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It is said that in 1840, the "closed country" Chinese civilization was ruthlessly blasted open by the Western civilization of "gunboat diplomacy" with artillery, and the humiliating modern history officially began, which is also known as the "First Opium War".
Since then, some people with advanced thinking have believed that China can no longer stand still and sit still like this, and they have asked the authorities to learn from the advanced science, culture, and technology of the West to develop and arm themselves, so as to achieve the goal of "mastering the art of mastery and skill to control the yi."
In this way, the advanced people and the diehards "theorized" for a long time, and in the end, the Manchu Qing dynasty ruler Empress Dowager Cixi had to adopt the suggestions put forward by some ideologically advanced ministers, and this was the beginning of the "foreign affairs movement".
In the "foreign affairs movement", there is a very important proposal that the main place of sending Chinese students to the European and American powers is the United States.
Speaking of which, it is worth mentioning that among the students who were sent out, only some of them finally returned to their homeland, and the whereabouts of those who did not return to china became a "not open" secret.
At that time, the ministers who took the initiative to suggest to Empress Dowager Cixi that they send students to advanced Western countries to study advanced culture were Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan, the ministers of Zhongxing, who used all their strength to win over Empress Dowager Cixi.
In the end, I got some places and could send 30 international students to Western countries every year to study, and this lasted for 4 years. Therefore, in these four years, the Manchu Qing sent a total of 120 outstanding international students to study in the United States.
Later, however, the eight powers began to attack China and wreak havoc on the land of China again, and the Manchu Qing authorities had to recall those students who went to study abroad in advance. However, of the 120 people, only 94 were announced.
Why? 120 people went, 94 returned, and the whereabouts of the other 26 people have not been officially announced. In fact, some of the 94 people who came back came back early.
At that time, most of the students who were sent to the United States were children with some background, and most of them had received many years of education in traditional feudal culture in China, and some traditional ideas had long been deeply rooted.
In the new environment, it is difficult for them to receive cultural education from another civilization, and in this way, many unsuitable students fail in their academic performance, so that a considerable number of them are repatriated to their countries.
Not only that, but there are also some international students with "big braids" who have suffered discrimination from locals for a long time in the United States, which makes them unbearable. In the end, I could only choose to return to China.
Of course, in addition to the two types of people mentioned above, other international students who have not returned to China have chosen to stay in the United States.
The reason for this was also simple: they were quick to accept new ideas, and they had seen advanced Western democracy and liberalism in the United States, which was in stark contrast to the corrupt, incompetent, backward and decadent Manchu Qing authorities at that time.
Therefore, these international students chose to stay in a foreign country and refused to return to their home countries.
References in this article: "General History of China", "Foreign Affairs Movement", "History of Foreign Affairs Movement", "First Opium War", "CNKI Related Literature - Those International Students Photographed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty of the Foreign Affairs Movement" and other related literature", "Baidu Encyclopedia Related Terms - Foreign Affairs Movement, Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan, etc."