From the history of the era's transition: spine or cover with flaws

Author: Xu Zongyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Transformation of China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Enlightenment Movement in the Ming Dynasty, which in some aspects surpassed that of contemporary Europe. It ultimately failed, with a significant factor being the Qing army's entry into the capital. The Qing Dynasty maintained its rule through political oppression, cultural ignorance, and economic isolationist policies, cutting off China's potential for modernization and losing the possibility of resisting the impact of Westerners with their advanced technology and weaponry two centuries later. The intellectuals of modern China formed an alienated educational circle. Generations of students educated there became a wave of talents leaving their hometowns. The cultural soil was stripped away layer by layer. The original intention of establishing schools, teaching, and conducting research was good, but it led to such a paradoxical outcome. Yet the dilemmas faced by modern intellectuals have not changed with the times.
The changes in Taiwan over the past century, the land cultivation system of Qing-era Taiwan, created a unique class-based society where political authority and economic control were merged. How did the modernization of Taiwanese society unfold through the transformations of the Self-Strengthening Movement, colonial rule, and the post-liberation era? This book is composed of six distinct yet interconnected themes: it begins with "The Various Factors of the Shift in Times" and concludes with "Rebuilding Humanistic Values and Social Ethics," with four specific discussions in between: "The Transformation of Ming and Qing China," "Intellectuals of Modern China," "Changes in Taiwan over the Past Century," and "The Evolution of Modern Capitalism and Socialism." In his arguments, the author offers unique insights on numerous subtopics such as "The Death of the Enlightenment," "Intellectuals and Education," and the three historical stages of Taiwan, demonstrating profound understanding and reflecting Professor Xu Zongyuan's consistent vision of a culturally grand China and his confidence in rebuilding universal humanistic values.