Chapter 08: Reassessing Zhang Zhidong — A Master Reformer Learned in Both Civil and Military Affairs, Bridging China and the West

Zhang Zhidong (1837–1909), whose ancestral home was Nanpi in Hebei, was born in Guizhou. He became a juren at sixteen and a jinshi at twenty-six, and was a leading reformist. He summarized his reform program in eight characters: “Chinese learning as the essence, Western learning for practical use.” He argued that the foremost priority was to stabilize China’s state system. The national polity must not be overturned; if the foundation of the state were shaken, the country would fall into turmoil and reform could not proceed in an orderly and composed manner.

I. Chinese Learning as the Essence, Western Learning for Practical Use

Both the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party consistently rejected Zhang Zhidong’s principle of “Chinese learning as the essence.” Both sought to destroy China’s state system and advocated revolution. The Xinhai Revolution indeed destroyed the polity, ushering in a century of turmoil and communist catastrophe; to this day the mainland continues to shake. History has proven Zhang Zhidong correct in insisting on “Chinese learning as the essence.” However, his reform blueprint did not include constitutional government or a parliament, which was a major deficiency. This deficiency was later remedied by Liang Qichao and subsequently put into practice by Empress Dowager Cixi, who in 1908 officially announced preparations for constitutionalism.

Zhang Zhidong was exceptionally intelligent from a young age. At fourteen he placed first in the county examination for xiucai; at sixteen he ranked first in the provincial juren examination; at twenty-six he became a jinshi and entered the Hanlin Academy as a seventh-rank editor. He studied diligently and mastered both Chinese and Western learning. His global vision and reformist scholarship surpassed those of Kang Youwei. Unfortunately, during the Hundred Days’ Reform of 1898 initiated by Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor, Zhang Zhidong was not invited to preside over the reforms. Instead, Kang Youwei intervened midway and disrupted the process, leading to failure and collapse, and the Guangxu Emperor was consequently stripped of power and placed in seclusion.

II. The Sino-French War: A Crushing Defeat of French Forces

As a leading figure of the “Pure Stream” faction, Zhang Zhidong served as Governor of Shanxi from 1881. During his three-year tenure, he strictly prohibited opium, rectified a thoroughly corrupt officialdom, and won popular support. When the Sino-French War broke out in 1883, he strongly advocated resistance to France and was transferred to serve as Governor-General of Liangguang, where he strengthened defenses and enforced strict security. In 1885, French forces seized Zhen’nan Pass on the Sino-Vietnamese border, creating a critical situation. Zhang memorialized the court to summon former Guangxi commander Feng Zicai and brigadier general Wang Xiaoqi for reinforcement. The seventy-year-old veteran Feng Zicai led troops in desperate resistance and inflicted a crushing defeat on the French, reversing the tide of war and even causing the fall of the French prime minister. Zhang Zhidong rendered great service during the Sino-French War.

III. Large-Scale Promotion of Western Affairs in Hubei and Hunan

During his tenure as Governor-General of Huguang (Hubei and Hunan), Zhang Zhidong vigorously promoted Western-style enterprises. In 1893, the Hanyang Iron Works was completed. It was in fact an integrated steel complex, including iron smelting, steelmaking, and casting plants—ten factories in total—with two blast furnaces, 3,000 workers, and another 1,000 coal miners. It was China’s first modern steel industry and the largest steel enterprise in Asia at the time.

Zhang Zhidong also established the Hubei Arsenal and founded textile bureaus. In 1892, production began in Wuchang with 50,000 spindles. The Hubei Textile Bureau and Spinning Bureau, together with silk-reeling and hemp-processing bureaus, were leased in 1902 to the Guangdong-based Yingchang Company for operation.

IV. Construction of the Beijing–Hankou Railway

Zhang Zhidong attached great importance to railway construction. He proposed to Cixi the building of the Beijing–Hankou Railway and received approval. Construction of the northern and southern sections began simultaneously. During his tenure as Governor-General of Huguang, he oversaw the southern section. The railway was completed in seven years and opened to traffic in 1905, becoming China’s first major trunk railway. He was later ordered to supervise the construction of the Guangdong–Hankou Railway as well.

V. Formulation of a Series of Laws

Zhang Zhidong placed great emphasis on legal reform and advocated learning from Western law. Together with Liu Kunyi, he drafted the “Memorial on Eleven Articles for Adopting Western Law,” arguing that Western learning should be selectively adopted to remedy China’s deficiencies—taking what could cure China’s ailments and bring benefit without harm. He and Liu Kunyi jointly submitted three memorials known as the “Joint Jiang–Chu Memorials on Reform,” proposing leniency in criminal justice, winning popular support, and improving the legal system. Together with Yuan Shikai, he recommended Shen Jiaben and Wu Tingfang as ministers in charge of legal codification.

In 1901, Zhang submitted the “Memorial on Twelve Articles for Rectifying Chinese Law,” drawing on Western law and proposing greater reliance on evidence, reform of fines, vocational education, and prison reform. He also emphasized the compilation of comprehensive legal codes, advocating the hiring of foreign lawyers and drawing broadly from mining, railway, commercial, and criminal laws of various countries to compile concise Chinese codes of mining law, railway law, commercial law, and criminal law.

VI. Promotion of New-Style Education

Zhang Zhidong devoted great effort to educational reform, vigorously promoting new-style education, including industrial education, teacher training, and mass education, and sending students to study in Japan. In Wuchang, he founded the Hubei Normal School to train primary and secondary school teachers. During his tenure as Governor-General of Liangjiang, he established the Sanjiang Normal School (the predecessor of Nanjing University), offering courses in moral cultivation, history, geography, literature, mathematics, and physical training.

He also founded the Hubei Institute of Technology (predecessor of Wuhan University of Science and Technology) and the Hubei Agricultural School (predecessor of Huazhong Agricultural University) to train engineers, teachers, and scientific personnel. In Hubei, he established the Lianghu Academy, Jingxin Academy, the Military Self-Strengthening Academy (predecessor of Wuhan University), and a commercial school. In Nanjing, he founded talent-training schools, railway schools, army academies, and naval academies. During his tenure as Governor-General of Liangjiang, Zhang organized and trained 10,000 troops of the Jiangnan Self-Strengthening Army in Xuzhou, with German officers and Western-style drills. While serving in Guangzhou in 1886, he founded the Guangya Academy (today’s Guangya High School) and the Guangya Publishing House.

VII. Learning the Fundamentals from the West: Western Governance as Essential, Western Techniques as Secondary

In 1899, the year after the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform, Zhang Zhidong published his comprehensive reform outline under the title Exhortation to Learning (Quanxue Pian), intended to remedy the shortcomings of the 1898 reform and exhort the world to study this path of reform. He argued that reform must first “preserve the state, preserve the faith, and preserve the people.” Learning Western knowledge required first mastering Chinese learning, remembering one’s ancestors, embracing the new without despising the old. Without knowing the roots, one would undermine moral teachings; without a central foundation, society would waver, and heterodox doctrines and violent actions would become the source of China’s calamities. Thus, he insisted on preserving the essence as the basis for applying Western learning.

Regarding practical application, Zhang emphasized that “Western governance is essential; Western techniques are not,” and that “without changing institutions, one cannot change implements.” This shows that his reform agenda focused on learning the fundamentals of Western systems, not merely engaging in superficial “Western affairs.”

VIII. The 40,000-Character Exhortation to Learning: A Reform Blueprint

Zhang Zhidong’s Exhortation to Learning consists of inner and outer sections, twenty-four chapters in total, exceeding 40,000 characters. The inner section contains nine chapters, including:

Unity of Purpose (preserving the state, the Confucian faith, and the people; respecting the court and safeguarding the nation)
Teaching Loyalty (enumerating fifteen benevolent policies of the Qing and urging loyalty to the court)
Clarifying Principles (revering Heaven, honoring parents, prohibiting licentiousness—shared by China and the West)
Knowing Categories (China as historically the most respected, greatest, and best-governed civilization)
Revering the Classics (Confucius, Mencius, and the Analects as the core)
Rectifying Authority (warning against empty talk of “popular sovereignty”)
Proceeding Step by Step (solidifying Chinese learning before absorbing Western learning)
Keeping to Essentials (preserving Chinese learning, beginning with restraint, broad learning first and then focus)
Eliminating Poisons (opium as a scourge like floods and beasts)

The outer section contains fifteen chapters, including:

Enhancing Intelligence
Studying Abroad
Establishing Schools
Educational Systems
Expanding Translation
Reading Newspapers
Reform
Reforming the Civil Service Examinations
Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce
Military Studies
Mining Studies
Railways
Integration of Learning
Opposing Pacifism
Opposing Attacks on Religion

IX. Suppression of the Boxers and Mutual Protection of Southeast China

When the Boxer movement arose in 1899, burning churches and hospitals, Zhang Zhidong actively suppressed it. When the Eight-Nation Alliance sent troops to China, he refused to carry out the imperial edict to resist them, instead joining southeastern provinces in advocating suppression of extremist groups, forbidding violence, pacifying foreign legations, and sending telegrams of apology. He signed the “Mutual Protection of Southeast China Agreement” with Britain. It was even discussed privately that if Beijing fell, Li Hongzhang would be elected president to stabilize the situation. Yuan Shikai, then governor of Shandong, also supported joining the agreement.

In 1907, to cope with possible turmoil arising from constitutional preparations, Cixi appointed Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai as Grand Councilors. Zhang was renowned as a “pure minister” loyal to the court; Yuan was known as a “capable minister.” Their relationship was strained, even marked by suspicion. After Cixi’s death in 1908, the regent Zaifeng, only twenty-five and politically inexperienced, hastily sought to seize power, empowering Manchu nobles and sidelining capable officials. Accusing Yuan Shikai of “usurping authority and forming cliques,” Zaifeng sought his execution. Zhang Zhidong alone repeatedly pleaded for clemency, ultimately revising the edict to excuse Yuan on grounds of illness and allowing him to retire to his hometown.

X. Pleading for Yuan Shikai’s Life

After Zhang pleaded for Yuan Shikai, some at court privately argued that Yuan should have been killed to prevent future trouble. Zhang responded that Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming had lost the realm by rashly executing senior ministers, and that the regent should act with magnanimity for the sake of the state. He said he was not pleading for Yuan, but for the political situation as a whole.

Three years later, the gunshots of the Xinhai Revolution rang out, and indeed Yuan Shikai became the one who delivered the fatal blow to the Qing dynasty.

XI. Dying of Anger for the Nation

Less than a year after Yuan returned home, Zhang Zhidong passed away. His death resulted from frustration after failing to persuade those in power; alone and unheard, he fell ill and vomited blood in anger, lamenting that “the nation’s fate is exhausted.” He died in 1909.

XII. Evaluations of Zhang Zhidong: Loyal, Upright, and Selfless

An imperial edict praised Zhang Zhidong as “public-spirited, loyal to the state, upright and selfless, promoting new policies that benefited the nation and the people.”
The Draft History of the Qing described him as an honest official who loved talent and hospitality, and who, after decades in office, did not add even an acre to his estate.
Sun Yat-sen remarked: “Zhang Zhidong was a great revolutionary who did not speak of revolution.”
Taiwanese historian Su Yunfeng called him “the founder of modern education in Hubei.”

XIII. Master of Chinese and Western Learning: Eight Million Characters of Practical Reform Proposals

Zhang Zhidong was accomplished in both civil and military affairs, deeply learned in Chinese and Western knowledge, respectful of tradition yet attuned to the times. He was a master reformer, an open-minded advocate of self-strengthening, and a pragmatic statesman. Had China followed Zhang Zhidong’s path, it might have avoided a century of calamity and become a modern, prosperous nation much earlier.

Throughout his life, Zhang Zhidong wrote extensively, mostly practical reform proposals. The Complete Works of Zhang Zhidong published on the mainland amount to eight million characters.