements.

Liang Qichao was born in a small village in Xinhui, Guangdong Province on February 23, 1873.

Liang's father, Liang Baoying (梁寶瑛, courtesy name Lianjian 蓮澗), was a farmer, but a background in classics allowed him to introduce Liang to various literary works when Liang was six years old. By the age of nine, Liang started writing thousand-word essays and became a district-school student soon after.

Liang had two wives: Li Huixian (李惠仙) and Wang Guiquan (王桂荃). They gave birth to nine children, all of whom became successful individuals through Liang's strict and effective education. Three of them were scientific personnel at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including Liang Sicheng, the prominent historian of Chinese architecture.

Liang passed the Xiucai (秀才) degree provincial examination at the age of 11. In 1884, he undertook the arduous task of studying for the traditional governmental exams. At the age of 16, he passed the Juren (舉人) second level provincial exams and was the youngest successful candidate at that time.

In 1890, Liang failed in his Jinshi (進士) degree national examinations in Beijing and never earned a higher degree. He took the exams along with Kang Youwei, a famous Chinese scholar and reformist. According to one popular narrative of Liang's failure to pass the Jinshi, the examiner was determined to flunk Kang for his heterodox challenge to existing institutions, but since the exams were all anonymous, he could only presume that the exam with the most unorthodox views was Kang's. Instead, Kang disguised himself by writing an examination essay espousing traditionalist ideas and passed the exam while Liang's paper was assumed to be Kang's and picked out to be failed.