Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9.t7.2

v1.c7.s9.t7.2

There are two phases in Liang Qichao’s understanding of India, which correspond to the different phases of his thinking about the nature of Western civilisation, and the challenge posed to countries like China and India by the West. In the early years of the 20^th^ century, Liang was an admirer of Western civilisation. At this time there was extensive discussion among Chinese intellectuals about the ‘ruined countries’ (*wangguo*亡国), which had been completely subjugated or extinguished by external powers, and about how China could avoid a