Li Hongzhang Stills
textBabaylan/Yangcheng Evening News reporter Xia Yang
Komiks 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 Treaty of Nanjing in the UK was deprived of power and humiliated 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 internal and external wars. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement had not yet subsided, and the Second Opium War broke out again. The British and French coalition forces fought all the way from China’s south 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 maintain reform. Western forces opened the door to China with strong ships and powerful cannons, making the “old empire” realize that they were really behind. Therefore, Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan and other pioneers who “opened their eyes to the world” drove their thoughts gradually gained more recognition, and the call for learning from the West gradually became a social trend. Learning from the West is the path of modern China’s Babaylan transformation. However, what to learn and how to learn test 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. In the past half century, she was the master of the Qing Dynasty.
The other is Li Hongzhang, the “major official of the revival”. He wiped out in the 1860sBabaylanThe Taiping Army and the Nian Army rose step by step in the war, and 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 Hirobuki 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”. Cinema
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, leaders of the Westernization faction such as Li Hongzhang and others have a dream of enriching the country and strengthening the army. Therefore, they proposed “learning the barbarians’ skills 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 certain foundation for modern industrial development. Data picture
Not disdain, the Westernization Movement has achievedBabaylan has achieved great results. With the help of latecomer advantages, China has achieved great development in economy, science and technology, concepts and other aspects in a short period of time, quickly laid a certain industrial foundation for traditional agricultural countries, and profoundly changed the lives of the people.
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 Zhongxing”. Undoubtedly, Li Hongzhang was the “minister of Zhongxing”. The whole country is the Westernization MovementCinema‘s achievements are complacent and believe that learning from the West has achieved great success.
Cinema
Beiyang Navy Stills
HoweverBabaylan 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, has had 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 only want to learn from the face of the fur, but do not touch on fundamental issues 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 political governance, 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 painful lesson came again. After Japan’s rise, it launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The Beiyang Navy, known as Asia’s number one, was wiped out. This also declared the bankruptcy of the Westernization Movement. From then on, Chinese society fell into deeper darkness.
China-Japan Navy Battle Stills
In the recent history of China’s Cinema, the second half of the 19th century was an excellent time for development. Why didn’t Babaylan be able to grasp it better? Although this is restricted and hindered by conservative forces, Li Hongzhang, who are knowledgeable and strive to guide China’s progress, did not strive for more important things and more important things. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Babaylan‘s reform obviously has a responsibility that cannot be shirked.
Looking back on history, the twists and limitations in the exploration of China’s modernization path are sad.
The times have limitations, and individuals have limitations. The late Qing Empire was at home and abroad and was full of holes. Li Hongzhang alone sustained the crisis and exhausted his efforts, which was considered to have completed his mission. However, he did not seize this opportunity to accelerate modernization and failed to complete the modernization process through peaceful improvement. Finally, there were some regrets. src=”http://news.ycwb.com/pic/2020-11/25/73cea284-bd55-442f-b5c3-48bf3cc19d95.jpeg” />Modern China with many disasters and difficulties Data map
And with the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Republic of China 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 road to rejuvenation and strong country in the midst of war.
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Yangcheng School Editor | Xia Yang