Qing Dynasty Xiangxiang Zeng Family, Economy And Society,

At all times and in all countries, family is always one of the main elements that maintain the stability of a society. Whether in traditional or modern society of China, or even from history to folklores, a nation is composed of family, which is often the most popular research topic that the scholars are interested in. Besides, the Tseng Family of Hsiang-hsiang in the late Ch'ing Dynasty is closely related to the last reign of .an empire. Therefore, during the past one and half centuries, many experts endeavor to realize the background transition at that time by probing into the Tseng Family of Ch'ing Dynasty.This dissertation is to study the Tseng family of Hsiang-hsiang in the Ch'ing Dynasty mainly from the perspectives of economics and society. Furthermore, it also involves the political and military influences of the Tseng Family. Different from other researches, which mostly focus on the study of politics and military, my concern puts more emphasis on the viewpoints from economics and society. I have been to Tseng Kuo Fan's graveyard in Hunan and the provincial Hunan library to do some researches and interviews for several times. During this process, I collect numerous unpublished or not well-organized first-hand data. After I put them in order, I think my dissertation is highly worth reading and is a good reference for other research fellows.From those reasons above, my study attempts to probe into the relationship between the economics, society, and the Tseng Family of Hsiang-hsiang in the Ch'ing Dynasty. Therefore, we know how they played an important role in the history, and how they transmitted from generation to generation in order to become an epitome of the epochal transition in China at that time. In particular, although the Tseng family confronted the dilemma between the traditional China society and the shock from western culture, they made a lot of contribution to the society and had an excellent reputation for their family because they emphasized on their descendants' education and take a positive attitude toward western culture.