<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > author Wang Dingjie</h1>
In China's modern history, Li Hongzhang is undoubtedly a very well-known and highly controversial figure.
What is less well known is that mao zedong, at the age of 20, used Li Hongzhang to annotate a passage from "Zhuangzi Getaway":
"And if the accumulation of water is not thick, then its negative boat is also powerless." If the cup of water is on the top of the col, it is a boat, and if the cup is placed, it is glue - the water is shallow and the boat is big. ”
Reading "Zhuangzi" can instantly think of Li Hongzhang and write it in his reading notes. It can be said to be extraordinary divergent thinking. But what exactly is the underlying meaning behind this connection? It has long been a difficult puzzle.
Many people believe that Mao Zedong's evaluation of Li Hongzhang by "shallow water and large boat" is to lament that Li Sheng is not timely.
This school of view holds that Zhouda represents a large cause and great ability, and shallow water represents a small number of resources and a poor environment. Li Hongzhang, as the most avant-garde and most capable feudal official in the Great Qing Dynasty, has exceeded the upper limit of the understanding of the bureaucratic group of the Great Qing State on many issues. Coupled with the internal problems of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang could only mobilize extremely limited resources to pursue an overly advanced goal. Its failure is more of a tragedy of the times and a collective tragedy.
Of course, many people are not convinced of this, thinking that Li Hongzhang is a traitor to the country, how can Mao Zedong make such an assessment?
In fact, both views are problematic.
Mao Zedong, who wrote this passage, was just 20 years old, and he was a brilliant teenager who was determined to "read strange books, make strange friends, create strange things, and be strange men".
At this time, Mao Zedong had a sharp view of the problem, and also had a different perspective.
While many people like to evaluate historical figures from the perspective of morality and motivation, Mao Zedong emphasized the issue of ability and pattern.
In his view, Li Hongzhang was a good hand in fighting the civil war in those years, dealing with the Taiping Army (fa) and the Twist Army (twisting), which can be described as a civil war insider, which is a puddle of water that can float a leaf of grass (a cup of water on the top of the pass, then a mustard boat). Therefore, It is said that Li said: "Its beginning, the flat hair is twisted, and if it is meritorious, then the cup of water mustard boat is also said." ”
However, when Li Hongzhang wanted to fight a foreign war, he would inevitably lose completely. It can be described as a foreign war layman. But this is not a moral question, but a question of ability and pattern. Because grasping the major policies of a country, wrestling with the great powers, diplomacy, and strategy are not something that can be dealt with by a civil war mentality. This is "put the cup in the glue, the water is shallow and the boat is big".
A modern and contemporary History of China is a history of transformation from tradition to modernity, and it is also a history of exploration and rejuvenation from the sick man of East Asia to the world power. In every generation, there are pioneers who cross the river by touching stones, but some have succeeded in touching them, and some have failed to touch them. Whether it succeeds or fails, it is worth remembering for future generations and is a precious wealth left by history to future generations.
Unfortunately, talking about the history of the country is the easiest to get emotional. Or to create gods, or to control ghosts, gods and ghosts are full of ghosts, so it is difficult to see the existence of people.
Talking about the history of one's own country is often easily separated from the history of the world. So much so that China cannot see the world clearly, and China cannot be found in the world. This is particularly disastrous for the study of history in the era of globalization.
How to stand at a global height, maintain China's position, restore human history, and explore the lessons of organizational success or failure is actually a very difficult thing.
Specific to Li Hongzhang, when we put his history of failure into the framework of world history, we will find:
In 1870, at the eastern tip of Eurasia, Li Hongzhang became the governor of Beiyang and concurrently served as the minister of trade and commerce in Beiyang, opening a new stage of self-improvement movement. At the western tip of Eurasia, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and the geopolitical pattern of Europe and even the world changed dramatically.
In 1895, on the west coast of the Pacific, Li Hongzhang signed the alliance at Maguan that had lost power and humiliated the country, marking a painful end to the Sino-Japanese War. On the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean, the gross industrial output of the United States has leapt to the first place in the world, opening the curtain on a new round of dragons and tigers in the Pacific.
In the past twenty-five years, what did Li Hongzhang and the Qing Dynasty miss? What was broken? What did Japan, which eventually defeated the Qing Dynasty, seize? What was created? What did Britain, the world hegemon at the time, and several major middle powers do?
There are too many historical memories, which have been distorted and forgotten.
133 years ago, the 20-year-old Mao Zedong had apparently grasped some of the key points. Unfortunately, many people on the Internet who think they hold high the red flag today are mostly low-level red and high-level black.
If the accumulation of water is not thick, then its negative boat is also powerless.
The accumulation of the wind is not thick, and its negative wings are also weak.
To do great things, we must have a big foundation, and we must be good at capturing and even creating big opportunities.
The diplomatic history of the late Qing Dynasty from 1870 to 1895 cannot be understood by song xianggong's thinking, let alone by Hitler's thinking.
Only by basing ourselves on the international pattern at that time and grasping the truth of the intricate game between large, medium, and small countries can we deeply take history as a mirror, see the long-term trends of history, and lay the real foundation for national rejuvenation. In the end, it will rise again to find a real balance between moral benevolence and the law of the jungle, between the rise of great powers and the happiness of small people, between current interests and long-term ideals.