Research On Tangshan-xugezhuang Railway Construction And Development

Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway,as China’s first government-ratified railway,was constructed during the late Qing Dynasty’s Self-Strengthening Movement.Its construction created several breakthrough technologies in Chinese railway history,thus containing a significant position in China’s scientific and technological history.Meanwhile,the attitude of the Qing government towards Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway during its planning,construction,and the extension process also reflects the complexity of the relationship between railway construction and politics.Therefore,studying the background,planning,construction,and extension optimization of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway can help us appreciate the origins of Chinese railway technology,interpret the two-way relationship between railways and the government in the late Qing period,and highlight the contemporary value of China’s railway technology history.Examining the internal basis for the birth of Chinese railway technology from a social context and studying the many pioneering technological achievements in the planning,construction,and the extensive process of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway from an empirical level have certain theoretical and practical guiding significance for establishing and optimizing the coordination between science and technology and the government,promoting political civilization and technological progress,and developing China’s railway industry.This study is divided into three sections.The first part clarifies the complex social context before the birth of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway.On the one hand,the Westernization movement promoted China’s industrial evolution,and the industrial demand for coal led to the need for railways.On the other hand,thousands of years’ worth of ideas had divided opinions about railways within China,and this was even more evident within the Qing Court.The complex and changeable decision environment caused the Qing government to change its attitude towards railway from initial refusal to comfort,which was also the key to the approval of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway.The second part analyzes the planning and construction process of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway and the beginning of Chinese railway technology.The planning and construction of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway is not smooth operation,but it was finally completed and opened to traffic.In this process,the standard that has influenced the history of Chinese railway for more than a hundred years has been established,the power of the Chinese railway has completed the transformation from mules to steam locomotives,and the railroad infrastructure management system was born after the opening of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway.These achievements are of large significance to the development of Chinese railway.After Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway was completed and opened to traffic,the Qing government gradually realized the tremendous economic value of the railway,afterward began to awaken the consciousness of railway sovereignty,and began to explicitly support the railway construction,which laid government`s support for the subsequent development of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway.The third part describes the process of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway extending to both aims and the technical progress of railway in this period.Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway then broaden to both ends,eventually reaching Beijing and Mukden.In the process of railway extension,the Qing government felt the lack of railway talents in China,so it established railway classes and schools successively,which became the beginning of railway education in China.In the process of line extension,iron and steel technology experienced the efforts of localization and made certain progress,and steam locomotive and other techniques also had a certain development in this period.During this time,the Qing government’s consciousness of railway sovereignty gradually became mature,and officially established the establishment of railway as a policy of self-improvement.From the birth background of Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway,to the planning and construction,and then to the extension and optimization,the approval process not only reflected the complex social environment at that time,but also reflected the ambiguous attitude of the Qing government towards the railway,which gave birth to many pioneering achievements in Chinese railway technology,but also made the Qing government decide to vigorously support the railway industry.After that,Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway continued to extend to both ends,and a large number of technical and educational achievements also appeared.The Qing government’s understanding of railway sovereignty went through two stages from awakening to maturity.Therefore,this study finally concluded that railway sovereignty must be controlled by the government.