Li Hongzhang Stills
Text/Yangcheng Evening News reporter Xia Yang
Since the Opium War in 1840, China has gradually become a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society, and the Chinese nation is facing “great changes unseen in three thousand years.” Although the signing of the Sino-British Nanjing Treaty was deprived of power and humiliating the country, the contradictions between China and foreign countries reached a temporary balance. At this time, China should have learned from the pain and seized the opportunity to work hard. But then welcoming a series of domestic and foreign wars. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement has not yet settled. The Second Opium War broke out again, and the British and French coalition forces fought all the way from southern China to Beijing.
Modern China has been repeatedly invaded by foreign enemies. Data pictureCinema
Faced with internal and external difficulties and national danger, China is exploring the way to survive. Western forces opened the door to China with strong ships and powerful cannons, making the “Big Empire” realize that they were really behind. Therefore, the pioneering ideas of “opening their eyes to the world” such as Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan gradually gained more recognition, and the call for learning from the West has gradually become a social trend.
Learning from the West is the path of modernization in China. However, what to learn and how to learn tests the ruling people at that time.
KomiksEmpress Dowager Cixi Stills
In this major change, there are two key figures who are most capable of determining the course of the ship in the Qing Dynasty: one is Empress Dowager Cixi, 186She began to rule the country from behind the curtain in one year until she died in 1908. For nearly half a century, she was the master of the Qing Dynasty.
The other is Li Hongzhang, a “major official of ZTE”. He rose step by step in the war to wipe out the Taiping Army and the Nian Army in the 1860s, and he held the internal and diplomatic power of the Qing government for a long time until he died of illness in 1901. He was regarded by Japanese Prime Minister Hirofumi Ito as the only person in the country who is capable of competing with the world’s powers” and Empress Dowager Cixi also regarded him as the “recreating Xuanhuang”.
Li Hongzhang, an important official of the late Qing Dynasty, Data Picture
What to learn from the West? Due to repeated failures in foreign wars, leaders of the Westernization faction such as Li Hongzhang all dream of enriching the country and strengthening the army. Therefore, they proposed to “learn from the barbarians’ skills to control the barbarians” and learn from the technical level. With his efforts, the Westernization Movement was vigorously carried out and quickly created a large number of military and civilian industries such as ordnance, shipbuilding, railways, mining, textiles, telegraphs, etc., and adopted the “official supervision and commercial operation” method to attract private capital to run industries.
The Westernization Movement laid a certain foundation for modern industrialization. Data picture
Not disdain, the Westernization Movement has achieved great results. With the help of the latecomer advantage, China has achieved tremendous development in economy, science and technology, concepts and other aspects in time, quickly laying a certain industrial foundation for traditional agricultural countries and profoundly changing the lives of the people.
In 1888, China’s first modern fleet, the Beiyang Navy, officially formed an army, becoming the most powerful naval force in Asia.quantity. This was the peak period of the Westernization Movement, known in history as “Tongguang ZTE”. Undoubtedly, Li Hongzhang is a “minister of Zhongxing”. The whole country was complacent about the achievements of the Westernization Movement and believed that learning from the West had achieved great success.
BeijingCinemaOverseas Navy Stills
However, it is this superficial effect that covers up the existence of Komiks problem.
The Westernization Movement, a path to enrich the country and strengthen the country, has had great limitations from the beginning. They are positioned as “high school as the body and Western learning is for use”. Cinema still cannot let go of the superiority of the old empire, and only want to learn to decorate the door, but do not touch on the fundamental questions such as the system.
It is a good reference system to start learning from Japan two years later than the Qing government. Also learning from the West, Japan carried out the Meiji Restoration, and comprehensively learned from economy, military to politics, education, etc., and carried out relatively thorough social improvements to Japan.
So, China and Japan, as “classmates”, gradually widened the gap. Japan quickly completed the process of modernization and rose to become a powerful country in East Asia. The economic and social development momentum of the Qing Dynasty was soon restricted by the corrupt political system.
The miserable lesson of pain came again. After Japan’s rise, it launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, known as AsiaThe first Beiyang Navy was wiped out, which also declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement. From then on, Chinese society fell into deeper darkness. Babaylan
Sino-Japan Naval Battle Stills
In modern Chinese history, the second half of the 19th century was an excellent development opportunity. Why didn’t I grasp it better? Although this is restricted and hindered by conservative forces, Li Hongzhang, who are knowledgeable and strive to guide China’s progress, have not fought for more important and more critical reforms, and obviously they cannot shirk responsibility.
Looking back on history based on the present, the twists and limitations in China’s exploration of the road to modernization are sad.
The times have limitations, and individuals have limitations. The late Qing Empire was in trouble at home and abroad and was full of holes. Li Hongzhang alone survived the crisis and exhausted his efforts, which was considered to have completed his mission. But he did not grasp this good opportunity to accelerate modernization and failed to complete the modernization process through peaceful improvement. He finally had some regrets.
The disaster-stricken modern Chinese country. Data picture
After the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Chinese nation stumbled into the 20th century. In the following half century, the Chinese people set off a wave of reform and revolution, and continued to explore the path of rejuvenation and power in the midst of war.
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Editor of Yangcheng School | Xia Yang