Kang Youwei

Kang Youwei was a Chinese scholar, noted calligrapher and prominent political thinker and reformer of the late Qing dynasty. He led movements to establish a constitutional monarchy and was an ardent Chinese nationalist and internationalist. His ideas inspired a reformation movement that was supported by the Guangxu Emperor but loathed by Empress Dowager Cixi. Although he continued to advocate a constitutional monarchy after the founding of the Republic, Kangs political theory was never put into practice.

Kang was born on March160 19, 1858 in Nanhai County, Guangdong province . According to his autobiography, his intellectual gifts were recognized as a child by his uncle. As a result, from an early age, he was sent by his family to study the Confucian classics to pass the Chinese civil service exams. However, as a teenager, he was dissatisfied with the scholastic system of his time, especially its emphasis on preparing for the eightlegged exams, which were artificial literary exercises required as part of the examinations.

Source: Wikipedia