Liang Qichao’s evaluation of the Westernizationists: “We know there is military affairs but don’t know civil affairs, we know there is diplomacy but don’t know internal governance, we know there are imperial courts but don’t know there are citizens, we know there are Westernizations but don’t know there are state affairs.”

The Westernizationists were a political faction within the ruling class that gradually formed and grew after the Second Opium War, especially during the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion. At the center were Manchu officials represented by Prince Gong Yi? and Wenxiang in the late Qing Dynasty, and at the local level were Han officials represented by Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong. At that time, China was far behind the West in weapons, equipment and military technology. The Westernizationists advocated learning from Western advanced technology and military training methods to build modern national defense.

From the 1860s to the 1890s, the Westernization movement launched a Westernization movement of "learning from foreigners and developing skills". At first, the Westernizationists used self-improvement as their slogan. In the 1870s, they also put forward the slogan of seeking wealth. Enterprises founded by the Westernizationists include Fuzhou Shipping Bureau, Jilin Machinery Bureau, and Fengtian Manufacturing Bureau.

Brief introduction of Liang Qichao:

Liang Qichao (February 23, 1873 - January 19, 1929), also known as Zhuoru, Renfu, Rengong, and Drinking The owner of the ice room, Yin Bingzi, etc., were born in Chakeng Village, Xinhui, Guangdong. Chinese modern thinkers, politicians, educators, historians and writers. One of the leaders of the Reform Movement of 1898, a representative figure of modern Chinese reformists and neo-Legalists.

Liang Qichao won the national election at the age of 17. Together with his teacher Kang Youwei and others, he jointly launched the "Petition on the Bus" and the "Reform Movement of 1898". After the failure of the "Reform Movement of 1898", he went into exile in Japan. After returning to China, he served as the Chief Justice of Xiong Xiling's cabinet. His political career ended in 1917. In 1929, he died suddenly in Peking Union Medical College Hospital.