Someone once summed up the diplomatic characteristics of the late Qing Dynasty: because of stupidity, barbarism, deception, and failure to deceive, and failure to deceive, kneeling to sue for peace.
Guo Songtao, the first diplomat of the late Qing Dynasty, summed it up in 12 words:Blindly stupid, brute, deceitful, and afraid.
Those who know the history of the late Qing Dynasty generally know Guo Songtao, who was the first minister to Britain and France in the late Qing Dynasty, one of the founders of the Hunan Army, and a highly controversial figure of that era. His knowledge far surpassed that of his contemporaries, and as a man with deep knowledge of Europe, he understood early on that China could no longer be closed to itself, but should go out into the world. Guo Songtao still has many accurate judgments about the late Qing society and the world at that time, for example, after he made some observations of the British after the Opium War, an idea immediately appeared in his mind: these people are very good, very civilized, and worthy of China's good Xi, otherwise something big will happen.
After looking at the architecture and cultural landscape of the British Concession in Shanghai, he sighed: "Meticulous and exquisite, it is beyond China's ability."
However, there are problems with his views on some things, such as his belief that it will take 300 years for China to get rid of the deep and corrupt politics and religion accumulated since the Qin and Han dynasties, and that new and effective etiquette and customs can be formed, and it will not be possible to succeed without such a long period of time.
As a result, it turned out that it took the Chinese about a hundred years at most to complete the counterattack, and because of such thoughts and words, in the late Qing Dynasty, where there was a strong and stubborn force, he was scolded by many people as a "traitor". Not only did the conservatives in the court slander him and exclude him, but even his younger brother said that he was outspoken and fast-talking, and his friend Li Hongzhang also said that he was "too jealous and too quick to speak".
At that time, the scholars were very conservative, and they disagreed with his views and rejected them. Guo Songtao was therefore not tolerated by the mainstream, and was ridiculed and criticized all over the place, and he was coerced by the torrent of the times and could not escape.
In the face of surging ridicule, abuse and slander, Guo Songtao, as always, still insisted on talking about foreign affairs. He firmly believes:China wants to open up to the outside world, this is the trend of history!
Historian Wang Rongzu believes in the book "Setbacks to the World: Guo Songtao and Daoxian Tongguang Era" that Guo Songtao's vision transcended the times. Guo Songtao and Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang are all close friends and relatives, and they are still close relatives with Zeng, but they do not have the merits of Zeng, Zuo, and Li, nor do they have the academic prestige of Ruan Yuan, Wang Minyun, and Zhang Zhidong.
However, judging from the long course of history, his "foresight" is far beyond the reach of Qianjia scholars and Xiantong generals. The so-called vision refers to the ability to go beyond the thinking of predecessors, dare to challenge the authority of tradition, and be able to contradict the mainstream opinion and point out the right future.
In Chinese history, there are too few people like Guo Songtao who can provide a new "world view" and a new cultural vision. He was ahead of the times, a lonely guide, who wanted to lead China to the world, but was rejected, and his vision could not tolerate that ignorant and backward era. His personal setbacks were also setbacks for late Qing China.
Only when we see the contingency of history can we reflect on history, discover the complexity and strangeness of history, and understand the relationship between history and ourselves.
Solving Guo Songtao means that we need to face up to the plight of traditional civilization in modern times, and face up to the scars that are closely related to our own actions. Solving Guo Songtao is also solving the future of China.
To this end, I sincerely recommend Wang Rongzu's "Frustration to the World: Guo Songtao and Daoxian Tongguang Era" bell printing plate.
This book mainly tells us about Guo Songtao's life, thoughts and feelings, looks at the ups and downs of his life, and places him in the era and environment of Daoxian Tongguang, so as not only to write about him as a person, but also to peek into the characteristics of the times at that time through him. In the book, we can also clearly understand Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi, Li Hongzhang and other important military and political figures of the late Qing Dynasty, so as to show the internal and external difficulties faced by the political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty.
The author of this book, Wang Rongzu, was born in Shanghai in 1940 in Liande, Anhui Province. After graduating from National Taiwan University with a Department of History, he received a master's degree from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle. In the fall of the same year, he was hired by the University of Virginia and has been teaching ever since. He has published 10 monographs in Chinese and English, with about 100 articles.
Through the tragic life of a lone pioneer, he sees through the frustrating road of the late Qing Dynasty to the worldThrough the persistence and struggle of a "loser", we can understand the political situation of the late Qing Dynasty where internal and external contradictions are intertwined. Also recommend the bell printing edition of "The Tiredness of Waking Alone: Guo Songtao and the Great Changes of the Late Qing Dynasty".The quantity is limited, click on the product card below to collect it with one click.