introduction
There is a passage in the "Xunzi Wangzhi Chapter": "The people of the common people settle the government, and then the gentlemen settle down." It is said: The king, the boat; the common man, the water; the water carries the boat, and the water overturns the boat. "Roughly speaking, it means that the monarch is like a ship, and the people are like water, and the water can both make the ship sail safely and sink the ship. Coincidentally, Mencius also clearly put forward the view that "those who win the hearts and minds of the people will win the world" in "Mencius Li LouShang". There are many historical stories that prove the validity of this view.
In the modern history of the Chinese nation, the Eight-Power Alliance's war of aggression against China can be described as the most humiliating stroke. When the Eight-Power Coalition invaded China that year, the number of allied forces was less than 20,000 at the beginning, and it was impossible to fight back against the big country with a population of 400 million. What is even more strange is that not only did the people not fight to the death, but they became the leaders and food transports of the Eight-Power Alliance. Aren't they patriotic? Why are they doing this? This may also have to start with the corrupt and incompetent rulers of the Qing Dynasty.
▲ A transport fleet composed of ordinary people in the Qing Dynasty
01
At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to depose the Guangxu Emperor, but the embassies of other countries expressed their opposition, and Cixi felt that the foreign devils were too arrogant to interfere in internal affairs. To this end, she decided to teach these "blind" foreign devils a lesson, and after killing several ministers who advocated "peace", she promulgated the Holy Will in a menacing manner and declared war on the eleven countries of the world.
However, the final result was that the Qing Dynasty army fought for two months, but did not capture a foreign embassy, but was beaten by the Eight-Power Alliance to the city of Beijing. This frightened Cixi at that time into "domineering", and he rushed to carry the Guangxu Emperor like a dog that lost his family, and fled in a hurry. In the face of such Manchu Qing rulers, who have long lost the trust of the people, how can everyone fight to the death for them?
▲Old photo of Empress Dowager Cixi
02
The deeper problem of the Manchu government was racial contradiction, that is, the contradiction between the Han Chinese people and the Manchu nobles. The ideology of the Qing government's rule was "rather than family slavery" and "Han people prospered, manchu Qing perished", etc., which shows that the relationship between the Manchu Qing government and the common people at that time had long been centrifuged.
Many ordinary people did not have any feelings for the Manchu Qing government at all, and more looked forward to changing dynasties and thus living a stable life. As Liang Qichao said in "On the General Trend of National Competition in the Modern Era and The Future of China": "If the country does not know that there is a people, the people do not know that there is a country", so there has been a situation of moving ladders and transporting weapons for the Eight-Power Alliance.
▲The people of the Qing Dynasty helped the Eight-Nation Alliance to move the ladder
Before the Eight-Power Alliance attacked the city of Beijing, the Qing government had lost almost every battle since the First Opium War in 1840. After the defeat, the Qing government signed a series of unequal treaties that humiliated the country, either cutting up land or paying reparations. Such a decadent and weak government could not give the people the guarantee of living and working in peace and contentment, and it had lost people's trust in the Qing government.
Their simplest wish is that after the great powers of various countries eliminate the Qing government, they will live a better life. Moreover, the common people are at the bottom of society, and it is difficult to protect themselves in the face of war, and there is no other way to help the Qing government. And the Qing government's large amount of reparations needed to be squeezed from the people. Under the rule of the Qing government, the people were already miserable, and the reparations increased their burden, which was one of the reasons why people helped the Eight-Nation Alliance.
▲Cartoon of the Invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance
03
Secondly, the Eight-Power Alliance also took advantage of the fact that the people did not have a sense of state, thus using them as free labor, not only providing the people with necessities and food, but also giving them labor remuneration, and all those who helped the Eight-Nation Alliance to attack the Manchu Qing government could be rewarded. The common people are forced by life to maintain their livelihood, and they are afraid that foreigners will aim their guns at themselves, so they are naturally willing to serve the coalition forces.
Therefore, when the Eight-Nation Alliance drove all the way in, from the Dagu Fort to the capital, most of the people on the way stood by or helped. They are indeed numb, but please don't measure them in your current light. In the historical context of the time, survival was the primary criterion in their minds.
▲Old photos of the people of the Qing Dynasty
epilogue
According to relevant data, before the founding of New China, the literacy rate of ordinary people was only about 20 percent, and it can be seen that many people did not understand the national consciousness of the country that "the skin is not attached, and the Mao is preserved." The rule of the Qing government also led to the imprisonment of the people to a certain extent, which is also an important reason why Dr. Sun Yat-sen later proposed to "drive out the Tartars and restore China". Secondly, the Qing government's weakness in national defense and military strength was bound to be lost in every battle, and it was impossible to provide people with strong guarantees. Many government officials are corrupt and pervert the law, fish and flesh the people. The government has long been weak and the people's hearts and minds have been lost. The invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance took advantage of this weakness and made the Qing government suffer its own evil consequences.
Resources: