包世臣与嘉道时期的禁烟和抗英斗争

包世臣对鸦片之害有较为深刻的认识,早在嘉庆二十五年(1820),他就论述过鸦片引起的社会问题.就他对鸦片问题的认识来看有两点值得重视:一是他最早认识到鸦片泛滥造成的白银大量外流是引起银贵钱贱、物价上涨的重要原因;二是他虽然主张通过"撤关罢税"严禁鸦片,但他并不主张断绝与外国的一切往来.他也是鸦片战争前当朝野上下都还做着"天朝上国"的美梦时极少数留心夷务、关注夷情的思想家.鸦片战争爆发后,他积极为当局出谋划策,承认"英夷"有"战舰"和"火器"的"长技",并先于魏源提出了类似于"师夷之长技以制夷"的主张.他还主张利用人民群众的力量来抵抗英军侵略,反对签订丧权辱国的《南京条约》.鸦片战争结束后,他对中国失败的原因进行了总结,认为既不是船炮,也不是军民,而是那些愚昧无知、自毁长城的清朝统治者应对战争的失败负责.

Bao Shi-chen and the prohibition against opium and anti-British war in Jia-Dao period

Bao Shi-chen has deep understanding of opium's harm,and he had dissertated on the social problems caused by opium as early as in 1820(Jia Qing 25).As to his understanding of opium problem,there are two points worth paying attention to.Firstly,he is the first one who realized silver's outflow led by opium trade was an important reason for price rising and "silver expensive and coin cheap" condition.Secondly,though he suggested prohibiting opium through retracting the customs and refusing to pay duties,he didn't acclaim to sever all the connections with foreign countries.Before Opium War,he was the one of few ideologists who cared about the foreign affairs when the government officials and the common people were all in the dream of Celestial Empire of China.After the war broke up,he put forward the assertion like "learning merits from the foreign to conquer the foreign" before Wei Yuan,suggested resisting the aggression of British army using the strength of the masses and opposed signing Nanking Treaty that humiliated the nation and forfeited its sovereignty.After the war ended,he summed up the reasons of China's failure.He considered the ones that should take responsibility for this failure are not the warships or the soldiers,but the fatuous Qing governors who destroyed themselves.