Zhang Zhidong

Zhang Zhidong 張之洞
Grand Councillor
In office 1907–1909
Grand Secretary of the Tiren Hall
In office 1907–1909
Assistant Grand Secretary
In office 1907–1907
Viceroy of Huguang
In office 1904–1907
Preceded by	Duanfang (acting)
Succeeded by	Zhao Erxun
In office 1898–1902
Preceded by	Tang Jixun (acting)
Succeeded by	Duanfang (acting)
In office 1896–1898
Preceded by	Tang Jixun (acting)
Succeeded by	Tang Jixun (acting)
Viceroy of Liangjiang
In office 1902 – 1903 (acting)
Preceded by	Liu Kunyi
Succeeded by	Wei Guangtao
In office 1894–1896
Preceded by	Liu Kunyi (acting)
Succeeded by	Liu Kunyi (acting)
Viceroy of Liangguang
In office 1884–1889
Preceded by	Zhang Shusheng
Succeeded by	Li Hanzhang
Personal details
Born	(1837-09-02)2 September 1837 Xingyi Prefecture, Guizhou Province, Qing Empire
Died	October 4, 1909(1909-10-04) (aged 72) Beijing, Qing Empire
Children	10
Occupation	Politician

Zhang Zhidong (

Zhang Zhidong was also known by other names. An older Wade–Giles form was Chang Chih-tung. His courtesy name was Xiaoda (孝達; 孝达; Xiàodá) or Xiangtao (香濤; 香涛; Xiāngtāo). His pseudonyms were Xiangyan (香岩; Xiāngyán), Hugong (壺公; 壶公; Húgōng), Wujing Jushi (無競居士; 无竞居士; Wújìng Jūshì) and Baobing (抱冰; Bàobīng). The posthumous name given to him by the Qing government was Wenxiang (文襄; Wénxiāng).

Early life

Zhang was born in Xingyi Prefecture (興義府), Guizhou Province, but his ancestral roots were in Nanpi, Tianjin, Zhili Province. He was the cousin of Zhang Zhiwan. In 1852, he sat for the provincial-level imperial examination in Shuntian Prefecture (present-day Beijing) and achieved the top position as jieyuan (解元) in the juren class. In 1863, he sat for the palace-level examination and emerged as tanhua (探花), the third highest-ranked candidate of the jinshi class. He was then admitted to the Hanlin Academy as a bianxiu (編修; editor) before taking up other positions, including jiaoxi (教習), shidu (侍讀) and shijiang (侍講). In 1882, he was transferred as the xunfu (provincial governor) of Shanxi Province.^[2] Empress Dowager Cixi promoted him to Viceroy of Huguang in August 1889.

During the

Zhang held on a strong opinion on the issue of ceding Taiwan to the Japanese, per the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.^[5][6] In late February 1895, he made his stance clear to the Qing government, and even offered ideas on how to prevent the loss of Taiwan.^[7] He suggested that they take huge loans from the British, who would in turn send their navy to defend Taiwan from the Japanese. In addition, he proposed giving mining rights to the British on Taiwan for about 10 to 20 years. In May 1895, the Qing government ordered all civil and military officials to evacuate Taiwan.^[8] Zhang also refused to provide aid to the remaining Qing forces in Taiwan, especially after the fall of Keelung and with Taipei as the sole remaining Qing stronghold in Taiwan.^[9] On 19 October 1895, the last of the Qing forces in Taiwan, led by Liu Yongfu, withdrew to Xiamen.^[5][10]

Modernization of China's military

After China's defeat in the Sino-French War in 1885, Zhang was said to reflect on the events of the war and expressed his desire to establish a modern military to match up to that of the Western forces in a memorial to the throne. Upon Zhang's reflection, the weaknesses of traditional Chinese troops were identified in comparison with the Western troops, which had better firepower, mobility, and individual combat capability. When Zhang created the Guangdong Military Academy, also known as Guangdong Naval and Military Officers Academy, and the Guangdong Victorious Army (廣勝軍), he set physical admission standards high and hired German officers as instructors to address the weaknesses of the Chinese troops.^[2] Specifically, in modernizing the troops in Guangdong, Zhang made newly trained troops to be "the nucleus" of newer troops, passing the training unit to unit. In addition, Zhang synthesized Chinese traditional learning and Western military learning in Guangdong Military Academy under his guiding principle of tiyong (體用), which stresses Chinese traditional values and deems Western imports to be for practical uses only.^[2] Seeking to industrialize for the sake of China's defense, he ordered an iron-and-steel smelting plant from England. This came with issues as Zhang was not intimately familiar with the processes of metallurgy; Zhang was not previously aware of the availability of ores for said plant, nor was the plant located near a coal-mining area. The plant began production in 1894. The losses stemming from the misstep were substantial, leading to some political ridicule. ^[11] Zhang also established the Hubei Military Academy (湖北學堂) in 1896, where he employed instructors from the Guangdong Academy. The majority of the staff were Chinese. He also hired some German officers as instructors.^[12]

While serving as the governor of

In Wuchang, Zhang effectively trained and equipped modern units of sappers, engineers, cavalry, police, artillery and infantry. Of the 60,000 men under his command, 20,000 men were directly trained by foreign officers, and a military academy was established in Wuchang in order to train future generations of soldiers. Zhang armed the troops with German Mauser rifles and other modern equipment. Foreign observers reported that, when their training was complete, the troops stationed in the Wuchang garrison were the equal of contemporary European forces.^[15]

During the

Zhang Zhidong's reformist faction in the late Qing court was extremely influential.[21] Yang Rui, one of the Six Martyrs, was Zhang's political informant in Beijing who carried out Zhang's instructions during Hundred Days' Reform of 1898. Chen Baozhen is another subordinate who shared Zhang's academic visions, and Chen coauthored a memorial to the court with Zhang to suggest the reform of Civil Service Exam. Zhang had a strong grasp of the progress of reforms as he had more temporary confidants and informants from other regions.^[22]

In the third month of 1898, Zhang published his work Exhortation to Study (勸學篇), which addresses the questions of educational reform.^[23] He insisted on a method of relatively conservative reform, summarized in his phrase "Chinese Learning as Substance, Western Learning for Application" (中學為體，西學為用). In Exhortation to Study (勸學篇), Zhang brought up reform methodology of implementing new schools at the expense of Buddhist and Taoist monasteries. While doing so, reservation of 30 percent of the monasteries and introduction of Confucianization were also part of the methodology to help the two religions subsist. Zhang Zhidong's reform on education is said not to eliminate religious institutions, but to better allocate resources.^[23]

Kang Youwei, another late Qing reformist, later expressed similar mode of thinking - he also advocated aiding modern education at the cost of temples. However, Kang Youwei is more radical as he envisions destruction of religions in comparison to Zhang's conservative approach. Zhang was supportive of Kang's vision of scholarly learning, but rejects Kang's proposal of Confucian religion.^[24] Historians commonly regard Zhang Zhidong's reform as an attempt to reconcile modernity and China's existing social fabric.^[23]

He succeeded

He was aware that a change in Chinese affairs was necessary, and at the same time realized that the Chinese officials and people clung with unyielding tenacity to their traditional ideas and institutions and penned his ideas in a book: China's only hope: An Appeal.[28] The book was distributed to the Grand Council of State, Viceroys, Governors and Literary Examiners of China.

Zhang Zhidong's sons were Zhang Yanqing and Zhang Renli.

Zhang died of illness in 1909 in Beijing at the age of 72. He was given the posthumous title Wenxiang (文襄).

References

Citations