A Study Of Confucius' Image In The Late Qing Dynasty

Confucius was an important figure in ancient Chinese society, and he was considered to be the founder of Confucianism which later became recognized by the government officials and academics in Han Dynasty and dynasties after it, so Confucius was respected by the successive governments, especially in academia where he was the synonym of authority. In the social fields, he was the most influential and dominant "saint" in the hearts of countrymen. The government of Manchu, as a minority ruling Central Plain, took a series of "respecting Confucius and Confucianism" measures to reinforce the legitimacy of his own rule after the entry into Shanhaiguan. By the time of Taiping Rebellion, which happened in the late Qing Dynasty, Hong Xiuquan pulled the "sage" down from the temple people worshiped and turned him into a mortal, which opened the prelude of re-assessment of Confucius.Modern China was in the course of an society with intense changes, during which Confucianism was under the strong impact of Western learning and lost its dominance in the social realm gradually, therefore the fate of Confucius had changed greatly. The government of Qing dynasty, in order to protect their own rule, introduced Western learning so as to become thriving and powerful on one hand, and feared that Western equality, freedom and democracy threaten its own rule, so it fell into the dilemma of educational reform. In the educational reform, the government of Qing dynasty deliberately raised the status of Confucius, explicitly set "respecting Confucius" as educational purposes, hoping the high prestige of ancient "sage" can get the support of people and maintain their rule.After Sino-Japanese war of1894-1895, scholars were no longer indulged in his studies, and Confucius had different characteristics in the eyes of intellectuals. Kang Youwei regarded Confucius as the leader of Confucianism and the sage of supporting the political reform. Tan Sitong regarded Confucius as advocates of democracy and equality, also proposed the establishment of Confucianism and regarding Confucius as a sage. Whereas in the eyes of Liang Qichao, Confucius was no longer the sage but distinguished philosopher and educator. Zhang Taiyan strongly opposed to the practice of viewing Confucius as mysterious figure, asserted that Confucius was "an ancient good historian". In the eyes of the revolutionaries in late Qing dynasty, Confucius was the tool autocratic government used to maintain their rule and was the object of the revolution.In the schools at the end of Qing dynasty, the church schools run by the missionaries practiced the educational mode of "Confucius plus Jesus|", Confucius became the amulet of missionaries. In the ordinary schools, due to the impact of Western learning, Confucianism was repelled by some students, and the image of Confucius as a sage thus was affected.In the textbooks, Confucius had both rational, realistic discourse and "packaging" traces by political languages. In the student movement of Nanyang Public School at the end of Qing dynasty, students should be able to have a rational and objective look at Confucius."All people respected Confucius around the country","Grand kowtow was not sufficient to respect Confucius", Confucius was not only a great man but also the amulet of autocratic government.At last, the thesis analyzes the reason about the changed image of Confucius in the late Qing Dynasty. The rise of other schools made a impact on the dominant status of Confucianism, so Confucius’ status as the founder of Confucianism naturally declined. Western ideas of democracy, equality and freedom, along with military and industrial products, flooded into China, and the trend of utilitarianism alienated students from Confucianism and Confucius gradually. The deepening crisis of Qing dynasty made its policies of respecting Confucianism lose the authority, which in turn caused students to dislike the policy, and had become a pretext for revolutionaries to attack. Under the joint effect of many factors, the sacrosanct image of Confucius as a Confucian sage had gone.