1.accelerated the process of semi-colonization of China. Those who hold this view are Qi Longwei (then signed "han sheng"), Mou Anshi and others.

Qi Longwei believed that the Westernization Movement "promoted China society to the semi-colonial road". There are two reasons: first, "the troops trained by the Westernization Movement and the military industries held by them are semi-colonial. First, under the control of foreign invaders, it became a "good place" for the western bourgeoisie to sell surplus military equipment and suck China people's grease; Second, it can only be used to suppress the domestic people's revolution, but not to resist foreign aggression. " Secondly, "the economic enterprises developed by the Westernization School are first" government-run ",then" government-supervised commercial enterprises "and" government-business joint ventures ". The right of operation and management is held by the' official', which is directly related to the feudal regime and serves the feudal rule. These enterprises are closely dependent on foreign capital both economically and technically, which has opened a "convenient door" for the western bourgeoisie to plunder China's economy. This determines their nature, but it is feudal and comprador bureaucratic capitalism. "

Mou Anshi believed that the Westernization Movement accelerated the process of China's semi-colonization. First of all, "during the Westernization Movement, commercial ports developed from five ports to thirty-six ports. They spread all over the coastal and frontier areas of China, and went deep into the mainland of China to varying degrees. This "actually shows the expansion of the snare of unequal treaties and the deepening of China's semi-colonization". Secondly, Hurd, the General Tax Department of China Customs, strengthened his control over China's financial power during this period, and the Westernization School also relied on foreigners everywhere in its diplomatic activities during this period to implement the policy of traitorous surrender. " Thirdly, "the deficit of import and export trade is getting bigger and bigger under the condition of unequal exchange", which seriously affects the national economy and people's livelihood. In a word, "the Westernization Movement was the formation period of China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The Westernization Movement did not delay the process of China's semi-colonization, but accelerated it".

2. Delayed the process of China's semi-colonization. This theory is represented by Kong Lingren, Li Shiyue and Dennies Hu.

Kong Lingren believed that the Westernization Movement had delayed the semi-colonization of China. Because: China will be reduced to a semi-colony, "there are two main reasons, one is that the foreign invaders who entered China are too powerful, and the other is that China is too backward". Under the circumstances at that time, "it is inevitable that China will become a semi-colony, and even think that it is possible to become a colony and be carved up. In the face of such bad luck, all classes have their own attitudes. " "The Westernization School is not as resolute as the broad masses of people in its resistance, but it is an effective and fundamental way to resist foreign aggression in the long run by engaging in Westernization, developing capitalism, stressing the skill of becoming rich and strong, and improving armaments", although its achievements have been greatly weakened due to various reasons. However, through the Westernization Movement, China established a new type of army after all, and a number of modern enterprises emerged. This army has made some efforts in resisting foreign military aggression, and these modern enterprises have also played some positive roles in resisting foreign economic aggression. Therefore, I think that the Westernization School's role in China's semi-colony has not played a promoting role like the Qing government and the die-hards, but has played a delaying role like the broad masses of people. ".

Reasons for the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898

1 The radical changes of Emperor Guangxu and several scholars offended the whole upper class, including intellectuals, and the abolition of the imperial examination blocked the promotion of some intellectuals. Japan is a steady reform;

2. Both the Reform Movement of 1898 and the New Deal of Empress Dowager Cixi were destroyed by foreigners, and Japan's reform was supported by foreigners.

3. The reformists rely on the emperor who has no real power, and lack the support of officials and people in the central and local areas. Imperialism and the die-hard feudalism headed by Empress Dowager Cixi are powerful, and the reformists representing the democratic bourgeoisie are weak and unable to compete with them. In addition, the bourgeoisie is weak and divorced from the masses.

For the above two reasons, the first one is the most important one. Let me talk about my reasons carefully below:

As for some people who say that failure is due to "subjectively, the development of the bourgeoisie in China is not thorough, with weakness and compromise. Objectively speaking, the feudal reactionary forces in China are too strong and seriously hindered. " This is the standard answer in textbooks, but it is not true. In fact, the subjective and objective factors in Japan and the Qing Dynasty also had this problem. The resistance of Japan's feudal reactionary forces was even stronger than that of China. For example, after Japan's reform, the feudal forces in Kyushu launched an armed attack on the new regime.

1895 After the failure of the Sino-Japanese War, 1898 witnessed the Reform Movement of 1898, which was presided over by Emperor Guangxu. Under the influence of textbooks and mainstream media, people basically think that the Reform Movement of 1898 was suppressed by Empress Dowager Cixi, who was the bane of China's progress. But this is not the case. How can Lafayette be indifferent to the fiasco in the Sino-Japanese War? According to Fei Xingjian's biography of Empress Dowager Cixi, as early as the beginning of the political reform, Empress Dowager Cixi said to Emperor Guangxu, "The political reform is an ambition. At the beginning of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan was invited to study abroad, and his children were sent to build ships and machinery in order to become rich and powerful." "If you can get rich and strong, you can do it yourself, and I don't make it internally." Emperor Guangxu was always afraid of Empress Dowager Cixi. When Empress Dowager Cixi revealed her true feelings and was depressed, she took bold action surrounded by several scholars, hoping to complete the task of a thousand years within a week. Haste makes waste, but it is counterproductive, offending a large number of vested interests. The radical changes advocated by Emperor Guangxu and the reformists caused a strong shock to the whole social structure, which made many social groups and political forces with interests in the existing society feel threatened. During the Hundred Days Reform, there were more than 110 imperial edicts, which were dizzying. Local officials complained bitterly. Emperor Guangxu severely punished officials who obstructed political reform and made too many enemies. As for the abolition of stereotyped writing reform of the imperial examination system, it also caused widespread panic among a large group of scholars.

What several scholars did would lead to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, and Empress Dowager Cixi had to come out to stabilize the political situation and swallow the consequences of the "bloody coup". In dealing with the Reform Movement of 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi had both merits and demerits. If Empress Dowager Cixi really wanted to be as ambitious as Empress Wu Zetian at that time, why didn't she proclaim herself emperor? For various reasons, Empress Dowager Cixi has been ugly and can no longer be ugly.

Empress Dowager Cixi supported the reform, and this new policy led by herself proved this point. "Because of the deep accumulated disadvantages at home and abroad, we had to make efforts to rectify it according to the times. And hooligans, stealing the law, are stirring up chaos. The industry has been severely punished to curb cross-flow. All those who are politically related to the national economy and people's livelihood, old and new, must be implemented second time, and they must not waste food because of choking. " But in such an era of great social change, she does not have the knowledge and literacy that a supreme ruler should have. She didn't take the initiative to absorb new knowledge, so she showed amazing ignorance on many issues, such as thinking that building railways would destroy geomantic omen, and trains should be pulled by donkeys and horses (but this can't be entirely her fault, as the knowledge background of that era was like this). Her ignorance affected the Westernization Movement she supported and the achievements of Tongzhi Zhongxing. More importantly, because of the limitation of education level and times, she did not have enough psychological preparation and overall consideration for the seriousness of the situation, the process and goal of reform, and passively adjusted her policies under the stimulation of external forces. After the implementation of the New Deal, it still made the rash mistake of the Reform Movement of 1898, which was presided over by Emperor Guangxu. Japan's reform took 20 years to complete, while Empress Dowager Cixi took 8 years. Because the pace of reform is too big and too fast, it leads to political instability and decentralization. The most obvious example is the road protection movement. Here, it is emphasized that the demise of the Qing Dynasty was not due to corruption, but to its own great leap forward in reform. This is similar to the reason for the disintegration of the Soviet Union in that year. The disintegration of the Soviet Union was not due to corruption, but to radical reforms.

From the international environment. The Meiji Restoration in Japan took place in the late 1960s19th century, when the world was still in the period of free competitive capitalism and the climax of colonial conquest had not yet begun. The main target of the western powers' aggression in East Asia is China, which is vast in territory and abundant in resources. In addition, the Asian national liberation movement, especially the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in China, contained the western powers, which provided a more favorable international environment for the Meiji Restoration in Japan. Japanese reformists themselves pay more attention to the strategy of diplomatic struggle and try their best to make use of the contradictions between Britain and France, Britain and Russia. However, the Reform Movement of 1898 in the Qing Dynasty has reached the end of190' s, world capitalism has already transitioned to the stage of imperialism, and the powers have basically divided up the world through the climax of competing for colonies. China became the "only rich source" that the great powers competed for in the East, and there was a frenzy to carve up China. At this time, the imperialist powers never wanted China to become an independent and powerful capitalist country, and the international environment was very unfavorable to the China Reform Movement.

Because China has a large land and a large population, its development is unfavorable to other countries, and the resources of the world are limited. Other countries are also for their own interests, so it doesn't matter whether they are good or bad to evaluate their aggression. It is precisely to make China, a sleeping lion, never wake up that the West strongly supported Japanese reform and took destructive actions against the Reform Movement of 1898 in the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore, from the perspective of national interests, the West's suppression of the development of the Chinese people's Republic began with the first collision between the East and the West, and the West's policy of suppressing China is still going on now and will continue in the foreseeable future. The suppression of China by the West has nothing to do with the Chinese surname Feng, Zi or She. However, Japan's land area is small, and no matter how it develops, it will not pose a serious threat to the West, which is why the West has been supported by the West since the Meiji Restoration, with a powerful Japan controlling the development of China.

Another reason for the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898

Yuan Shikai's informer was the key plot in the Reform Movement of 1898. The traditional view is that Yuan Shikai's informer led to the coup of Cixi. How exactly did Yuan Shikai snitch? So far, there are different opinions, leaving many doubts. The political reform movement began on April 23, 1898 (that is,1June 8981day, hereinafter all in the old calendar). Then the imperial edicts of the New Deal, such as snowflakes flying down, were issued frequently, while the conservatives delayed and tried their best to obstruct them. The New Deal can't be implemented, the imperial edicts are all empty words, and the two parties are at odds. On July 30th, Emperor Guangxu issued a secret imperial edict to Yang Rui, instructing the reformists to make good plans and promote political reform. The secret edict said, "I can't guarantee my position, let alone anything else?" Emperor Guangxu realized that there would be changes, and he was in a dangerous position, showing anxiety and asking the reformists to raise business countermeasures. On the second day of August, Lin Xu brought out the second secret imperial edict, which made Kang Youwei "You can go out quickly without delay." Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Lin Xu, Tan Sitong and other key figures of the reformists knelt down and recited secret edicts, crying bitterly, and vowed to rescue the emperor. They had to take risks and decided to mutiny and surround the Summer Palace, forcing Empress Dowager Cixi to hand over power. On the third day of August, Tan Sitong visited Hokkeji at night and met with Yuan Shikai, saying that Yuan Jubing had killed Rong Lu and surrounded the Summer Palace, but he had imprisoned or killed Empress Dowager Cixi. Since then, there have been different versions of the development of things. The traditional version is that Yuan Shikai is a two-faced man. On the one hand, he pretended to deal with the reformists and tricked Emperor Guangxu into making him an assistant minister. On the other hand, he saw that Cixi's influence was deeply rooted and decided to take refuge in the old party. He coaxed Tan Sitong away with a lie. On the fifth day of August, he asked the emperor for training. On the same day, he returned to Tianjin by train, informing Rong Lu and betraying Emperor Guangxu and the reformists. That night, Rong Lu rushed back to Beijing to change. On the morning of the sixth day of August, Cixi lectured at the court, imprisoned Guangxu, arrested reformists and killed six gentlemen, and the hundred-day reform failed.

Westernization Movement

1840 After the defeat of the Opium War, China's relations with the world have undergone unprecedented changes. Successive external worries and internal troubles made the Qing government and a group of intellectuals gradually wake up to the need to change to strengthen themselves. During the reign of Xianfeng and Tongzhi, the Qing government began to carry out the Westernization Movement, hoping to "learn from foreigners to strengthen themselves" and improve production technology. All localities have introduced foreign new technologies, set up mining and factories, built railways, set up telegraph networks, and trained technical personnel; Militarily, it also established the largest Beiyang Navy in the Far East. 1894 to 1895, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the Qing government was defeated by Japan, and the Beiyang Navy was wiped out. It proves that the economic Westernization Movement alone cannot fundamentally change the backwardness of the Chinese people. Then there appeared a voice calling for political reform and reform from a more basic level, including the political system.

Joint Petition of Imperial Examination Candidates to the Emperor

The reform movement began with a bus petition in Beijing on 1895. At that time, people gathered in the eighteen provinces in Beijing to participate in the imperial examination, and received the news that China cut off Taiwan Province and Liaodong in treaty of shimonoseki and paid 22,000 yuan to Japan. At that time, the crowd was excited. In April, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao made a million words book on the emperor, and put forward the idea of refusing peace, moving the capital and reforming the country, which was countersigned by more than 1,000 people. On May 2nd, two people, Kang and Liang, juren from eighteen provinces and thousands of citizens, gathered in front of Duchayuan and asked to play on their behalf. Because juren from other provinces went to Beijing by the imperial bus, the incident was also called a bus letter. Although the writing on the bus didn't get direct and substantial consequences at that time, it formed the atmosphere of citizens asking about politics, and then it gave birth to various discussion groups. Among them, the strong society initiated by Kang and Liang was the most powerful, and it was once supported by senior Qing officials such as Emperor Weng Tonghe and Nanyang Minister Zhang Zhidong.