We all know that when the feudal empire comes to an end, there will always be some outstanding ministers trying to turn the tide. Today, we will talk about the historical merits of Zeng Guofan, a famous minister at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Since we want to talk about Zeng Guofan, we have to mention his contributions to the foreign affairs movement. Zeng Guofan was the main leader of the Western Affairs Movement, and Li Hongzhang and Ding Richang, who also belonged to the Western Affairs Faction, were his protégés. We all know that even when the empire is about to collapse, even if the enemy puts cannons in our faces, there will still be many officials with stiff thinking, who still dream of "heaven on the kingdom".
Therefore, in their eyes, as long as they can maintain China's traditional etiquette and culture, they can win the support of the people, and foreigners will naturally realize their wrong crimes of violating other countries and apologize to our country.
It has to be said that the closed country has made these diehards bound by a procedural thinking path. Even if the results of the defeat of the war are thrown on their heads, they still cannot clearly understand the changes in the world, let alone the collapse that the Qing government has faced.
However, there were still a number of officials in the Qing government who had an IQ online, who saw the outside world and knew that the Qing government could only seek its own death if it continued like this. Therefore, he proposed: While keeping the existing system of the country unchanged, he took the initiative to learn advanced science and technology from the West and built weapons and equipment belonging to the Qing government itself, so as to use it to contain Western aggression.
We call these people the "Westerners," and later, they initiated the vigorously developed "Western-Style Movement." These two camps, because of their different understandings of the world, are opposed, and the two sides have begun to fight over whether they should introduce advanced Western technology or not. Diehards have always believed: "The traditional is the best, we don't need to change." In essence, it is a kind of capitulationism that abandons arms.
However, the diehards are tough-mouthed, and they believe that "the foreigners are surrendering to the West." He even accused the Westerners of being: "To change China's traditions with Western things is to export Chinese property to foreign countries." However, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Western affairs faction, naturally could not admit defeat, and in the end, he resolutely and resolutely carried the banner of facing the diehards, which also showed the progressive nature of his thinking.
First of all, Zeng Guofan was one of the first scholars to recognize the nature of the invaders.
When Zeng Guofan was young, he lived in an unknown village in Hunan. Because he has lived in this closed social environment for a long time, and has also bound him to an inevitable class limitation, he cannot fully and accurately understand the essence of the Western aggressors. Later, Zeng Guofan went to Beijing and saw that the world had broadened his horizons, so he gradually gained a certain understanding of the nature of the invaders.
As early as the Opium War, encouraged by the resistance of the toiling masses against British aggression, some advanced intellectuals in the landlord class also showed strong anti-aggression enthusiasm. Zeng Guofan has always had a connection with foreign countries, which makes him see that foreigners always use strength as right and wrong, and the stronger their strength, the greater the threat to the Qing government. This shows that at this time, Zeng Guofan had already seen that the essence of the invaders was "plundering."
Judging from this understanding, Zeng Guofan no longer had any illusions about the invaders. More importantly, while understanding the essence of the invaders, he also clearly saw the indifference and corruption of the Qing government. Some people believe: "Zeng Guofan was addicted to the officialdom of the feudal dynasty, so he could not effectively resist foreign aggression. In fact, this statement is not fair to Zeng Guofan.
In fact, when China's feudal society was gradually collapsing, it was still impossible to rely on the ideological consciousness of Zeng Guofan alone. In short, under the historical conditions at that time, Zeng Guofan was still able to have a clearer understanding of the world, which was already a huge progress. It would be unrealistic to ask him at this time to save the country and the people from the overall situation.
Second, Zeng Guofan recognized the advanced nature of Western science and technology.
If it is said that the diehards who are unmoved by foreign affairs are a group of ignorant people, then, on the contrary, Zeng Guofan is a knowledgeable person. He not only saw the advanced nature of Western science and technology, but also dared to admit the shortcomings of traditional Chinese culture and advocate learning from Western advanced science and technology.
Although, due to the shackles of Confucianism and respect for the Qing government for two thousand years, he still believed that China's traditional system was superior to the West, but he also recognized the strength of the Western armed forces, and in the end, he was determined to introduce Western technology to arm himself as a way to resist Western aggression. Of course, due to class restrictions, Zeng Guofan could neither understand nor admit that "the Western capitalist system, which is far more advanced than the feudal autocratic system, is the fundamental reason for the west's strength."
But, he acknowledged, China is inferior to foreign countries, at least in terms of technology.
The value of this understanding is great, because it marks that modern Chinese society has gradually bred a consciousness of "reflection" and a driving force for "seeking change", which has injected new impetus into the progress of Chinese society.
Finally, Zeng Guofan attaches importance to the organic combination of weapons and people, not just a weapons theorist.
The diehards have always held a narrow political prejudice and attacked the Westerners as a group of weapons-onlyists. However, in fact, not all the Westerners are like this, at least, Zeng Guofan is not. He established a modern military industry, made ships and cast cannons, and made foreign ware. This shows that he has placed weapons in a very important position as an important factor in war.
However, Zeng Guofan also said: "The key to winning the war lies in people, not machines." In short, his idea was that weapons were an important factor in war, but it was people, not one or two, that determined war. Because Zeng Guofan had a clear understanding of the nature of the aggressor, he always believed that the means of resisting the aggressors was "war" and that "seeking peace" was only his last resort.
As early as the Opium War, he hoped to eliminate the invaders through war. In a letter to his father, he wrote: "The English have always been barbarians, they are so unscrupulous that I only want to one day wipe them all out." In the Second Opium War, Zeng was even more determined to defend Beijing with his life. When he heard that the Anglo-French army had attacked Tianjin and approached Beijing, he persuaded Zeng Guoquan:
"Instead of ending up with the aid, if you are familiar with the aid, you will often show loyalty by the right program?" Even if there is nothing in a hundred, he will die without repenting of the Nine Springs, and will not be ridiculed in the hundred worlds. He also said: "Yingyi occupied Tianjin and invaded Tongzhou, and the officers and soldiers repeatedly suffered setbacks. Yi Atmosphere is only twenty miles away from Beijing, and Shenghe came out of the Xingre River and flew to summon foreign aid... If you do not go to the difficulties of the King's Father, you will regret the day after tomorrow and fear the ridicule of the world. Success or failure is blunt, and I dare not count it. ”
It can be seen that when the country is in trouble, Zeng Guofan is unambiguous. His spirit of resistance is even more obvious in its progressive nature.
So, in summary, it is not difficult for us to draw a conclusion:
That is: Zeng Guofan, as the leader of the Westerners, was an advanced intellectual in the landlord class at that time, and had his own unique views and progressive ideas. Zeng Guofan's main motivation for advocating the launching of the foreign affairs movement was to learn advanced Western science and technology to resist foreign aggression, and some of his performances in practice did promote China's progress.
Moreover, in the foreign affairs movement, Zeng Guofan showed sincere patriotic enthusiasm, a strong sense of national responsibility, and an advanced sense of change. Of course, zeng guofan as a feudal bureaucrat, due to the limitations of his class and the times, his deeds still contradicted his ideal of "seeking change and seeking strength", but this did not hide many of his progressive aspects.
Resources:
[The Book of Zeng Guofan's Family", "The Complete Works of Zeng Wenzheng and Miscellaneous Works", "Modern Chinese History", "The Foreign Affairs Movement"]