Although It Is A Traditional Country,it Must Undertake New Missions: Wang Tao’s Understanding Of The Transformation Of Modern China

The modern century is a period of "the second great transformation of political and social system" in Chinese history.Under the pressure of modern western civilization,especially with the growth of national capitalism in China,the construction of modern China has been put on the agenda,which is the core issue in the process of modern Chinese history.Judging from the experience of building a modern nation-state in western Europe,to build a modern state,there must be a leading force that can push the country to realize its transformation.However,in China,until this dominant force has grown up,the country or the Qing government can only assume this historic task temporarily.Wang Tao,as a representative of the early reform thought,keenly captured this historic topic.As a character between the old and the new,Wang Tao’s thought has obvious stage characteristics.Before the ideological change was completed,the traditional thinking mode of the relationship between the government and the people was Wang Tao’s basic way of understanding China’s national crisis at that time.After completing the transformation to the reform thought,such a cognitive way still pervades all aspects of its thought.As a new type of character,its growth has a process.Before going into exile in Hong Kong,Wang Tao insisted on "using Chinese and western styles" in the conflicts between China and foreign countries and could only learn western firearms,ships and languages.During his exile in Hong Kong,especially after traveling to Europe,the reference frame he used to examine the crisis facing China was changed from the original "three generations of governance" to western countries.His ideal idea of governing the country changed from the original "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" to a powerful and rich country.He also wanted to use education reform as a breakthrough to enhance China’s national governance ability,so as to reform China’s politics,economy,education,military and other aspects.As a result,the new picture of Wang Tao’s thoughts on national governance becomes clear,that is,to re-establish the concept of "The people are the foundation of the state",to re-establish the concept of "setting up officials for the people",to develop modern industrial and commercial economy in China,to enhance the country’s military strength and to promote China’s transition to a modern country.In this view,the main content of Wang Tao’s thought is the problem of "new life for the old state",that is,how to realize China’s modern transformation.The basic way to solve the crisis is to reshape the country’s governance capability.The specific measures are as follows: to reform the political,economic,military,educational and other aspects,and educational reform is the key.A careful examination of Wang Tao’s plan to enhance China’s national governance capability reveals that western countries have always been the central issue in his thinking,and their competition is the greatest feature.On the other hand,Wang Tao’s first choice in the face of China’s crisis is not to overthrow the current national order,but to enhance his ability.Such a choice of path to deal with the crisis is in line with the historical logic provided by the economic and westernization groups in the late Qing dynasty,and it is also the choice of people with lofty ideals in subsequent dynasties.