Study and Publicity of Law and Politics of Students of Late Qing Studying in Japan

At the beginning of Qing government’s imitating Japan to start the constitutional monarchy, a large number of new talents with western knowledge structure were needed, and Qing government sent lots of students to Japan. Based on our national conditions and the students’ own characteristics, many of the students sent to study in Japan chose to learn the law and politics. In the course of their studying in Japan, the students continuously introduced western political system, the concept of democratic freedom and legal thoughts to China by running a newspaper, translating books and so on. Their publicity of western thoughts of law and politics played an enlightenment role in broadening Chinese people’s vision, increasing people’s understanding of law and politics and the modernization of Chinese legal system.