明治启蒙思想家的中国论

明治初年，福泽谕吉、津田真道、西周等启蒙思想家认为儒学不仅是落后于时代的虚学，而且也是一种维护封建等级制度的意识形态。明治启蒙思想家由痛恨儒学发展到轻视中国。在他们的笔下，清末的中国人被描绘成一个保守、排外、性格残忍的民族，在社会上造成了一种蔑视中国的风气。但是，福泽谕吉独具慧眼，对中日两国的社会结构加以比较研究，得出了一个新颖的观点：即由于中国社会的权力和权威都集于皇帝一身，所以人们头脑僵化，缺乏社会改革的契机。

The Chinese argument by Meiji enlightenment thinkers

In the early Meiji period, Enlightenment thinkers such as Fukuzawa, Tsuda, and Nishi not only advocated the adoption of Western civilization, but also did strict criticism of traditional Chinese thought and culture, including Confucianism. They criticized Confucianism as an old-fashioned learning and an ideology which justified the feudalistic social hierarchy. They also looked down on the Chinese pepole as a conservative and crude race. In fact, it contributed greatly to the tendency of the Japanese to despise the Chinese. Even so, Fukuzawa tried to make a comparative study on the social structure of Japan and China, and reached a unique conclusion. In his opinion, because both authority and power are in imperial dominance, people's thinking capacity was seriously restrained, and thus the possibilities of social reform were lacking in China. Therefore, the process of modernization would be more difficult in China than in Japan.