The earliest statement on the guiding ideology of Westernization was "middle school as the body, western learning for use".

The slogan "middle school as the body, western learning for use" can be traced back to the reform movement in the late Qing Dynasty, which was put forward by Yan Fu, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty. Yan Fu is a scholar with international vision and profound academic background. He deeply realized the decline of Qing Dynasty and the advanced nature of western culture, so he put forward this slogan, and advocated absorbing the advanced achievements of western culture on the basis of maintaining China's traditional culture in order to achieve the goal of rejuvenating the country.

"Taking middle school as the body" refers to maintaining the cultural traditions and values of the Chinese nation on the basis of China's traditional culture, morality and etiquette. "Applying Western Learning" means actively absorbing the advanced achievements of western culture and learning from western science, technology and management experience, so as to improve the country's strength and competitiveness. This slogan aroused widespread concern and discussion at that time, and had a positive impact on China's modernization process.

During the Westernization Movement, the Qing government began to vigorously promote the modernization process, introduce western technology and equipment, and establish a modern industry and army. In this process, the slogan "Learning from the Middle School as the Body, Learning from the West for Use" was widely used and publicized, and became one of the important guiding ideology of the Westernization Movement.

However, there are also some problems and controversies in the slogan of "taking middle school as the body and western learning as the application". On the one hand, some people think that this practice is too conservative to really absorb the advanced achievements of western culture; On the other hand, some people think that this method overemphasizes the role of traditional culture and ignores the necessity and urgency of modernization.

In a word, the slogan "Middle School as the Body, Western Learning for Use" is of great significance and far-reaching influence in history, which embodies China's exploration and attempt in the process of modernization.