The Study Of Guo Songtao's Thought Of Political And Education

Guo Songtao was a famous politician and thinker in the late Qing Dynasty.Henot only had the traditional scholar-bureaucrat's characteristic,but also had themodern concept which was rare in the Chinese people at that time.Therefore,reflected in his political and education thoughts and actions,he had thecharacteristics of being the first man going up with the times.Guo Songtao was appointed by the government of Qing Dynasty as the firstambassador when the country was in a trouble,which was an importantopportunity for forming his thoughts.Guo's famous thought of "taking politics &education as the basis" also took this as a boundary,showing two stages whichwere connected and different from each other.The doctrine of "government'spolitics & education as the foundation" before his commission as an ambassadorhad the implication of discipline system and popular custom;the doctrine of "discipline system and popular custom as the foundation" after his commission asan ambassador made breakthroughs and developments because it has morebackground of western politics & education system.The formation of GuoSongtao's thought of politics & education not only had its unique practicalnecessity,but also has its historical necessity and theoretical necessity.Guo Songtao sought to rebuild the order of benevolent government of three-generations all his life.It was based on his high belief in the idea and order of "great harmony" embodied in the rule of three-generations.Guo's conception of "great harmony" was full of modern feature,that is,learning from modernwestern political system.His understanding of "great harmony" was related to "public administration" at one end and to "public advantages" at the other.He putforward various concrete measures of "benefiting the world",such as theadministrative system for the convenience of the people,the economic system ofcommercial intercourse as the main measure of governing the country,and thediplomatic system for safeguarding national interest and protecting the people.These were guaranteed by the rule of law.It was a very valuable germination ofthought in the academic circles of the Westernization Movement Period.It alsohad an important position that should not be ignored in the history of modern chinese politics.The realization of "great harmony" could not be separated from the moralcognition of individuals and groups.Therefore,Guo Songtao put forward the ideaof "consciences and customs of people as the foundation".He believed that theestablishment of social morality could not be separated from the effectiveinteraction of morality,academy and politics.Morality was the core content,academy was the theoretical foundation,and politics was the fundamentalmeasure.The trinity of morality,academy and politics,which were both exteriorand interior,was the modern embodiment of the Confucian tradition of thecoordination of morality,academy and politics.In terms of educational ideasreforming,Guo Songtao also returned to the "three-generations",believing thatthe "three-generations of school system" should be inherited,and adopted the "academic and official career are interdependent" school system of the Westernsociety.It was his ideal of returning to three-generations,and contained thedirection of using the achieving prosperity and the system of school experience ofwestern countries for reference.Guo Songtao's thought of politics and education not only has his specific systemconception,but also has deep theory basis of Dao.The practical philosophicalviewpoint of "Dao is not exist but honesty,and it is not implement butmotivation" has highlighted the subject status and value of man in therelationship between heaven and man.On the one hand,honesty and motivationfor the establishment and implementation of the Dao of heaven and man have akey significance;On the other hand,honesty and motivation for the establishmentand implementation of the political and education concepts and institutions ofthe public,the benefit of the world are also of key significance.Therefore,hischaracteristic honesty theory and motivation theories constitute thecommunication intermediary between his theory of Dao and the thought ofpolitics and education.Accordingly,Guo songtao's thought of politics andeducation also has its unique methodological basis,namely,the historic methodof observing the changes of historical situation in ancient and modern times andexamining the world's people's peace of mind,consulting the comparativemethod of between China and foreign countries,as well as the philosophicalmethod of seeking truth from facts,which has provided an ideological method forthe modern Chinese people to think about how to learn from the Western.In a comprehensive view,Guo Songtao's research and social practice,through various channels of communication,had an undeniable impact on thepolitical and cultural transformation of the late Qing Dynasty.However,in theprocess of Guo's attempt to cope with the political and education predicament inthe late Qing Dynasty,new ideological and social predicaments emerged.GuoSongtao,as a turning back the power of darkness was swept away by the politicaltide,and the transformation of political culture was still a historical topic left tofuture generations in the late Qing Dynasty.In a word,Guo Songtao inherited the ideological tradition of politics &education,and absorbed the Western ideas of politics & education.He formed thepolitical and education thoughts with the characteristics of moving with the times,thus starting the trend of the modern transformation of political culture.