Library

This book contains more than 20 papers by Mr. Chi Yunfei on the reform and revolution of the late Qing Dynasty. It is a system of its own and presents the author's core views on the reform and revolution of the late Qing Dynasty. The invasion of foreign powers since 1840 and the impact it brought have greatly accelerated the decline of the Qing Dynasty. The traditional social structure composed of scholars, farmers, industry and merchants underwent huge fission. The Qing government had to carry out reforms in order to adapt to "changes not seen in thousands of years." However, it was precisely the reforms that promoted the outbreak of the revolution and forced the Qing emperor to finally abdicate. After the end of the traditional monarchy, two competing models emerged regarding how to establish a new country: one was Yuan Shikai's centralization model, and the other was the democratic constitutional model advocated by Song Jiaoren and others. Neither model is really implemented.

This book aims to observe the changes in modern China through characters, and at the same time observe characters in the midst of major historical changes. The first chapter, through Zeng Guofan and others, shows the traditional scholar-bureaucrats' pursuit of change and their inner struggles. Chapter 2 shows the changes within the system of scholar-bureaucrats and officials from the Reform Movement to the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty. Chapter three shows the pursuits and ideas of the first generation of modern intellectuals and revolutionaries. The appendix is ​​about the author's mentor's record. Although it is slightly different from the first three chapters, it still shows the complex "changes" in contemporary times.