Liang Qichao once said, “For forty years, hardly any major event in China has had nothing to do with Li Hongzhang.” Through one man, we can see forty years in the life of a nation. A figure like him deserves to be taken seriously and remembered.
The Biography of Li Hongzhang traces his life from his impoverished youth, through his suppression of the Taiping Rebellion and the founding of the Self-Strengthening Movement, which brought his reputation to its peak, to the First Sino-Japanese War, which shattered his dream of a powerful nation. His fortunes swiftly declined, and he was left to maneuver on the diplomatic stage among the great powers until his tragic death.
The collapse of the Self-Strengthening Movement in the year of the First Sino-Japanese War left people feeling the hopelessness and grief of “one man standing against an entire nation.” It also prompted Liang Qichao to lament, “I admire Li Hongzhang’s talent, regret his judgment, and mourn his fate.”
Liang Qichao compared Li Hongzhang with Zeng Guofan, Zhang Zhidong, Bismarck, Cavour, and Ito Hirobumi, noting that Li had worked for the Qing government with a willingness to endure humiliation and serve until death, trying to patch things up. However, he lacked long-term political vision and did not know how to make plans for the century ahead.
Li Hongzhang did not understand the nature of modern democratic politics, the status of citizens, their role in modern international competition, or the relationship between the government and the people. As a result, he was repeatedly outmaneuvered and constrained in international competition. In short, his defeat was also the defeat of the late Qing government
