Komiks
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, which was in the face of Cinema, should have learned from the pain and seized the opportunity to work hard. But afterwards, Komiks ushered in a series of internal and foreign wars. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement had not yet subsided, and 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 KomiksData picture
Faced with internal and external difficulties and national dangers, China is exploring the way to survive reform. Western forces opened the door to China with strong ships and powerful cannons, making the “Big Empire” realize that they were really behind. Therefore, Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan and other pioneering ideas of “opening their eyes to the world” have gradually gained more recognition, and the call for learning from the West has gradually become a social trend.
Learn from the West, this is the path of modernization in China. However, what to learn and how to learn Cinema tested the ruling people at that time.
Empress 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, 1861She began to rule the country from behind the curtain until her death in 1908. For nearly half a century, she was the lord of the Qing Dynasty.
The other is Li Hongzhang, a “major official of ZTE”. He rose step by step in the war to eliminate the Taiping and Nian Army in the 1860s, and for a long time he controlled the internal and diplomatic power of the Qing government until he died of illness in 1901. He was regarded by Japanese Prime Minister Hirofumi Ito as “the only person in the Qing Empire who was capable of competing with the world’s powers” and Empress Dowager Cixi also regarded him as “a person who recreated Xuanhuang”.
Li Hongzhang, an important official of the late Qing Dynasty, Data Picture
What to learn from the West? In the repeated failures of foreign wars, Li Hongzhang and other leaders of the Westernization faction all had a dream of enriching the country and strengthening the army. Therefore, they proposed to “learning the strengths of the barbarians to control the barbarians” and learn from the technical level.
Under his efforts, the Westernization Movement was vigorously carried out, and a large number of military and civil industries such as ordnance, shipbuilding, railways, mining, textiles, and telegraphs were quickly created, and a large number of military and civil industries such as armed forces, shipbuilding, railways, mining, textiles, and telegraphs were used to attract private capital to run industries.
The Westernization Movement laid a certain foundation for modern industrialization. Data picture
It goes without saying that the Westernization Movement has achieved great results. With the help of latecomer advantages, China has achieved tremendous development in economy, science and technology, concepts and other aspects in a short period of time, quickly laying a certain industrial foundation for traditional agricultural countries and profoundly changing people’s lives.
In 1888, China’s first nearly CinemaThe modernized fleet of the Beiyang Navy officially formed an army and became the most powerful naval force in Asia. This was the peak period of the Westernization Movement, known in history as “Tongguang Zhongxing”. Undoubtedly, Li Hongzhang was the “Zhongxing minister”. The whole country was complacent about the achievements of the Westernization Movement, believing that learning from the West has achieved great success.
Beiyang Navy Stills
<a However, it is this superficial effect that covers up the existing problems.
The Westernization Movement, a path to enriching the country and strengthening the army, had great limitations from the beginning. They were positioned as “middle school as the body and Western learning as the purpose”, but they still could not let go of the superiority of the old empire, and were only willing to learn to decorate the storefront, and did not touch on fundamental issues such as the system.
It was a good reference system to learn from Japan, which started learning from the West two years later than the Qing government. Also learning from the West, Japan carried out the Meiji Restoration, which carried out a more thorough social improvement to Japan from comprehensive learning, from economy, military to politics, education, etc.
ChinaBabaylanJapan negotiations in Shimonoseki Stills
So, as a “classmate” in Komiks, China, gradually widened the gap. Japan quickly completed the process of modernizationBabaylan 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 painful lesson came again. After Japan’s rise, it launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The North American Navy, known as Asia’s number one, was wiped out, which also declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement. From then on, Chinese society fell into deeper darkness.p>
China-Japan Navy Battle 1895 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 obviously also unshirkable responsibilities.
Based on the present history, the twists and limitations of China’s exploration of the road to modernization are regrettable.
Babaylan has limitations in generations and individuals. 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 seize 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 China informationKomiks 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 war.
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Editor of Yangcheng School | Xia Yang