"Riverside Resentment" describes a period after the first year of Tongzhi, China Takayama Shinji. Of course, the propaganda direction of this "traitor" film is mainly about "China and Japan are one family", and we are brothers fighting against foreign colonists and other distorted historical views.
The author mentioned this film here, mainly to talk about Takayama Shinsuke.
Takayama Shinsuke is one of the leaders who asked the Japanese captaincy to make a curtain call in Changzhou. 186 1 year, he did visit China. The main purpose is to investigate the present situation of China after the western colonialists forcibly opened its ports and closed their doors, and to collect the information of Taiping Army at that time. When Takayama Shinsuke saw China, it was no longer the original China, but a westerner was bullying, a large number of China people were smoking opium, and China's elegant demeanor no longer existed. At the same time, he pointed out: "The trend of Shanghai can be described as a dependency of Britain!"
After Takayama Shinzo returned to Nagasaki, he felt a sense of crisis and initialled an agreement with the Dutch to buy warships on behalf of the vassal, which was not only rejected by the vassal, but also once became a laughing stock. The next month, he explained the situation in China in detail, while mediating the integration of Japanese government and martial arts, and then went to Edo, and soon took part in the closing movement.
Having said that, in fact, most of my friends should understand why I want to introduce Takayama Shinzo's experience. The Meiji Restoration in Japan was not an isolated event, nor was it a vigorous restoration movement from top to bottom at the behest of the Emperor. In fact, it is fundamentally different from China's Reform Movement of 1898.
After entering Edo, Japan broke away from the US Navy and forced Japan to sign a series of unequal trade treaties. These treaties were signed under the auspices of the Tokugawa shogunate, so from 65438+60 years in 2009, the Tokugawa shogunate became the object of Japanese social crusade, and the most serious crisis in the Tokugawa era followed.
Japan's feudal camp split, and the middle and lower samurai demanded reform and became an innovative force, calling for respecting the king and resisting foreign countries. These people are mainly concentrated in several powerful southwestern vassal States of Japan, such as Changzhou, Satsuma, Tosa and Feiqian. Representative figures are Yoshida Shōin, Takayama Nobuyuki, Kubo Junyi, Saigō Takamori and others.
Respecting the king and resisting the foreign countries is a bit like what the Reform Movement of 1898 wrote on the bus, demanding that the power be returned to the emperor and that reforms be launched to realize the country's prosperity. This is somewhat similar to Kang Youwei and others who advocated the reform of Guangxu Emperor relying on real power.
Then the vigorous movement of "respecting the king and rejecting the foreign countries" finally failed, so the ending movement began based on Changzhou, Satsuma, and Feiqian, and the Chen Wu War broke out at the same time. Finally, the shogunate fell, and the four vassals respected the king and unified Japan, which made Japan embark on the road of Meiji Restoration.
The Meiji Restoration in Japan was not a moderate change, but a new government was re-established on the basis of overthrowing a regime. It marks the end of the shogunate era, the fragmentation of vassal States and the transformation of the four major vassal States in southwest China from feudal lords to central forces.
At that time, the Reform Movement of 1898, even if Guangxu had real power, Cixi would not obstruct it, or simply hang up, and the reform could not succeed. When Japan ended, the Qing Dynasty was also in the Westernization Movement. However, the Westernization Movement was only a movement to introduce western ideas and technologies on the basis of the original political system, and its role was limited.
If the old government system is not completely terminated, then political reform cannot succeed. Shang Yang's political reform in Qin was also realized on the premise of eliminating the great and small monarchs. If the Reform Movement of 1898 is to succeed, it should at least end the 200-year national policy of "advocating Manchuria first", so that the whole empire can have equal ethnic policies and win the support of the middle and lower classes to resist the obstruction of the upper vested interests.
But this is only the basic requirement. Scholars may support reform, but reform cannot bring tangible benefits to most people. Actually, it's just an armchair strategist, a castle in the air.
The success of Meiji Restoration lies in rallying the strength of the middle and lower samurai civilians, liberating them from the feudal system, and enabling them to gain certain benefits, thus achieving success.
At that time, in the Qing Dynasty with a population of 40 million, how many people knew about political reform and how many people understood what constitutional monarchy was?