Take you to understand the "changes unseen in thousands of years" and "the strong enemy unseen in a thousand years" in modern China in one breath
150 years ago, that is, in 1874, Li Hongzhang sighed that "two thousand years have not been seen", he believed that China's modern times have encountered changes unseen in thousands of years, and a strong enemy unseen in a thousand years.
What exactly is the change that has not been seen in thousands of years?
China's modern era began in 1840 and ended in 1874, and in 34 years, there were two Opium Wars with foreign countries, including the Jintian Uprising and the Taiping Rebellion. In the era after Li Hongzhang, there was also the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War, which should also be included in the reference events of the changing situation.
The so-called changes, Li Hongzhang described it like this, "The past dynasties have prepared for the border, mostly in the northwest, and their strength and weakness. The shape of the host and the object are all suitable for each other, and there are still boundaries between China and the outside. Today, more than 10,000 miles of southeast sea frontier, all countries trade and preach, come and go freely, and the elk gathers the Beijing division and the provinces, and the name of Yangtuo is reconciled, and the plan of devouring is devouredWhen a country is in trouble, all countries are instigated. It's a situation that hasn't changed in thousands of years."
The changes are mainly distributed in three aspects: national defense, diplomatic relations and commerce.
In terms of national defense, it can be said that since the Qin Dynasty, China's successive dynasties have focused on the northwest frontier to defend against the enemy, and the Great Wall, as a natural hazard that stretches from east to west in the interior, has played a major role in blocking foreign enemies, and only the northwest frontier is vast and vast. ** The forces to prevent external aggression, mainly in the northwest, along the coast that stretches for thousands of kilometers, are calm.
With Columbus and Magellan ushering in the Age of Discovery, Europe was no longer an isolated island, and began to extend its long arms from the sea to South America, Africa and Asia. From the mid-to-late 1830s, Britain went all the way from the sea to the east, constantly knocking on the door of the Qing Empire, and China's coastline from the south to the north was no longer a quiet place, and the southeast coast of China first became the main battlefield against foreign invasion. After the defeat of the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty successively paid for the defeat, the cession of Hong Kong, and the trade of the five ports, the British relied on the strength of ships and guns, and opened the door of China that had been closed for thousands of years. The United States, France, Japan and Russia and other powers have followed suit, dominoes have fallen all the way from south to north, the eastern coast and the northeast plain have been invaded and occupied by Germany, Japan, Qingdao, Lushun leased, and more than 1.5 million square kilometers of vast land on the north bank of the Heilongjiang River were occupied by Russia and Mao.
In terms of diplomatic relations, there was no diplomatic relationship between the dynasties and foreign countries. In the few Chinese and foreign exchanges, all dynasties treated foreign countries as subordinates, including the Ryukyuan people and the Koreans, and China regarded itself as a superior country, and was accustomed to all countries coming to the court and carrying gifts to the emperor. Take the Qing Dynasty as an example, when the British minister Magherny visited, the Qing court demanded that in accordance with the laws of the Qing Dynasty, three bows and nine bows should be performed. The man has ** under his knees, and the British envoy naturally disagrees, and the two sides do not give in to each other, entanglement and tearing continue, and no agreement is reached, and the visit will be unhappy. A few years later, Britain sent a minister to China for the second time, but the treatment was not as good as the last time. The text did not work, and Britain began to consider the use of force and launched the Opium War. If we say that before the Opium War, the Manchus had the upper hand, and then Britain became the party that took the initiative, there was only one reason, our side was defeated. There is a famous saying that before the Opium Wars, we refused to give equal treatment to foreign countries, and after that, they refused to give us equal treatment. It can be said that the diplomacy of the Manchu dynasty started from scratch, and the war played a leading role.
In terms of commerce and trade, China has a vast land and abundant material resources. As mentioned above, there was no authentic diplomacy in China before, and there would be no commerce without diplomacy. Before the Opium War, China was self-sufficient, living its own life behind closed doors, and even if there were sporadic exchanges, most of them were primitive barter, not to mention treaty ports, and even the customs laws were not perfect. After the Opium War, with the signing of a series of unequal treaties, Hong Kong was leased, five ports including Xiamen and Ningbo were opened, and foreigners enjoyed most-favored-nation treatment. Ironically, opium, rather than the big ones in science and technology manufacturing, has become a stepping stone to Sino-British exchanges, and China has once again lost a good opportunity to catch up with and surpass advanced countries.
Who is the most powerful enemy in a thousand years?
Let's take a look at Li Hongzhang's description, "The speed of the steamship telegraph is a thousand miles in an instant;The precision of the military weapon is 100 times the workmanship;The shells are indestructible everywhere, and the water and land passes are not enough to restrict. It is a strong enemy that has not been seen in a thousand years.
The British warships and guns were second to none at the time, and the Qing army was powerlessTelegraph communications made the Qing army even more speechless, and the people and telecommunications commanded the operation, and we relied on the flag language as a signal, which was completely a dimensionality reduction attack. The battle on the water could not be won, the land war had no chance of winning, the Qing troops eroded by opium were vulnerable, the rudimentary coastal fortifications were all destroyed by artillery shells, and they did encounter a strong enemy that they had never encountered.
Of course, there is no problem in regarding advanced science and technology and the strength of ships and guns as an unprecedentedly powerful enemy, but judging from the observation of history and reality, Li Hongzhang is only half right.
Before the Opium War, the Qing Empire also won many battles, including the conquest of the Korean War, making it a vassal state of the Qing DynastyThe Battle of Yaksa with Tsarist Russia, which was finally defeated by Tsarist Russia, signed the Treaty of Nebuchu in favor of China, stipulating that the Trans-Khingan Mountains, including Sakhalin Island, were Chinese territoryDuring the Qing-Burma War, Burma took the initiative to sue for peace and surrender;In the Battle of Gurkha, the Gurkha was defeated, and its king was forced to sue for peace, and since then it has become a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty.
It can be said that the Qing Dynasty basically never lost a war in the past. But in 1840, an Opium War left the Qing Dynasty in ruins. The conclusion of our history textbook obviously adopts Li Hongzhang's judgment, that is, the loss is in the huge gap between science and technology, but the most fundamental problem lies in the overall backwardness and weak national strength caused by the closure of the Qing Dynasty empire itself. Learning advanced Western science and technology could only be said to be a clear stream at that time, and it was not taken seriously by the Qing court.
Wei Yuan compiled the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" and advocated the study of advanced Western science and technology. Formally presented"Master Yi's long skills to control it"Unfortunately, the whole country did not respond to it. Countless historical facts have proved that in a specific environment, the strength of a country really has little to do with its size, and it is not uncommon for a small barbarian country to invade a big country, and a country that cannot be beaten by eight poles to brazenly attack, and it is scientific and technological equipment, cultural concepts, and the spirit of the nation. Not only admit defeat, but also learn from the enemy with an open mind.
A strong enemy unseen in a thousand years, in addition to the enemy, also includes oneself.