Chapter 8 Chapter 6 On the Transformation of the Empire and the Republic of China
For our historians who study the "history of the contemporary Republic of China", the prerequisite for writing should be an essential understanding of the "traditional imperial history" (especially the period of the late Qing Dynasty).Because the "Republic of China" did not fall from the sky, it was slowly transformed from the "Empire".The empire is the father, and the Republic of China is the son.If one does not know his father, how can he know his son?
Furthermore, the relationship between the empire and the Republic of China is not a physiological mutation between the chicken and the egg;The relationship between the two is the relationship between silkworms and moths—in essence, it is a relationship of metamorphosis in terms of the system.The transmutation of the two dynasties and the disconnection of the ties cannot be broken with a single knife.
Let’s take the current situation of the mainland and Taiwan in the 1990s as an example: today, the political system on the mainland can be said to be still in a cocoon, and the past is not far away.Mao Zedong said: "For thousands of years, Qin's law and government will still be followed." The problems on the mainland are exactly the problems that this "Qin system" cannot get rid of.It is also a question of a Soviet-style "post-revolution" loss of direction and a return to autocracy.
What about the current situation in Taiwan?It is a democratic white moth that has taken off from its cocoon.But moths have their own nature to fight fire.If you mistake the flames for light, if you fly out of control and burn yourself in the flames, all previous efforts will be wasted.Therefore, today's situation in Baodao, looking for precedents in history, seems to be quite close to the period of the Third German Republic.In Germany, there was an "anti-Semitism" due to hatred and violence.The people of the country blamed the difficulties encountered in the revival work and the injustice at home and abroad on the head of a minority group; resulting in a "pre-revolution" (terrorism) that was about to come. Tendency to popular sentiment.This emotion is the easiest to escalate.If it cannot be restrained in time to prevent problems before they happen, its prospects are not optimistic.
Long story short.Our democratic political efforts on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are still finding a way out in the German and Soviet models.Both sides still have different distances from the real goal of the "Republic of China"!But what kind of political and social system can be regarded as a veritable "Republic of China"? Please understand the essence of the "Republic of China" first.
Put aside the cumbersome Western political philosophy and see what our own modern thinkers have to say.
Mr. Sun Yat-sen said in his "will" that he had devoted himself to the national revolution for forty years, and his purpose was "to seek freedom and equality in China."This "Prime Minister's Will" was originally written by the talented Wang Jingwei.In order to accommodate his "must, must, and especially" tone of writing, Wang wrote the will on behalf of Mr. Sun, so it is unavoidable to use his words to hurt his intentions.The purpose of the Sun Yat-Sen Revolution was not only to pursue freedom and equality for China in the international arena; it also wanted the freedom and equality among the Chinese people in their daily lives.
Of course, from the perspective of economic life, what Mr. Sun is asking for is not the "poor equality" of Confucian "not worrying about the few", or the "anti-feudal capitalism" of the Red Guards.He has always emphasized that the economic situation of the Chinese people is only "big poverty, small poverty".It doesn't make much sense to seek equality between the big and the poor.What Sun asked for was "wealth and equality"—to use the current vocabulary to interpret it, it would be called "equal wealth"!If we want to get rich and then share it, our country's traditional agricultural economy (including the handicraft industry and small towns attached to the agricultural economic system) will not be able to do it.In short, industrialized economic development is a necessary condition for the establishment of a veritable "Republic of China".
Furthermore, the economic take-off of industrialization requires all the people of the whole country to use their brains and hands. If a few people abuse their power and engage in arranging, the economy will never "take off".This involves the democratic opening of the political system.Putting aside the "human rights" that should be enjoyed in "modern" human social behavior, even if we only observe from the more urgent practical topic of economic construction, political freedom, equality, democracy and openness are also prerequisites for economic development .Looking at the evolutionary history of today's "developed countries": there is no politically closed economy that can "take off"; nor is there an economy that has taken off while politics continues to be closed.This pair of suffering brothers and sisters complement each other and are indispensable.Therefore, the second necessary condition for a real "Republic of China" is the politics of the whole people represented by a real "representative government": Lincoln's so-called "of the people, by the people, and for the people" is also true. .If there is any confusion in the operation of the government, it is not the real "Republic of China".
With a real Republic of China that is "owned by the people and governed by the people," the economic wealth, educational level, basic human rights, and four freedoms "enjoyed" by the people will all come with it.Mr. Sun Yat-sen has been a revolutionist all his life, and his "not yet successful" final goal is to establish a real Republic of China as mentioned above.
However, even if a country can fulfill the above two conditions, such as Japan and Germany before the war, how to maintain it without going crazy is still a huge problem.The ancients said, "It is not easy to start a business, but it is even more difficult to maintain success!" This is exactly what it means.Just look at the representative virtual monarchy established by the sages of the "Meiji Restoration" in Japan, how fascinating it is.Little do they know that the predecessors can "create" it, but the younger generation cannot "keep" it.Wait until a few violent and ignorant "young soldiers" use violence to interfere in politics in the name of patriotism;If you are brave, you will be brave, and the consequences will be atomic bombs.Look at Germany again: after World War I, it endured humiliation and rebuilt the republic, how epic!Unfortunately, a small number of leaders, for their own selfishness, took advantage of the masses' revenge psychology and turned hatred into political power, and the German nation suffered a serious catastrophe.
The two nations, Japan and Germany, are the most efficient and outstanding nations in the modern world.But why such a foolish mistake?After we readers of history sighed and pondered deeply, we realized that the source of their crimes came from within their political parties. Narrow organizers suppressed far-sighted politicians; in their modern civilization, extreme theorists also Crowded out the grandiose thinkers.Stones from other mountains can be attacked by mistake, which reminds us of Mr. Hu Shizhi after Zhongshan—the thinking of Sun and Hu was followed by Xiao Gui and Cao Cao.
Mr. Shizhi opposed totalitarianism in his early years.I believe that democratic politics cannot take shortcuts.If you want to use "quick effects" like fascism and brown shirts to build a country and save the people, it is impossible to find fish.Hu Shi advocated "tolerance is more important than freedom" in his later years.Advocating that you have to think about everything, is it because people don't allow me?Or am I intolerable?It's just one-sided "I would rather blame others than others", that is Cao Cao. What kind of democracy is there?Therefore, the essence of Mr. Hu's advocacy of democracy in his life lies in one sentence: "Democracy is a way of life." Before the Second World War, the three countries of Germany, Justice, and Japan already had industrial economy and representative government. Necessary conditions for the implementation of democratic politics.Unfortunately, they have everything they need except a "democratic way of life".If the east wind does not come, they will play with fire and set themselves on fire.Knowing that others are undemocratic, but ignorant of the fact that your own way of life is not democratic at all, and thus abusing freedom and the "majorty rule" (majorty rule), it would be wrong for the common people.
Having said that, the essence of our "Republic of China" has also been revealed.What is the essence?Said: "industrial economy" also.You can't get rich without revitalizing industries.Said: "representative government" also.Politics for the whole people is not enough without a truly elected representative government.Said: "Democratic way of life" also.If the way of life is undemocratic but has more "money" (money) and "might" (might), it is at best a small copy of the "Axis Powers". What is democracy?
In fact, since the beginning of the "Opium War" (1839-1842), my compatriots and people with lofty ideals all over the country have devoted themselves to pursuing these three goals.But one and a half centuries have passed, and we can say that we have not pursued a single goal on the mainland, and even pursued it further and further.What about Taiwan?For the sake of the mountain, all achievements fall short.Can this short-cut soil be added safely without crushing a camel because of a piece of thatch.Those of us who write history, with a brief in hand, turn on the TV every night, just wait and see patiently!
Friends may want to ask: If the prospect of the Republic of China is so simple, why is the future of our nation still uncertain after studying hard for more than a hundred years and killing hundreds of millions of people?The answer to this question is of course multifaceted.At the same time, this problem is not unique to China.Big countries like India, small countries like the Philippines and Indonesia—even the entire "third world country" today, don't they all have similar problems?Don't they all have different reasons?But the biggest cause of troubles in China is obviously the issue of "cultural conflict" between China and the West.
It should be noted that our "Empire" of the Qing Dynasty is a product of pure Chinese culture that has been inherited in one continuous line for more than two thousand years; while the "Republic of China" is a continuation of Western European civilization through and through.In the tradition of ancient China, it is necessary to adopt the modern Western system at once. If we only say that it is "not to vote", we still underestimate this problem.The fact is that the two are "polarized", "running in opposite directions", or even "incompatible"!Therefore, it is extremely painful to transform the chrysalis of a Chinese-style "empire" into a moth of a Western-style "Republic of China".But in this "post-feudal period", under the influence of the rapid development of the West, we must change our minds and change. This is the knot in our modern history.
But where is the difference between China and the West?This question has a long answer.Let's talk about simplification here.
From the perspective of comparative history, it can be said that the development of world civilization in the past two thousand years can roughly be summed up by the evolution of the two main streams of East Asia and Western Europe.These two mainstreams originally developed independently and rarely interfered with each other.Comparing the two, its achievements are also in the middle.However, after the seventeenth and eighth centuries, Western European civilization gradually took the lead.When East Asian civilization was still stagnant in the era of imperial autocracy and agricultural economy, Western European countries had abandoned autocracy politically; economically, they also got rid of agriculture-oriented and gradually developed "mercantilism" and "industrial revolution".
Why did Western European civilization suddenly run away in modern times?The key is the result of the collapse of "feudal society".In many of my essays, the author has repeatedly stated that the process of Chinese and Western social development has its "commonness", such as the occurrence and growth of feudal societies on both sides, which is an example of the commonality.However, the development process of Chinese and Western societies also has its "characteristics". For example, the formation of Western feudal society actually occurred after the collapse of the Roman Empire; while the growth of Chinese feudal society occurred before the establishment of the Qin and Han empires.Due to the difference between the subjective and objective conditions of Chinese and Western history, there is a sequence of social development procedures; the difference in procedures leads to the essential differences between the two societies in modern times and ancient times.
Why do you care about the difference between the two?Said: The foundation of the social development of modern Western Europe and North America lies in "society is more important than the country". The "state" is also the "superstructure" of society.The structure of the state changes with the change of society.
In my country, on the contrary, the foundation of our social development is "the state is stronger than the society".Society is the "superstructure" of the state, and its structure, its dynamics of growth and decline, are all subject to the state's orders.
The two societies in China and the West run counter to each other, so why is it so natural?Said: The subjective and objective conditions in the development of both sides are caused by them.
After the collapse of the feudal society in the 15th and 6th centuries, due to various constraints (including the never-unified phonetic script), they could not produce a Qin Shihuang.As a result, a situation of small kingdoms and small city-states was formed.The smaller ones are roughly as small as today's Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore, or even smaller.The largest one is no more than South Korea, Taiwan or slightly larger, and the largest one is no more than one Sichuan ear.If we close our eyes and try to imagine: in a corner of Western Europe, there were dozens (or even dozens) of Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Korea, competing fiercely in business.Their independent or semi-independent governments have also been dragged along to follow up (such as Taiwan and South Korea in the past two decades); everyone is unanimous in looking at money, and a "mercantilism" of course comes out of nowhere.
Social prosperity drives the development of education and technology, and strengthens the "Renaissance" and "Religious Reformation".Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" has become the first book of modern social science, and its sentiment is similar to the "Stock Guide" in Taiwan today.A "middle class" that gains political power based on movable and immovable property has emerged (see Taiwan and South Korea today).In the "unicamera" parliament, everyone fought with fists, suppressed the old aristocrats, raised the additional commoners; established and strengthened the lower house, and controlled the government.The "representative government" mentioned in the previous section has become a more appropriate model for safeguarding the collective interests of this emerging class through continuous improvement.
Therefore, the so-called "representative government" of the whole people is actually a natural product of the free economic development of the West, which has no deep meaning.
But such a superficial and vulgar foreign system, if we want to transplant it to the East Asian continent, why is it so unattainable and difficult to produce?This is because it is incompatible with our cultural traditions.
Our tradition of "state is stronger than society" gradually evolved from our oldest "patriarchal society".The patriarchal system is a purely domestic product.It has no similar system in the history of other nations.
But what exactly is a "patriarchal society"?In short, it is the paternity-centered clan system (clan) developed from the unique ancestor worship tradition of our ancestors.
As mentioned in the previous section: the collapse of our "feudal society" was more than 1,700 years earlier than that of the West.However, after the collapse of the feudal society, we did not get to the point where there were many small states and everyone wanted money unanimously.On the contrary, driven by unique subjective and objective conditions, we have created a highly centralized super empire.
For this "centralized" operation, we have developed a "civil service system" unparalleled in world history.This complete system went through further improvements, and by the early years of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it could be said that it had reached its peak.The dexterity and scientificity of its operation are beyond the reach of the later party official systems of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.Such a complete and reasonable ruling system, and then some thinkers and politicians melted the essence of our oriental philosophy—Confucianism, Law, and Taoism into it, and turned the people into customs over time, forming a so-called "hegemony". The "cultural entity" of miscellaneous metallurgy.Shi Xian and the author have already discussed the characteristics and universality of this cultural whole in various works, and we should not overlap each other.Now let’s list a few of them in order to show their role in the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures.
The first thing we should raise is the "patriarchal system" left over from our traditional "patriarchal society".In traditional Chinese families, there is a clear distinction between seniority and inferiority, orderly seniority, and distinction between men and women.Family members are all under the command of an elder and respected head.This kind of parent has great power and prestige in the management of family business; at the same time, he also has great responsibility and love in morality.He is fully responsible for the prosperity and decline of a family, as well as the discipline and care of his children and grandchildren.But he is not an unfettered dictator.Let's take the family property as an example!The whole family (except for the married daughter) is to give what they can and what they need.If the agreement "separates the family", the "parents" can only take part of what they deserve.But in general discipline, there is no such thing as "freedom and equality" between seniors and juniors.Children who are under the supervision of their parents cannot even enjoy the most basic "freedom to choose a spouse", which is the so-called "basic human right" nowadays.
In my country's traditional Confucianism, most of the discussions on politics are "country and family" together. You must first be able to "regulate the family" before you can talk about "governing the country."A family is a small country; a country is a big family.Therefore, the king and the emperor are the patriarchs of a very large family; the common people are all "citizens".Not to mention that, the officials at all levels under the emperor are also parents, big and small.The magistrate and magistrate are called "parent officials", and the governors of the county are called "officials of the herdsmen".By analogy, the emperor is the greatest living ancestor.Therefore, the modern term "motherland" was called "the state of the king and father" in ancient times.The unity of the king and the father is the most respected and obeyed by the people.That's why Old Master Meng also said when cursing people: "Without a father and a king, you are a beast." Therefore, the structure of traditional Chinese political society starts from the small authority of "father", forming a small "power pyramid".Then the Yaotai is stacked on top of each other, and the pyramids are matched layer by layer until the emperor.The "state machine" manipulated by the emperor is the largest pyramid of power.Lord Long Live combines the powers and responsibilities of "discipline, education and health" across the country. "Teaching" was shared by churches in medieval Western society.To be the emperor of China is to be "the ruler of the ruler and the teacher of the ruler", and he must be grasped by discipline.Both political powers are top-down.The central government assumes all responsibilities; it also exercises all powers.Sri Lanka's so-called "state is stronger than society" is exactly the opposite of "society is stronger than state" in Western democracies.Now try to illustrate the relationship between the "state" and the individual "citizen" in these two different models as follows:
However, in traditional China, although the political structure was highly centralized (see Figure 1)—to use current terminology, it is called "lower levels obey their superiors, and the whole country obeys the central government."But "centralization" is not "total power" (total power or totalitarianism).In this "level-by-level moderation" ruling system, if governments at all levels can play their cards in a reasonable manner, they can also achieve the effect of "government by hanging".Even if there is a licentious and immoral "tyrant" (despot) at the top, it is not easy for him to go through the pyramids to the end and enslave the people of the whole country.Because the tyrant appears, he must first destroy his own legal system.If the rule of law is lost, the governing machine will fail, and it is impossible to engage in "oriental despotism" in the huge empire with primitive transportation and information.
In fact, in the more than two thousand years of Chinese political history, apart from Qin Shihuang and Mao Zedong, there is no third "Oriental tyrant" who was killed by the second generation.Therefore, the common people of Limin who were born at the bottom of this power pyramid work at sunrise and rest at sunset, and the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and they can quite enjoy the joy of "beggar democracy" (beggar democracy).But where can the "basic human rights" and "freedom and equality" of the "beggars" be found?These modern concepts, friends!It was originally a game of modern Western "bourgeois liberalization"!In imperial China, where no "bourgeoisie" existed, those systems and customs that ignored human rights and deprived freedom, such as monarchy, patriarchy, husband power, blind marriage, polygamy, etc., were originally created by our "inherent morality". Approved!As a Chinese born in that era, who would think that "there are parents who are not right"?The poet Hu Shi said it well: "If you don't feel that you are not free, you will be free." This is the same as today's old American citizens who "do not feel too free, but only want to be free." They are two sides of the same coin!In fact, the harm of "unrestrained freedom" is far more harmful than "healthy unfreedom" (emphasis on health Eryu)!How can tourists in Lushan know its whole picture!
Therefore, from the perspective of comparative history, our "patriarchal system" of patriarchal law was not only a "feasible system" in the medieval world, but even a "better system"!
The Master said: "The people can let them know what they want, but they can't make them know." Isn't the "paternalism" practiced in Germany in Bismarck's time the same?Frederick the Great said: "I work for the benefit of the people, but I don't necessarily want the people to know about it!" Doesn't this coincide with our Confucian political philosophy?Our patriarchal system has survived to this day and has not been changed by successive revolutions.In fact, the problems in Taiwan today may be due to the lack of a big patriarch!However, President Lee Teng-hui's behavior today seems to intend to rebuild this system.
Because of our political model of Confucianism and Mencius, it is more reasonable to live a long and healthy life.Our nation has lived in this way of life for more than 2,000 years. Once the barbarian is turned into summer, the cart before the horse, it will be extremely difficult and painful, which is naturally expected.But why do we have to become Xia Congyi?That is, the Middle Ages was the Middle Ages after all; the "better institutions" of that era are mostly inapplicable today, and if we want to find a new way now, we have to change from westernization to new ones.
In modern democracies, society is based on a citizen's "healthy individualism" (the word "healthy" was added by Mr. Hu Shizhi for Chinese readers to avoid misunderstanding).The relationship between individual citizens and governments at all levels, and between governments at all levels is a bilateral contract relationship (see Figure B), and the government is no longer the parent.It is a "service agency" that obeys the orders of the people, and officials are "public servants".In this way, it completely runs counter to our traditional patriarchal system.
But this foreign system is not necessarily better than our indigenous patriarchal system.If it works properly like today's English-speaking countries, the government will be an institution that serves the people; if power is abused, the citizens of the whole country will become individual objects of dictatorship.Rousseau said: "Before a despot everyone is equal." (Before a despot everyone is equal.) refers to this situation.At that time, the sky will not be high, and the emperor will not be far away, so the people will have no kind.The pre-war Germany, Italy and Japan plus Stalin’s Russia, and the post-war Mao Zedong and his Red Guards as mentioned in the previous section are the result of the obsession of this foreign system that can’t make a tiger out of a tiger.In the 1990s, Taiwan transformed from a patriarchal system to a foreign system in which "society is more important than the country". I hope that its young political leaders will be patient and serve the country.Don't also fail to draw a tiger, just lose your way.
The above-mentioned "patriarchal system" under the tradition of patriarchal society is just one of the characteristics of our imperial era, which has not yet been completely "transformed".But this feature does not exist in isolation.It cooperates with our country's unique agricultural economic system.The two of them were originally a pair of "Siamese twins".They live and die with each other and are inseparable.In fact, the political and economic imbalance of the CCP on the mainland today is due to the fact that these two brothers want to abandon the older brother and keep the younger brother, so there are a lot of contradictions.
But having said that, our original economic system based on agriculture is not a bad system.On the contrary, it was originally a "better system" that has been carefully designed in human history and has been effective for two thousand years!It should be noted that in China's feudal era, land was originally owned by the state, just like in Europe.However, after the collapse of the feudal system, the European economy quickly embarked on "mercantilism".But we have slowly embarked on "physiocratism".
"Mercantilist" originally grew up naturally under the objective conditions that the society is stronger than the country and is not controlled by human will.It is indeed a product of "objective reality" (as Marx imagined it).
But our "physiocratism" is a system of "subjective planning" from beginning to end.More specifically, it is the result of the government's initiative to engage in "land reform" when the state is stronger than society, and it is created by subjective will.After Qin Shihuang unified China, "abolishing well fields and opening fields" was the first major "land reform" in Chinese history.In order to liberate the productivity of self-employed farmers in rural areas, the government abolished the public field (well field) system.Transforming agriculture into private ownership - this is the main content of Deng Xiaoping's land reform in recent years to destroy the Maoist system.
After the Qin Dynasty, land became a commodity that could be bought and sold freely by the people.This rural free economic system has been in China for two thousand years without much qualitative change.It was not until 1949 AD, after the establishment of the CCP regime, that it was reversed by Mao Zedong.
[Note] Mao Zedong's land reform, changing private land into public land, is also a product of subjective will.In terms of the system, it is really a restoration of the pre-Qin feudal production system, so it will not work in the end.Wang Mang also engaged in the feudal production system, the so-called "recovering well fields", and got his head off.
To establish the land system with subjective will, the ancient Confucianism and Legalism were originally consistent.After the Han inherited the Qin system, the Confucian regime continued to push the original Legalist policy of "emphasizing agriculture over business" to its peak.The merchant class was severely discriminated against by the government.Our country's "light mercantileism" that is contrary to the West has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it has not changed slightly for two thousand years.Since merchants were suppressed by a powerful government, the "urban middle class" (urban middle class), which is the main force of modern economic development, could not appear in Chinese history.Without an urban middle class, China will not have "mercantilism" and "Industrial Revolution".Without the Industrial Revolution and the "mass production" that came with it, we would have no choice but to live in poverty, maintain a half-starved agricultural empire, and never want to get rich.The people of the whole country are living on the edge of great poverty and small poverty. If the population is out of control like in the late Qing Dynasty, then they will be really poor and white. Fortunately, the phenomenon of overpopulation in our country only occurred after Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty.
The above is the political and economic reality inherited from ancient traditions in the late Qing Dynasty in my country.This actual situation is also created by the seamless cooperation of traditional political and economic systems.But judging from the accumulated achievements of human civilization, this system is not too bad.On the contrary, our medieval civilization, which is unique in the world, was born out of this political and economic system.
Just look at the Jesuits who came to China to preach in the seventeenth and eighth centuries and witnessed the prosperous times of Kangxi, Yongqian and Qianlong in our country; look at the famous democratic saint Jefferson between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; In the middle period, Wallace, who was the think tank of Roosevelt's "New Deal" in agriculture, etc., compared my country and the West, and they all admired the social life of our country's traditional small-scale farming system.Needham, the recent authority on the history of science, also praised the achievements of our medieval science and technology and society... let alone our own sages, sages and asses, and self-proclaimed remarks.As late as today, isn't President Lee Teng-hui still calling for "return to the original civilization"?Not to mention back then.
But since there is such an excellent tradition, why didn’t there be more “inherent civilizations” in the late Qing Dynasty than now? —Why are we acting so useless?As a result, the "new youth" shouted and beat them unanimously, and almost completely negated the "inherent civilization".And in the last forty years, why have we behaved so violently and ignorantly, and troubled the old "Goddess of Democracy" to come across the sea and save all sentient beings?
In this regard, our comprehensive answer covers several points.One is the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures mentioned in the previous section. "Middle Age" may be ours; "modern" is definitely someone else's.Please look through our primary and secondary school textbooks today; think about our daily necessities of life, what percentage of our daily necessities belong to our "inherent civilization"? — Dude, they are all foreign goods!
In a word, our traditional political and economic system (whether good or bad) cannot meet the needs of modern Westernization.If we can't adapt, it will become a burden for us to seek innovation and a stumbling block to modernization.A hero who only said that he was brave back then would be very useless.Let’s look at our Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. His Majesty wants to preserve the polygamy system in the inherent civilization, and at the same time, he wants to practice Christianity that only allows one wife.
Furthermore, even if an ancient nation has the courage to shed the burden of tradition and seek innovation and change, it still needs an efficient administrative mechanism to promote this matter.Unfortunately, our big state machine in the late Qing Dynasty has reached the point where it should be scrapped because it is rusty and rotten—it cannot bear this great responsibility.
Scientists tell us that any group combination of social animals has its own periodicity between birth and death.This is reflected in traditional history. Historians call it "governing chaos and separation and reunification"; Yin and Yang scholars call it "Qi Shu"; Western Sinologists call it "dynastic cycles".But no matter what the name is, our "centralized civil service system" plus "agricultural economy" national machine also has its operational periodicity that does not shift with human will.The political historical facts of successive dynasties after the Western Han Dynasty warn us that the effective operation period of this big machine cannot exceed two hundred years. (Judging by world standards, a cycle of two hundred years is not the longest, but it is also considered long enough.) After this time limit, it is time to scrap it and replace it with a new one.
The rulers of the Manchus entered China in 1842, and by the time the "Nanjing Treaty" was signed in 1842, a full cycle had passed.By this time, its big governing machine, which was improved and rebuilt in imitation of the Han Dynasty, has reached the point of rusting and scrapping, and it can't bear the burden and has a long way to go.
Let us try to close our eyes and meditate. For example, the "Opium War" and other national disasters occurred during the heyday of the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties. What will be the result?This is also the destiny of our country!These national disasters and national humiliations happened during the peak period of "European expansionism" (according to their cycle), and it also coincided with the beginning of the decline of the cycle of the Qing Empire's national destiny.In this confrontation between ups and downs, no matter how good the Qing court was, it would not wait for it.
Therefore, modern historians of our country always like to criticize the foreign officials in the Qing Dynasty for being so sloppy and stupid, but they don't take it seriously after studying history for decades.
Set Lin (Zexu), Zeng (Guofan), Zuo (Zongtang), Li (Hongzhang), Zhang (Zhidong), Liu (Kunyi), Shen (Baozhen) who were "born in Kejia" in the Qing Dynasty. ) and even Prince Gong Yixin, etc., compared with the high-ranking cadres of the later Guomin, the Communist Party, the People's Republic of China, the Youth League, the Democratic League, and the Democratic Progressive Party, how can they be treated as mere executives?It’s just that the fate of the Qing Empire is coming to an end, and the period for the ruling machine to be scrapped has come to an end. It’s hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. How can the locomotive drivers and maintenance technicians be held responsible for the country’s ruin?
Combining the elaborations of the above sections of this article, in a nutshell, we can roughly say that a modern history of China is a "history of transformation" of the transition from "traditional China" to "modern West".This process of transformation was called "Westernization" by early historians.Current scholars have changed the name to "modernization".In fact, the boundary between these two concepts is not easy to distinguish, but human beings are animals with a "sense of history" after all.History is also often the best tool for explaining conceptual disputes.
Take brushing teeth in our modern life as an example! The hygienic habit of "brushing teeth" came from the West.In China in the nineteenth century, it could probably be called "Westernization" or "Westernization".But brushing teeth has become an indispensable part of urban life in China today, so we can only include it in the category of "modernization".It is said that Mao Zedong did not have the habit of brushing his teeth.This is probably due to his rural background and rebellious personality when he was young.The young Mao Zedong opposed "worshiping foreigners and fawning on foreigners", so he rejected this habit of "Westernization" (Mao also never wore "western clothes" in his life).So when he lived in the city in his old age, his life was not "modern" enough and he was scolded by his wife as "too rustic".
Mao Zedong's private life is a trivial matter.But, my friend, see the small things!This sociological "microcosmic law" can solve countless big problems for us!
However, no matter whether it is "Westernization" or "modernization", this change in our modern history has changed almost every ten years, with distinct levels.It has a strong "stage nature".If we try to look back at the history of traditional China before the Opium War from the perspective of social and economic history, it will be almost unchanged for a thousand years.
From a "quiet history" that has not changed for a thousand years, to a "moving history" that changes every ten years, one can imagine the turmoil in modern China.But our upheaval is not haphazard.It is from "Westernization" to "modernization", step by step, with clear layers.
As mentioned earlier, our inherent civilization was originally a "Three-Self" civilization of self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency, and complacency.In the "modern" stage, it suddenly became active, and it was really the beginning of the "Opium War".We suffered from the foreigners in this war, so we started "Westernization" (then it was called "barbarian affairs").Our old way of dealing with foreigners has always been to "control barbarians with barbarians".During the Opium War, we were defeated by the strong ships and guns of the barbarians.战后痛定思痛，我们第一个“夷务专家”的魏源（林则徐的幕僚）乃想到要“师夷之长技以制夷”了（见魏著《海国图志》序）。这就就开始了我们“科技现代化”的第一步——也就是今日邓小平所要搞的“四化”之一。
老实说，我们在前一个世纪的新派人物把“四化”搞得确是有声有色。九〇年代中期，李鸿章的“北洋海军”竟是世界七大海军之一，远驾于新起的日本海军之上。不幸甲午一战，马脚全露。有识之士自此再也不搞“四化”了，因为他们知道，大清帝国的根本问题不在四化而在第五化——“政治现代化”。康有为、梁启超因而搞起了“君主立宪”。他师徒二人认为连皇帝也要“西化”一下。他们的广东同乡孙中山则认为要搞政治现代化就得彻底的搞。他主张“建立民国”，干脆把皇帝搞掉，来选个“伯理玺天德”。
康梁失败了。孙先生成功了，并且当选了中华五千年史上第一个“伯理玺天德”。但是孙伯理玺天德并没有解决问题，随他而来的则是军阀混战、夷狄交侵。国政民生反远不如大清帝国之晚年也。这样乃又惹出另一批“有识之士”胡适之等来重行考虑了。
胡适之他们认为科技（坚船利炮）余事也，政治经济亦余事也。重要是我们整个文化体系害了绝症，非彻底脱胎换骨不为功。这就是他们“全盘西化论”的理论基础了。要丢掉全部“固有文化”而推动“全盘西化”，这样他们也就把“西化”运动推展到最高峰了。可是从魏源到胡适这一“转变”过程是节节升高、层次分明，“阶段性”是十分浓厚的。
“五四运动”以后的中国，虽然是属于另一大时代了，其变化之轨迹，阶段分明，基本上是与前期无异的。
总之，我们这部苦难而光辉的中国近代史，在全民族合力推动之下，时时在变、处处在变。其进度虽然难免迂回曲折、颠颠倒倒，但是其摸摸索索，终于要找到一个安全而满意的出口则一。出口云何，一个长治久安、名实相符，如篇前所言之民国也。语云：“穷则变、变则通。”所以只要我们不停地摸索，最后必有大道可“通”。照近年来海峡两岸的局势来看，这个“通”的日子，似乎并不太远了，我们等著瞧吧！