Zheng Guanying | |
|---|---|
鄭觀應 | |
 | |
| Born | July 24, 1842 |
| Died | 1922 (aged 79–80) |
| Nationality | Qing Empire |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant reformer author |
| Known for | Chinese nationalist republican advocate |
| Zheng Guanying | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 鄭觀應 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 郑观应 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Zheng Guanying or Cheng Kuan-ying (1842–1922 or 1923) was a Chinese reformist active in the late Qing dynasty.[1] He was a proponent of fighting economic dominance by Western countries of China[2] through economic nationalism, of parliamentary representative democracy, and of women's rights.[3]
His family members resided in Macau,[4] but his birthplace was Xiangshan, Guangdong;[1] today this is the Yongmo area of Sanxiang, Zhongshan. He lived in the Mandarin's House in São Lourenço, Macau.[4]
He made a career as a comprador after moving to Shanghai at 16 years of age;[1] he previously took and failed the xiucai imperial examinations at that age;[5] he ultimately never passed any such examinations.[1] He first worked for Overweg and Company, a British firm,[5] and later for Butterfield & Swire.[1] Initially he used his funds to buy official titles. In 1879 he became a circuit intendant or daotai as an award for his community service, and he received other titles due to his service work.[6] He took night classes on the English language at the Anglo-Chinese School.[1] He began his own firm after turning 41.[1] He went back to Macau in late 1886.[4]
His employment background differed from those of other Chinese reformers of that era;[1] others had academic or government backgrounds.[3]
In the early 1870s he published essays about politics.[6]
Words of Warning to a Prosperous Age (盛世危言 shèngshì wēiyán) was published in 1893.[6]
Travels to the South, a travel log, was the result of his 1884 intelligence-gathering mission in French Indochina.[1]
Zheng's writings had an extraordinary influence, both in his own time and in later decades. Among those who acknowledge his inspiration were Mao Zedong,[7] and Lu Xun.[6]
As of 2011 most English-language journal articles discussing Zheng were published in the 1960s, and few English-language books on him existed. Beginning in the 1980s more articles about Zheng were published in Chinese.[8]
Escola Oficial Zheng Guanying, a government school in Macau, was given its current name in 2011.[9] The 160th anniversary of the birth of Zheng was held in Zhongshan in 2002.[8]
