A 700-word essay on celebrities in Liquan County

Celebrities in Liquan County

Song Bolu (1854-1932), male, with the courtesy name Zibi, also known as Zhitian and Zhidong in his later years, was a native of Shanxi Street in Liquan County. In the eleventh year of Guangxu's reign (1885), he passed the examination and won the imperial examination in the following year. Before the Reform Movement of 1898, he served as editor of the Hanlin Academy, co-examiner of the Shuntian Township Examination, deputy examiner of the Shandong Township Examination, censor of Shandong Province, censor of the Qing government's seals, and political envoy of the Beiyang government.

In 1895, when Song Bolu was serving as a Beijing official, the politics of the Qing government was very corrupt. They surrendered and compromised externally, ceded territory and paid indemnities, and brutally oppressed the people internally. Song Bolu was devastated by this reality and wrote many times asking the court to clarify the administration of officials and rectify military armaments. In 1897, after the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, he witnessed the corruption of the Qing government and the serious national crisis. Coupled with the influence of the reform ideas represented by Kang Youwei, he felt bitterly that China had no way out unless the old laws were changed. He accused those in charge of the government of "only knowing the past but not understanding the present." He loudly shouted: "Change can survive, unchanged can be reduced, total change can survive, small changes can be reduced." In the 21st year of Guangxu (1895), the news of the signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" reached Beijing, and Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao joined forces More than 1,300 people from all provinces jointly petitioned Emperor Guangxu to refuse to sign the "Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty". This move is the famous "letter on the bus" in history. In the 23rd year of Guangxu's reign (1897), France sent troops to occupy Jiaozhou Bay. Tsarist Russia and other imperialists followed one after another, and the crisis for the Chinese nation became more serious. In January 1898, Kang Youwei founded the "Cantonese Society" in Beijing. In February, Song Bolu contacted Yang Shenxiu and other people in Beijing to form the "Guan Society". In April, Kang Youwei, Song Bolu and others established the prototype of a new bourgeois political party in modern China - the "Bao Guoguo" on this basis. Since then, Song Bolu had worked closely with Kang and Liang and had frequent contacts.

When the "Hundred Days Reform" came, Song Bolu devoted himself enthusiastically to this political reform. His activities during this period mainly include the following aspects:

1. , despite the firm opposition of the die-hards, boldly proposed to learn from the Western political system and implement reforms to the feudal political system.

Song Bolu’s patriotism has a distinctive feature, that is, he believes that in order to relieve the suffering of the nation and make the country strong, we must learn from the West. He advocated changing the feudal monarchical dictatorship in China, establishing a constitutional monarchy, imitating Western parliaments, and setting up administrative offices. At the same time, it also advocates the implementation of the principle of separation of sovereignty in China and the thorough reform of local administration. Song Bolu wrote in a memorial about the establishment of a political body: "The political system of a country is especially the body of a person. The political person is like the mind, the administrative person is like the hands and feet, and the judicial person is like the ears and eyes. Each one keeps his official position, and then the body is established. ” Then he reminded the court: “As long as governments at all levels establish political and judicial institutions, people with lofty ideals and benevolence from all walks of life in the country will definitely overcome the shortcomings and make up for the shortcomings of others. In this way, we will be conservative. He will surely change his mind and eyes, change his eyes and ears, and proclaim the New Deal."

In short, he hopes to change China's political and social systems according to the models of Western countries and save the nation from danger. This reformist thought was progressive at the time.

2. In terms of ideology and culture, we strongly advocate the abandonment of stereotyped writing to recruit scholars, and impeachment should not avoid the powerful.

As soon as the "Hundred Days of Reform" kicked off, Song Bolu's contemporary reformers were the first to submit a memorial calling for the abolition of stereotyped writing, demanding that "articles emblazoned with stereotyped writing should be stopped forever." This suggestion was opposed by die-hards such as Xu Yingxuan, the Minister of Rites.

Song Bolu and Yang Shenxiu jointly wrote a letter impeaching Xu Yingxuan for "constantly stifling the atmosphere and suppressing talents. His holy will cannot be expressed, and the world is at a loss." "Those who think that being conservative will harm the country should be warned." On May 5, 1898, Emperor Guangxu issued an edict to change the examination strategy for all rural examinations, general examinations, and childbirth examinations. The conservatives "some secretly opposed this move", and some people even prepared to assassinate the reformers. However, Song Bolu was not afraid of the danger, and on May 12th, he gave his advice again, saying: "The eight-legged essay has been used to recruit scholars for thousands of years. "Conservatives have nothing to learn from anything else. Once reforms are carried out and they lose their support, there will be those who will rise up and fight for it." He believes that the reason why China's past reforms have not been carried out is because "relying on the old laws for a living and relying on bad government for food and clothing." "People are filling the world, and when there is an upheaval, they will attack in groups." He asked Emperor Guangxu to "keep perseverance and not be swayed, and issue an edict. If there is a petition to re-use the Eight-part Examination Scholar, it will be selfish and harming the country." "Flow, if it is serious, it will rebuke the revolution and lower the tone; if it is light, it will sternly issue orders. The old flames of the common people will be dissipated, and the people's hearts will be at peace." All these fully reflect Song Bolu's firm stance.

3. Strongly advocate developing the national economy as soon as possible and regaining power from the imperialist powers.

During the "Hundred Days Reform" process, Song Bolu also demanded that political reform and economic reform be organically combined and carried out simultaneously. The reason why he advocated revitalizing the national economy was first to deal with imperialist economic aggression.

In the "Please coordinate the overall situation" submitted on February 17, 1898, he lamented the situation of losing power and humiliating the country, saying, "Since the occupation of Jiaozhou, our strong neighbors have treated me as a vassal. Shanxi's railway and mining operations have been lent to Russia, and they are directly under Shandong. Shanxi invited Russia to teach them when training their troops. The reason for this is that the north is not owned by us; the Wuyue Lishe and Ying in the Yangtze River are not owned by us; the south is not owned by us; Qing also heard that Qiongzhou has been established as a legal base and Dalian Bay will be ceded to the Russians." The reason for this is It’s because China is economically backward. Therefore, he advocated sending personnel to the United States to collect tens of thousands of dollars to develop minerals, build railways, open banks, develop military industries, and establish gun factories and naval schools. Only in this way can we "protect our power and preserve our territory."

Song Bolu was an imperialist figure who made great achievements in the Reform Movement of 1898. Therefore, he is deeply hated by the die-hard rear party members. On September 21, 1898, the day Cixi launched the coup, Song Bolu was "immediately dismissed from his post and never reused" on the charge of "excessive protection of bandits, which has always been a bad reputation", and issued a wanted order. After hearing the news, Song Bolu changed his name and surname, fled to Shanghai in hiding, and lived in exile in Japan for a time. In the twenty-eighth year of Guangxu (1902), Song Bolu returned to Shaanxi. Out of jealousy, Fan Zengxiang, the Shaanxi vassal, fabricated charges and submitted a memorial to imprison Song Bolu in Huangzipo in the south of the city. In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), the new "Ili General" Chang Geng passed through Shaanxi and made an appointment with the Song Dynasty to go to Xinjiang and stayed under his tent for several years. During the Revolution of 1911, at the invitation of Zhang Yunshan, the leader of the Hong Han Army, he played a role in smoothing the conflicts between the Hong Han and Fu Han armies. In 1914, Lu Jianzhang was in charge of Shaanxi Province, and Song Bolu fled to Beijing to support himself with calligraphy and painting. In 1922, he returned to Shaanxi again, when the Shaanxi General Chronicles Bureau was established, and he was hired as the general editor. Later, the General Chronicles Hall was reorganized and he served as the director. He devoted himself to the work of "continuing the revision of Shaanxi General Chronicles" and completed it in 9 years. Song Bolu was versatile and was good at poetry, calligraphy and painting. He was known as the "Three Wonders" of poetry, calligraphy and painting. His works include "Collection of Poems of Haitangxianguan", "Burning Yucao", "Knowing Tang Sangai Lu", "Xin Taipingxuan on Calligraphy and Painting", "Xinjiang Construction Chronicle", "Jingyang New Chronicle" and more than 20 books. kind. In the 21st year of the Republic of China (1932), Song Bolu died of illness in Shizi, Tutu Temple, Xi'an, at the age of 79.