A Study On The Social Life Of The Qing Adherents

In dynasties occasion, some of scholars were always called adherents who did not cooperate with the new dynasty because they had a loyalty to the former one. As the last adherents in Chinese history, the Qing Adherents had some different characteristics from former adherents because of their special living space under the social modernization of China. In the background of social modernization, it is very important for us to study on the history of adherents and social and cultural history in Early Republic that we deeply research on the Qing Adherents' lives including their political cultural economic charitable activities and social interactions with the goal of knowing their whole living conditions and understanding the interaction between the Qing Adherents and the social modernization.The social modernization of China brought a comprehensive transformation of Chinese society, which created a special living space for the Qing Adherents. The environment was different from the living space of former Adherents in political, cultural and geographical space, which made the Qing Adherents' way of life, from the material world to the spiritual world special with the characteristics given by the times.Political attribute is the essential personality of adherents, and political life occupies an important position in adherents' life. The "loyalty" to the motherland is the core idea of the Qing Adherents' political life. They insisted on sticking to the old way on calendar, dressing, appellation, festival ritual, burial and other details of the daily life as the expression of their own political stance. They had different opinions on the Qing Restoration in the Qing Adherents group. The minority of them were actively involved in the Qing Adherents group whose activities were not approved by the society. Their national outlook, change view and martyrdom concept were dominated by their "loyalty" to the motherland.Traditional culture lost mainstream status because of the Republic of China replacing the Qing Dynasty, which made the Qing Adherents had more strong cultural consciousness of adherents than the former adherents did. They took responsibility for the continuation of traditional cultural lifeblood. They worked hard in the field of traditional culture on historiography, ancient books publishing, literature, art, the study of Confucian classics and teach for restoring the past social order through cultural recovery. Although the Qing Adherents stuck to traditional cultural standpoint, they contributed to introducing western learning and creating modern academic system.The Qing Adherents lost their political status and income and had to face the challenges from livelihood because of the Republic of China replacing the Republic of China. Their living space was narrower with refusing to working for the Republic of China. Most of them could only rely on their own knowledge to make a living. Except following the traditional livelihood way of adherents, their employment space was expanded and their concept of employment changed partly by the social modernization. Seeking the balance among livelihood, loyalty and aspiration was the main value orientation of the Qing Adherents in their economic life.As a traditional gentleman, the Qing Adherents concerned about the livelihood of people and hometown welfare. They actively participated in education donors, repairs of temples and historical landmark, relief to disaster and the poor, the construction of basic local infrastructure and maintenance of local stability. In early Republic of China, because of frequent disasters and government management deficiencies, the social charitable activities of The Qing Adherents had a considerable influence on reassuring and maintaining social order, which reflected the certain value of traditional power in the process of social modernization.Compared to the former adherents, the social interaction of the Qing Adherents was more active. Their social interaction was done mainly inside their group, and they maintained contact with some outsiders. The social interaction inside the Qing Adherents was more frequent with richer forms. In addition, the Qing Adherents contacted with political, culture, business circles in the Republic of China and outsiders. The social network of the Qing Adherents was regional, open, expanded and complicated, which was influenced by social environment and traditional interpersonal factors.The political and cultural values of the Qing adherents were conservative obviously. They tried to resist the arrival of the new era by following the old way of life. Their unique material and spiritual world reflected the changes of traditional society under the social modernization of China. At the same time, their active practices in the fields of academic and social welfare affairs also showed that sometimes traditional forces had been useful for modern society.