The outstanding representatives of the three groups,particularly those that have played an important role in the revolution,are the returned students from Japan.

During the period of Nanjing government,the primary decision-making power is mainly predominated by the returned students from Japan.

The research topic of this paper is the historical roles that the returned students from Japan, officials and the gentry on investigation in Japan and others play in the course of modernization in Zhili province.

Chinese students in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century were not only concerned about the crisis of the Chinese nation and the destiny of China, but also featured by their efforts to learn the advanced foreign culture, introduce new knowledge and theories into China and undertake their "mission during the transitional times".

In late Qing Dynasty and early Minguo,inspired by the ideal of "Saving the Country Through Education",many Chinese students in Japan regarded compulsory education as the basic means of saving and enriching the country.

The research of the modern history on the Chinese students studying in Japan is a big topic to which the academic circles have been already paid attention, but the study of Chinese students in Japan organized returning to china remains a weak link at present.

The prominent position in China s revolutionary history is indebted from the students studying in Japan at that time,which can be seen from following aspects: 1.

In the great movement,Sichuan students studying in Japan had propagated continuously the fighting for the railway and then led and pushed forward the movement from a petition to an armed uprising,giving a heavy blow to the government of the Qing Dynasty and accelerating its destruction.

Then, in this special time, lots of students studying abroad appeared, especially students studying in Japan.

Chinese students studying in Japan is a special group in the modern China.