On Ding Richang Awareness Of Western Culture And Choice

In modern China, saving the nation from subjugation and ensuring its survival became the subject of the times. Men of insight turned their visual angles to the Western culture one after another. How to recognize and deal with the Western culture? This paper tries to inquire into it from an exam- ple of Ting Jih-ch'ang in violent variations of modern society. The article includes four parts. First part mainly analyses the sur- roundings and factors that Ting Jih-ch'ang recognizes the Western culture. It thinks his recognization the common consequence of stipulations of the times, encouragement of the teathers and friends, peculiar character, and so on. The second part expounds the rich connotations that Ting Jih-ch'ang recognizes and selects the Western culture, involving science and technolo- gy, person of ability, foreign affairs and skills to prosperity and strength. The third part makes a detailed analysis on the main characteristics of Ting Jih-ch'ang recognizing and selecting the Western culture. It thinks the advancement of comforming to the historical trend of the times, the creativity of the unity of theory and practice, and the precedence of practice over theory, have granted Ting Jih-ch'ang the peculiarity of his cultural se- lection. The fourth part not only appraises the historical status that Ting Jih-ch'ang recognizes and selects the Western culture in the course of Late Qing's evolution on thought and culture and the influence his foreign theo- ry and action on the contemporaries and the later corners, but also analyses the historical limitations and its causes of formation of Ting Jih-ch'ang's culture selection, trying to give Ting Jih-ch'ang an objective and compre- hensive appraisal.