This paper takes Zhou Shuren’s first published work, The Soul of Sparta, featured in the 1903 issue of Zhejiang Chao magazine, as a focal point to explore, for the first time, the dissemination of “Sparta” knowledge as a conduit to “modernity” in China and the intellectual ripples it generated, from the perspective of knowledge transmission. For individuals involved in this complex process, “Sparta” served as a link in their “modern” knowledge chain, marking a step toward modernity in their intellectual history. The study focuses on two key figures: Liang Qichao, who fled to Japan after the failed 1898 Reform Movement and influenced history through journalism, and Zhou Shuren, then a Qing student at Hongwen Academy. As pivotal bearers in the dissemination chain of “Sparta” in modern China, they actively engaged with Meiji Japan as a platform for knowledge transmission. This paper examines Liang Qichao’s absorption of “Sparta” knowledge for the first time, including his progressive knowledge accumulation, intellectual interactions with Meiji Japan, and the source materials for A Brief Account of Sparta, confirming him as the most proactive introducer and influential disseminator of “Sparta” in modern China. It further reveals the isomorphic connections in knowledge and thought between A Brief Account of Sparta and Zhou Shuren’s The Soul of Sparta. Multiple layers of textual interactions exist between Liang, Zhou, and the Meiji Japanese knowledge environment—previously unseen in existing research. One of the paper’s efforts is to address unresolved questions through this new dimension, including whether The Soul of Sparta is a “creation” or a “translation.”
Keywords
Liang Qichao, Zhou Shuren, A Brief Account of Sparta, The Soul of Sparta, Meiji Japan
