Hunchbacked General

Homer Lea, disabled and frail, chose to ally with the forces of change in China due to his growth experience and the characteristics of the times, attempting to participate in the transformation of China and regarding it as his mission. During the Boxer Rebellion, he joined the royalist's efforts to protect the emperor and later returned to the United States to actively establish a military training school for Chinese people; when Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei visited the United States, Homer Lea warmly accompanied them. His book, "e;The Valor of Ignorance,"e; caused a sensation and echoed through history. He was involved in drafting the "e;Red Dragon Plan,"e; had the "e;Long Beach Conversation"e; with Sun Yat-sen, and later became Sun Yat-sen's military advisor. After the Wuchang Uprising, he accompanied Sun Yat-sen back to China but eventually returned to the United States due to a stroke and passed away shortly after. His life was short but full of legend. Homer Lea had an indissoluble bond with China throughout his life, but there is little research on him in China. This book is the first academic monograph on Homer Lea in China, using archives, newspapers, collections, diaries, memoirs, and other types of materials in English, Chinese, and Japanese. It attempts to start from the perspective of emotional history, using methods such as literature analysis, comparative research, and psychological analysis, to discuss how Homer Lea deeply participated in China's transformation, his relationship with Liang Qichao, Kang Youwei, and Sun Yat-sen, his military views and writings and their impact, and how he mobilized Americans to participate in China's transformation. Through this book, readers can understand the coexistence and struggle between the reformist and revolutionary factions in the modern transformation of China, the ebb and flow of the influence of reform and revolutionary forces on overseas Chinese, and to some extent enrich the understanding of civilian diplomacy and Sino-American relations, and deepen the understanding of Sun Yat-sen and that period of reform and revolutionary history in China.