Abstract: Never was there the version of “revolution” in the history of Chinese literature before the late Qing Dynasty. Why did Liang Qichao shout the slogan of the revolution of “three circles” in the late 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries ? It was because the influence of evolutionism from the west. The spread of evolutionism to the Orient made Liang Qichao shape his world outlook while his theory of literary revolution was its direct product.

Key words: Liang Qichao, evolutionism, literary revolution