清末立憲派的近代國家想像以日俄戰爭時期的《東方雜誌》為研究物件（1904-1905）

日俄戰爭時中國國內立憲派為敦促清廷變法，將戰爭結果歸因為“立憲國勝專制國”。《東方雜誌》作為立憲派重要言論平臺，是該事件的主力參與者。“立憲勝專制”話語多強調憲法在國民意志整合、國民愛國心塑造等主觀層面上的作用，並相對忽視近代憲法與客觀意義上軍事、財政和行政近代化之間的關聯。“日以立憲勝，俄以專制敗”的說法，不符合日本軍事史和憲法史上的事實。“立憲國勝專制國”的命題，也不符合當代社會科學就政體類型與國家能力間關係所展現的複雜圖景。清末海外立憲派對類似議題有著更清晰且深刻的思考，但其思考未對國內輿論造成足夠影響。立憲派關於變法與國家建設間關係的認識本身，對當代中國法律人而言仍具有啟發意義。

That the Chinese domestic constitutionalists attributed the outcome of the Russo-Japanese war to “a constitutional state defeating a despotic state” was a significant event in the late Qing constitutional history. Eastern Miscellany ,animportant platform for the constitutionalists’ propaganda, was a main participant of this event. The discourse that “constitutionalism defeats despotism” usually emphasized subjective roles of constitution, i.e., the integration of national will or the making of patriotism. Such discourse relatively neglected objective relations between constitution and modernization of military affairs, public finance, and administration. The statement that “Japan won because it is constitutional, and Russia lost because it is despotic” did not accord with facts in Japanese military and constitutional histories. Moreover, the proposition that “constitutional states always defeat despotic states” did not accord with the complicated picture presented by contemporary social science with respect to relations between forms of government and state capacity. The oversea constitutionalists considered similar issues in a clearer and more profound way. But their consideration did not sufficiently influence the domestic opinion. The constitutionalists’ effort of combining constitutional reform with state-building would still be enlightening for current Chinese legal theorists.