What are the national salvation movements?

I. The National Salvation Program of the Peasant Class--Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement was a movement that took place between the first year of Xianfeng and the third year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1851-1864) and was formed by Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui, and Shi Dakai, among other The leading group spearheaded the Peasants' Revolt against the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty and foreign capitalist aggression from Jintian Village in Guangxi.

Causes of failure: loss of fighting spirit in building up the capital too early, failure to follow up the victory due to command errors, limitations of the peasant class, serious political corruption in the later period, and the collusion between the Qing government and foreign invaders in brutally suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Two, the landlord class's program of national salvation - the foreign affairs movement

The foreign affairs movement, also known as the self-improvement movement. It was a self-help movement to introduce western military equipment, machine production and science and technology to save the Qing Dynasty from the 1860s to the 1890s, which was carried out by the foreign affairs faction of the late Qing Dynasty. Its leading class was the landowning foreign affairs faction.

Causes of failure: including the shortcomings of the traditional feudal system, the lack of a complete plan, the lack of knowledge of those in charge, the opposition of the old-fashioned people, and the corruption of the bureaucratic style of government.

Three, the bourgeois reformist's program of national salvation - the Hundred Days' Reform

The Hundred Days' Reform, also known as the Hundred Days' Reform, Reform of the Law, and the Reform Movement, was an initiative of the reformists represented by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao during the late Qing Dynasty, who advocated the study of the West through the Guangxu Emperor, advocated the promotion of science and culture, and reformed the political and educational systems to develop agriculture, industry, and commerce. It was a bourgeois reform movement that advocated the study of science and culture, the reform of the political and educational systems, and the development of agriculture, industry, and commerce.

Reasons for failure:

1. Root causes: the bourgeois reformists were too weak, i.e. the weakness of the bourgeoisie; the hardliners represented by Cixi were in control of the real power and were powerful.

2. Direct causes:

(1) The supreme leadership of the country at that time was not in the hands of the Guangxu Emperor, but in the hands of princes and ministers headed by the Empress Dowager West.

(2) The reformists lacked correct theoretical guidance. Kang Youwei's "new school of pseudo-scripture examination" accuses the Western Han Dynasty's ancient scriptures are all Liu Xin's forgery, and "Confucius reform examination" dresses up Confucius as a "reform and legislation" of the ancestor. Both books are not sufficient, persuasive evidence, needless to say the old guard against, some enlightened people at that time also do not favor. In addition, some radical propaganda of the reformists also increased social resistance.

(3) The reformists lacked strong organizational leadership, were detached from the masses of the people, hoped only in the emperor who had no real power and a very small number of bureaucrats, and even harbored unrealistic fantasies about imperialism.

(4) Certain adventurous measures taken by the reformists and the Guangxu Emperor in implementing the reform.

(5) The change of law was carried out by a single means: a purely "peaceful" and "legal" top-down approach.

Expanded Information

Despite the fact that all these programs of national salvation failed to succeed, the national salvation movement still had a positive impact to a certain extent, and provided experience and lessons for later revolutionaries, with its positive significance:

I. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution was the largest in the history of China. Peasant revolution, from 1851 onwards*** persisted for 14 years, the power expanded to 17 provinces, a powerful blow to the Qing dynasty's feudal rule and foreign aggression, contributed to the collapse of feudal society, prevented the process of colonization of China, in China's history to leave an extremely important page.

Second, the foreign affairs movement

The foreign affairs movement objectively promoted the development of China's productive forces, contributed to the emergence and development of China's national capitalism, to a certain extent resisted the economic importation of foreign capitalism, and facilitated the modernization of China's education and national defense.

Three: The Hundred Days Reform

The Hundred Days Reform, as a bourgeois reform movement in modern China, had a progressive significance, aroused the people's resentment against the Manchu government, pushed the intellectuals to transform themselves from reformist to revolutionary, and pushed forward the ideological emancipation movement in China, laying an ideological foundation for the Xinhai Revolution that broke out 13 years later.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement

Baidu Encyclopedia - Foreign Affairs Movement

Baidu Encyclopedia - Hundred Days' Reform