清代晚期洋务运动的“西学”是指西方的科学技术。洋务派从“西学为用”出发,引进西方技术,举办洋务活动。顽固派则从“祖宗之法不可变”出发,反对“西学为用”,严防“以夷变夏”。因此,如何对待“西学”,是否坚持“西学为用”就成为我们划分洋务派和顽固派的重要标准。那么,在这两派的对峙中,慈禧太后的态度又是如何的呢?这个问题尚是史学界研究的一个薄弱环节。本人试就这一问题谈一点看法,以期抛砖引玉。 在三十年之久的洋务运动中,洋务派举办的每一项活动几乎都遭到顽固派的反对,而慈禧太后却一贯站在洋务派一边, The Western Learning of the Westernization Movement in Late Qing Dynasty refers to Western science and technology. The Westernization School proceeded from “Western Learning”, introduced Western technology and organized Westernization activities. The die-hards, proceeding from the principle of ancestors’ immutability, oppose “learning from Western culture” and prevent “taking Yi as a summer.” Therefore, how to treat “Western learning” and adhere to the principle of “learning from the west” have become the important criteria for us to divide the Westernization and the diehards. So what is the attitude of the Empress Dowager Cixi in the confrontation between the two factions? This issue is still a weak link in the study of the historiography. I try to talk about this issue a little view, with a view to initiate. In the thirty-year-long Westernization Movement, almost every event held by the Westernizationists was opposed by the die-hards, but the Empress Dowager Cixi always stood on the side of the Westernization Movement,