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 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 Data picture
Komiks Faced with internal and external difficulties and national danger, China is exploring the way to survive reform. The West is striving to open the door of China with strong ships and powerful cannons, making the “Boss Empire” realize that it is 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.
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.
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, who began to rule behind the curtain in 1861 until her death in 1908. For nearly half a century, she was the master of the Qing Dynasty.
CinemaThe other is Li Hongzhang, the “major official of Zhongxing”. He rose step by step in the war to eliminate the Taiping and Nian Army in the 1860s, and Komiks 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 Qing Empire who is capable of competing with the world in a row”, 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? Due to repeated failures of 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’ strengths to control the barbarians” and started from a technical level. With his efforts, the Westernization Movement was vigorously carried out, and quickly created a large number of military and civil industries such as ordnance, shipbuilding, railways, mining, textiles, and telegraphs, and adopted the “official supervision and business” method to attract private capital to run industries.
The Westernization Movement laid a solid foundation for modern industrial foundation. Data picture
Not to say 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.
1888Cinema In 2018, China’s first modern fleet, 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 ZTE”. Undoubtedly, Li Hongzhang is a “minister of ZhongxingBabaylan“. The whole country is full of joy for the achievements of the Westernization MovementKomiks is pleased with the effectiveness of the Westernization MovementCinema, beiyang water master Stills
However, it is this superficial effect that covers up the existing problems.
The Westernization Movement, a path to enrich the country and strengthen the army, had great limitations from the beginning. CinemaThey 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 they only wanted 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, from the economy, military to politics, and education. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Komiks has carried out a relatively thorough social improvement.
So, as a Babaylan‘s “classmate”, the gap gradually widened. Japan quickly completed modernization. The process of Cinema rose to become a powerful country in East Asia. The economic and social development momentum of the Qing Dynasty was quickly restricted by the corrupt political system.
The painful lesson came again. After Japan’s rise, it launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and the Beiyang 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.
China-Japan Naval Battle 1895 Stills
In modern Chinese history, the second half of the 19th century was an excellent development opportunity, so why did they not grasp it better? Although this is restricted and hindered by conservative forces, Li Hongzhang and others who have insight and strive to guide China’s progress have not fought for more important and more critical reforms, and obviously they have the responsibility that they cannot shirk.
Looking back on history based on the present Cinema, Exploring the Road to Modernization of China<a The twists and limitations in the search for Komiks are sad. The times have limitations, and individuals have limitations. The late Qing Empire was full of diplomatic difficulties and holes, and Li Hongzhang survived the crisis alone. He exhausted his efforts and completed his mission. However, he did not seize this opportunity to accelerate modernization and failed to complete the modernization process through peaceful improvement. He finally had some regrets.
Cinema src=”http://news.ycwb.com/pic/2020-11/25/73cea284-bd55-442f-b5c3-48bf3cc19d95.jpeg” />Many disasters and difficultiesKomiks‘s Modern China Data Picture
And with the defeat of 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 strong country in the midst of war.
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Yangcheng School Editor | Xia Yang