Admonition on Learning

Author: Zhang Zidong (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-10-01
Features: A Treatise on Learning is a representative work of Zhang Zidong, a prominent figure of the Self-Strengthening Movement in the Qing Dynasty. As the last general of the Self-Strengthening Movement, Zhang Zidong both criticized the stubbornly conservative bureaucracy of the Qing Dynasty, advocating for the adoption of Western advanced technologies, and opposed the reformist movement's proposals for change, vigorously defending the feudal autocratic system of the Qing court. The main content and ideas of the book promote the principle of "Chinese learning as the essence, Western learning as the application," which suggests incorporating some advanced capitalist productive forces of the West into the feudal political system of China, attempting to achieve his goal of "bridging Eastern and Western knowledge and weighing old and new." It also provides a theoretical summary of his long-term practice of the Self-Strengthening Movement. A Treatise on Learning was soon translated into English and French. American media called it a work that marked "the awakening of the Chinese, long accustomed to the stale clichés of Confucius, to the realities of the times."
Preface to A Treatise on Learning
Introduction to A Treatise on Learning
Preface to A Treatise on Learning
Part 1: Inner Essays
1. Teaching Loyalty
2. Clarifying Principles
3. Understanding Categories
4. Venerating Classics
5. Correcting Authority
6. Following Order
7. Adhering to Discipline
8. Eliminating Poison
9. Encouraging Learning
Part 2: Outer Essays
1. Enriching Knowledge
2. Studying Abroad
3. Educational Systems
4. Promoting Translation
5. Reading Newspapers
6. Reforming Laws
7. Changing Imperial Examinations
8. Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce Education
9. Military Studies
10. Mining Studies
11. Railways
12. Bridging East and West
13. Against Disarmament
14. Against War
15. Zhang Zidong: A Biography