“Iron Man of Long” An Weijun and the Ching-liu Politics of Late Qing Dynasty

An WeiJun was a heroic figure in late Qing Dynasty, who was diligent in work, care about the people, brave to speak out and admonish. He not only has a relatively close personal communication with the number of Ching-liu (“清流”) group, but also maintains a high degree of similarity and consistency in terms of ideology and specific actions. Around the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895, An Weijun advised actively, corrected and punished some local officials for their improper behaviors, which also played a certain warning and deterrence role to the local forces. But An Weijun maintained the imperial power, the subjective purpose of cracking down on local forces is too strong, some memorial to the throne is far-fetched, the inherent defects of listening to rumors and outspoken style of advice eventually led to disaster for himself. Throughout the political career of An Weijun, he has a clear conscience and consciousness, but also has a clear blood and integrity, he showed the world the “iron man” Confucian scholar image. At the same time, An Weijun, like most other Ching-liu people, has narrow-minded, conservative and even pedantic side. He knew little about the new changes in the outside world. After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895, he went against the trend of the times for a long time, gradually losing his vigor of the past. An Weijun was deeply influenced by Neo-Confucianism, adhered to and pursued the ideological line of Ching-liu for most of his life. He became famous for being honest and admonition. However, in his later years, he eventually became a victims in the old age of the late Qing Dynasty. An Weijun was a typical representative of the late Ching-liu group, He had many connections with Ching-liu people in terms of social experience, contributions, shortcomings and deficiencies. By understanding the stereotyping of An Weijun’s personal image and the process of stereotyping, we can briefly recognize of the Ching-liu politics under the political situation of the late Qing Dynasty.