Zheng Guanying

Zheng Guanying or Cheng Kuan-ying (1842–1922 or 1923) was a Chinese reformist active in the late Qing dynasty.[1] He was a proponent of fighting economic dominance by Western countries of China[2] through economic nationalism, of parliamentary representative democracy, and of women's rights.[3]

Zheng in the 1920s
Zheng Guanying
鄭觀應
Born(1842-07-24)July 24, 1842
Died1922 (aged 7980)
NationalityQing Empire
Occupation(s)Merchant reformer
author
Known forChinese nationalist
republican advocate
Zheng Guanying
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Zheng Guanying

History

His family members resided in Macau,[4] but his birthplace was Xiangshan, Guangdong;[1] today this is the Yongmo area of Sanxiang, Zhongshan. He lived in the Mandarin's House in São Lourenço, Macau.[4]

He made a career as a comprador after moving to Shanghai at 16 years of age;[1] he previously took and failed the xiucai imperial examinations at that age;[5] he ultimately never passed any such examinations.[1] He first worked for Overweg and Company, a British firm,[5] and later for Butterfield & Swire.[1] Initially he used his funds to buy official titles. In 1879 he became a circuit intendant or daotai as an award for his community service, and he received other titles due to his service work.[6] He took night classes on the English language at the Anglo-Chinese School.[1] He began his own firm after turning 41.[1] He went back to Macau in late 1886.[4]

His employment background differed from those of other Chinese reformers of that era;[1] others had academic or government backgrounds.[3]

Works

In the early 1870s he published essays about politics.[6]

Words of Warning to a Prosperous Age (盛世危言 shèngshì wēiyán) was published in 1893.[6]

Travels to the South, a travel log, was the result of his 1884 intelligence-gathering mission in French Indochina.[1]

Legacy and scholarship

Zheng's writings had an extraordinary influence, both in his own time and in later decades. Among those who acknowledge his inspiration were Mao Zedong,[7] and Lu Xun.[6]

As of 2011 most English-language journal articles discussing Zheng were published in the 1960s, and few English-language books on him existed. Beginning in the 1980s more articles about Zheng were published in Chinese.[8]

Escola Oficial Zheng Guanying, a government school in Macau, was given its current name in 2011.[9] The 160th anniversary of the birth of Zheng was held in Zhongshan in 2002.[8]

References

  1. "Zheng Guanying 1842-1922/3." Chinese University of Hong Kong. Retrieved on 12 November 2017.
  2. "Zheng Guanying, Merchant Reformer of Late Qing China and his Influence on Economics, Politics, and Society by Guo Wu ." Cambria Press. Retrieved on 12 November 2017.
  3. Guo, Wu, p. 2.
  4. "Zheng Guanying." Mandarin's House, Cultural Affairs Bureau (Macau). Retrieved on 12 November 2017.
  5. Guo, Wu, p. 1.
  6. Davies, Gloria (Monash University). "Fragile Prosperity." China Heritage Quarterly. No. 26, June 2011. Retrieved on 12 November 2017.
  7. Pantsov, Alexander V.; Levine, Steven I. (2012). Mao: The Real Story. New York and London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-5447-9., p. 21
  8. Guo, Wu, p. 3.
  9. "Escola Zheng Guanying nega acusações de pais". Jornal Tribuna de Macau. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2017-08-15. "Confrontada com a polémica da mudança dos directores, Wu Kit disse que desde a transformação da Escola Luso-Chinesa de Tamagnini Barbosa para a Escola Zheng Guanying em 2011,[...]"

Sources

  • Guo, Wu. Zheng Guanying, Merchant Reformer of Late Qing China and his Influence on Economics, Politics, and Society. Cambria Press. May 28, 2010. ISBN 9781604977059.

Further reading

English:

Chinese:

German:

  • Kehnen, Johannes. Cheng Kuan-Ying – Unternehmer und Reformer der späten Ch'ing-Zeit. Verlag Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-447-01716-3.
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