But this is only part of the historical truth. Chen Qin pointed out in his book "Beiyang Times" that the description of warlord scuffle, people's sufferings and unrest is too simplistic. Chen Qin believes that in fact, in the Beiyang period, apart from the political turmoil caused by the warlord melee, there were many positive things left at that time, showing a vibrant historical feature: the Beiyang period was a transitional era of the political disintegration of the Chinese dynasty to a constitutional democratic country. At that time, China began to try democracy, the economy developed rapidly, and the concepts of democracy and science began to take root in people's hearts. The academic freedom of Tsinghua and Peking University was also established during the period of Beiyang government. It is precisely because of the tolerance and humanity of the Beiyang government that Peking University and Tsinghua in the 20th century.
Chen Qin's academic attitude of restoring dusty history in Beiyang Times tells how the first modern new army in China history was born in Beiyang Times. How the first plane made in China was born; How to produce the first 10,000-ton ship in China; The emergence and evolution of major historical events, such as the promulgation and implementation of the first democratic constitution, the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China, have shown the world a vibrant side of the Beiyang era. In these important historical narratives, we focus on how Yuan Shikai, Li, Feng, Xu Shichang, Cao Kun, Duan, Zhang and other Beiyang heroes displayed their magical powers in the dramatic period of national historical turning point and personal destiny reshuffle, and also made certain contributions to China's progress. 193 1 year, Japan launched a war of aggression against China. The Japanese invaders hoped Duan would become a puppet regime and tried their best to drive him out of the mountains, but they were strongly criticized. 1937 After the July 7th Incident, Cao Kun, who became president by bribery, was at odds with the forces of national subjugation in Japan, threatening that "even if he drank porridge every day, he would never go out to work for the Japanese." After Japan invaded China, Wu Yinjian refused to seek medical treatment from the Japanese and was killed by the Japanese on the way to seek medical treatment.
In addition to Yuan Shikai, Duan and Zhang, the book pays special attention to a little-known figure-Lian Dewu. 19 10 in June 5438+00, a great plague broke out in the northeast of China, and the powers of various countries tried to claim sovereignty over the northeast on the grounds that they were in charge of epidemic prevention alone. The epidemic is overwhelming and the powers are ambitious. At this time, Lian Dewu, MD, was ordered to rush to Fujiadian in the hardest hit area to preside over the epidemic prevention work in Northeast China. He risked his life to carry out the first human anatomy in China, and found a new plague which is one hundred times more dangerous than before-pneumonic plague which can be spread by droplets. Then, Lian Dewu drew lessons from western scientific epidemic prevention methods such as isolation, disinfection and blocking traffic to prevent disasters, and boldly wrote that the imperial court must "burn corpses" to completely stop the spread of pneumonic plague. "Burning corpse" seriously challenged the traditional ethics of China people, but the Qing government agreed to "burning corpse" with an open mind. The plague that ravaged Harbin for half a year was completely contained by the people of China, which made the world look at China with new eyes.
The Great Plague War not only successfully curbed the Japanese and Russian invaders' expansion ambitions in Northeast China, but also had historical significance in political diplomacy. At the same time, the scientific measures taken by Japanese medical workers, led by Lian Dewu, promoted the modernization of China's medical and health undertakings, especially the emergence of cremation, a new convenient and hygienic funeral method, which became the symbol of the times when people's scientific and civilized concept overcame ignorance and superstition in funeral concept. It can be seen that the free and pluralistic Beiyang era advocated new culture and civilization, and achieved revitalization and progress in humanities, science and technology to varying degrees. From this point of view, it is of great contemporary significance to reflect on the Beiyang era, as the author Chen Qin said: "It is of great significance to excavate and carry forward the humanistic spirit of freedom of thought in the Beiyang period and make this period of history in the Beiyang era re-illuminate the road of national future."