After the failure of the two Opium Wars and the blow of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, some bureaucrats in the Qing Dynasty began to realize the power of the West to build strong ships and guns. In order to relieve domestic troubles and foreign invasion, realize the prosperity of Qiang Bing and maintain the rule of Qing Dynasty, they began to learn western culture and advanced technology, so some people called it Westernization School.

In the "foreign suppression meeting" against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they saw with their own eyes the great power of foreign invaders and felt the potential long-term threat. In the face of China's "unprecedented changes for thousands of years", they inherited the idea of "learning from foreigners and mastering foreign skills" put forward by "politicians" such as Wei Yuan, and tried to put this idea into practice. One is to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the other is to revive Xu Tu under the condition of "peace" at home and abroad.

Second, the economy:

In the field of economy and trade, due to the large-scale machine production and specialized and large-scale production and operation mode under industrial civilization, western industrial products and processed agricultural products are far superior to those produced by small-scale farmers under traditional farming civilization in product quality and production cost. Therefore, China's long-standing position as a big trading country and its advantages in international trade have gradually lost, and its economic development has been severely challenged by the emerging economic model.

Third, ideological and cultural aspects:

Feng Guifen, a Westernization thinker, first put forward the view that "Chinese style is used in the west". 186 1 in his book "protests in schools", he said: "China's ethics is the original, supplemented by the skills of countries to become rich and strong". He handled the relationship between middle school and western learning with the master-slave relationship of "foundation" and "assistance". Literally, the person who put forward word for word that "middle school is the body and western learning is the use" is Shen, editor of World Bulletin.

1April, 896, he said: "Chinese and western learning arts, each has its own gains and losses. For the sake of Chinese, it is appropriate to take middle school as the body and western learning as the use. " "Middle school" and "Western learning" were originally put forward as knowledge. "Combination of Chinese and Western" was originally "used" by society, political power and rulers. Shen's punishment here is "body" and "use", not as a distinction between ends and means, but only as a priority. This division of priorities is "for China people".

Extended data:

The positive historical role of Westernization Movement;

1. The Westernization Movement promoted China's military modernization?

The Westernization School unanimously advocated learning from foreigners in order to enrich Qiang Bing, resist foreign aggression and save the national crisis. They realize that modern industry with machine production as its core is the foundation of Qiang Bing, a rich country. After the military defeat, they took the military industry innovation as the first breakthrough point and put forward the slogan of "self-improvement". ?

Under the auspices of Li Hongzhang and others, a large number of large-scale modern military industries came out one after another. Among the military industries founded by the Westernization School, the famous ones are Anqing Inner Ordnance Institute founded by Zeng Guofan in 186 1, Jiangnan Manufacturing General Bureau founded by Li Hongzhang in Shanghai in 1865, and Fuzhou Shipping Bureau founded by Zuo Yu 1866.

In just a few years, China has possessed the ability of casting iron, steelmaking and machine production of various military products. The establishment of these modern military industries has transformed China from ignorant rejection of foreign artifacts into active introduction, learning and exploration, which is definitely a great progress. Many of these military industries have played an important role in the future.

They also opened a number of military schools, such as Tianjin Beiyang Naval Academy, Weihai Naval Academy, Nanyang Naval Academy and Jiangnan Army Academy, which made important contributions to national defense. The Westernization School also established three new navies: Nanyang, Beiyang and Fujian. Among them, beiyang fleet, which Li Hongzhang has been painstakingly managing, is the main force of the Qing navy. With more than 20 ships such as Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, it is a powerful modern navy. Although Beiyang Navy failed in the end, it used to be an advanced military force in China that could deter the ocean and occupied a place in the world naval history.

Second, the Westernization Movement stimulated the emergence of capitalism in China?

After China started modern industry, it objectively promoted the development of social productive forces and the emergence of capitalist private enterprises in China. In the later period, the Westernization School put forward the slogan of "seeking wealth" and founded some civilian industries. Among them, the famous ones are the Ship Merchants Bureau founded by Li Hongzhang and the Hanyang Iron Works founded by Zhang Zhidong.

Most of these civilian industries are managed by the government, supervised by the government, and jointly operated by the government and businessmen. They are basically capitalist enterprises based on the laws of profit, market and value, thus promoting the development of capitalism in China. Under the influence of Westernization Movement, the profits of enterprises attracted some landlords, bureaucrats and businessmen in China to invest in new industries, which was the beginning of Chinese national capitalist industry and commerce.

Among these national industries, there are 1869 Changfa Machine Factory founded in Shanghai, and 1872 Jichanglong Machine Silk Factory founded by overseas Chinese businessman Chen Qiyuan (the first silk reeling factory adopting the new law in modern China, one of the earliest national capital industrial enterprises). 188 1 year, Huang founded gonghe yongsi factory in Shanghai. Although these commercial enterprises have relatively small investment and scale, poor equipment and backward technology, they are the first batch of national capitalist industries in modern China, laying the foundation for modern industries.

Third, the Westernization Movement opened the modernization of education?

There have always been great differences about what role the Westernization Movement played. But there is no doubt that the Westernization Movement is a low-level movement to learn from the West, a low-level modernization movement in modern times, and has its positive historical progress. His "new learning" accelerated the collapse of the feudal imperial examination system and laid the foundation for modern education in China.

Studying abroad has trained and reserved a certain number of reserve talents for China; The publication of the translated works has promoted the wide spread of western learning in China and expanded the ideological integration of China culture. When it comes to the contribution of Westernization School to the spread of western learning, we have to mention its modern new school, which trains translators and engages in translation activities.

First of all, in 1862, Shi Jing Wentong Library was established, focusing on learning foreign languages and training translators and diplomats. 1863, Li Hongzhang founded the Guangdong Pavilion in Shanghai. Recruit local teenagers into the library to learn foreign languages.

Secondly, the Westernization School has also set up a number of schools specializing in training military, science and technology, manufacturing, minerals and other specialized personnel. For example, 1867 established Fuzhou Ship Administration School and Tianjin Military Equipment School.

In addition, 1872, the Qing government sent the first batch of international students to study in the United States; From 65438 to 0877, the Qing government sent a group of students from Fuzhou Ship Administration School to study in Britain and France to learn naval driving and combat techniques. This is the first batch of students from China to study in Europe. The Qing government trained a group of modern talents for our country. For example, Zhan Tianyou, a famous engineer, studied in the United States.

In a word, the Westernization Movement has played a positive role in promoting the modernization of education in China. ?

Westernization movement also promoted the change of social atmosphere and people's ideas?

First of all, the argument between the Westernization School and the die-hards and the criticism of the die-hards have shaken the absolute authority of adhering to the tradition of ancestral training and strict education. For western learning, it has created a good atmosphere. ?

Secondly, with the establishment of newspapers and periodicals, Westernization School organized personnel to translate western scientific and technological works and sent overseas students to study abroad. The spread of western democratic ideas in China played a role in creating a generation of ethos. ?

Third, with the development of Westernization Movement and the appearance of modern industry, the social status of businessmen and businesses has been significantly improved, and some bureaucrats and literati have begun to attach importance to industry and commerce, and some even invested in industry and commerce. ?

Finally, with the continuous introduction of western science and other western things, people's understanding of the western world has also changed. Many enlightened bureaucrats believe that China lags behind the West, and learning from the West is an important means to develop the country and become a powerful country. In addition, in some coastal cities, people's basic necessities of life and customs have changed. ?

The negative historical role of Westernization Movement;

First, the Westernization School tried to use some advantages of western capitalism to maintain feudal autocracy without touching the decadent feudal system. The contradiction between this means and the foundation makes the Westernization Movement doomed to be impossible. At the same time, the Westernization Movement was obstructed and destroyed by die-hards all over the country, which increased the resistance to the development of the Westernization Movement. ?

Second, the class limitations of the Westernization School itself determine that they are not only the founders and operators of modern industry, but also their destroyers and destroyers. Their feudal yamen and bureaucracy will inevitably lead to the failure of westernization enterprises?

Third, one of the purposes of the Westernization Movement is to resist foreign aggression. However, when conducting diplomatic activities, the Westernization School insisted on "harmony but difference" and surrendered to foreign countries. The modern enterprises they founded have the function of resisting foreign aggression and "foreigners with meager profits", but they cannot change the semi-colonial and semi-feudal social status of China. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the goals of "seeking strength" and "seeking wealth" advertised by the Westernization School failed to be realized, and the Westernization Movement basically failed.

The modern industrial enterprises run by the Westernization School are based on the premise of not changing the feudal relations of production. The enterprises they run have strong external dependence, feudalism and a certain degree of monopoly. Therefore, the Westernization School had to be controlled and restrained by imperialism in industrial technology, capital and even management, in order to set up modern industrial enterprises and prepare for China's coastal defense.

As a result, the imperialist control over China's politics, military affairs and economy was deepened, and the Westernization School accelerated the emergence of its own comprador. Such enterprises can not only avoid their own bankruptcy, but also seriously hinder and inhibit the development of modern national industries in China.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-westernization movement