[Collection Name]: Rectification of the Imperial Examination Paper for Ship Administration and Discussion

[Collection Age]: Late Qing Dynasty

[Collection size]: 127 centimeters horizontally and 31 centimeters vertically

This collection is an old collection of the Hai'an City Museum and contains the imperial examination papers of the late Qing Dynasty. The overall appearance of the collection is complete, with no gaps in the unified scroll. The handwriting is in the style of the imperial examination standard pavilion. Although it has been a hundred years, it is still neat and beautiful, and the strokes are magnificent. The content of the book is the opinions of students at that time on the late Qing Dynasty's shipbuilding, foreign trade, and national coastal defense. They believed that China could follow the example of the West in using commerce to raise troops, military commerce to exchange funds, and the prosperity of the people in order to make the country prosperous and strong. At the end of the test paper, there is a marking annotation that reads "Taking the essence and using broad words to be more objective". This collection has high historical value and literary appreciation value.

Shipbuilding Culture

In the mid to late 19th century, imperialism intensified the process of dividing China, and the national crisis became increasingly severe. Wise people are all heartbroken and actively seek ways to enrich the country and strengthen the military. Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan's idea of "learning from foreigners to control them" was the first to open up the atmosphere independently, and the Westernization Movement followed.

In the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1866), the Governor General of Zhejiang and Fujian, Zuo Zongtang, approved the establishment of the Shipbuilding Administration, which was located in Mawei, Fujian. The first Minister of Shipbuilding, Shen Baozhen, took over the position. The shipbuilding administration was directly under the central government, with bureaus established for shipbuilding, talent cultivation, and naval construction. The shipbuilding industry drew inspiration from Western learning and emphasized both shipbuilding and talent cultivation, ultimately becoming the cradle of China's modern industry and navy.