The slogan "Learn from the barbarians and develop skills to control the barbarians" was proposed by Wei Yuan.

Learning from the barbarians and developing skills to control the barbarians was a famous proposition put forward by Wei Yuan in his book "Hai Guo Tu Zhi". In this proposition, learning from foreigners is a means, and conquering foreigners is the goal. Through the proposition of "learning from foreigners and developing skills to conquer foreigners", Wei Yuan clearly raised the issue of whether to learn "skills" from Western countries to the level of whether they can defeat foreign invaders. He emphasized that those who are not good at learning from foreigners will be defeated by foreigners. Control it.

This idea shows a brilliant patriotism and raises a new topic of "learning from the West" to the Chinese people who are in the midst of great changes. It occupies a very important position in the history of modern Chinese thought. In a practical sense, it was the forerunner of all subsequent reform movements such as the Westernization Movement and even the Reform Movement and the Revolution of 1911.

This phrase comes from "Original Narrative of Haiguo Tuzhi". A group of insightful people who "opened their eyes to the world", such as Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan, who personally participated in the Opium War to resist the enemy, dared to face reality, admitted China's backwardness in military technology and other aspects, and advocated learning from the West to safeguard national sovereignty and dignity. .

About the author:

1. Life

Wei Yuan (April 23, 1794 - March 26, 1857), famous far and wide, but silent. Shen, Mo Sheng, Hanshi, nicknamed Liangtu, Han nationality, from Simenqian, Longhui County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province (formerly Jintan, Shaoyang County). Enlightenment thinker, politician, and writer in the Qing Dynasty.

2. Background

In the second year of Daoguang (1822), he was promoted to Jinshi. In the twenty-fifth year of Daoguang (1845), he became a Jinshi. He served as a high official and knew the state. In his later years, he abandoned his official position and went into seclusion. He devoted himself to Buddhism and became famous for his Dharma. Representative of the first batch of intellectuals in modern China who "opened their eyes to see the world".

3. Advocacy

Wei Yuan believed that theory should be based on the purpose of "application of the world", put forward the reform proposition of "changing the past to make it more convenient for the people", and advocated learning from the West Advanced science and technology. He also put forward the idea of ??"learning from the foreigners and developing skills to control the foreigners", which started a new trend of understanding the world and learning from the West. This was an important sign that Chinese thought shifted from tradition to modern times.