Zhang Nanxian Collection

Author: Yan Changhong, Zhang Mingyu, Fu Chanzhen / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: The Evolution of Hubei People's Thoughts Between Gengzi and Jiachen
During the Gengzi year, the fall of the capital by the allied forces was a great loss to the nation but a great benefit to the revolution. In July, the revolutionary army in Pearl River Delta occupied Huizhou for over a month, bombarding the provincial governor's office; in the Yangtze River region, as previously mentioned. This was the situation under normal circumstances. Under the ruthless and cunning Western Empress Dowager, the executions would have been even more severe. However, on the 19th of July, the allied forces captured the capital, and the Empress Dowager fled west with the Emperor for over a year, her mind solely focused on the allied forces. As for the revolutionaries, she ignored them, leaving local governors and magistrates to handle them at their discretion, thus preserving the revolutionaries' strength. After her return, she was furious over the loss of troops and national humiliation, not blaming the past but rather tacitly acknowledging the revolution as inevitable, boosting the courage of the party members. Although she secretly ordered governors and magistrates to punish students who discovered revolutionaries, in reality, the provincial governors had no means to suppress students' patriotic sentiments.
Governor of Hubei and Hunan, Zhang Zhidong, was obsessed with absurd ideas. After writing "Encouraging Learning" and "School Songs" to teach loyalty and advise scholars, he still couldn’t satisfy himself and ordered Wu Dingsen to compile "Educational Supplements," strongly advocating the supremacy of the emperor and the inviolability of the Manchus. These two men were exceptionally intelligent and surely understood global trends and the great divide between civilizations. Yet, out of greed for wealth and fear of trouble, they deceived the Qing court with these futile actions—both laughable and pitiful.
Ultimately, due to unbearable oppression, many students abandoned their provincial schools and studied abroad at their own expense. In the Wanyin and Jimao years, students from Hubei studying in Japan were numerous, including official scholarship recipients like Liu Chengyou, Wu Luxian, Lan Tianwei, and Li Shucheng, who were not afraid of anything. Some established study groups to exchange knowledge, while others organized volunteer teams to encourage action. By the winter of Wanyin, Wu Luxian returned to Hubei. Zhang Zhidong, due to the Dading incident, confined him to the military academy for three days, subjecting him to severe reprimands. Unexpectedly, Luxian spoke eloquently and passionately about national affairs, captivating Nanpi, who exclaimed, "A rare talent! A rare talent!" and immediately appointed him as an assistant to the Education Department, deputy director of the Military Affairs Department, chief instructor of the military academy, and assistant to the Wu Common School. In just ten days, a prisoner became a prized guest. The officials of that time were thus indirectly subdued.
After regaining his freedom, Luxian resided at No. 13 Shuilu Street, where students and patriots eagerly sought his company and his new knowledge. The intellectual atmosphere of Jianghan changed dramatically. Unfortunately, in the spring of Jiachen, he was summoned to Beijing for military training. Thus, during his time in Hubei, Wu Luxian had only words but no organization.
At Li Buqing’s residence on Garden Mountain, it became a gathering place for young people in both military and academic circles, with particularly close ties to party members, such as Hu Bingke, Zhu Hezhong, Lü Dasen, Li Shucheng, Shi Xiangjin, He Zhichai, Shi Gongbi, Zhang Rongmei, Shi Gongzheng, Wu Bingzong, Chen Kaiquan, Yu Deyuan, Zhang Chunteng, Liu Bogang, Fan Hongtai, Qu Dezhe, and Guo Zhaoming.
Later, with the emergence of "The Suzhou Gazette" and "The People’s Gazette," which followed the principles of the party leader, they fiercely criticized Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao’s views. Unable to withstand the onslaught, Kang and Li fled in defeat. The influence of the officials and the constitutionalists faded, while the thoughts and wills of the entire nation converged under the party leader’s ideology. In Hubei, revolutionary groups like the Imperial Examination Supplemental School emerged in April of Jiachen. Below is a transcript of Zhang Binglin’s "Refutation of Kang Youwei’s Political Views" to illustrate the evolution of thought.
Editor’s Note: For thousands of years, the authority of Confucianism in our country came to an end with Zeng Guofan’s suppression of the Taiping Rebellion. At that time, the people’s thoughts oscillated between the old and the new. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao seized the opportunity, promoting constitutionalist ideas under the guise of new reforms. Between Wanyin and Jimao, "The People’s Monthly" became immensely popular. The party leader and his comrades recognized its harmful influence and refuted it. Filled with righteous indignation, they produced numerous famous works, with Zhang Binglin as a literary giant of the era. After this book was published, it spread across the nation, inspiring the talented to rally under the party’s banner, a matter of great significance. We include excerpts to illustrate this, and to demonstrate the evolution of national thought.
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