Later Life
In 1898, Zhang published his work, Exhortation to Study (劝学篇, Quàn Xué Piān). He insisted on a method of relatively conservative reform, summarized in his phrase "Chinese learning for fundamental principles and Western learning for practical application" (中学为体，西学为用, Zhōngxué Wéi Tǐ, Xīxué Wéi Yòng). In 1900, he advocated the suppression of the Boxers. When the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, Zhang, along with Li Hongzhang and others, participated in the "Mutual Defense of the Southeast" (东南互保) plan. He quelled local revolts and defeated the rebellion army of Tang Caichang. He succeeded Liu Kunyi as Viceroy of Liangjiang in 1901, and moved to Nanjing, where he laid the foundations for the modern University of Nanjing. He was appointed the Minister of Military Affairs in 1906, and worked in Beijing for the Qing Court.
He died from illness in 1909.
Read more about this topic: Zhang Zhidong
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“I know nothing which life has to offer so satisfying as the profound good understanding, which can subsist, after much exchange of good offices, between two virtuous men, each of whom is sure of himself, and sure of his friend. It is a happiness which postpones all other gratifications, and makes politics, and commerce, and churches, cheap.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“In the life of the human spirit, words are action, much more so than many of us may realize who live in countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted. The leaders of totalitarian nations understand this very well. The proof is that words are precisely the action for which dissidents in those countries are being persecuted.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)