Liu Changyou And His Ideological Character Traits

Liu Changyou is a distinguished high-ranking military officer in Qing Dynasty. Liu was put into important positions by the Qing government because of his battle achievement in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Liu was appointed Zhili Governor, Guangdong—Guangxi Governor and Yunnan---Guizhou Governor successively for many years. The ideological characters of Liu represents the typical government officials of late Qing Dynasty; therefore, the present paper will take ideological character as the starting point, hoping this research perspective will lead us into a comprehensive understanding towards Liu Changyou and trying to change the way of discussing historical figures'facts monotonously.This paper is divided into five parts. The first part will elaborate the effect of Liu's growing environment on the formation of his ideological characters, which will be investigated in terms of his family background, schooling experiences and etc. Liu's ideological characters were reflected in his conducts, which is analyzed in detail in the second, the third and the fourth part. In using military forces, Liu combined suppression and conciliation in the battles against Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by prudent and thorough planning. Liu was extremely strict in his military training and stick together through thick and thin with his officers and soldiers. By the time the system of the Green camp declined, Liu originated LianJun , which has promoted the modern military innovation. While being the Governor of the southwest area, he actively resisted the French invasion to maintain national security in border areas.Besides, being modest, low-profiled, and loyal to the Qing Dynasty, Liu was put into many important positions by the Qing government, and yet dismissed from office due to his bad manipulation of officialdom. In regional governing policies, Liu reduced exorbitant taxes and levies, took measures to fight against natural disasters and feminine and relieved the burden of the people. In the course of rectifying the local administration, he set an example by his own action and stressed the selection of talented people. However, Liu was ideologically conservative; he stressed the feudal morality, and energetically developed feudal education to restore feudal order in the region. Thus his regional governing policies were focus on maintaining the present situation rather than launching the Westernization. In short, Liu Changyou's ideological character has its own virtues and defects. He was brave in shouldering responsibilities, but lack of flexibility on handling affairs; he was sincere and kind, yet not well-versed on the philosophy of the official circle. Liu's ideological characters are quite representative in Hunan Army and government officials of the late Qing Dynasty and they reflect the time features of Qing Dynasty to certain extent .