Zhang Zhidong

Zhang Zhidong (born Sept. 2, 1837, Xingyi, Guizhou province, China—died Oct. 4, 1909) was a Chinese classicist and provincial official, one of the foremost reformers of his time.

Zhang was born to a family of scholar-officials in Xingyi, Guizhou province, but, in accordance with Chinese custom, he was considered native to Nanpi (in present-day Hebei) province, where his ancestors had settled in the 15th century. He was unusually precocious as a student, passing his first-level civil service examinations at the age of 13 and all of the examinations by the time he was 26. His literary talent and the fame he won from it were the foundations on which his career rested.

Zhang’s experience as an official fell into two broad phases: from 1862 to 1882 he was a scholar and educational director, and from 1882 to 1907 he rose steadily from a provincial to a national leader. Politically he was a supporter of the dowager empress, Cixi, who in turn favoured him with many promotions. Appointed governor of Shanxi near the end of 1881, he became governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi in 1884. He was transferred to Hunan and Hubei in 1889 and remained in that post for 18 years, including three spent on missions to Nanjing and Beijing. In 1907 he was summoned to the court to become a grand secretary and grand councillor.

Apart from being a capable and benevolent administrator, Zhang was deeply concerned with the rejuvenation of China. His life nearly spanned the period from the Opium Wars to the Chinese Revolution of 1911–12, an era of unprecedented pressures on China from the West and from Japan. The most pressing problem that Zhang and other officials faced was how China might survive and adapt itself to the modern world. In the search for a solution, Zhang retained his faith in the traditional Chinese system but urged the acquisition of Western knowledge. As his conception of the latter changed, so did the stress of his programs, but in his basic stand he never wavered.

It was for defense reasons that he launched the first iron-and-steel works in China. In his total ignorance of metallurgical intricacies, Zhang ordered a complete smelting plant from England, without knowing what ore would be available. He also failed to locate the plant near a coal-mining area. Consequently, the works incurred severe losses after production began in 1894. The debacle exposed Zhang to ridicule and placed him in political jeopardy.

Zhang’s transfer to Hunan and Hubei was occasioned by his proposal to build a railway from Hankou to a point near Beijing. Giving its assent, the court also appointed Zhang in charge of the construction. After a long delay the line was completed in 1906. Meanwhile, Zhang had set about industrializing the territory under his jurisdiction. Among the industries he founded were a mint, tanneries, tile and silk factories, and paper, cotton, and woollen mills. While on temporary duty in Nanjing, he trained a new army with the assistance of German instructors.

In 1895 China fought against Japan and lost, thus demonstrating the ineffectiveness of its previous reforms. This setback turned Zhang’s attention to education and China’s need for better trained bureaucrats. In 1898 he published his famous Quanxuepian (“Exhortation to Learning”), in which he reaffirmed his faith in Confucianism but detailed the measures needed for the acquisition of Western knowledge: study abroad by Chinese students, establishment of a school system, translation of Western and Japanese books, and acquisition of knowledge from foreign newspapers. Accordingly, schools, newspapers, and translation bureaus were established in Hubei, and students were sent abroad to study; in 1908 the province supported 475 students in Japan and 103 in Western countries.

At the national level Zhang was charged, in 1904, with the task of drafting regulations for the entire school system. As submitted and approved six months later, the regulations, eight volumes long, dealt with all aspects of education—including basic principles, administration, curricula, study abroad, vocational training, and structures of kindergartens and research academies. Zhang repeatedly urged the abolition of the civil service examinations, and this was done in 1905. Largely through Zhang’s persistent efforts, the number of schools and students in China increased 73 and 225 times, respectively, between 1904 and 1909.

A striking feature of Zhang’s career was his immunity to major political setbacks. Perhaps the severest test of his political sagacity occurred during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. He was faced, as a loyal official, with the prospect of disobeying the imperial edict declaring war on foreign nations. After consultation with other governors, Zhang decided that this decree should not be obeyed because it did not represent the true intention of the throne. Accordingly, Zhang and other officials maintained peace in their territories by concluding an agreement with the foreign consuls. As the Boxers collapsed, this action was endorsed and praised by the dowager empress.

Zhang was married three times, but all his wives died early. He had six sons and four daughters. In spite of his long tenure of office, he amassed no personal fortune and was not even well-to-do—he pawned his belongings once, when he was a governor-general. He was canonized as Wenxiang (“Learned and Accomplished”), a coveted posthumous title.