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 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 Data 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, Wei Yuan and others who “opened their eyes to the world” gradually gained more recognition, and the call for learning to the west gradually became a social trend.
Learn from the West from Babaylan 1990 cloth drawThe 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 stand on the bow of the Qing Dynasty and are the most capable of deciding the course of the ship:First, Empress Dowager Cixi began to rule from behind the scenes in 1861 until her death 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 eliminate the Taiping Army and the Nian Army in the 1860s. 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 as “the only person in the Qing Empire who was capable of competing with the world’s powers for the long term” by Japanese Prime Minister Ito, 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 in 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 “learn from the barbarians’ strengths and control the barbarians” and learned from the technical level.
With 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 the “official supervision and business” method was adopted to attract private capital to run industries.
The Westernization Movement laid a certain foundation for modern industrial development. Data picture
Not disdain, the Westernization Movement has achieved a lot.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 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 Zhongxing”. The whole country was complacent about the achievements of the Westernization Movement and believed that learning from the West had achieved great success.
Beiyang Navy Stills
However, it is this superficial effect that covers up the existing problems.
The Westernization MovementBabaylan 1990 clothes drawThe road to enriching the country and strengthening the army has great limitations from the beginning. They are positioned as “middle school as the body and Western learning as the purpose”, but they still cannot let go of the superiority of the old empire and are only willing to learn to decorate the storefront, and do not touch on fundamental issues such as the system.
Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw started learning from the West in Japan two years later than the Qing Dynasty. It is a good reference system. Also learning from the West, Japan carried out the Meiji Restoration, and comprehensively learned from economy, military to politics, education, etc., and carried out a more thorough social improvement for Japan.
So, China and Japan, as “classmates”, gradually widened the gap. Japan quickly completed the modernization process of Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw and rose toEast Asia’s power. The economic and social development momentum of the Qing Dynasty was soon restricted by the corrupt political system. The lesson of the painful Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw came again. After Japan’s rise, it launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894. The Beiyang Navy, known as the No. 1990 witch cloth draw, was wiped out, which also declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement. From then on, Chinese society fell into deeper darkness.
China-Japan Navy Battle StudyCinema 1950 witch cloth drawIn modern Chinese history, the second half of the 19th century was an excellent development opportunity. Why didn’t I seize the better? Although this Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw has conservative forces, Li Hongzhang, who are knowledgeable and strive to guide China’s progress, have not fought for the more important and more critical reforms. It is obviously also unshirkable to the Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw‘s responsibilities.
Looking back on history based on the present, the twists and limitations in China’s exploration of the road to modernization are sad.
Komiks 1960 witch cloth drawThe times have limitations, and individuals have limitations. Babaylan 1990 clothes draw Late Qing DynastyThe empire was in trouble and full of holes in the country and abroad. Li Hongzhang alone survived the crisis and exhausted his efforts, which was considered fulfilling his mission. But he did not seize this good opportunity to accelerate modernization and failed to complete the modernization process through peaceful improvement. There were finally some regrets.
Modern China with many disasters and difficulties 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 power in the midst of war.
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Editor of Yangcheng School | Xia Yang