Biography of Zhang Zhidong

Author: Feng Tianyu / He Xiaoming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1996-03-01
Features: This book consists of two parts and fifteen chapters, totaling 300,000 words. It takes the extraordinary political career of Zhang Zhidong, who "was closely tied to the court and frontier affairs for forty years," as the warp, and his thoughts on academia, economy, military, diplomacy, education, and culture as the weft, with the focus on running the "Self-Strengthening Movement" and advocating the theory of "Chinese learning as the essence, Western learning for application." It comprehensively clarifies the evolution and development of the thoughts of this "transitional" historical figure who lived during the great convergence of ancient and modern, Chinese and Western times, deeply reveals the contradictions in his thoughts, personality, and actions, highlights the characteristics of his life journey that combined the roles of a Confucian scholar and a government official, as well as the integration of innovation and upholding tradition, and evaluates his specific position in modern Chinese history.