Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2017 | Page 54

One of the exemplars of a Confucianism influenced individual would be Pan Yunduan, the
builder of the finest garden, Yu Yuan, in the Ming dynasty. He clearly declared that his intention of
building a garden within the city wall was an expression of filial piety. He allocated all his wealth and
dedicated his mind to create a perfect place for his parents to enjoy their leisure at their old age. He
bought many fields and hired Zhang Nanyang, a leading expert for laying rockeries at the time, to
beautify the garden. Despite squandering all his revenue and putting his family in severe debt, his
dedication to the elderly not only shaped a decent role model for the later generations, but his Yu Yuan
became a landmark for the old city of Shanghai, enhancing an appreciable amount of income generated
by tourism.
Xu Guangqi, a member of the elite Hanlin Academy in Beijing, was another exemplar of a
supporter of Confucianism, he later ascended to become the Grand Secretary of the Qing Empire. Xu
Guangqi was a staunch advocate of Confucian doctrines, a committed intellectual and an enthusiastic
publisher of new ideas. He had a great pleasure meeting friends who came from foreign countries as
what Confucius suggested. He was a friend, colleague and collaborator of the Italian Jesuits, Matteo
Ricci and Sabatino de Ursis. He was highly interested in Western civilized culture, particularly its
advanced scientific and technological theories, and was fully receptive to the European learning. He
worked with Ricci and translated many great pieces of Western scientific publication to Chinese; the
most famous of these works was Euclid’s Elements. Due to this, Xu Guangqi greatly influenced China
in the fields of agricultural science, astronomy, mathematics, geography and Christianity. His hard work
on introducing foreign knowledge to China was a prelude for the Westernisation and
self-strengthening movement in the Qing dynasty.
The late Qing Dynasty witnessed a plethora of “turning points” in Chinese history. After the
two Opium Wars, the British made Shanghai one of the six open ports in 1843. In the mid-1700s,
Britain was going through the Industrial Revolution. Although industrialization improved human
welfare and longevity, it effectively sharpened the British capitalists’ appetite for more resources and
wealth. Searching for more opportunities, they found tha