Searching in History

6 Projects of the Self-Strengthening Movement

In the 1860s with the country facing imminent collapse, the Tongzhi Restoration gave a sigh of relief for the ailing Qing Dynasty. After the Second Opium War and gains against numerous rebellions, prominent officials started the Self-Strengthening Movement aimed at developing the economy and modernizing the military. The Movement established several projects aimed to contribute to the country’s modernization.

Zheng Guofan (November 26, 1811 – March 12, 1872) lived as an intellectual, military commander, and statesman. He fought and defeated the largest and most brutal rebellion in history. While as a statesman, he dedicated his life to his country’s revival and hoped for a better China, one capable of defending itself from imperialism.

In 1863, Yung Wing or Rong Hong, the earliest known Chinese graduate of Yale College received an invitation for a meeting with Zeng Guofan, a venerable Qing official and commander of the Hunan Army fighting the Taiping rebellion in the Yangtze Valley. Yung Wing just went from a tea district under the control of the Taiping and feared an interrogation or a reprimand, but the meeting turned out to be for an assignment to purchase machines for the future Jiangnan Arsenal – part of the Self-Strengthening Movement that Zeng supported.

Heraclitus said “There is nothing permanent except change” and it applies to life at the smallest and to society at the largest. When faced with challenges and difficulties, a change in ways seemed the correct path, but the question that follows: how to change or what to change? This question represented the Self-Strengthening Movement and its quest for the industrialization of China under the Qing Dynasty.

The Tongzhi Restoration ushered a period of stability and progress in the middle of the so-called Century of Humiliation. In this period, local officials went into the forefront of development and modernization supporting industries, education, and the military. Among these local leaders included the prominent Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan as well as the lesser-known but nevertheless influential Zhang Zhidong.