Positive evaluation

Positive evaluations from historians believe that he and Zeng Guofan and others led the Westernization Movement as a manifestation of their progress. He also had deeds to defend China diplomatically, such as going to negotiate alone after the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured Beijing. In the end, he used the Boxer Rebellion to hijack the Qing court as a diplomatic excuse [32] and calmed down the incident without ceding territory.

"Qing History Manuscript·Biography of Li Hongzhang" commented: "The famous ministers of the ZTE were always involved in military affairs, and their achievements were often overshadowed by their military exploits. Hongzhang was able to overcome great disasters and dominate state affairs for decades. In domestic and foreign affairs, he often bears the brunt of the situation. The country relies on him to be important. He is famous all over the world and admired both at home and abroad. He has never been seen in modern times. If you want to use profit and salary to drive the crowd, many loyal people will not be happy. Don't rely on haste, and you will be defeated by mistakes. Isn't there no reason for doubts and slander?" Zeng Guofan once said, "Li Shaoquan worked hard. As an official, Yu Yinfu (Yu Yue) worked hard to write books." Li Hongzhang was keen on officialdom and was deeply relied upon by the court. He has endured for decades, which is obviously due to his way of serving as an official.

Liang Qichao's evaluation of him in "The Biography of Li Hongzhang" is: "I respect Li Hongzhang's talent, I cherish Li Hongzhang's knowledge, and I am saddened by Li Hongzhang's experience." "I would like to make two remarks, saying: do not learn Having no skills and not daring to break the rules are his shortcomings; not avoiding hard work and not being afraid of slander are his strengths."[33]

When Sun Wen wrote to Li Hongzhang, he once said this about Li Hongzhang: "Since I took over the throne, I have never prospered without benefit and reformed without disadvantage, especially the hardships and dangers. For example, the difficulties of raising the navy and railways have been established resolutely. What's more, the great political affairs of agriculture and mulberry trees are closely related to the lifeblood of the people, and If there is no difficulty in doing something, and there are people who do it, how can there be people who don’t do it?"

Modern historian Tang Degang (a native of Hefei, Anhui, a hometown of Li Hongzhang) believed that he "pleases the emperor internally and resists foreign powers externally." , is one of the "two and a half" diplomats that China has produced since the beginning of modern diplomacy (the other is Zhou Enlai, one, and Gu Weijun, half.)

U.S. President Grant called Lee the most outstanding diplomat in the world at that time. The first of the four great men, he is as famous as the then British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, the French Prime Minister Gambetta, and the German Chancellor Bismarck.

In 1896, the American "New York Times" believed that the American people responded enthusiastically to Li's visit to the United States because "everyone wanted to see the Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty, because the population he ruled was larger than that of all European monarchs. The "state guest courtesy" not only shows his personal lofty dignity, but also shows the greatness of the Qing Empire."[34]

In 1896, Li Hongzhang visited Russia and the Russian Empire Finance. Commenting on his impression of Li Hongzhang, Minister Witte said: "I think Li is an outstanding person. Of course he is Chinese. He has not received any European education, but has received a profound Chinese education. The main thing is that he has an excellent and sound mind. He is good at thinking clearly. Because of this, it is not surprising that he played an important role in governing China at that time. "[35][36" ]

Negative comments

Li Hongzhang had a long-term feud with Weng Tonghe, a conservative Qing faction. Weng Tonghe once ridiculed Li Hongzhang with the first couplet "The Prime Minister Hefei is thin in the world", but Li responded with the second couplet "Si Nong Changshu is in desolation in the world".

Liang Qichao believed that Li "had been in a high position for a long time, but he had reduced the huge China to a second-class country."

In 1895, due to the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Taiwan was ceded To Japan, the Taiwanese gentry planned to support the Qing Dynasty and resist Japan, so the Yiwei War broke out and they were immediately defeated by Japan. Qiu Fengjia, a Taiwanese Hakka elder, wrote a poem after the Yiwei War: "The prime minister has the power to cede the land, but the lonely ministers have no power to return to heaven. I went to be a barbarian in a small boat, and I look back on the mountains and rivers with a sad feeling." The first two sentences are intended to satirize Li Hongzhang.

Zhang Boju once wrote the book "Notes on the Dream Poems of Hongshu", in which he recalled the historical materials of Jutan he had experienced in the past 70 years since he was 7 years old, and composed 199 poems in it. The poem records that after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, public debate arose.

At that time, there was a famous harlequin actor named Liu Gansan who sang Su Kun Opera in Yanjing. One day while performing on the stage, he dared to publicly mock Li Hongzhang and added an additional line: "Pull off the three-eyed feathers!" "It happened that Li Hongzhang's nephew was also watching the show. After hearing this, he became furious and immediately went on stage and slapped Liu Gansan several times. He stopped after being dissuaded. Liu Gansan was so insulted that he could only be angry but dare not speak out. He was depressed and soon died because of it. People at that time wrote a couplet about this matter and said mockingly: "If you catch Sanyi and die without Su Chou, Mr. Li Er is a traitor." Because there was some incompatibility between "Chasing Sanyi to Die" and "Mr. Li Er", after passing through the generations, he became Yang San. There is another saying that Liu Gansan's nickname was "Yang San'er", so he was mistakenly called "Yang San". It is also said that "Yang San" refers to Yang Mingyu, a Suzhou native named Chou.

After the war between the Qing Dynasty and France, they signed a treaty to give up their sovereignty over Vietnam. Zuo Zongtang commented on Li Hongzhang: "For the Qing Dynasty, ten French generals are not as bad as one Li Hongzhang"; " Li Hongzhang made a mistake and wiped out all the people, and will be infamy for eternity." [37]

There are rumors that Bismarck learned that Li was called the "Bismarck of the East" and said, "I don't want to be called the European Li Hongzhang."