Lao Tzu once said that governing a big country is like cooking small fresh food. Any slight change in the country's major affairs is like a drop of water on the calm water. The ripples will infect a large pond. And if there are multiple water drops in different places, they will drop at the same time. The chaos on the surface of the entire pond can be imagined.
This is true of any dynasty. As latecomers, we can't experience all the hardships experienced in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. Although the historical definition we gave is that conservatives in the late Qing Dynasty tried their best to maintain their feudal rule, we also admit that feudal conservatives knew from beginning to end the close connection between state power and their own rights. So now that you know, why should the ruler stick to the tradition and refuse to innovate?
The political logic of the dynasty before the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty is slowly undesirable, and I dare not think about it!
Although our historical definition is so, can innovation really save this dynasty on the verge of extinction from the very beginning? In the late Qing Dynasty, the chaotic political environment was like a pool of water dripping from multiple points. It seems calm, but the surface aftermath never stops. According to the traditional Chinese conservative political philosophy, the most important thing to do is to recuperate, not to change the law. But in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the world situation experienced was not so. In Chinese history, with the exception of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a period of reform and innovation.
In the remaining thousands of years, I am afraid we have been deeply infected by a conservative political philosophy. Advocating recuperation and rejuvenation, with the people. It is exactly the same. In the 20 years since the outbreak of the Opium War in modern times, the Qing government has been pursuing the policy of recuperation and rejuvenation in its national policy. But it was always interrupted by domestic peasant uprisings and foreign aggressive wars. Revolutionaries and reformers stepped onto the stage of history and expounded on the strategy of governing the country. But it may not be so easy to implement it.
Although there is an old saying that governs a big country like cooking Xiaoxian, it does not mean that Xiaoxian's cooking does not require skill, nor does it mean that it can be fried on iron plate during cooking. With the further spread of domestic and foreign situations, I am afraid that the slow-fire method of governing the country has become impossible. The political recuperation was impossible, and the Qing government had to choose feudal reform. In the second industrial revolution, although it did not come out on top, at least on the whole, it could be on par with Japan that had just reformed at that time.
At that time, the West woke up suddenly. For this oriental dragon, it is very likely that it will become a well-deserved Oriental power in the world in the near future, and it is also very likely to become its own greatest threat. But what I am afraid that the West did not expect that the Qing government did not become the Eastern power they wanted to think. On the contrary, Japan, the least favored by them, became one of the imperialist countries in the future.
And this change took place at the end of the 19th century, and it was this Sino-Japanese naval battle that completely interrupted the Qing government’s political tradition of thinking that it was a supremacy. The subsequent outbreak of the Boxer Movement and the resulting invasion of China by the Eight-Power Allied Forces made the Qing government, especially Cixi, feel a ruling crisis. National policy may really not be able to slow down, at least there should be a strong medicine. In the previous reforms, scholars were unrealistic. Although from now on, their reform content is good. However, under the old framework, Cixi’s opposition is probably not only because the stubborn feudal rulers can make it clear about the protection of their rights.
Which of the tough reforms comes first? Good medicine is not bitter after all, and the symptoms are as always!
But by the beginning of the 20th century, the Qing government did admit that it had to carry out a modern political reform. At that time, both the political and academic circles became a consensus. The most important point of any country’s reform, whether ancient or modern, at home or abroad, is to reform the law. The relationship between water droplets and ponds can also be used to illustrate the importance of the law. Whether to understand the pond as a national politics, system, society, or economic culture?
When that one droplet, that is, when the law enters the entire pond. Don’t look at the fact that this drop of water is not big, and the country’s political system, socialEconomic, cultural and other aspects. It is far from what a ruler, reformer, and ordinary people can expect. I think that the change of the law is easy, just a few powerful figures rewrite a constitution. But for the country and the entire society and nation, this is probably more difficult than a war.
But the Qing government at that time did have the motivation and foundation for reform. After more than 30 years of the Westernization Movement, the national bourgeoisie, bureaucratic bourgeoisie, and some basic workers in modern society have all been born. With the support of these people, the reform of the Qing government was widely anticipated at the time. The great powers at that time also hoped that the Qing government could make certain changes, expand its own economic openness, and make room for the great powers to further occupy the market.
So the Qing government received unprecedented support at that time. In China, in addition to the revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen, the national bourgeois reformers, bureaucrats, and other powers all stood on the side of the Qing government, hoping that the Qing government could achieve their goals of reform through reform. But it is precisely because of their different goals and different directions of struggle. In the end, this reform ended without a problem. But is this reform really meaningless? Probably not the core of this reform, that is, the reform of the law. If you can, it will be included in the Revolution of 1911. This issue will be discussed later.
Systematic rule of law construction and system design, why did the Qing government not work?
Within the scope of the Qing government, Cixi and the conservatives also agreed to reform, because they clearly saw the Qing government's precarious situation. In addition to being able to suppress the peasant uprising, it was unable to fight it abroad, and the Revolutionary Party was always active. The pressure from all walks of life on the Qing government at the time was not at all. All this can be transformed into a crisis of governance. No one is willing to regard it as knowledge and become a target of public criticism.
And the active promoter of the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty should be Zhang Zhidong, the representative of bureaucratic capitalism. They were the chief officials of the feudal frontiers and the main officials of the Westernization Movement. They had a good understanding and admiration of Western civilization, and at the same time they were deeply influenced by traditional culture. They have always hoped that through the use of Chinese, Chinese, Western, Chinese, Chinese, Western, Chinese, Chinese, Western, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Western, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Western, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Western, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, Chinese, and Western, to preserve the fortune of the Qing Dynasty, and reverse the country's decline. For this reason, Liu Kunyi, Governor of Liangjiang, and Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Hunan and Guangxi, have co-branded many times to advocate the innovative ideas of Chinese and Western learning.
is also under internal and external pressure, the Qing government really started the reform. In fact, the reform steps of the Qing government are correct, but if it can be advanced 40 years, the effect will be very different. The first thing the Qing government figured out was to focus on legal reform. Start at the national top-level design level, and then expand the reform to all levels of society and the country. This is the beginning of this systematic and logical New Deal.
But at that time, the core ruling class did not have a great reformer. Although the direction is right, the resistance to this reform is also great. This resistance is different from before. Before, many conservatives vehemently opposed it because there is no precedent to explore. Under the traditional political system and economic model, it is necessary to accommodate a brand new mode of production. The master of the new mode of production is not the one who holds the core position in the power hierarchy.
And as I said just now, feudal rulers, bourgeois bureaucrats, national bourgeoisie, and reformers all have different goals and objectives. Although the original intention was to make the country prosper, in essence, there were many contradictions in the reform process.
In addition, the feudal legal system and class nature for more than two thousand years are very different from those of the modern bourgeoisie. It's not what ordinary people ask for, and it can be changed and resolved after a meeting.
The starting point of modern legal thought in the West is the rule. This rule is above the society and has the overall rights within the bounds of the society, as well as the rights of the ruler. The law is supreme, the division of powers and balances, and the rights of citizens. This is incompatible with the traditional system, even unheard of by the supreme ruler. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the legalist reform was indeed the law above all else. However, there is no law with checks and balances,In the end, it can only become a tool of imperial power and autocracy, and play the same role as Confucian morality.
And the core of the modern bourgeois legal system is the constitution, which is the product of any country’s bourgeois democratic revolution. The New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty did not experience a bourgeois revolution, so the establishment of the constitution was also controversial. The biggest controversy is not whether the constitution is formulated or not, but how it is formulated? After the five ministers went abroad to investigate the constitutional government, the Qing government realized the three major benefits of imitating the constitution, consolidating the throne, eliminating foreign troubles, and quelling internal strife.
Although imitation of the constitution can bring these three benefits, it does not mean that the three major benefits of the constitution can actually come. In particular, revolutionaries will never let the imitation of constitutionalism become a reality. Both before and after the five ministers went abroad for investigation, riots were created in various places, including attacks on the five ministers. This was once considered by Cixi to be the Qing government's way of doing the right thing. Otherwise, the revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen will not be so crazy.
However, for a completely backward and decadent framework of politics, economy and culture, whether it is the establishment of a constitution or a parliament. I am afraid that it is already difficult to meet the political needs of various factions. Especially after the death of Cixi, these feudal diehards once again raised their heads and never allowed the parliament to become a truly democratic parliament. The political space left for reformers is tightened, and they are faced with steadily pressing on from other sectors of society. This backward dynasty really fell into a dead end.
Why did I talk about the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty before, and it is also possible for some of its achievements to be incorporated into the Revolution of 1911?
can’t say that all of them can be included in the definition of the Revolution of 1911, but at least legal reform can. In 1905, the Qing government carried out a more systematic reform of the law. Separate criminal and civil, and no longer divide the law according to the concept of six parts. This is China's second complete and systematic legal reform after Shangyang Reform. This law has been criticized during the existence of the Qing government, although it is generally accepted that it is an advancement in the history of the legal system.
But no one seems to admit that this legal system can meet the requirements of what they believe to be a democratic republic. Naturally, during this period, the Qing government borrowed many foreign laws and approved the establishment of a law court to revise laws. Systematic translation and study of legal texts of various countries. At this point, the Qing government sincerely hopes that the new order of the entire society can be determined through legal amendments.
Although the Qing government’s reform of the legal system in 1905 was not recognized by many people, especially revolutionaries. But the fact I have to say is that in 1912 after the success of the Revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen announced that he would inherit the reform results of the previous Qing government in the legal system. It is no longer a scam and hypocritical legal reform. Only after the reform of the Qing government's legal system, the content related to the emperor and imperial power was removed. Other places are basically intact, which means that the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system in modern history.
The reform of the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty and the basic confirmation of Sun Yat-sen, the criminal law, civil law, commercial law, "Criminal Procedure Law", "Civil Procedure Law" and the success of the Revolution of 1911, the 19 articles issued by the Qing government are fully inherited Announced and implemented. The feudal legal system that lasted for more than two thousand years has truly ended. The Revolution of 1911 also became more fulfilled by the reforms at the end of the Qing government and the final struggle of the revolutionaries.
