Why did the Qing government regret sending these people to study abroad?

1. In the late Qing Dynasty, the western powers and the Qing Dynasty were not in a state of war for a long time, but more often lived in peace.

2. The late Qing Dynasty was the heyday of free trade. Businessmen and intellectuals feel a little beyond national boundaries. In countries where there is no absolute confrontation, business and cultural exchanges are rapid and fast, and are less affected by national boundaries.

3. In the late Qing Dynasty, although big countries competed with each other, trade was open and commercial and cultural exchanges were convenient. It was not until the provocation of Germany before World War I that the door of free communication was closed.

For example, in the late Qing Dynasty, there were almost no passports, let alone visas. They believe that the free movement of population can strengthen communication. The number of immigrants in this era is terrible. Americans proposed the Chinese Exclusion Act because of the influx of immigrants from China. On the contrary, it is not easy for foreigners to come to China. The Qing government had strict control over foreigners, and there were regulations on how many provinces to go to. /kloc-At the end of 0/9, two foreign missionaries wanted to go to Xinjiang and stayed in Gansu for three months.

In addition, more people went to study in the United States in the late Qing Dynasty. Britain is the most powerful and advanced capitalist country and the only country that has completed the industrial revolution. Its colonies are all over the world, and it is called the empire that never falls. France is the second power after Britain, and the industrial revolution is coming to an end. Germany was in a state of decentralized separatism at that time, and the kingdom of Prussia began to appear; Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, the development of capitalism began to enter the fast lane, and the territorial expansion continued and was not perfect. In Russia, there are quite a few feudal remnants on the road of capitalist development. The Meiji Restoration in Japan has just begun.

It should be said that judging from the gains determined by the level of development, the destinations of international students are Britain and France. But the problem is that Britain invaded China twice, and France was also an accomplice in the Second Opium War. It was hard for ministers in the Qing Dynasty to accept it, and they were also worried that their children would study and live there. Germany, Russia and Japan were also rejected because of the situation and related factors, leaving only the United States as the right side.

Although the status of the United States in the world at that time could not be compared with today, it may even be difficult to enter the top five of the world powers. However, since China was forced to open to the outside world, the United States did not directly invade China, but showed great goodwill and left a good impression on the Qing government. Among them, the first American envoy to China, Pu, was even unsuccessful after leaving office. Li Hongzhang and others were hired as the first group of diplomatic envoys to go abroad. The Puanchen Treaty he signed with the United States not only did not include naked land cession and compensation, but also clearly stipulated that China's sovereignty should be supported, which was equal and reciprocal in principle. Although the Pu-Chen An Treaty was later considered as an act of ultra vires by the government of the Prime Minister, it was finally recognized and strengthened their goodwill towards the United States.

While winning the favor of the ministers of the Qing court, The Treaty of Puanchen also stipulated: "In the future, if China people want to enter American official schools and study all kinds of literature and art, they must take photos and give preferential treatment to people in the best countries ... Americans should study all kinds of literature and art in China's official schools, and also take photos to give preferential treatment to people in the best countries." It provided a legal basis for China students to enter American schools, which was unmatched by other countries at that time.

In addition, the micro-historical progress in the early days of studying abroad in modern times also took care of the United States. 1847, Pastor Brown took three children to study in America. A few years later, one of them, Yung Wing, received a bachelor's degree from Yale University in the United States, and the other, Huang Kuan, moved to Britain and graduated from the Department of Medicine of Edinburgh University. Although Huang Kuan's academic qualifications and academic ability are better than Yung Wing's, Yung Wing's ambition and persistence in promoting future generations to study abroad are far from Huang Kuan's. After returning home, he has been committed to sending more students to study abroad, and even gradually influenced his views on Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and other influential officials in the late Qing Dynasty. In this way, Hong Rong, the representative of American education, gained the upper hand in the early competition between the United States and Europe for talents studying abroad, which became a more direct reason for deciding the country to study abroad.

In this case, when Empress Dowager Cixi approved Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Ding Richang to "choose smart young children and send them to colleges in western Thailand to study military and political affairs, ship administration, step calculation and manufacturing" and planned to start studying for young children, the late Qing government naturally chose the United States as the dispatching place for the first batch of official students, so there was what Zeng Guofan later said, "China's solid move is unprecedented."