Speaking of Li Hongzhang, a powerful minister in the late Qing Dynasty, people always think of such comments as "traitor" and "sinner through the ages". However, when we think calmly and rationally about the embarrassing situation of Li Hongzhang's era and the collapse of the building, Li Hongzhang can't and can't bear the tragic consequences of the failure of foreign exchanges in the late Qing Dynasty. Counting Li Hongzhang's life, he was born in the darkest and most turbulent era of the Qing Dynasty. Every time he "appeared", when the country was in danger, the Qing Dynasty asked him to undertake all the "most embarrassing" things. He always bears the blame. Even if he betrayed the country, Guangxu and Cixi forced him to sell it! If the imperial military expenditure is in place, if the emperor really implements coastal defense, will the Japanese devils attack at that time? Do they dare to invade Taiwan Province Province? Later, someone forced him to sign the contract. Of all the ministers of civil and military affairs in the Qing government, which one has the ability to sign? Treaty of shimonoseki only made him a scapegoat in the imperial court. In other words, if the rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not agree to cede Taiwan Province Province, would it be useful for Li Hongzhang to sign or not? Looking at it, I feel that Li Hongzhang is really wronged.

In terms of economic modernization, Li Hongzhang advocated the Westernization Movement, founded Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, Tianjin Machinery Bureau, beiyang fleet, China Maritime Bureau, Telegraph Bureau and Kaiping Mining Bureau, and sent the first batch of China students to study in the United States. These industries have played a decisive role in the modernization of China. Westernization movement is another form of reform and opening up.

In terms of diplomatic modernization, it can be said that China's modern diplomacy began with Li Hongzhang. Historically, China's diplomacy is a tributary relationship, and the real equal diplomacy with other countries in the world should start with Li Hongzhang, who should be regarded as the forerunner of China's modern diplomacy. He went to Japan and traveled around the world in his later years, interacting with dignitaries from all over the world. Countries spoke highly of Li Hongzhang. Although almost all the traitorous treaties were signed by him, he did his best as a diplomat in the international environment at that time.

After the signing of treaty of shimonoseki, Li Hongzhang was accused by many people and lost his position as governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang. Began his journey around the world:

He arrived in Berlin on June 1896. In order to discuss the strategy of strengthening the country, Li Hongzhang rushed to visit Bismarck who had stepped down near Hamburg. For the visit of "Oriental Bismarck", Bismarck provided the key to building a powerful country: building a strong army. Obviously, this is in line with Li Hongzhang's reform orientation. However, this is not the fundamental way for China to strengthen itself.

1On August 28th, 896, Li Hongzhang arrived in new york. American President Cleveland, who is on vacation by the sea, came to visit Li Hongzhang. The dragon flag of the Qing Empire hangs everywhere in new york Port, which is a roaring salute and an empty lane, and has received "unprecedented courtesy" (new york Times). When answering questions from American journalists, Li Hongzhang also showed an outstanding diplomat's keen sense of national sovereignty and modernity:

He realized the mutual benefit of the international economy. When asked about investment in China, Li Hongzhang believed that investment in China was mutually beneficial, and said that the Qing government welcomed any capital to invest in the establishment of modern industrial enterprises. At the same time, he said: "We should control railway, telecommunications and other affairs by ourselves. We must protect national sovereignty and not allow anyone to endanger our sacred rights. "

He expressed his openness to women's education. An American reporter asked, "Are you in favor of women's education?" At that time, he said: "In our Qing Dynasty, girls hired female teachers to provide education at home, and families with financial ability hired female tutors. At present, we have no public girls' schools or institutions of higher education. This is because our customs and habits are different from yours (including Europe and America). Maybe we should learn from your education system and introduce what suits our national conditions to China. This is really what we need. "

He realized that newspapers or news media should reveal the truth. He said: "The Qing State Office has newspapers. But unfortunately ... the editors of the Qing Dynasty were stingy when telling the truth ... because they couldn't tell the truth honestly, our newspaper lost the lofty value of the news itself and didn't become a way to spread civilization widely. "

This is Li Hongzhang, a man in the contradiction between tradition and modernity, a man in the crevice. Liang Qichao, the master of the Reform Movement of 1898, once commented on Li Hongzhang: "I ... respect and mourn Li's encounter." Li thinks he is just a poseur. In that decadent Qing dynasty from the inside out, it was acceptable for the "paperhanger" to decorate the broken house (Qing dynasty) completely. Occasionally, a small storm can survive, but in a big storm, the broken house is exposed. Can one and a half "paperhanger" make up for it?

As the saying goes, "there are only mediocre people without blame". People who make mistakes are often people who do more things. If they don't do things, they won't make mistakes. "Therefore, it is famous all over the sky, not necessarily for homesickness; If you are all over the world, you may not be a great person. " The gap between history and truth is really big. In fact, people who do more practical things are not necessarily immortals. Li Hongzhang was not a real traitor, but a great man worthy of admiration in modern China. I agree with Liang Qichao's evaluation of his Biography of Li Hongzhang, saying that all China people don't work hard and then blame one person. This bad habit has not changed so far.

Based on the historical theory and knowledge of the Outline of Modern History of China, starting from the objectivity of history, combined with the author's study and experience of the Outline of Modern History of China, this paper writes this personal evaluation of Li Hongzhang. By offering the course "Outline of China's Modern History" in our school, I learned a lot about the modern history of our country, which made me feel the changeable and heavy sense of mission and responsibility in the modern history of China.