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Text: Peng Yibin
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introduction
Wei Yuan's Atlas of the Sea is regarded as a masterpiece in the modern history of the mainland, and it describes the ideological, geographical, and political conditions of the West in general terms, and more importantly, the use and manufacture of their weapons. Wei Yuan proposed "mastering the art of mastering Yi to control Yi", and it can be said that he showed a new world to the Chinese at that time.
But it is such a book, but it was listed as a banned book by the Qing government, why is this?
(Atlas of the Sea Kingdom)
First, the master of the long skills to control the razor
After the outbreak of the Opium War, the weakness of the Qing government was shown under the strong ships and artillery of the foreign powers. When his family and country were in danger, Wei Yuan abandoned his pen and became a staff member of Yuqian, the governor of Liangjiang, and threw himself into the war. Based on Lin Zexu's "Chronicles of the Four States", he referred to the historical records of all dynasties, and combined with many materials, to compile the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom".
At the beginning of the book, Wei Yuan directly wrote his purpose in compiling this book, "to attack the raze with raze, to make it for the purpose of razing the money, and to make it for the master of the long technique to control the country." It can be seen that Wei Yuan's purpose is very simple, that is, he hopes that after we in China Xi have learned these techniques, we will repel the Western powers, so as to "master the long skills of the master to control the razor." ”
(Illustrated by the Atlas of the Sea Kingdom)
The Atlas of the Sea introduces the geopolitical environment, political history, and more importantly modern science and technology of Western countries, such as landmines, steamships, and so on, all of which the Qing government did not possess. Wei Yuan focused on describing the development of industry and commerce, and then expanded from economy to politics, and gave a relatively complete introduction to Western democracies.
For example, in terms of democratic politics in the United States, Wei Yuan used a lot of pen and ink to describe the federal system, the electoral system, the parliamentary system, and so on. At the same time, Wei Yuan recorded in the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" that many military ideas, such as "defending as a war" and "waiting for work with ease", etc., were actually very applicable to China at that time.
(U.S. Federalism)
"Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" broke the phenomenon of the Qing government at that time "closing the country to the outside world". In the political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty, it was not easy. And Wei Yuan also proposed the military reform of the late Qing Dynasty and selected the target. He not only influenced the Westernization Movement that followed, but also played a profound role in promoting the Meiji Restoration in Japan.
Wei Yuan is known as the first person in modern China to open his eyes to the world, in fact, this is not the conceit of the Qing government?
Closing the country to the outside world is not the reason for the Qing government to be really lonely, what really makes the Qing government go downhill is the country's political system, the country's closure, and the arrogance and ignorance of the upper leaders.
(Qing Dynasty)
The "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" certainly opened up the world situation in the late Qing Dynasty and made more people realize that there were so many countries outside of China, and that China was not the center of the world. However, in the eyes of the Qing government, the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" was nothing more than "strange tricks", and it was even listed as a banned book for a time.
So why did the Qing government list the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" as a banned book?
(Wei Yuan statue)
Second, infringing on the interests of the upper class, the Qing government panicked
It is reasonable to say that the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" should be quite popular, but the fact is that after it was printed, it did not attract much attention. There are three reasons, the first point is Wei Yuan's book, was he really for the people at that time? No, because not many people could read and write, and they were all running around for life at that time, so they would not buy such a book.
The second point is that there is no publicity. After the bureaucracy got its hands on it, some people liked it, and some people hated it. After all, those old-fashioned schools look down on such things. In addition to being publicized in the coastal areas, the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" has almost a small circulation and few people.
(Atlas of the Sea Kingdom)
The third point is that the emperor does not like it. At that time, the left squire of the military department played the emperor, thinking that the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" was of great use, so let Xianfeng take a look, and if he could, increase the printing and let the Manchu Eight Banners learn from it.
But Xianfeng didn't even reply. Those old-fashioned officials began to take eye medicine, believing that this was Wei Yuan's beautification of the Western powers, and directly branded it as a banned book.
Why did the Qing government target the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" so much? First of all, the book has touched the interests of the upper strata. At that time, why did the Qing government close the country?
(Qing Dynasty Sea Ban)
At the beginning, it was to prevent the forces of the mainland and Taiwan from uniting to resist the Qing Dynasty, after all, in the early days of the Qing Dynasty, Taiwan had not yet been recovered, so Kangxi carried out a maritime ban policy in order to prevent the forces from uniting.
But in fact, the open treaty port still exists, and Dutch, Portuguese and other merchants have successively traded in Guangzhou. During the Qianlong Dynasty, the maritime ban was suddenly tightened again, in order to prevent these Westerners from doing bad things to China. In short, there are also reasons why the Qing government sees itself as the superior kingdom of the Celestial Empire, which looks down on these Western barbarians.
Wei Yuan's "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" not only wrote about the Western barbarians, but also wrote it clearly, even the system. The Qing government simply did not look down on and disdained the federal system of the United States, as well as their political developments. Wei Yuan said that only a small number of people have seen it, and most people think that our Heavenly Empire can learn from Xi West?
(Emperor Xianfeng at the time)
Moreover, under the invasion of the Western powers, the Qing government itself was very sensitive to the West, so the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" was not recognized by the ruling class, that is, there was no way. The old school in the DPRK and China is stubborn, and this book can only become a banned book.
At the same time, the examples depicting foreign people in the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" also upset the Qing government. In the 60th volume of the Atlas of the Sea Kingdom, it is written about the treatment of black slaves in the United States, "Each slave scattered 18 to 24 rods of grain, sixty-four rods of potatoes, and gave fish and meat as appropriate." In winter and summer, the children of the slaves were given foreign felts every two years. ”
(Black Slave)
That is to say, the black slaves in the United States usually have enough food, and they can even eat fish and meat, and the master will also give the children of the black slaves foreign carpet. There is also a sentence at the end, "If it is a prayer, stop doing it." "When you need to go to church, you don't have to go to work on that day. The life of black slaves in the United States seems to be more comfortable than the life of some Qing Dynasty people.
Although in fact, black slaves also suffered from the brilliance.
However, in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the economy and politics were already highly corrupt, and the life of the common people could be described as difficult. The people of that time were dull and empty, and the people were insensitive. Why is that? Because they don't have enough to eat, they don't have warm clothes, and they can even watch the rulers behave indiscriminately, and the country is in the midst of war.
(People)
The corruption of the imperial court has exacerbated the pain of the people, and the families are worried. This is true of ordinary people, let alone slaves. However, in the records of black slaves in the United States, no matter what, people could be fed, clothed, and even rested, which had to cause fear, because the Qing government could not admit that China was weak and backward compared to other countries.
Judging from the above reasons, it seems that "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" has not become a banned book, which is really unusual. Maybe the later Qing government will not be so complacent.
(Atlas of the Sea Kingdom)
3. The Atlas of the Sea Kingdom promoted the times
The Atlas of the Sea was undoubtedly a new perspective and vision in the society at that time, but it could not be widely disseminated. From the various descriptions of Wei Yuan in the book, we can feel in detail that in fact, Wei Yuan still regards China as the center of the world, and he himself is still a feudal landlord class.
This is because of the limitations of history, in front of the mirror of history, we have witnessed too many ups and downs. Wei Yuan was able to choose to abandon his pen and follow Rong, which shows that he is worried about the rise and fall of the country. Wei Yuan believes that we cannot deny that this is indeed a road of reform and development, after all, in that era, any road had the right road they thought was correct.
Because the existence of the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" had an impact on the later Wuxu Reform and the Westernization Movement, isn't this a kind of promotion?
(Wei Yuan)
Resources
Wei Yuan, the author of "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" (2).Tongnanjing.2012-10-15 [Cited 2013-04-9]
Atlas of the Sea Kingdom, Vol. 60. [OL].
The Paper.History of Images—Images of the Late Qing Dynasty and the Image Perception of Chinese. [OL].2021.03.25.