Zhang Zhidong

Zhang Zhidong is a long historical novel by Tang Haoming following Zeng Guofan and Yang Du; it is the third and concluding work of his "Late Qing Trilogy." Set against the background of the late Qing Self-Strengthening Movement and built around Zhang Zhidong's lifelong official career, the novel portrays a contradictory figure who both revered Confucian tradition and advocated Western learning for self-strengthening. The book is divided into volumes, opening with chapters such as "Mainstay of the Qingliu" and beginning with Zhang Zhidong's days in the Qingliu party in the capital, where he discussed and criticized state affairs; it recounts his impeachment of Chonghou, his handling of the Dongxiang injustice case while serving as Sichuan education commissioner, and his subsequent appointment as Shanxi governor, where he rectified officialdom, audited treasury funds, and first encountered Western technical arts. During the Sino-French War, Zhang Zhidong firmly advocated resistance, recruited Feng Zicai from retirement, and won the great victories at Zhennanguan and Lang Son. Thereafter he served as governor-general of Liangguang and Huguang, proposed railways, supervised the construction of the Hanyang Iron Works and the Hubei Arsenal, founded modern schools, and sent students abroad, gradually becoming one of the principal representatives of the Self-Strengthening faction. The book also depicts his dealings with Li Hongzhang, Empress Dowager Cixi, Prince Chun, Prince Gong, and others, and how such great late Qing events as the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, the Hundred Days' Reform, and the Mutual Protection of the Southeast were reflected in his career. Grounded in historical research, the author uses details such as the victory at Zhennanguan, the building of the Hanyang Iron Works, and Zheng Guanying's Words of Warning in a Prosperous Age to trace Zhang Zhidong's intellectual path of "Chinese learning as substance, Western learning for application" and to present the choices and dilemmas of late Qing scholar-officials in an era of Sino-Western conflict and the interweaving of old and new. The work won the Yao Xueyin Prize for Long Historical Fiction and was selected for the ninth "Five One Project" Award.