The Study On The Guo Songtao Of Later Years

Guo Songtao,being as one thinker of Westernization group and the first minister in the modern China, had unique status and effect..He came into prominence from the Xiang military group,this help him lay the foundation for his life. The three years’ experience of serving as envoy abroad provided him opportunity to go abroad, the observation on the western society strengthened his faith of learning western countries,his thoughts became more and more advanced,this made him examine closely the Chinese society. Being as the minister was his the most brilliant period in his life,it could be regarded as the attempt that the Chinese began to head for the world,abandon the traditional conception and make communication equally with the western society. But the three years’ as minister gave him numerous frustrations, external stress and internal agony made him resign inevitably.The thesis regards his later years as the period from the year1879that he returned to Hu Nan hometown to the year1891that he died of illness. After leaving from the political field,Guo didn’t live leisurely like seven virtuous persons, he cared for the current situation and adhered to his qwn opinion,put forward excellent suggestions,showing tremendous courage and enormous political aspiration. The undertaking and worried awareness of Confucian scholar made conducting education and expressing his views on the foreign affairs become his focus in his later years. Guo,being as one gentleman, gave lecture in the Cheng Nan academy and Si Xian academy of Chang Sha, he restored the Xiang Shui academy and compiled the local reords of Xiang Yin county. In this period, he went through the war between China and France, the abolishment of Liu Qiu and the debation on the railway, these activities and affairs produced great influence on his thinking improvement, all of this become the key points of the thesis.Through the study on his later years,we can have deep understanding on his thought and condition,grasp his life course and the train of thought, thus gaving him proper position. This particular case can peep into the mental course of scholar of westernization group, in order to reflect the hardship of Chinese modernization. The key thesis falls into three parts. The first part is the first and the second chapter, the frist chapter firstly introduce his crucial points of his life in order to explain his early experience produce great influence for his thought and beheviour of his later years. Secondly,it expound that the connotation of westernization thought is internal reform and external opening-up,analysing the source of formation of thought is the assimilation of Hu Xiang philosophy and the promotion of academic spirit,the inhertance of historical conception of Wang Fuzhi. The second chapter introduces the whole situation of Hu Nan society in the later-half period of19century, showing the mentality of Hu Nan gentlemen before the war beween Chian and Japan,the conflict between officials and gentlemen, especially the propagation of thoughts in Chang Sha and the assciation with all levels, in order to demonstrate Guo’s long activities produced advancement effect for the preparation of Hu Nan reformation.The second part is the third and fourth chapter. Education and Westernization affairs were two great problems. In the education, he pointed out that the academy of Hu Nan became more and more government-run, his suggestion was to advocate real learning. Under this spirit,he conducted a series of educational practice.Guo’s practice speed up the change from the traditonal education pattern to the modern one,contributed to the educational system of Hu Nan. In the westernization affairs,Guo’s diplomatic thought, railway thought, and political thought of virtuous men,and harnessing the river thought enrich his westernization thought. These thoughts became its important parts,making him become the advocator and critic. But on the whole, his thought can be limited in the range of" the Chinese system being as the essence, the western technology being as the utilization.’The thired part is the fifth chapter. The conclusion bears Guo proper position in history based on the plentiful materials and basic theoretical analysis. It points out that Guo was one thinker of Westernization group, the adherent for the Qing dynasty, the forerunner of Chinese modernization, the particular deputy of Confucian elite and the special and unique man. Guo’s thought was a harmonious system, bearing a evolving course from the simplicity to the profundity. His thought was between returning to the traditional essence and heading for the new field, showing the basic feature of cultural integration between Chinese and Western society. Guo Songtao tried to explore one reform road among China and western countries, the tradition and modern society that suitable for the Chinese condition, so as to realize Chinese prosperity and rejuvenation. Being as a particular deputy Confucian scholar, under the background of transitional period of the war between China and Japan, he bore the deep worried awareness, the aspiration of shouldering the whole country, and the real route of carrying out the integration between China and western countries, striving for the dream of strengthening our country. The mission of realizing cultural modernization in the competition between Chinese and western culture wasn’t the task that Guo could be accomplish,but the road that he guide the cultural integration could be inherited and promoted by our later generations.