China's Response To Russia's Construction Of The Siberian Railway In The Late Qing Dynasty

As early as the 1830 s,the idea of building the Siberian Railway was born in Russia.However,due to various conditions,the idea has not been implemented.In the1870 s,due to the attention of the world's public opinion and the development of Chinese media,the news began to spread in China,and caused all kinds of speculation and response.Since then,the long negotiations between China and Russia on the Siberian railway have gradually begun,and China's modern railway industry has also grown with it.From the beginning of the construction of the Siberian Railway in Russia to China,to the completion of the main part of the railway in 1904,the response of the Chinese in the late Qing Dynasty to the construction of the Siberian Railway in Russia generally experienced the construction of railways for the purpose of preventing Russia— China-Russia competition to build railways —controversy over borrowing Chinese land—arguing about railway branches—negotiating railway management and resisting the tide of roads.In these five stages,due to the different backgrounds of the times and the issues involved,the core groups of attention in each stage of the article is different.In the first stage,because the news of Russia's construction of the Siberian Railway has just entered China,it has not been widely recognized by the people,so it is mainly the media and some Ministers of Westernization with the most frequent contacts with foreign countries.In the second stage,due to the popularity of the news about Russia's railway construction,the attitudes and corresponding strategies of the diplomats,reform thinkers,and general intellectuals abroad were also covered.In the third and fourth stages,due to the content,level and confidentiality of the negotiations,the main responders were diplomatic envoys and high-level officials.In the fifth stage,due to the change in the focus of negotiations,the main focus was Northeast local government and people.Through the response of different classes in these five stages,we can see that the construction of the Siberian Railway has brought not only the “forced” road construction measures of the people in the late Qing Dynasty,but also changes in the government management system and the psychology of officials and people.The impending Qing dynasty gave birth to new seeds during the internal and external difficulties.China's modernization process also achieved preliminary deep confrontation,fission and integration between "traditional" and "modern" during this period.