Hunan Reform Period Of The Southern Society

After the Sino-japan War, Japan and Western powers invaded China, China’s state and national crisis was increasing. In the process of interaction with the west, some committed people with lofty ideals contrasted the East-West political and economic systems, clearly understood:only through political reform and learning from the West could save China. At the same time as the unique geographical environment and human environment of Hunan, a large number of patriots gathered together, setted off a reform movement to save the nation and national peril.In the Reform Movement of Hunan, Southern Society played an important role. On the one hand the members of Southern Society took their economic strength participation in the modern industrial, mining enterprises, political affairs, educational reform; on the other hand they contacted the gentry and governors through presentations, questions and answers, setting up the branches, at the same time they publicitied by Xiang Bao and Xiang Xuebao, which had a extensive introduction to Western and Institutional Reform and a sharp criticism of the traditional feudal culture. Under its influence, a series of people’s idea was approved, and had greatly promoted the development of the Reform Movement in Hunan.With the deepening of the Southern Society’s publicity and the promotion of the Reform Movement, the Southern Society was obstructed and attacked by the diehards, the reformers rised up against the diehards and setted off a remarkable old dispute, but at last the reformers failed because of their own reasons, and some other objective reasons, the Southern Society stopped, All the Hunan reforms were banned except the New Deal Protection Agency, Bureau of Mines, Hunan reform movement was at a low ebb. Restoration intellectuals practice in Hunan provided the necessary reference for the Hundred Days Reform movement.Finally, the Reform Movement in Hunan failed, but it brought to Hunan the profound changes and ideological impact, which made Hunan a rapid development in the Late Qing; as well, the failure of the reform movement also made a large number of gentry and intellectuals recognized that the rule of the Qing government’s corruption and the powerful of stubborn, which directly inpacted Self-military uprising in Hunan.