赞赏·奖掖·疏离:李鸿章、陈兰彬因留美幼童而交往的三部曲

Appreciation,Rewards and Alienation:Li Hongzhang and Chen Lanbin’s Contact Trilogy for Children Studying in America

陈兰彬与李鸿章因选派幼童留美开始交往,有了共同利益。李鸿章对陈兰彬垂暮之年勇于督率幼童留美十分赞赏,力荐其出任驻美西秘三国使臣,促成了陈兰彬的仕途升迁、青史留名。陈兰彬监管留美幼童不力,并因错误地理解李鸿章的意图而径自奏请撤回留美幼童,致使李鸿章回天无力,导致了二人关系的疏远乃至分离。没有李鸿章作靠山,陈兰彬很快黯然离开晚清政坛。

Because of selecting children to study in the United States,Chen Lanbin and Li Hongzhang began to communicate and shared common interests.Li Hongzhang highly appreciated Chen Lanbin’ s courage to supervise and guide young children to study in the United States in his advanced years.Li Hongzhang strongly recommended Chen Lanbin to serve as the envoy of the United States,Spain and Peru,which promoted his career position and had a niche in history.Then,Chen Lanbin failed to apply his full strength to supervise children studying in the United States,and applied to withdraw the children studying in the United States because he misunderstood Li Hongzhang’s intention,which could not be saved by Li Hongzhang.Ultimately,the relationship between the two gradually alienated and eventually separated.Without Li Hongzhang as a backer,Chen Lanbin soon left the political arena of the late Qing Dynasty.