ABSTRACT
In many ways, the 1890s saw the bitter culmination of challenges to traditional Chinese identities and self-perceptions. Kang's work in essence was the revolutionary first step, however little he intended it, in deposing Confucius and his thought as the foundation of Chinese culture, the first step in dismantling the traditional Chinese identities. In the summer of 1894, with the rebellion spreading, the Korean government, still operating under its tributary mentality, asked the Chinese government to send troops to help quell the disturbance. The practical efforts of institutional reformers, led by Kang and Liang, began with the establishment of groupings in particular study associations. The ultimate goal was to remake China by giving it a new national identity. At the very time that Kang and company were bearing the attacks in and being hounded out of Hunan, he was to come closest to wielding substantial national power.
