In history, modem China was a period of intense change, and in facing the changing situation, the Chinese people, in general, had reacted towards either end of the spectrum. At one end of the spectrum were people who inclined toward reform, reacting enthusiastically and positively toward the changes and making self-adjustments to get acclimated to the new situation. This had been the major trend in the development of modern Chinese history since the Westernization Movement, then the 1898 Reform Movement and finally the May 4th Movement of 1919. At the other end, the conservatives also reacted uncompromisingly against the changes, having resisted the tide of change in various ways since the Opium Wars. The intertwining and the clashing of these two historical trends had brought about dynamic development, which had been a major characteristic of modem Chinese history, However, this thesis focused mainly on probing the views and the arguments expressed by the conservatives in defending the traditional principles during a time of reform, political change and pro-westernization, basing the exploration on the critical and opposing essays collected in the Su Yu edited Yijiao congbian. It was found that, although they were against reform, they did not reject ”statecraft”, just holding a different argument from the reformists on how to revive and modernize the nation. They stressed righting a man's innerness and bettering the custom as the way to govern a country, sustaining social order on norms, dogmas and moral principles and not adhering to or following western learning blindly. They insisted that the statecraft should be based on Chinese learning in essence and complemented by western learning in practice and that achieving the goal of ”Chinese Essence Western Practice” was the best approach when faced with cross-cultural conflict between Chinese and Western cultures.