容闳是一位杰出的爱国志士,也是一位西学东渐的思想家。过去,在极左思潮的泛滥下,有的学者将他说成是“中国封建统治集团中洋务派的重要角色。”甚至贬斥为买办洋奴。这实在是对先辈思想家的一种罪过。马克思主义告诉我们:评价历史人物,“判断历史的功绩,不是根据历史活动家没有提供现代所要求东西,而是根据他们比他们的前辈提供了新的东西。”容闳的爱国思想和救国实践,是近代中国进步知识分子的缩影。他的思想具有鲜明的时代性和超前性,他在近代中国思想界的地位和作用,是不容置疑的,也是任何人无法抹杀得了的。 Rong Yung is an outstanding patriot and a thinker who has made his studies in the West. In the past, with the spread of the ultra-leftist ideology, some scholars described him as “an important role played by the Western school in the feudal ruling clique of China.” They even denigrated themselves as buying sailors. This is really a sin on the advanced thinkers. Marxism tells us: to appraise the historical figures, “judging the merit of history is not based on the fact that the historical activists did not provide what is required of the present, but on what they provided new things over their predecessors.” Rong Yung’s patriotic thinking and national salvation practice , Is a microcosm of modern Chinese progressive intellectuals. His thought has distinct characteristics of the times and the advanced nature. His position and role in modern Chinese thought circles are indisputable and can not be denied by anybody.