“开言路”是中国古代的政治观念。清末时期，西方“言论自由”的观念输入中国。梁启超等 人在《清议报》发表文章，论述言论自由与建立共和体制的关系。民国时期，有识之士辨析开言 路与言论自由的根本区别，强调言论自由是实施宪政的基础。这种以古为鉴、中西比较的开阔视 野，内涵丰富，对学术研究有启示意义。

The Concept “Freedom of speech to the emperor”is a traditional political concept of ancient China. In the late Qing Dynasty the concept“Freedom of speech”was imported from the West. Liang Qichao and his fellows published articles in China Discussion(Qing Yi Bao). These articles focused on the relationship between the concept “Freedom of speech”and the Republic by the means of rethinking history. During the period of the Republic of China the elites discriminated the fundamental differences between the concepts. They emphasized the concept “Freedom of speech” was foundation of constitutionalism. These views combined with the social reality closely and expressed the realization of political system reform ideas, which had the academic reference value.