Jiang Tingdian's Modern Chinese History

Jiang Tingdi is the founder of modern Chinese historiography, the founder of the History Department of Nankai University, and the former director of the History Department of Tsinghua University. "Modern Chinese History" is his most influential masterpiece, recounting major events such as the Opium War, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Foreign Affairs Movement, and the Restoration and Reform Of Laws that affected the fate of the country and the nation. The main cause of the Opium War was, of course, the great powers represented by Britain. However, the performance and mentality of the various factions of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor, the main war faction, the main peace faction, the scholar class, the army, and the people determined that this war was inevitable and defeat was inevitable. Closed-door countries are synonymous with the sovereignty of those in power; rulers are arrogant and arrogant, do not understand diplomacy, and have no sense of equal diplomacy; ignorance, ignorance, ignorance of the outside world. The military's mental state is inferior to that of people, and its equipment is not as good as that of people. The scholar class was firmly opposed to reform out of self-interest. The people also have no concept of the state, and whoever gives the benefit will help whom. What is in contention should not be contested, and what is abandoned should not be abandoned. Sometimes it is easy to provoke war, and it is also a rash violation of the treaty. So the author says that before the Opium War we refused to give equal treatment to foreign countries; in the future, they refused to give us equal treatment. In the subsequent Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, Hong Xiuquan was only keen on establishing a new dynasty, not building a new country and a new society, so there was not much positive significance. However, due to the decline of the Eight Banner Army, the Qing government was forced to use Han Chinese, and the so-called late Qing Zhongxing famous ministers came out, of which Zeng Guofan was an outstanding representative. Zeng Guofan was well aware of the fragmentation of the Qing army, and paid special attention to spiritual education when forming the Xiang Army, using traditional etiquette and Confucianism as the spiritual pillar of the army, and his army was an army with "doctrines". Zeng Guofan's idea of building an army had a profound impact at that time, and this had a profound impact on his young compatriot Mao Zedong. Zeng Guofan saved the Qing court, but also laid the foundation for the turmoil in the later period, his army only knew loyalty to the direct superior, did not know the supreme commander, and did not know that there was a country. When Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Yuan Shikai and other strongmen died one after another, the great drama of the Beiyang warlord melee was officially staged in the land of China. The Western Affairs Movement was a self-improvement movement initiated by the Chinese elite, and the route itself was correct and achieved great achievements. The leading figures realized that the western scientific and technological machinery was advanced, but they felt that China's political system and founding spirit were perfect and perfect, and there was no need to learn the West, "middle school is the body, western learning is the use." Therefore, the foreign affairs movement itself is incomplete. In fact, the foreign affairs movement was also greatly hindered by the old system and the old spirit. The scholar class is a powerful old force, they resist the new learning, they resist the new figures, they resist the construction of the railway. This is true of scholars, and it is even more true of the people. The superstition of the people is one of the major obstacles to the acceptance of Western culture. The Sino-Japanese War declared the complete defeat of the foreign affairs movement, and Li Hongzhang became a "sinner for eternity." Li Hongzhang is the most outstanding politician in modern China. Liang Qichao said, "I respect Li Hongzhang's talent, cherish Li Hongzhang's knowledge, and mourn Li Hongzhang's encounter." However, he also criticized Li Hongzhang, "Knowing that there are military affairs but not civil affairs, knowing that there is diplomacy but not knowing that there are internal affairs, knowing that there is a court but not knowing that there are national affairs, knowing that there are foreign affairs but not knowing that there are state affairs, thinking that the political and religious customs of China are all superior to those of other countries, and the only ears that cannot be reached are gun ears, cannon ears, ship ears, and machine ears." In fact, Li Hongzhang is not not enough insight, but lack of courage. After the Foreign Affairs Movement, the Chinese people realized that it was no longer possible not to change the political system, so there was Kang Youwei's movement to change the law. Because the reform of the examination system violated the interests of the scholar-doctor class, because the reform of the administrative structure violated the interests of the bureaucratic class, because the change of law threatened the position of the Western Empress, the change of law lasted only a hundred days, this is the Hundred Days Restoration. Later, there was the Boxer Rebellion's "Fuqing Annihilation of the Yang", and the Western Empress dowager simultaneously declared war on the Western powers, which resulted in the summoning of the Eight-Power Alliance, ending the farce with the "Xinugu Treaty" that further humiliated the country. This was followed by a constitutional monarchy, which was also a hasty affair. The people were completely disappointed in the Qing government, and the flame of revolution was ignited in the land of China.