The development of traditional Chinese academic culture with a long history has undergone fundamental changes in modern times, both in terms of its historical trend and in its form and content, and the result has been the gradual formation of a modern "new learning" that is different from both traditional middle schools and non-Western studies, and is full of new cognitive forms and new values. There is no doubt that in the process of moving from the "old learning" to the "new learning" in traditional China, the infiltration and penetration of Western learning is very important, but the modern "new learning", which has strong national characteristics, is, after all, the modern form of traditional Chinese academic culture. Therefore, the traditional academic culture itself contains the internal motivation to change from the "old learning" to the "new learning" and the new one—that is, "applying it to the world".
At the time of Daoxian, under the historical conditions of the conflict between the two old schools of "Sinology" and "Song Studies", the emergence of an academic culture of "applying the world to the world" that was full of the new atmosphere of the times and leading the new style of learning led to the gradual departure of the old Chinese school from the original track and a historic turn. "There is a prominent feature of the ideological form of the post-Wuxu Restoration, that is, the formation of 'new learning'. 'Xinxue' is different from 'Western Studies' in that it is a sinicized version of Western Studies. According to Liang Qichao, the 'new learning' is actually the product of the combination of Western learning and the traditional Chinese 'study of the world'. (Note: Li Shuangbi, "From the World to the Enlightenment: A Historical Investigation of the Evolution of Modern Reform Thought", p. 218, China Prospect Publishing House, 1992 edition.) There is reason to believe that in the traditional academic culture with various schools, it is neither Song and Ming Dynasty science nor Qianjia sinology, but it is the "study of the classics" that re-emerged at the time of Daoxian, and "this line is directly related to the progressive thought of modern China." From Gong Zizhen and Wei Yuan to Liang Qichao, Zhang Taiyan, and of course many other people, under the influence of concepts such as 'applying it to the world', they paid attention to facts, history, and experience, and advocated reform, law change, and revolution. "It can be seen as the inheritance and development of this tradition in China under the specific conditions of modern times." (Note: Li Zehou, "Essays on the Concept of the World", Treatise on the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, p. 294, People's Publishing House, 1985 edition.) ）
1. The historical turn of "economic studies" and academic culture
The traditional academic culture centered on Confucianism is a typical philosophy of WTO accession, and "applying it to the world" is the ideal of life that it diligently pursues. In the pre-Qin classics, the words "Jing" and "Lun" are often used together, containing the meaning of "Kuangji". The use of the word "Jingshi" was first seen in the "Zhuangzi Qi Wu Theory": "In the Spring and Autumn Period, the sages discussed but did not argue", and it was Confucius who really theorized and put the thought of the Jingshi into practice. Confucius traveled around the world throughout his life, taking it as his mission to maintain the unification of the world by the Emperor of Zhou and the rebuilding of the civil, military, and Zhou dukes. He recruited a wide range of disciples, also in order to create the pillars of the state. "Reciting 300 poems, giving them to the government, but not reaching them; so that they can not be specialized, and they are ridiculed?" (Note: "The Analects of the Confessions"). At the same time, Confucianism has been passed through the ages, and it is perfectly embodied in the harmony and unity of "inner sage" and "outer king", "self-cultivation" and "peace", "righteousness and sincerity" and "governing the country together". Emphasize the subjective ethical and moral cultivation of the individual, and on this basis, achieve the goal of governing the country and leveling the world. After Confucius, Meng Ke emphasized the inner sage, Xun Guo emphasized the outer king, and the traditional middle school (Confucianism) was born of ambiguity, but this spirit of entering the WTO through the scriptures still deeply influenced later generations of scholars.
Of course, the characteristics and changes of the "inner sage" and the "outer king" in academic culture are always interrelated with the specific social, political, and cultural environment, and are directly constrained by historical conditions. "Generally speaking, social life is stable, cultural autocracy is strong, and the concept of the world is often buried in the antique academic shell of the scholars as a kind of 'potential', hidden but not visible; at the juncture of social crisis, the country and the nation are faced with a flood of internal or external challenges, and the cultural autocracy is loosened, and the scholars' sense of distress will be greatly awakened, and their scholarship will also develop in the direction of the world under the collision and tempering of real life. (Note: Feng Tianyu, "The Position of Daoxianjian Jingshi Shixue in Chinese Cultural History", see Ge Rongjin, ed., Research on the History of Chinese Shixue, China Social Sciences Press, 1992, p. 179.) This change in the consciousness of the world was the same in the late Ming Dynasty and the late Qing Dynasty, and it was especially typical in the Qing Dynasty. (Note: See Li Shuangbi, "From the Classics to the Enlightenment: A Historical Investigation of the Evolution of Modern Revolutionary Thought", p. 2; Ge Rongjin, "A Study of the History of Chinese Practice", p. 179.) The two flourishing of the Qing Dynasty's trend of thought is not only an inherent requirement for the development of Chinese academic culture itself, but also a call of the times for academic culture caused by the social crisis. As a philosophy of crisis, in essence, it embodies a major historical turn in traditional Chinese academic culture.
In the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, the neo-Confucianism that combined Buddhism and Taoism - the objective idealism of Cheng Zhu Lixue and the subjective idealism of Lu Wang Xinxue all established a large and rigorous system, and won the favor of the rulers. "Before the death of the Ming Dynasty, the study of the inner sage was extremely rich and gravitational, and most of China's outstanding scholars were fascinated. Confucianism in the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties all advocated the moral perfection of the individual. ...... Neo-Confucianism asserts that the ideal Confucian society will be revived and prospered as long as every scholar becomes a moral model, that knowledge and action are consistent, and that political and cultural stability depends on the strict moral cultivation of each individual. (Note: Ehrman, "From Science to Puxue: A Perspective on Ideological and Social Changes in the Late Chinese Empire", Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1995, p. 5.) This refined moral doctrine, based on the theory of harmony between man and nature, places the individual and his moral faculties in a world of change and order, arguing that man is "the central element of a universe that is morally and intellectually perfect." (Note: Ehrman, "From Science to Puxue: A Perspective on Ideological and Social Changes in the Late Chinese Empire", Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1995, p. 5.) The Lord is quiet, desireless, and dominates people's hearts with the Taoist heart, and the Confucian theory of "inner sage" matures, but the essence of the "outer king" is lost. As Liang Qichao said, "Further, the essence of his thoughts, the object of his study is purely an elusive thing in Shaoshao's spirit,...... Scholars but Xi this kind of influence is enough to gain wealth and fame, and the whole country is stunned, so they are not learning, and they have no intentions. ...... It can also make people's minds, ears and eyes closed, and the spirit of independent creation can be eroded to zero degrees." (Note: Zhu Weizheng's proofreading: "Introduction to Qing Dynasty Academics", Liang Qichao on the Two Kinds of Qing Dynasty History, Fudan University Press, 1985 edition, p. 7.) The historical turning point of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty is of course not only a historical process of the rise and fall of dynasties, but also regarded by scholars and doctors as a shameful shame of the collapse of the cultural Taoist system of "the rise and fall of the world". In the tragic historical reflection, the scholars and doctors profoundly realized that the eight currents of "empty talk" were the root of the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty. Gu Yanwu severely criticized the late Ming Dynasty Xinxue for "not learning the literature of the six arts, not examining the classics of the hundred kings, not taking the affairs of the contemporary, and using the empty words of the clear mind to cultivate the practical study of governing others on behalf of oneself", which led to "laziness and all things are famine, the death of the minions and the chaos of the four countries, the collapse of Shenzhou, and the ruins of the sect and society". (Note: "The Academic History of China in the Past 300 Years", Liang Qichao on the Two Kinds of Qing History, p. 96.) ）
Therefore, in the early Qing Dynasty, the elites of scholars who were shocked by social turmoil and national wars, such as Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi, Fu Shan and others, consciously pretended to help the world, and tried to correct the emptiness and negligence of the last stream of Wang Xue, and advocated advocating practical learning and paying attention to the art of applying it to the world. They started from many academic fields, summed up historical experience, explored the history of the dynasty and the country, and emphasized the benefits and diseases of the world. (Note: Pan Lei: "Preface to the Daily Knowledge.") Although scholars in the early Qing Dynasty had their own academic emphases and involved different fields, they "abandoned the empty talk of clear insight and focused on the practice of applying the scriptures to the world" (Note: Liang Qichao, "Introduction to Qing Dynasty Scholarship", "Liang Qichao on the Two Kinds of Qing History", Fudan University Press, 1985 edition, p. 106). The style of study is exactly the same. "The way is different, and it is necessary to understand that learning is not for learning, but must be beneficial to society and the state. (Note: Liu Yizheng, A History of Chinese Culture, Volume II, Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, 1988 edition, p. 720.) Gu Yanwu, who has been through the world with his scholarship, stated that the purpose of his book is "the chaos of the world will be caused by this, hoeing and raping, and Shi Ping will use it to pass through the country and manage the people, and they will all have an ear for me to write a book." (Note: "Reading the History of the Chronicles of Public Opinion: Narrative III.") In fact, the study of the world involves many different fields of expertise, such as astronomy on the calendar, hydraulics for river management, military science for attack and defense, and so on, and the purpose of scholarship is to "use the world." "The rise of the world and its emphasis on practical things and social welfare have stimulated the need to establish new fields of knowledge with positivist characteristics. Their goal was to reconstruct classical Confucianism and reevaluate the classical claims of governing the present world. (Note: Ehrman, From Science to Puxue: Aspects of Thought and Social Change in the Late Chinese Empire, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1995, p. 39.) As a result, a group of scholars with the ambition of helping the world strongly advocated abandoning the empty and useless study of the mind and advocating the application of practical learning, which triggered the first turn in academic culture in the Qing Dynasty.
"Applying the scriptures" and "enlightening the way to save the world" became the soul of academic culture in the early Qing Dynasty. "Whatever is not related to the purpose of the Six Classics, and those who are in the world will not do anything." (Note: Gu Yanwu: "Book with People III", Gu Tinglin's Poetry Collection, Zhonghua Book Company, 1983 edition, p. 91.) The rise of "practical learning" in the early Qing Dynasty once led a generation of coquettish people with its characteristics of not being old and conservative, seeking truth from facts, and attaching importance to empirical evidence.
Contrary to their predecessors in science, Qing scholars advocated rigorous research and rigorous analysis, extensively collected objective evidence of ancient cultural relics, historical documents, and text preservation, and replaced the moral value research and argumentation that Neo-Confucianism regarded as the primary task with the examination of specific historical facts, editions, and historical events. (Note: Ehrman, From Science to Puxue: Aspects of Thought and Social Change in the Late Chinese Empire, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1995, p. 39.) However, this academic trend, which was characterized by seeking truth, failed to develop normally, and instead turned into the subtle examination of the exegesis of famous objects during the Qianjia period, thus concealing the sense of application of academic culture in the early Qing Dynasty. "The academic waves that emerged in the seventeenth century and were applied to the world were once disappeared under the academic style of words, evidence, and exegesis due to the poison of the literary prison in the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods. Academics are completely out of touch with real life for a while. (Note: Li Sanbao, "New Opportunities in the Jingshi Tradition: A Study of Kang Youwei's Early Thought", Proceedings of the Symposium on Jingshi Thought in Modern China, edited by the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica. At that time, Sinology, which occupied the mainstream position of academic culture, whether it was based on scriptures and texts, and the representatives of the Wu School such as Hui Dong, Qian Daxin, and Wang Mingsheng who were also involved in historiography and literature, or the representatives of the Anhui School who were based on philology and sought the philosophy of the pre-Qin Dynasty, such as Dai Zhen, Duan Yuxi, Wang Niansun, Wang Yinzhi and others, were only annotated, verified, and forged in the circle of classic texts, and there were few scholars who faced world affairs and paid attention to the people's livelihood and diseases. Even if there are a few scholars with a sense of the world, they can only be submerged in the current of Sinology, and most scholars spend their lives "in the battle of revision, piercing holes in the pile of old papers", (Note: Zhao Yi's "Oubei Collection" volume 23, "Late Village"). Focusing on compilation, counterfeiting, and forgery, for decades, "every family Xu Zheng, everyone Jiama, and the Eastern Han Dynasty are as brilliant as Zhongtian". (Note: "Introduction to Qing Dynasty Academics", Liang Qichao on the Two Types of Qing Studies, p. 60.) ）
"In the 'prosperous era' of the empire, what can be embellished with Wenzhi is neither science nor literature, but 'Sinology'. This is a historical doctrine aimed at restoring the old appearance of the Han Dynasty's classics, which had been submerged by the Song and Ming dynasties." (Note: Zhu Weizheng, "In Search of True Civilization", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1996 edition, p. 3.) Needless to say, the Qianjia School of the Qing Dynasty, as a representative of the Qing Dynasty, made great contributions to the collation of ancient books and the preservation and development of traditional Chinese culture, but the cumbersome research and commentary on the scriptures made it increasingly lose its purpose of entering the WTO. (Note: Shen Yao, "With Sun Yuyu", Luofanlou Anthology, vol. 8, p. 21.) The influx of Qianjia Sinology into trivialism, this style of study and the empty talk of sexual theory have their own fatal weaknesses: "He is involved in turning the book upside down and abandoning the original, and this is going upside down." (Note: "Preface to the Book Written by Chen Shuofu", the third series of "The Complete Works of Gong Zizhen".) Although the extreme development of Sinology inherited and developed the Qing Confucian method of attaching importance to research pioneered by Gu Yanwu, it deviated from the original intention of "applying it to the world" in the early Qing Dynasty and reversed its original historical trend. "What they diligently seek is the examination and revision of specific problems, avoiding talking about practical problems, and the bottom stream of research and criticism is even more mired in trivialism, begging for a living in the pile of old papers. (Note: Chen Qitai, "Qing Dynasty Ram Studies", Oriental Publishing House, 1997 edition, p. 150.) In the so-called "avoiding the table and talking about the prison of words, writing books are all for the sake of rice" (Note: Gong Zizhen: "Yongshi", "Gong Zizhen's Complete Works" third series. In the social environment, "for decades, the scholars of the scholars, the Chinese competed for the words, the quality of the research and research, the atmosphere has been established, the ancestors have been attacked, and the people of the world have taken food and color as their own responsibility, honesty and shame as their false name, Soolilu as a virtuous person, and poor righteousness as confusion, and the official prowess, the customs are thin, the livelihood is poor, the prison lawsuit is complicated, and the official status has risen. (Note: Shen Deyu: "Yang Yi Zhai Collection.") The academic culture of the Qing Dynasty was reincarnated and stagnant, and there was no vitality to speak of.
However, as Li Zehou said, "the vitality of Confucianism lies far not only in its conscious moral rationality, but also in its external character that can be oriented to reality and transform the environment." (Note: Li Zehou, "Essays on the Concept of the World", On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, People's Publishing House, 1985, pp. 279 and 278.) The rule of the Qing Dynasty, up to Jiadao, has been "...... The ominous atmosphere is depressed between heaven and earth, and if it is depressed for a long time, it will be a soldier, an epidemic, a plague, a remnant, a grief for people and animals, and a change of thoughts and spirits." (Note: "The Theory of Average", The Complete Works of Gong Zizhen, Zhonghua Book Company, 1959 edition, reprinted by Shanghai People's Publishing House in 1975, p. 78.) All kinds of conquests heralded the arrival of the "end times", while the Western colonizers on the other side of the world carried opium and gunboats again and again tried to knock on China's door. The double torment of internal and external troubles cannot but arouse the worries and deep thoughts of a generation of people of insight. The change of the times requires a change in the style of study, the kind of "like to search for ancient meanings, gather lawsuits with one word, and often thousands of words", (Note: Zhang Ying: "Reading Mao's Poems", "Zhihui Zhai Manuscript" Volume 1.) In "one thumb and one finger, observe the density of the ribs, distinguish the length and thickness of its claws", "and the whole of one hand and one foot, can no longer be recognized" (Note: Shen Yan: "With Sun Yuyu", "Luofanlou Anthology"). The rigid, cumbersome, and unrealistic Sinology of Qianjia has become increasingly unable to meet the needs of social changes. It is imperative to change the style of study again and advocate WTO accession and application.
Due to the changes in the political and social situation, "the trend of taking the initiative to participate in society as a starting point for WTO accession gradually became an irresistible mainstream of thought in the middle of the 19th century, along with the vigorous vitality of the modern literary school." (Note: Li Sanbao, "New Opportunities in the Jingshi Tradition: One of Kang Youwei's Early Thought Studies", Proceedings of the Symposium on Jingshi Thought in Modern China, edited by the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica.) The academic thought of the Changzhou Modern Literature School, which was marked by the Jingshi Jimin, gradually formed its own camp, and began to compete with the Anhui School represented by Dai Zhen and the Wu School represented by Hui Dong, and directly or indirectly influenced the fundamental change of academic thought at the time of Daoxian.
Wei Yuan pointed out that "since the middle of the Qianjia Dynasty, Dr. Hai Neishi has developed Sinology", and only knows "the sound of fighting for the rule of discipline, and the analysis of melons", "ignorance of what the dynasty and the country are, and also ignorance of the gains and losses of Cao, salt, rivers, and soldiers, and those who strive to pay attention to ambition and ambition are laughing at the crowd as a roundabout", resulting in "the wisdom and wisdom of the world are exhausted in the useless way" (Note: Wei Yuan: "The Biography of Mr. Li Shenqi of Wujin", Volume I of Wei Yuanji, Zhonghua Book Company, 1983 edition.) And those scholars who have spent their lives researching the evidence have finally realized that this kind of academic path is useless. Gong Zizhen's maternal grandfather, the famous Chinese master Duan Yuci regretted his life in his later years, "I like to teach and assess, find its branches and leaves, and omit its roots, the boss has no success, and it is too late to regret it." (Note: "Jingyun Lou Collection" Volume 8, "Zhuzi Primary School Gongba".) Gong Zizhen was a child, admired Qianjia, and the impact of the times prompted him to "burn up the insects and fishes", change the court, and learn the spring and autumn of the ram. In the autumn of the 19th year of Jiaqing, Lin Qing led the Tianli disciples to attack the Forbidden City in the 18th year of the celebration, and wrote "The Treatise on Ming Liang" to criticize the various shortcomings of the Qing Dynasty, which became the first eye-catching masterpiece when the style of study of the world rose again. Duan Yuci greatly appreciated this article, "The four treatises are all ancient prescriptions, and the middle and present diseases, how can we not make a new one? (Note: Gong Zizhen: "Ming Liang Treatise" IV, "Gong Ding'an's Complete Works". The sincere and approving words reveal the historical trend of the Qing Dynasty's style of study from humble and sinful to bright and changeable. The second turn in the style of study in the Qing Dynasty was triggered by this.
However, the academic cultural turn between Taoism and Xian has come to a different time. Not only is it that "after the 'Opium Campaign', the people with lofty ideals gritted their wrists and gritted their teeth, and they were greatly humiliated, and they thought about it for themselves", and it was not only "the resurrection of the concept of applying it to the world, and the flames were irrepressible"; more importantly, "the sea ban was opened, and the so-called 'Western scholars' were gradually imported, and the first was the craftsmanship, and the second was the political system." If a scholar lives in a lacquer room, he doesn't know what else he has outside, and if he suddenly peeks outside, he will never see anything in the past, and if he looks back in the room, he will be dark and filthy. As a result, the desire to seek externally is becoming more and more intense, and the feeling of internal disgust is becoming fiercer." (Note: Liang Qichao, "Introduction to Qing Dynasty Scholarship", "Liang Qichao on the Two Kinds of Qing History", p. 59.) At the time of the historical drastic changes in the "changes through the ages," unprecedented changes have taken place in the social environment and cultural conditions on which people depend: the emergence of new social productive forces and the resulting changes in the forms of social interaction, social lifestyles, and social structures have fundamentally changed people's living environment; the traditional closed cultural system has been broken through, and traditional Chinese culture has begun to step out of the closed pattern of great unification and face up to the general trend of changes in world civilization. Therefore, this historical turn in academic culture has made it no longer possible for the "middle school" to spin itself in the world of traditional academic culture and change naturally, but "to combine its extremely naïve knowledge of 'Western studies' with the so-called 'learning of the world' in the early Qing Dynasty enlightenment period, to establish a different faction and openly raise the banner of rebellion against the orthodox faction." (Note: Liang Qichao, "Introduction to Qing Dynasty Scholarship", "Liang Qichao on the Two Kinds of Qing History", p. 59.) ）
This turn in academic culture has become a historical opportunity for China's "old learning" to move towards the modern "new learning".
2. The idea of "Jingshi" and the "long skills of Shiyi"
In modern China, the double suffering of internal and external troubles requires the transformation of the real society, but the knowledge of transformation is lacking in traditional Chinese culture. The rebirth of culture needs the nourishment of a new type of foreign culture, and the idea of applying tradition to the world is becoming an important catalyst for bringing forth the new. "The study of the world also provided the Chinese with the initial basis for accepting Western learning. (Note: Feng Tianyu, "The Position of Daoxianjian Jingshi Shixue in Chinese Cultural History", see Ge Rongjin, ed., Research on the History of Chinese Shixue, China Social Sciences Press, 1992, p. 201.) ）
Lin Zexu received a strict orthodox Confucian education since he was a child, and his mother, Chen Xu, said: "Men are the big ones and the far ones...... Reading is prominent, and I have never lived up to my painstaking efforts. (Note: Lin Zexu: "The Story of the Ancestors", Volume 2 of "Yunzuo Shanfang Poems".) Reading and honoring one's ancestors was the highest ideal that scholars in the imperial examination era dreamed of. But unlike those corrupt Confucians who only know how to study behind closed doors and don't ask about the world, Lin Zexu has developed a pragmatic and realistic style since he was a child. During the Jiadao period, when the study of the world became more and more popular in the capital, he was "mechanics and hidden cultivation", in order to pass through political affairs, he used the collection of books in Beijing, "benefiting the poor heart of the world, although living in the secret, in the case of Liucao because of the revolution, the gains and losses of employing people and administration, comprehensive audit." (Note: Li Yuandu: "Lin Wenzhong's Official Affairs", "The First Serious Affairs of the National Dynasty", vol. 25.) After being appointed as a foreign governor, "he will take all the government affairs of all his subordinates to heart one by one,...... Everything and its subordinates seek their reality", (Note: Lin Zexu Ji Manuscript, Volume I, Zhonghua Book Company, 1985 edition, p. 27.) During his tenure in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and Gansu, he built water conservancy, provided disaster relief, supported commerce, clarified the rule of officials, and eliminated maladministration, and made outstanding achievements. Like the traditional landlord class reformers, before the outbreak of the Opium War, all of Lin Zexu's reform ideas still resorted to traditional "old learning" and had little new ideas. However, paying attention to reality and applying the style of learning to save the world enabled him to face this "unprecedented" change, and began to have a modern vision and pay attention to new knowledge outside the territory.
In 1839, Lin Zexu went to Guangzhou to deal with the smoking ban. In the process of dealing with Westerners, he personally experienced that "the coastal civil and military officers Ben, who did not understand the situation, were shocked by the name of England, but did not know their origins" (Note: Lin Zexu, "The Manuscript of the Cantonese Song", "Lin Wenzhong's Public Administration", vol. 3). So "every day makes people spy on the West." Lin Zexu belonged to that era, and he had already forged in his mind the "Hadith" that "the Celestial Empire is rich in products and has everything, and the original is not from foreign goods", (Note: "The Hadith of Emperor Gaozong Chun of the Great Qing Dynasty", vol. 276, p. 13.) Therefore, he also once firmly believed that "the four seas of the Celestial Empire are home, the great emperor is like the benevolence of heaven, and he is omniscient, and the desolate and desperate region is also in the process of co-birth and breeding." I also believed in "rhubarb, tea, lake silk and other kinds...... If a foreign country does not do this, it will not be able to do it", (Note: Lin Zexu's note to the British, collected in Liang Ting: "Yixiang Chronicle", recorded in "Opium War Literature Collection" (VI), p. 14.) Rumors of British soldiers "stiff legs" and "not good at land warfare". But what makes him outstanding is that he is a realistic and conscientious person. In practice, they are able to correct their own cognitive biases and constantly understand and accumulate knowledge about foreign countries. During his stay in Guangzhou, he extensively collected and translated various books, newspapers, and pamphlets published by foreigners in Guangzhou, Macao, and other places. He has translated the English "Guangzhou Daily" and the "World Geography" written by the Englishman Mu Rui, and has also selected and translated books such as "Laws and Regulations of Various Countries", "On the Crimes of the Opium War Trade", and "Huashi Yiyan", as well as materials such as the Artillery Aiming Law and the Pictures of Warships. In order to visit Yiqing, he also boldly recruited a group of lowly Tongshi Shui and other talents who knew foreign languages, and asked them to translate Western books and newspapers in the Xingyuan, and also recruited Chinese chefs who had served in foreign commercial halls and some Chinese who had worked in foreigners' hospitals to enter the curtain for inquiries at any time. At the same time, he often discussed with scholars such as Zhang Weiping and Liang Ting, who were concerned about foreign affairs at that time, and personally inquired about the situation with foreigners. The agitation of the trend of the times made Lin Zexu get out of the closed tradition and become the first person to "open his eyes to see the world". "The Chinese government is completely ignorant of foreign political affairs, and does not inquire about the examination, so China still does not know about the West. "However, the Governor of Lin acted on the contrary, and there were people who were good at translating in the department, and he also instructed twenty or thirty foreign merchants to lead the water, and the government listened everywhere and handed them over according to the schedule." (Note: Wei Yuan: "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom", vol. 81, reprinted by Chen's family in Tongzhi Ding Mao Chenzhou, p. 6.) It was in the process of seeking new knowledge from the West in the spirit of seeking truth from facts, and in the test of war, that Lin Zexu realized the gap between China and the West in military technology. He concluded, "His artillery is ten miles away, and if my artillery cannot reach him, his artillery has already reached me, and it is a bad weapon." After I fired the artillery, I had to fire another cannon when I had to transfer, and I was not familiar with the skills. On the basis of recognizing the gap between Chinese and Western artillery, Lin Zexu concluded that to defeat the enemy, it was necessary to be "well-armed, skilled, courageous, and united" (Note: Lin Zexu Ji Ji Manuscript, pp. 884, 885). At the same time, he realized that "* inhibiting knowledge is insatiable, and it is necessary to go one step at a time, and if the power cannot be overcome, that is, when the danger cannot be overcome, it is especially necessary to worry about the effectiveness of other countries", (Note: Lin Zexu: "To Yao Chunmu and Wang Dongshoushu", "Daoxian Codex of the Same Person", Volume 10, Volume 2. The insight is lofty. The spirit of applying it to the world made Lin Zexu's strategy of saving the country add foreign elixir on the basis of ancient prescriptions and old medicines. Although his new knowledge was mixed with many old ideas, it benefited posterity greatly. Wei Yuan's proposition of "mastering the enemy's long skills to control the enemy" is also a further development of Lin Zexu's idea of "mastering the enemy's long skills to control the enemy".
In the history of modern Chinese thought, Wei Yuan is an extremely important figure. As pointed out by Qi Sihe, a famous contemporary scholar, "the atmosphere of the academic community in the late Qing Dynasty advocated the world to seek prosperity and strength, Zhang Zhang's so that the country was, learned the modern literature to talk about changing the law, and studied the public opinion to raise for immediate defense. "He is worthy of being called the enlightenment master of the academic movement of the late Qing Dynasty". (Note: Qi Sihe, "Wei Yuan and the Late Qing Dynasty Style", Yenching Journal, No. 39, December 1950.) The stimulus of war woke up the scholars of the Jingshi School. "It is appropriate for those who have flesh to be indignant, and for those who have ears, eyes and hearts to know, it is appropriate to speak of painting." (Note: Wei Yuan, "The Illustrated Chronicles of the Sea Kingdom", Wei Yuanji, Zhonghua Book Company, 1983, p. 208.) In 1842, the war caused Wei Yuan to "touch what had accumulated in it" (Note: Wei Yuan, "Shengwu Narrative", "Wei Yuan Ji", p. 78.) While praising the Qing Emperor's martial arts since the founding of the country, he also exposed the decadent political and military situation of the late Qing Dynasty. In this book, Wei Yuan expressed a strong concept of Huayi, eager to restore "one joy in the spring of the four seas, one anger in the autumn of the four seas", and "the king of the four Yis" (Note: quoted from Tian Yongxiu and Liu Bin, "The Transformation of the Thought of Applying the World from Tradition to Modernity", Journal of Sichuan Normal University, No. 3, 1994). ) centered on the Chinese ruling order. After 1841, Wei Yuan was instructed by Lin Zexu to take the "Chronicles of the Four Continents" as the original, and diligently compiled and supplemented the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" into a hundred volumes, which became a masterpiece with the richest knowledge and the most complete content in China at that time. The book comprehensively introduces the political, historical, geographical, and scientific and technological development of various countries in the world, sums up the lessons of the Opium War, greatly broadens people's horizons, and has a very far-reaching impact. "Those who govern foreign geography, (Wei) Yuanshi is the pioneer", (Note: "Introduction to Qing Dynasty Scholarship", Liang Qichao on the Two Kinds of Qing History, p. 63.) With the boom of China's learning from the West, Mr. Mo Shen "said that as soon as the teacher said, he advocated the first". (Note: Wang Tao, "Fusang Travels", Guangxu 5th edition, p. 49.) ）
The accumulation of culture and life experience are the crystallization of the social living environment and conditions. In the face of problems in traditional society, such as the "four major policies", we can seek a good way to save the world from traditional culture. But the Opium War ushered in a completely different era, and the problems faced were no longer the familiar problems of traditional life. At a time when the accumulation of life experience in traditional culture also lacked a remedy, the spirit of application and truth-seeking prompted the Jingshi School to turn to Western learning, thus proposing a good cure for "mastering the long technique", and traditional culture embarked on a key step towards the West.
The Jingshi faction represented by Lin and Wei is facing the new era with a realistic spirit. When the tide was surging, they were able to face Western learning objectively and chose the direction of "Shiyi". "Therefore, if you want to open up the wisdom of the people, you must talk about Western learning, and if you want to talk about Western learning, it is not easy to establish the method of election, and you must not open up the way of employing people, and you must abolish the eight shares of the test post and discuss the system of science." (Note: "Yan Fuji: Yuan Qiang", Zhonghua Book Company, 1986.) From then on, learning from the West became the banner of modern scholars, and the arduous trek of seeking truth from the West began step by step. "Our democratic revolution...... Since Lin Zexu, it has been revolutionized for more than 100 years." (Note: Selected Works of Mao Zedong, People's Publishing House, 1977 edition, p. 490.) These scholars of the Jingshi School were the pioneers of learning from the West and introducing Western studies in modern times. Therefore, "the idea of the world should be an important medium for Confucianism to move towards modernization." (Note: Su Yunfeng, "Zhang Zhidong's Thought on the Classics", Proceedings of the Symposium on Modern Chinese Thoughts, edited by the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica.) ）
III. "Classics" and Modern "New Studies"
"Classics" became the basic goal of academic development in the late Qing Dynasty, constituting the unswerving ultimate pursuit of several generations of scholars, and thus also constituting the internal driving force for the development and exploration and even creation of modern academic culture. Of course, the "classics" scholarship based on traditional Chinese culture and the "use" flaunted for the sake of the classics are not out of the "old learning" in terms of content and form. Although the philosophies and methods of life are different from those of the scholars of science who emphasize the "nature of the mind", there is no fundamental difference between the cultural matrix and the academic core on which they depend. What is the basic content of "Benxue" or "Shishi Xue" and "Shixue", which are highly respected by scholars? Of course, it is not "Xinxue" with the characteristics of scientific empirical evidence in the modern sense. "From Gu Yanwu and others who are pure scholars to pragmatic officials and scholars such as Tao Shu, Lin Zexu, and Wei Yuan, the ideological weapons they use to govern the world or restore the world are still traditional culture. Whether it is the "Tao" or the "instrument" used to pass through the world, they are all the ideological heritage of the former sages. "A new focus on the classics, that is, on the problems that the empire is currently facing. This new interest was manifested in the 1820 compilation of the Imperial Classics by the famous official He Changling. ...... He is concerned about the practical issues in the traditional Chinese framework, such as the rule of officials, the land endowment, the salt tax, the Cao Yun, the military system, the vassals, the coastal defense, etc." However, "the emergence of a tendency to care for the real problems of society does not in any way imply the emergence of astonishing new solutions at the same time". (Note: Benjamin Schwartz, The Quest for Prosperity: Yan Fu and Western Studies, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1996, p. 6.) ）
The "application of the scriptures" built on the basis of Qianjia studies was the main trend of academic development in the Qing Dynasty, and "the people who represented this spirit were Gong and Wei, and the writings of these two people had a great influence on the ideological circles of the early Guangxu period." (Note: Liang Qichao, "The Academic History of China in the Past 300 Years", "Liang Qichao on the Two Kinds of Qing Academic History", p. 119.) As a summary of the history of the academic development of the late Qing Dynasty, the "Jingshi Wen Compilation" dynamically reflects the basic cultural connotation based on the "Jingshi" in different periods. "Mr. Zihe, Mr. Coupling...... The compilation of the Imperial Dynasty by the Shiwen, popular in the sea for decades, all those who pay attention to the economy all take this book as a book, a few more than the book of the family. Houjiang Yourao's has a continuation of the collection of scriptures, from Daoguang to Xiantong's famous ministers to play private writings, where there are those involved in the world, there is also a slight difference. (Note: "Preface to the Continuation of the Imperial Classics.") However, in all fairness, the "study of the world" is still essentially the study of traditional China, and it does not have the characteristics of academic culture in the modern sense, but it is just an enhancement of the content of China's old "accession to the WTO". As a collection of scholarly classics, the Imperial Dynasty Jingshi Wen Compilation embodies its spirit of "carrying the Tao with literature and passing through the world" and "using the body to prepare", but its internal academic and cultural structure is divided into eight categories: academic, political system, official governance, household administration, ritual administration, military administration, criminal administration, and industrial administration.
With the changes in the world, it is obvious that the "study of the classics" classified by the "six parts" cannot meet the needs of social reality, but the internal structure of the academic culture of the "classics and the world" is difficult to adapt to this change. Therefore, the subsequent "Imperial Classics and Shiwen III" only attached the category of "Western" at the end of the traditional eight categories (see the table of contents of the "Imperial Dynasty Jingshiwen III").
The times and the world it has experienced have changed, but it is difficult to change the academic and cultural structure of its own. The subordinate category of "Westernization" includes many contents that have not been found in the previous edition, such as the history of foreign countries, foreign military and political affairs, foreign territories, foreign neighbor relations, foreign national situation, foreign business, and foreign general theory. This reflects the attitude of the study of the world to face reality, but it also reflects the fundamental dilemma of the "study of the world".
"Academic" and "governance" are the backbone of traditional academic culture, and the classification of "six parts" is a spiritual branch rooted in the social and political soil of traditional China.
In the face of the drastic changes of the times, the content of the classics had to change, and "change" was originally the core content of the "study of the classics". "The way of heaven has changed in hundreds of years, and it has changed in thousands of years." (Note: "Changing the Law", Ge Shijun: "Imperial Jingshiwen Continuation", Volume 14, Governing the Body.) However, how difficult is it to fundamentally break through the traditional structure of academic culture? He Liangdong's "Four Editions of the Imperial Dynasty Classics" talks about specific content that is very different from before, but its overall internal structure is the same as before.
Therefore, the changes in the specific content of "the study of the classics" have not broken through the internal framework of the traditional classics.
Obviously, as a traditional middle school, although it has the spirit of "joining the WTO" in the face of reality, its inherent academic and cultural structure is also very strong, and its own academic and cultural content is the product of traditional Chinese social life.
Although the Daoist and Xianjian Jingshi schools paid attention to "specialized learning", and their in-depth research on financial endowment, water conservancy, official governance, regulations, military administration, national defense, and desert politics included the trend of developing political science, economics, sociology, military science, and history, but because they did not have the strong support of empirical science, they were not general, and could not produce a clear concept of modern discipline classification. In terms of methodology, scholars of the past pay attention to evidence and induction, but rarely consciously use experimental methods and mathematical language, and their attention to governance is too much to pay attention to the political experience of the previous generation, and rarely to establish a contemporary scientific system. What they yearn for is "the unity of the king and the teacher, the serval between the scholar and the people, the rule of learning and the arts, and the people who have heard this." (Note: "The Complete Works of Gong Zizhen: Countermeasures", see Feng Tianyu, The Position of Daoxianjian Jingshi Shixue in Chinese Cultural History; Ge Jinrong, Research on the History of Chinese Shixue, China Social Sciences Press, 1992, p. 200.) "All of this shows that the practical study of the Tao and the Xianjian has not yet officially entered the orbit of modern science." (Note: Feng Tianyu, "The Position of Daoxianjian Jingshi Shixue in Chinese Cultural History", see Ge Jinrong, Research on the History of Chinese Shixue, China Social Sciences Press, 1992, p. 200.) ）
Undoubtedly, if there is no input of new academic and cultural factors, it will be difficult to move towards the "new learning" of modern times by relying solely on the development and changes of the study of the world itself. Therefore, it is impossible for the study of economics and history to constitute a bridge for the extension or transition from the old to the new, and it is impossible to extract the academic and cultural content of the modern society that has changed in the economic, political, and value orientations directly from the "study of the classics."
The emergence of the modern "Jingshi Wen Compilation" and its tendency to change in content and the relative stability of its internal structure show that the traditional "Jingshi Zhixue" is a kind of helplessness and expectation in the exploration. "The advocates of economic thought have sung a mournful elegy for traditional politics, but they are not calling for the modern era. (Note: Hu Weige and Li Shuyuan, Impact and Transformation, Jilin Education Press, 1990, p. 28.) ）
“...... Chinese and Western arithmetic flourished with each passing day, and the imperial court opened museums to cultivate talents and take them from the vulgar, which was not within the power of the original books and literature; foreign affairs were a major event today, and could not be done by the original books and coastal defense; Fengtian, Jilin, Xinjiang, and Taiwan were all provinces and adapted measures to local conditions, and were not able to do what the original scribes could do; mining was forbidden in the past, but now it is considered that the road of heavy wealth is beyond the power of the original books and coins; the use of the military state is not within the power of the original books; there are ships to travel the rivers and seas, and there are also wheeled vehicles to travel on land, and it is not possible for the original books to be transported ...... the sea." (Note: "Preface to the Continuation of the Imperial Dynasty Classics.") Fundamentally speaking, the reality itself is different from what it used to be, and the object of its "application" has fundamentally changed. The short six-character motto "Not what the original book can do" not only shows the helplessness of the non-modernity of the traditional "classics", but also reveals the inner call of the classics, which has always been based on reality, for the new academic and cultural forms in the future.
The key point is that the "world" that those who "go through the world" want to "go through" is different from the past. "Descending to today, the Taixi countries have flourished overseas with their knowledge of the number of instruments, and they have repeatedly been like a household court, and the wind and thunder are like fingers and arms around the earth within 90,000 miles, and there is no way to make mutual markets", therefore, "it is a world isolated by Huayi and a world of Chinese and foreign alliances." (Note: Xue Fucheng: "Changing the Law", "Jingshiwen Continuation", vol. 13.) The great changes in the world and the people's conditions make it impossible for anyone who faces the reality to avoid it, and Zhang Zhidong also takes the "world change" as the starting point in the proposed "change":
I don't know that today's public sentiment is no longer the same as it was 30 years ago, envying the wealth of foreign countries and despising the poverty of the Middle Earth; seeing the strength of foreign soldiers and the cowardice of the sick officers and soldiers; enjoying the fairness of the customs while complaining about the difficulties of the bureau; boasting about the purge of the concession and harassing the harassment of the bitter officials. Therefore, the people followed the foreign religion, the merchants hung foreign flags, and the scholars became foreigners. (Note: The first fold of "Jiang Chu Hui Plays Three Fold Changes", the fourth day of the sixth month of the 27th year of Guangxu.) ）
The changes in the "world" are the root cause of the changes in the "learning" used, and at the same time, the direction and reasons for the changes in the "world" have become the driving force behind the changes in academic culture. "I am the one who founded the country, but the heart of the two emperors and three kings, and the scholarship of Confucius", "The world is changing more and more, so there are more categories to the priests, and they are known to the four countries, and there is no way to learn it,...... Emphasizing practical learning in different disciplines, and having a solid basis for examination, and being both practical and practical, can be useful to the world." (Note: "Jiang Chu Hui Plays Three Fold of the Changing Law", May 27, 27th year of Guangxu.) ）
It is precisely the academic spirit of facing reality rather than its academic content that enables a generation of Chinese intellectuals to objectively deal with the influx of Western studies into Chinese society (which itself is the "world"), thus becoming the starting point for Chinese academic culture to move towards modern culture. In the era of great changes, in the face of the world experienced, "although Yao Shun deserves it, he cannot rule alone in the end". (Note: Xue Fucheng: "Changing the Law", "Jingshiwen Continuation", vol. 13.) Even the old scholars and Confucians must take the realistic path of abandoning the old and renewing them in the modern era when they cannot be forced. "Today, scholars can't look at the affairs of the time and stick to the ancient sayings, Xun is as the Lu Spring and Autumn Period ridiculed the disease and the medicine remains unchanged." (Note: "Preface to the Continuation of the Imperial Dynasty Classics.") The remarks of Yu Yue, a master of Chinese studies, show that the old Chinese studies are based on the realistic attitude of "the world", that is, "the affairs of the time", and opened the precedent for accepting Western learning, that is, the pragmatic spirit of "changing the disease and changing the medicine".
The changes in the times, that is, the "world" that we have experienced, have finally brought about a major change in the content of "the study of applying the world to the world, which is aimed at the spirit of Confucianism's cultivation, qi, governance, and peace, and is aimed at the national economy and the people's livelihood." The main feature of the change is that in the past, the so-called national economy and people's livelihood were mainly manifested in taxation, salt administration, water transportation, and river engineering. Written in 1826, the "Imperial Dynasty Jingshi Wen Compilation" "None of the listed major ends have gone out of the old way. However, after the Opium War, Yiwu gradually infiltrated the national economy and people's livelihood, and became a major topic of economic studies. Traces of this change are clearly preserved in the Supplement to the Imperial Classics, the Later Edition, and the Continuation, which are later sequels, which show the extension of traditional classics in modern times. The intersection of Chinese culture and Western culture was initially realized in this extension. (Note: Chen Xulu, "The Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society", Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1992, p. 57.) ）
Although the academic structure of "Jingshi Zhixue" itself lacks the internal factors for the direct development of modern new learning, it is the historical basis for middle schools to face Western learning and move towards modern "new learning".
Source: Social Science Front, No. 04, 2000