On February 12, 1912, the Forbidden City woke up from a dream. Everything seemed ordinary, as if people had been accustomed to a way of life for thousands of years. However, for ancient China, this was destined to be an extraordinary day, a groundbreaking day. On this day, Empress Dowager Longyu and her six-year-old emperor, Emperor Xuantong, issued three consecutive edicts declaring the abdication of the Qing Emperor. China ended the imperial system, transferred the ruling power to the whole country, and established it as a republican constitutional state. The edict declared that the psychology of the people of the whole country now tends to be republican. That is, Yuan Shikai, with full authority, organized a temporary republican government, negotiated and unified measures with the people’s army, and the total period of people’s security and Haiyu. An, still occupying the complete territory of the five ethnic groups of Manchu, Han, Mongolian, Hui, and Tibetan, is a great Republic of China. An edict advises the people to remain calm, maintain order, and support the new government. At the same time, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing government also issued a note to the embassies of various countries in China, announcing that the Qing dynasty had automatically abdicated, hoping that all countries would recognize the government of the Republic of China as the legitimate successor. The abdication of the Qing emperor marked the end of the Great Qing dynasty, which had ruled China for 268 years. The establishment of the new government signified a more significant historical turning point. This is not a cycle of one dynasty replacing another for thousands of years, nor is it a re transformation of political power from one family to one surname. The abdicated little emperor became the last emperor in Chinese history, which is a major change never seen in Chinese history. The monarchic dictatorship that has lasted for more than 2000 years collapsed in China. Establishing a republic has become a new social ideal on this ancient land, leaving endless contemplation for the world.
Beijing Confucian Temple, Beijing City
This is the Confucius Temple in Beijing, founded in the Yuan Dynasty and a place of royal worship for Confucius during the Qing Dynasty. Since Emperor Shunzhi, emperors of various Qing dynasties have worshipped Confucius here and have maintained this system. After the Qing rulers entered the country, they inherited the education system of the Ming Dynasty, learned Chinese, and the Central Plains culture centered on Confucianism, vigorously promoting the Confucian ization of culture and governance. In order to better rule this vast country, the Qing Dynasty, which rose between the white mountains and black waters, quickly adjusted its simple military expedition policy and ethnic oppression policy after moving into the Central Plains, and devoted itself to the construction and improvement of the national system and culture. The ruling group in the early Qing Dynasty was vigorous and vigorous, striving to improve themselves. The emperors of Kang, Yong, and Qian suppressed rebellions by separatist forces in various regions, unified Taiwan, and adopted multiple military, political, and religious policies, It consolidated the rule of the Qing Dynasty in Xinjiang, Xizang, Mongolia and the southwest, and established a relatively complete administrative organization from the central to the local. With the stability of the unified situation, the national strength of the Qing Dynasty gradually became strong.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Bu Xianqun: Unification is a trend in Chinese history and has not reached the height of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, as a unified multi-ethnic country and a world power, China should be said to have been established during the Kang, Yong, and Qian periods and the early Qing Dynasty.
In Beijing, artists are creating a 200 meter long picture of the bustling city, depicting the full picture of the capital during the peak of the Qing Dynasty. After more than a hundred years of hard work and governance, the Qing Dynasty reached its peak from Kangxi, Yongzheng to Qianlong. This was an era no less than the Han and Tang dynasties, known as the Kangxi and Qianlong periods.
China Academy of Art, Calligraphy and Painting
The prosperity of cities, the growth of population, the expansion of arable land, technological progress in agriculture and handicrafts, and the surpassing of overseas trade laid the material foundation for the prosperous Kangxi and Qianlong periods. During this period, the Qing Dynasty created remarkable achievements in politics, economy, society, and culture. The British philosopher Leibniz of the same time lamented that China is a great country, with a territory no less than civilized Europe, and far superior in terms of population and national governance. In the overseas trade conducted by Western countries at that time, China had long been in a dominant position as a superpower. With the increasing scale of Sino British trade, in addition to silk and porcelain, China exported a large amount of tea to Britain. During the prosperous era, cultural exchanges between China and the West were also very frequent and in-depth. Some Western scientific and technological achievements were spread in China, and various Western pigments were also introduced to China from this time. Emperor Kangxi loved this type of pigment very much. He advocated combining Western pigments with traditional Chinese ceramic production techniques, and through 72 production processes such as drawing, taking pictures, drawing lines, coloring, and rendering, finally developed a combination of Chinese and Western art – enamel colored porcelain, specifically for use by the Qing court.
Ceramic Craftsman – Li Sheng: During Kangxi’s reign, he loved the study of enamel color, not only because it was a waste of energy, but also purely because he loved an object. He regarded this enamel color as a symbol of a country, culture, art, technology, and economy.
The rulers of the Qing Dynasty were able to accept Sino British trade and imported pigments from the West, but not all Western things were acceptable to them. One day in 1973, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Emperor Qianlong, a British delegation led by Macartney arrived in China. When Macartney landed on the eastern continent, he saw a huge market and a country rich in resources. The British delegation represented the British government’s hope to establish a national relationship with China that met its interests, change the imbalance of Sino British trade, and allow more Chinese people to purchase Western goods. Surprisingly, Emperor Qianlong ignored Macartney’s proposal to expand trade. The demand for establishing trade bases on Chinese territory has been more strongly rejected.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Bu Xianqun: The Qing Dynasty considered itself a great power with everything and did not need to engage in trade with the outside world. Therefore, the failure of the Macartney Mission to communicate with the Qing Dynasty on trade issues this time can be said to be that China lost the opportunity to engage in economic and cultural exchanges with the world.
Macartney did not get nothing. In China, his delegation tasted kungfu tea. They brought more Chinese tea and unforgettable taste of Chinese kungfu tea back to Europe and made black tea after returning home.
British Tea Brand Ambassador – Lawson: Over time, tea has become increasingly popular in the UK, coinciding with the Industrial Revolution era where blended tea has also become mechanized.
At that time, Britain was powered by a steam engine, starting from the textile industry. This technology was gradually widely used in various industries such as mining, metallurgy, grinding, manufacturing, and transportation. Britain became the world’s first industrialized capitalist country, and with the discovery of geography, the overseas expansion of countries such as Britain and France had reached Southeast Asia and India. The West was already calculating how to develop this huge market in China. The Qing Dynasty was facing an era of globalization characterized by overseas trade and colonial expansion. Western capitalism was flourishing and urgently needed to find a huge market. China was undoubtedly their best choice, and whether the Qing Dynasty was willing or not, it would be forced to be involved in the surging wave of globalization.
History did not fail to give the Qing Dynasty an opportunity. It was his son, Emperor Jiaqing, who succeeded Emperor Qianlong. Emperor Jiaqing deeply experienced the various drawbacks within the Qing Empire, but he was even more conservative in foreign trade policies. Like most elite intellectuals at the time, Emperor Jiaqing was also addicted to the stagnant glory.
Bu Xianqun: They do not understand that a new bourgeois revolution is taking place in the West. With such a large historical background, at the same time, the brief prosperity of the social economy since Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties has blinded them and made them unwilling to make progress.
In 1816 (the 21st year of the Jiaqing reign), another British merchant ship appeared on the sea of China. King George III of England sent a diplomatic mission with Amherst as the chief envoy to China again. However, Emperor Jiaqing continued to follow his father’s old path to deal with this distant mission, and the frustrated Europeans began to plan to enter the Chinese market through other channels.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Yu Hongliang: This is also driving out a group of troublemakers from China. For the Amherst delegation, on one hand, they recognized the means of operation of the Qing Dynasty and the government, as well as the qualities and perspectives of officials. On the other hand, they have more confidence in their own strength and national strength.
No matter how big the storms were, they could not stop Europeans from opening up the Chinese market. Although the Qing Dynasty refused Western requests for restrictions on foreign trade, the West did not relax its pressure on China step by step. When European ships embarked on a journey to China again, they were no longer carrying gifts to the emperor or large embassy personnel, but a special commodity that made Chinese people feel heartbroken at the mention of opium.
Opium War Museum Dongguan City, Guangdong Province
In the 1920s and 1930s, during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing, China’s internal and external crises began to deepen. In order to break free from trade imbalances, Western powers led by Britain recklessly strengthened their opium trade with China, with a sharp increase in imports. Only Britain alone, from 1938 to 1939, had a staggering 35500 boxes of opium. The large import of opium caused a significant outflow of silver from China, which was then used by Europeans to purchase goods such as silk, tea, and porcelain from China. In an instant, the trade surplus of the Qing Dynasty turned into a deficit, and the outflow of silver increased and accelerated. There were no available troops in the Central Plains, and the national treasury had no available funds. The contradictions and conflicts of balance transformation ultimately intensify, and a war is inevitable.
Nanjing Jinghai Temple Memorial Hall, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province
At the Nanjing Treaty Memorial Hall, there is a copy of the only domestically preserved map of the British fleet’s attack on Nanjing at that time, which was a top secret document that we only saw with our own eyes after a hundred years.
Nanjing Jinghai Temple Memorial Hall – Su Zhen: This is the picture provided by Mr. Liang Erping from Shenzhen Evening News, which shows the closest relationship between the British army and the siege of Nanjing. After the British army arrived in Nanjing, they divided into two routes. The army penetrated the Maigao Bridge from Yanziji in the north of our city, while the navy anchored their warships along the Yangtze River on the surface of the Xiaguan River in Nanjing.
In order to open the door to China, the British army made similar preparations for almost every important town in China. At this time, the Qing government also realized that war was imminent. In order to cope with the war, the Chinese army did not sit idly by. Despite extremely difficult military expenses, they also made meticulous deployments and blocked the ports of Guangzhou and Zhuhai. In 1840, the war between China and Britain arrived as scheduled. In Zhoushan, Zhejiang, the British fleet occupied the sea fortress Dinghai in just nine minutes. Subsequently, Chinese ports were gradually occupied, and the spears in the hands of the Qing army were helpless in front of British ships and cannons. This war In China, it was called the Opium War, while in Britain it was called the Trade War, and the names of both sides had reasons. The Chinese accused the British of smuggling opium, The evil deeds that poison China, while the British emphasize their seemingly legitimate but actually unjust purposes.
Professor Zou Zhenhuan from Fudan University: One of the important reasons why he decided to sell his goods is to open up a commodity market in China, and to have their goods sold to China. Colonies are a way for him to expand. He wants to sell his own goods to the colonies, but transport the raw materials from the colonies back to his homeland. At that time, China had a large population, so he thought it was a very good market for dumping goods.
Nanjing Jinghai Temple Memorial Hall, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province
Nanjing Treaty Nanjing Jinghai Temple Memorial Hall
The war ended with China’s failure, and the Qing government was forced to sign the first unequal treaty in history with Britain – the Treaty of Nanjing. From then on, China embarked on a semi colonial and semi feudal path. After the treaty was signed, China opened five trading ports, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai, and the closed doors of China were forced to open.
Today, Shanghai is a city with a population of 2500 permanent residents, of which 10 million are foreign permanent residents. It is the center of China’s economy and finance. After the opening of the commercial port in the Qing Dynasty, due to its unique natural conditions, Shanghai became the preferred destination for Western commercial ships to transport a large amount of industrial products from the other side of the ocean to China. In order to obtain more benefits, Western powers have established their own concessions in Shanghai. At the same time, banks, modern ports, and modern buildings gradually emerged, and the former fishing villages gradually evolved into an international metropolis. From then on, the functions and construction concepts of Chinese cities have quietly changed.
The former site of the Songhu Railway in Shanghai
At this time, the first railway appeared in Shanghai – the Songhu Railway, which was built by the British from Wusong Wharf to Shanghai. It was through this railway that the British continuously transported China’s resources to their own country.
Yu Hongliang: We can say that traditional coastal trade or ocean going trade with China is a supplement to the inland economy dominated by agriculture, so its position is subordinate. However, after the Opium War, the entire maritime era arrived, and China began to contact a maritime order dominated by maritime rules, making coastal areas the forefront of China’s development.
Nantong Textile Museum – Li Yiqun: This is the roving machine at that time. After the Industrial Revolution, the principle of modern spinning was generally through carding, drawing, roving, and fine yarn. This is a roving machine.
Nantong Textile Museum Nantong City, Jiangsu Province
The surging Western products devastated China’s handicraft and textile industries, while the developed textile industry in the Jiangnan region of China suffered even greater impact. In Britain, someone invented a Jenny textile machine, which could spin many cotton threads at once, eight times faster than traditional Chinese textile machines. Compared with the shock brought by the failure of the war, these products of the industrial revolution brought greater shock to the Chinese people, greatly impacting China’s natural economy. Although most Chinese people, including the emperor, did not realize that regardless of whether they wanted it or not, it was inevitable for China’s door to be opened. However, they had already felt the history of China falling from the Heavenly Kingdom to a defeated country. In the long history of China, people cannot find similar historical experiences to learn from, due to the huge difference and the enormous impact it has brought.
Yu Hongliang: From a political perspective, of course, the First Opium War had a great impact on the entire Qing Dynasty, causing some changes in politics, economy, and military aspects.
Ma Wei Shipbuilding History Exhibition Hall, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province
This used to be the largest shipyard in the Far East, the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau, now known as the Mawei Shipyard. Established in 1866, the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau is China’s most important naval production base.
Lin Yingyao, Director of the Shipbuilding Exhibition Hall: Our workshop used to manufacture steam engines for ships because it needed the power of steam engines. Under the conditions of Chinese society at that time, it did not have the ability to do so. Therefore, the founder, Zuo Zongtang, and the first Minister of Shipbuilding, Shen Baozhen, adopted a method, mainly hiring a group of engineering and technical personnel from abroad and Europe. In the place of Mawei, they knew that Chinese workers made ships.
After the First Opium War, a large number of Western industrial products and science and technology entered China. Many Chinese elites also felt the coming changes. They felt that China had lagged behind the West in technology, so they took the initiative to learn from the West for the first time, launched the vigorous Westernization Movement, and began to build their own industrial system. A number of military factories and civilian industries were opened one after another. China’s modern industry rose rapidly. With the rapid development of industry, the Qing government had a huge navy at that time, the most famous of which was the Beiyang Fleet. Most of the commanders on these ships were returned students from overseas professional military academies. At that time, its strength was the first in Asia, famous for a while.
Yu Hongliang: The Westernization Movement is such a movement. It mainly introduced western technology and equipment in technology and industry, and started a self-improvement movement. So its main goals are to enrich the country and strengthen the army. Objectively speaking, after 20 or 30 years of development, the Westernization Movement has laid a relatively large-scale industrial foundation for the Qing Dynasty or the relatively ancient China.
Yang Yi has been engaged in research on Chinese students studying abroad in the late Qing Dynasty. Over the past twenty years, he has collected a large amount of valuable information about Chinese students studying abroad in the early days. The first batch of Chinese students studying abroad in Europe and the United States was also sent during the process of carrying out the Westernization Movement. After the failure of the Opium War, the Chinese people were also gradually awakened. From 1872 to 1875, the Qing government sent four batches of 120 young students studying in the United States, with an average age of only twelve years old. They embarked on a journey with the hopes of the dynasty, the future of the motherland, and the hope of the nation. They also became the earliest official overseas students in Chinese history. Most of their majors in the United States were related to military affairs. Regarding technology and machinery, according to incomplete statistics, 22 of these students have entered Yale University, 8 have entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and 3 have entered Columbia University, One student entered Harvard University, among whom were later railway engineers Zhan Tianyou, Tsinghua University President Tang Guoan, and Vice Premier of the State Council Tang Shaoyi. In addition, the Qing government sent four batches of international students to Europe to learn advanced maritime warfare techniques. At the same time, the major crisis of the Qing Dynasty’s internal rule was also resolved, which was the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion. The Qing rulers deeply experienced the taste of internal and external difficulties, and they worked hard to finally suppress the Taiping Rebellion. With the resolution of internal and external problems, the political situation began to stabilize, and people’s production and life began to recover. At this time, it was during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi. Therefore, during this period, Also known as Tongzhi Zhongxing.
Yu Hongliang: It should be said that at that time, both Western observers and Chinese scholars felt that the Qing Dynasty had a positive and proactive attitude, so it was called Tongzhi Zhongxing, which made people feel that it had given this people, including Western observers, a positive and enterprising atmosphere.
During this period, one of the important works that enabled Chinese people to read books and understand the world was Wei Yuan’s “Illustrated Records of the Seas”. Wei Yuan proposed the famous idea of learning from the barbarians and using their skills to control them, and detailed the historical geography, economic law, military technology, science and culture of various countries around the world at that time, which broadened the Chinese people’s horizons and understanding of the world. However, unfortunately, this painstaking work did not cause much response in China at that time.
Ma Yong: It is very clear from the “Atlas of the Seas” that using British equipment and factories to establish a British enterprise in China is considered legitimate today, but it was abandoned in the past. This had no impact on China at that time, but it had an impact on the world and our neighbor Japan.
At this moment, on the west coast of the Pacific, in addition to China’s Beiyang Fleet, another huge naval force is rapidly rising, which is the Japanese Fleet. After the “Illustrated History of the Sea Country” was spread to Japan, it attracted high attention from all walks of life in Japan. Like China, they also sent a large number of international students to study in the West. After returning to China, these students became the core members of the fleet. At the same time, Japan began to implement the Meiji Restoration, and within a decade, it quickly completed a leap in industrialization. Japan began to embark on the path of capitalism, with its national strength becoming increasingly strong and the industrial revolution reaching a climax. As an island country with scarce resources and a narrow market, Japan urgently needed to export goods and capital to the outside world. China undoubtedly became their best choice. Therefore, these two rapidly rising countries will eventually embark on the path of war.
In 1894, the Sino Japanese War of 1894 broke out. For this war, Japan had long planned, fully prepared, and was determined to win. The Qing government and its army exposed serious problems in all aspects. It was once considered to be the most powerful Beiyang Navy in Asia at that time. Due to the lack of funds, no more Chinese ships had been added in the past decade. The war ended in China’s failure. That year was the year of 1894, so it was called the War of 1894. In this war, the Beiyang fleet, which had been operated by officials of the Westernization Movement for many years, was almost completely destroyed, and the Westernization Movement was also declared a failure. Japan thus became a big power.
Museum of the Sino Japanese War of 1894-1895, Weihai City, Shandong Province
Museum of the Sino Japanese War of 1894-1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki
With the failure of the war, the Qing government was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan. Since the Opium War, various unequal treaties have emerged one after another. Since the door was opened by foreign powers, dignity cannot be talked about, and slaughter has become a common practice. In addition to ordering reparations, these treaties also required the Qing government to agree to expand opening up, add trading ports, modify tariff rates, allow free preaching, and allow military ships from various countries to berth at trading ports. Countries took advantage of this opportunity to expand exports to China, seize market share, and various commodities were further dumped into China. The foreign powers seized more opportunities in China. Interest, the ancient Chinese Empire was further pushed into the abyss of disaster.
Professor Wang Kaixi from Beijing Normal University: Chinese people from all walks of life believe that China’s failure in the First Sino Japanese War was a great shame for the Chinese people. Why does he think that China’s failure in the First Sino Japanese War was a great shame? It is not entirely because of the strict provisions of the Treaty of Shimonoseki signed after the First Sino Japanese War. China paid a huge compensation of 200 million taels of silver, which is not entirely the case. However, this time China failed to give to a small island country, and lost to a small country like Japan, which has the same language and culture as China.
Yan Fu Hanmo Hall, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province
After the end of the First Sino Japanese War, spring arrived as scheduled. Along with this spring came a new wave of ideas, which began to leap on the land of China. The most representative one was Yan Fu’s translation of “The Theory of Heavenly Performance”. He focused on the comparison of Chinese and Western civilizations, believing that China was not only backward in politics, economy, and military, but also in ideology and culture. He began to call for reform, hoping that the Qing Dynasty would be ashamed and brave, carry out reforms, emulate the East and West, and move towards prosperity and strength. After the publication of “The Theory of Heavenly Performance”, there was a huge social response that even he himself had not anticipated.
On the bus, there is an oil painting written on it. The former residence of Liang Qichao in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province
At the same time, a joint petition composed of more than 1300 juren from 18 provinces pushed the reform to a climax. Reformers represented by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao called for the petition to Emperor Guangxu in order to prevent the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. They launched a public transportation petition movement, and ultimately Emperor Guangxu accepted a series of proposals from Liang Qichao, Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong, and others. China’s political, military, economic and other fields were undergoing or brewing vigorous reforms, which also opened the prelude to the late Qing reform. It was the year of Wuxu, so this reform was also known as the Wuxu Reform.
Peking University History Museum, Beijing
The Qing government began to vigorously promote science and culture, reform politics, education systems, etc. Emperor Guangxu successively issued nearly fifty reform laws and regulations. One of the important measures of the Wuxu Reform was to establish the Capital University, which was the predecessor of Peking University. Its establishment marked the beginning of modern higher education in China. In addition to traditional Chinese disciplines, the Capital University also introduced subjects such as mathematics and geography from the West, creating the earliest university disciplines in China such as humanities, sciences, agriculture, and medicine. It was the founder of modern higher education in China. From this beginning, schools adopting modern education methods were established in various regions.
Researchers have found that Emperor Guangxu, in order to better understand the West, even began learning English. Due to the imminent crisis of imperialism dividing China at that time, the highest rulers of the Qing Dynasty also realized that if they did not learn from advanced countries and did not change their ways to become stronger, the Qing Empire would truly be in danger.
Professor Zou Zhenhuan from Fudan University: In fact, the late Qing government had always had a desire for such a change in the last years. However, there were many different choices about how to take this path of change. Now, it seems that the choice of that path at that time was bound to fail because it was completely dependent on the Qing Dynasty. We say that the nobles in the upper echelons and some in the upper echelons must ensure the interests of these nobles. Looking back now, the failure of the Wuxu Reform is inevitable.
Tan Sitong’s Former Residence in Liuyang City, Hunan Province
Unfortunately, on September 21, 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi conducted another political training, and the Hundred Day Reform declared its failure. The Six Gentlemen of the Wuxu Movement, represented by Tan Sitong, sacrificed their lives in the hope of awakening everyone. More than a hundred years have passed, and their heroic deeds are still being carried forward by future generations. Their spirit of bravely sacrificing their lives for the reform and strengthening is still inspiring future generations. Although the Hundred Day Reform failed, the exploration and pursuit of the fate of their country by the Chinese people have never ended. Although representatives of the Reform faction have fallen in a pool of blood, another new force has quietly emerged.
Sun Yat sen Memorial Hall, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province
It is Sun Yat sen and his Chinese Revolutionary League. The awakening of Sun Yat sen and others, like a spark, soon became the awakening of more people, a nation and a country.
Wang Kaixi: Sun Yat sen also warned about the crisis China faced after the failure of the First Sino Japanese War. What about Sun Yat sen? After the First Sino Japanese War, Chinese history was humiliating and humiliating, and the dignified Chinese people were contemptuous of the Communist Party. They felt that China was facing a very serious national crisis, and in order to save the country, Sun Yat sen began a series of struggles against the Qing revolution.
Sun Yat sen appoints a wax statue of the President to the former site of the Nanjing Presidential Palace
On October 10, 1911, a war broke out with the aim of overthrowing the autocratic rule of the Qing Dynasty, saving the nation from danger, and striving for national independence, democracy, and prosperity. It was the Wuchang Uprising that opened the curtain of the Xinhai Revolution. This was an inevitability of the times and a historical logic. After experiencing a series of setbacks, the Chinese people began to awaken universally, and the fate of the Qing Empire was already predetermined. Only two months later, with the victory of the Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat sen became the interim president of the Republic of China in Nanjing. The abdication edict of the Qing Emperor also meant that the Qing Dynasty and its highest rulers could no longer shoulder the historical responsibility of leading the country forward. Everything Appearing so calm, the Qing court did not make a dying struggle, and people accepted its helpless disappearance in peace.
Bu Xianqun: Since 1911, a series of revolutionary movements such as the Huanghuagang Uprising, the Baolu Uprising, and the Wuchang Uprising have surged and the Republic of China has also been established. During this period, the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty’s rule has been passively shaken. Additionally, since the Opium War, a series of unequal treaties have been signed, causing the entire society to lose confidence in the Qing Dynasty and the entire social foundation of the Qing Dynasty to collapse. Therefore, this calmness is actually a disappointment at the failure of the entire Qing Dynasty’s rule, a helpless calmness.
Over the past two thousand years, there have been many emperors in this eastern land. Under the pressure of the autocratic system, the Chinese people seem to have always respected and feared imperial power. Then, such a state and regime that has been in existence since the first emperor of Qin Dynasty collapsed, while the ordinary people did not cherish it more. This is thought-provoking. The end of the monarchy, but the Chinese people’s pursuit of national and national development has not stopped. The industrial system created by the Westernization Movement is still in operation, and many former honest and upright officials have turned into industrialists in this year. Liang Qichao, a fugitive from overseas, has put forward his famous “Young China”. Kang Youwei, who runs through various countries, is still working hard for his idea of revitalizing China, The Provisional Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing, led by Sun Yat sen, is preparing to promulgate a constitutional law with the power of the Republic of China on the brink of death, which clearly stipulates that the sovereignty of the Republic of China belongs to the entire nation, and all the people of the Republic of China are equal and enjoy many freedoms and rights. New Enlightenment thinkers such as Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao are constantly accepting more advanced ideas.
Hunan First Normal University Changsha City, Hunan Province
In that year, Mao Zedong was nineteen years old and had already arrived in Changsha. Two years later, he entered Hunan Provincial First Normal School, where Cai Hesen, Zhou Shizhao, and others studied. They received advanced ideas and jointly organized the New People’s Association; Deng Xiaoping was eight years old at the time and had already entered the primary school in Wangxi Township to receive modern education. At the same time, a number of primary and secondary schools with modern education were also established nationwide. Many eager young students began unprecedented attempts and explorations, and China was accumulating strength under the seemingly calm surface of society, calling for the arrival of a new era.