在19世紀尾聲，越南與台灣不約而同地出現了對時局感到不滿，致力於反抗殖民地運動的重要人物：潘佩珠（1867～1940）和林獻堂（1881～1956）。兩人多次往來於中日兩國，不斷吸收新知，大量閱讀中日思想家與政治活動家所著之書籍，或是聽取他們的建言，開拓了自己對於世界局勢、東亞情勢的眼界。同處於儒家文化圈的越南與台灣，面對列強侵略與威脅，紛紛在政治、思想與文化上有所變革，尋找種種對策以求圖強。兩人皆秉持著民族為主，國家體制為副的原則推行民族運動。雖然早年都受梁啟超「君主立憲」影響，但隨著辛亥革命的成功及國際情勢的轉變，「民主」思想有逐漸強化的傾向。但由於兩國國情不同，以致於變革的內容、方式與速度也有所不同。潘佩珠以武力革命的方式，驅逐法國殖民地統治，解救「滅種」的危機。林獻堂則以軟性傳佈漢族文化的方式進行革命，維護漢族文化。

At the end of the 19th century, Vietnam and Taiwan invariably appeared dissatisfied with the current situation, and committed against colonialism were important figures: Pan Pei-Chu (1867 ~ 1940) and Lin Hsien-Tang (1881 ~ 1956). Both made many trips to China and Japan, continuing to absorb new knowledge, reading a lot of the books written by both Chinese and Japanese thinkers and political activists, or listening to their advice, to develop their own visions of the world and East Asia. It was the same in the Confucian cultures of Vietnam and Taiwan, facing an array of foreign powers' aggression and threats, to political, ideological and cultural changes to some extent, to seek various measures in order to strengthen their countries. Both men adopted upheld ethnic peoples as the major principle of the nation and national institutions for implementation of a national movement. Although the early years were affected by the influence of Liang Qichao's 'constitutional monarchy', with success of the Revolution and international situational changes, ”democracy” gradually strengthened ideological tendencies. However, due to the two different conditions, changes in content, manner and speed varied. Pan's revolutionary approach was to use force to expel French colonial rule. To avoid the danger of ”genocide”, Lin Hsien-tang used a softline Han cultural method to carry his revolution and preserve Han culture.