Abstract: What kind of forces can break the alliance between the imperial monarchy and Confucian elites, and disenchant the popular belief in magic, and thereby clear paths for the process of rationalization? This is the essential question in Max Weber's inquiry of the eventual transformation of Chinese society. Inspired by Li Meng's writing, this paper undertakes a case study on the initial stage of rationalization in modern China by examining Kang Youwei's revolutionary endeavor of refashioning Confucianism around the Hundred Days' Reform. Applying Weberian concepts of "charisma" and "value-rationalization", the paper explains how Kang, with a conviction of his own charismatic potential to be a religious reformer, reinterpreted Confucius and Confucianism religiously and mythically, and thus played a role of breaking the tradition and reshaping ethics in pre-modern China. The Confucian Religion (Kongjiao) in its revolutionary period articulated universalism rather than nationalism. Drawn from the historical experience of Christianity, Kang attempted to lift Confucian teachings beyond the limits of literati and national ceremonies to a universal religion not only for China but the whole world. Although Kang's vision failed, his call of reinventing Confucianism heralded the later social campaigns such as the "Building Schools with Temple Property" and "Anti-Superstition". The spiritual dimension in Kang's ideas and the need to fend off the challenges from the modern West made his "value-rationalizing" effort almost impossible to succeed. Despite of its radical appearance and rejection from Confucian traditionalists, in the end the goal of Kang's Kongjiao movement is still about preserving the social integrity of Confucian literati. The historical mission of rational transformation of China eventually fell upon the revolutionary parties in the Republican era.

Key words: Kang Youwei, Confucianism, Max Weber, charisma, value-rationalization