搁浅的富国梦——甲午战后清政府主导的第二轮开矿高潮(1895—1899)

Unfulfilled Dream for a Prosperous China: The Second Mining Tide Guided by the Qing Government after the First Sino-Japanese War,1895-1899

甲午战败使中国遭遇有史以来异常严峻的生存挑战,也刺激了清政府主导的新一轮以救亡图存、富国强兵为主旨,以经济、军事和教育改革为重心的“实政改革”。这轮改革作为联结洋务运动、“百日维新”与清末新政的过渡形态,既有与三者相通之处,又遵循着自身的运行逻辑;矿务正是此期改革中参与面和牵涉面颇广的一项。通过对此期矿政的宏观考察与个案剖析,不特可以窥知清朝高层在矿务改革中的基本态度和实质立场,了解清朝内部的思想流变、派系斗争及其行政运作的特点,展现外国列强与中外投机商对中国自办矿业的掣肘阻挠,也能揭示传统戊戌变法研究中未曾触及的更加广阔的变革场景和更为庞杂人群的状况,为全面研究甲午战后中国的改革状态及其与晚清诸改革的关联打下基础。

China was faced with serious challenge following the failure of the First Sino-Japanese War.In order to“strive for national survival”and“build a wealthy country and a strong army”,“the Practical Reform”guided by the Qing Government gave priority to the economic,military and educational reforms.The Practical Reform was a transitional one which connected the Self-strengthening Movement,Hundred Days Reform,and the New Policy in late Qing Dynasty.The Reform not only shared the similarities with the others,but also had its unique characteristics.Mining was a widely involved and participated reform.By conducting a macroscopic investigation and case study about the mining situations during that time,the author concludes the Qing Government s real stand and general attitude towards the mining reform at that time,as well as the features of the thought development,clique struggles and administrations of the Qing Dynasty.Moreover,the author reveals the strong opposition to the Chinese self-managed mining by foreign powers and unscrupulous speculators,and also shows a broader general situation of the reform and more complex relations among various players,which had never been touched in the previous studies.Therefore,this paper lays a foundation for the study of China s reform situations after the First Sino-Japanese War,as well as its relevance to the other reforms in the late Qing Dynasty.