Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society (Volume 1) [1 ed.] 9789814332583, 9789814332170

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SILKROAD PRESS

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society Volume 1 Extensive and profound, speculative and deep, the series embodies decades of effort by the famous historian, Chen Xulu. This book not only examines the changes in the economic and political structure of modern society, but also explores the evolution of urban and rural grassroots organizations as well as the social changes provoked by unequal treaties. It studies the internal and external factors in social change in modern China. It discusses changes in political ideology, philosophy and literature, and analyzes the change in social attitudes under the influence of the United States and Europe.

AUTHOR

Chen Xulu (1918–1988) graduated from the Department of History and Sociology, East China Normal University and served the university as Associate Professor. After the founding of People's Republic of China, he served as Deputy Director of the History Department, Director of the Graduate Division, and Vice Provost and Professor of East China Normal University; he was a member of the Editorial Board and Division Editor of the Ci Hai Encyclopedia, and the first Vice President of the Research Society of Modern Chinese History. He published over one hundred scientific research papers and books such as 1911 Revolution and Metabolism of Modern China’s Society.

Metabolism of Modern CHINESE Society Volume 1

Tracking the Evolution of Modern Chinese Society

Metabolism of Modern ChinESE Society volume 1

Chen Xulu

Modern Chinese Studies

Chen Xulu SILKROAD PRESS

SILKROAD P R E S S

Metabolism of Modern ChinESE Society volume 1 Chen Xulu

Published by Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited 16L, Enterprise Road, Singapore 627660 Website: www.enrichprofessional.com A Member of Enrich Culture Group Limited Hong Kong Head Office: 2/F, Rays Industrial Building, 71 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China Beijing Office: Rm 1108A, Culture Plaza, No. 59 Zhongguancun St., Haidian District, Beijing, China Trademarks: SILKROAD PRESS and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited and/or its affiliates in Singapore and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. English edition © 2013 by Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited Chinese original edition © 2008 China Renmin University Press Translated by Wang Hong and Shao Qinghua All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without prior written permission from the Publisher. ISBN (Hardback)

978-981-4332-17-0

ISBN (ebook)

978-981-4332-58-3 (pdf)



978-981-4332-59-0 (epub)

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Contents Preface

vii 1

Chapter 1

A Long History of Feudal Society

Chapter 2

The East and the West

19

Chapter 3

Decline of the Qing Dynasty

35

Chapter 4

Rocked by Cannons

51

Chapter 5

The Tragedy and Comedy of the Taiping Kingdom

65

Chapter 6

Twelve Years After

87

Chapter 7

A Small Step towards Modernization

103

Chapter 8

The Evolution of Urban and Rural Society

123

Chapter 9

The Japanese Approaching

141

Chapter 10

Philosophy of Changeability and Immutability

161

Chapter 11

Gengzi Event and Xinchou Treaty

175

Chapter 12

Assault of the European and American Storms

203

Notes

219

Glossary

239

References

243

Index

255

Preface Over two years have gone by since Mr. Chen Xulu, my dear friend, passed away. His book Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society will soon be published posthumously by the Shanghai People’s Publishing House after the reorganization work done by his students. This is a major contribution to Chinese academic circles. Reading the book reminded me of many things. His smile and words came back to my mind and I clearly recalled the time when we walked and chatted at the riverside of Liwa on campus. We agreed that it would be better for us to live a life of our own, yet at the same time we could give all that we had to each other in time of poverty and hardships. This was a long-lasting friendship which I will keep in my heart forever. Out talks were wide-ranging with the major focus on academic issues. Xulu majored in History and I in Philosophy. However, it was the difference that enhanced our exchange of views. I observed that the source of philosophical evolution came from social history; he believed that philosophical speculation is the key to unlock the law of historical evolution. Therefore we often consulted each other with questions in our research and thinking. This kind of free discussion enabled us to probe deeper into the questions with the help of the inspiration and doubts from the other party. In the summer of 1987, after completing The Revolutionary Development of Chinese Modern Philosophy , I asked Xulu to go through the manuscript and accepted most of his valuable advice. He said that he would also ask me to go through his book after he completed Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society for my advice. I never expected that on December 1, 1988, he would leave behind his manuscript which he had worked on for several decades with painstaking labor in such an abrupt way. Now I have fulfilled my promise of reading the manuscript. But it will be such a pity in my life that I cannot talk it over with him! Next, I would like to focus my “reflection” on “historical knowledge”. Liu Zhiji held that a historian should possess talent, knowledge and insight. It is rare for one to possess all three qualities; however, I can assert that Xulu was such a three-quality historian, which is testified to by Metabolism . The book integrates history with a view to stating the law of modern social metabolism with a concise analysis of historical facts. Its vivid and appealing language style shows that combination of talent, knowledge and insight. Among the three qualities, the most important is naturally historical insight. Xulu said, “Historical

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insight is the eyes of historical research.” He also said, “Don’t be confused by the appearance and don’t be fooled by commentators. One needs a pair of eyes

for historical research only.” It is because of his insightful eyes for historical research that he could reveal the essential connections hidden beneath historical phenomena and create such a brilliant book with such excellent content and language. How can we acquire such a pair of insightful eyes? The prerequisite is “demasking (an expression from Xunzi and Dai Zhen).” Only though demasking can thinking be liberated so as to see through the reality in history with bright insight. Xulu said, “the liberation of thinking is the practice of democracy 1

to yourself.” What does this mean? Democracy means that individuals take charge of their own destiny. Academically, the democratic attitude is to liberate thinking, control our own destiny and respect ourselves as well as others. With this democratic attitude, thinking will not be fettered, eyes will not be veiled, and history will be written with the real conscience of a historian. If we tell the truth, discuss with freedom, seek the truth from the facts, then history will become a real science. However, in the field of Chinese modern history study, there has been something which has veiled our eyes and fettered our thinking, and therefore, “demasking” is urgently needed. Since the 1950s scholars studying modern history have formed a framework with class struggle as its axis and three revolution climaxes, the Taiping Rebellion, Boxer Rebellion, and Xinhai Revolution, as its main lines. This framework reflects the level of modern Chinese study at a certain stage, yet it has also become a kind of fetter because of its lack of development for too long. Just as Xulu pointed out, more than two hundred historical books have been compiled within this kind of framework “with variations in weight and size. But they have failed to show any difference in style and personality. The three often-quoted revolutionary climaxes were not necessarily such complete revolutionary climaxes as people thought. This will enable the recognition of historical materialism and enable us to look for new clues outside of the accepted framework of the Taiping Rebellion, Boxer Rebellion and Xinhai Revolution.” Metabolism is the product of the author ’s efforts to liberate his thinking and abandon the rigid fetters in the search of new and vivid clues. It contains a leap in “historical insight.” The simplification and absolutization of class struggle (political struggle) are overcome without the complete forsaking of class viewpoint and class analysis. It is a study which fully follows the theory of historical materialism and connects the facts of class struggle with the evolution of modes of production. The authors thought that, compared with the static 2

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and clotted Chinese society in ancient times, modern Chinese society was in a state of dynamic and fast metabolism comparing with the realization of reforms through self-renewal in Western countries from the Middle Ages to modern times. The metabolism in modern Chinese society was mainly caused by the impact from outside forces, which in turn was transformed from an extrinsic into an intrinsic force and propelled national conflicts and class antagonism. This was manifested by a series of reforms and indirect and zigzagging development of the new from discarding the old (that is, the development of democracy from feudalism). Therefore the evolution of modern Chinese society was distinctive, which should be illustrated by the concrete and deep study into social structure, social life and social consciousness. In this book, which concerns social structure, the author observes not only the revolutionary changes in economic and political structure but also the modern changes in rural social organizations and guilds in cities and towns; concerning social life, he studied not only changes in the basic necessities of material life but also the closely related issue of population as well as the changes in social customs and habits caused by political revolutions and extrinsic influences; concerning social consciousness, he discusses not only changes in political thoughts, philosophy and literature, but also different social mentalities under European and American influences, which is reflected in the changes of linguistic structure. With multi-aspect and multi-level research, the gist of the book (Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society ) is illustrated with rich and colorful content, and the author’s historical insight is vividly displayed with his profound learning and sociability. By entitling the book Metabolism , the author meant to explore the dialectics in modern Chinese history. He mentions many times in the book the use of “dialectic thinking,” and “that it is difficult to explain the nature without dialectic thinking and historicism”, which indicates that he was a historian who consciously used dialectics as “the eyes of historical study.” For example, his analysis of the “adoption of Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism,” his study of revolutions and reforms, patriotism and betrayal, invasion and progress in modern Chinese history, his observation of the double functions of the hui dang (Secret Societies 會黨) in modern history, all shine with the spirit of dialectics. Concerning some of the above issues, a separate article he wrote has been published and exerted wide influence. The essence of dialectics lies in the concrete analysis of concrete conditions. The events mentioned in the book, whether they are major historical events (such as the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion and the New Culture Movement) or ordinary incidents in life (queue cutting, anti-foot binding and the abolishing of kowtow in the

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Xinhai Revolution), are all concretely analyzed under their respective historical conditions. As to the characters, no matter what roles they played, he does not give them political labels, but depicts them as lifelike individuals through concrete analysis. For example, his portrayal of Ye Mingchen who “refused to fight, defend or make peace; refused to die, surrender or escape” in Chapter 6; his analysis of the three types of attitudes towards the confrontation between China and the West; and his description of the pains of the Kuomintang and Progressive Party members after the failure of the Second Punitive War in Chapter 18. His vivid portrayal of these characters reminds the readers of the rhetorical styles of Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian ) and the Han Shu (Book of Han) . When concluding the New Culture Movement in Chapter 19, the author wrote, “For the past 80 years, starting from ‘shi yi zhi chang ji yi zhi yi’ (acquire foreign technology to compete with foreigners 師夷之長技以制夷) to ‘zhong ti xi yong ’ (adopt Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism 中體西用), to ‘freedom, equality and fraternity’, Chinese people finally moved on to democracy and science. During the transition, Chinese people came to understand the world as well as themselves; every step was accompanied by the conflict between the old and the new, between China and the West.” These marked the major milestones in the transition of cultural ideology of Chinese intellectuals since 1840, formed the dialectic clues of development for the cultural struggle between the ancient and the modern, China and the West, and the old and the new, and signified the gradual progress of the Chinese people towards modernization. Through difficult exploration, they finally realized that democracy and science are the goals of and only way to the complete modernization of Chinese culture. Thus, “Chinese people came to understand the world as well as themselves.” Historical insight is essential in this process of understanding the world. It is necessary to take a historical view at each step in the development of cultural ideology, while every historical view has its own metabolism. From Wei Yuan’s proposition to “acquire foreign technology to compete with foreigners” to the early reformists in Westernization Movement, the core idea was that “specific strategies may be changed, but not the ideals,” and the solution is to “adopt Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism.” They searched for a basis for the replacement of the obstinate Royalists’ theory of metaphysical immutability by Western learning. In terms of historical changeability, they insisted, quoting Yi Jing (The Book of Changes) , that “when left with no way to go, changes will take place, the way will be open, and it will continue long.” When it came to the Reform Movement of 1898, Kang Youwei improved the historical changeability in Gongyang’s

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Theory of Three Phases into historical evolutionism; Yan Fu criticized the idea of “adopt Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” and introduced Western evolutionism systematically into China. Later, Chinese intellectuals from both the reformists and revolutionaries groups advocated evolutionism in terms of historical development. They believed that historical evolution is oriented towards the establishment of an ideal society of “freedom, equality and fraternity.” The proponents of the New Culture Movement held high the banners of democracy and science. They were once evolutionists; but they later divided. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were the first to convert to Marxism. Marxism explains social awareness with the concept of social existence, and uses the contradictory interaction between productivity and production relations to illustrate the evolutionary process of society and history. As a result, the requirements of democracy and science were placed on the basis of historical materialism. So, connected with the above-mentioned development clues of cultural awareness, the historical view also went through a dialectic development from historical changeability to evolutionism and finally to historical materialism. After the May Fourth Movement, Chinese intellectuals observed the destiny of our country from the perspective of historical materialism, and promoted the change from old-democracy to new-democracy. This was the “historical choice” made by the Chinese (hence the title of the last chapter). The term “modern China” as used by Xulu refers to the historical period from 1840, when the Opium War began, to 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded. This period is divided into two stages, split by the May Fourth Movement in 1919, and lasted for 80 and 30 years respectively. The book covers mainly the metabolism of Chinese history in the first 80 years, with only a few pages in the last chapter for the following 30 years. Xulu had planned to cover 110 years but he passed away before completing it. What was left was the draft for the first 80 years. Although he had edited many books and had written many articles on the second stage, it was still such a pity that he couldn’t finish a systematic account before he left us. A piece of truly valuable academic work can be appreciated from different angles. For tomorrow’s scholars, the only way to exceed it is to go through it. I believe Metabolism to be such a book, and that its publication will benefit the readers greatly. I am also looking forward to the day when it is surpassed by younger historians. Feng Qi May, 1991

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1

Chapter

A Long History of Feudal Society

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Modern society originated from ancient society. The chronology of history lies in its continuity. Only through comparison with the ancient society’s politics, economy, cultural structure related lifestyles and customs, can the changes toward modern society be recognized. According to its current usage, the term “ancient history” includes both the history of the Ancient Era and of the Imperial Era. However, it is the medieval feudal society that is directly connected modern times. Therefore, in order to depict the network of changes in modern society, we have to give a general picture of the outline of the Chinese feudal society.

The Long Spiral China has a long history of feudal society compared with most Western countries. This can be seen from the two following points: In terms of time span, Western feudal society lasted for 1164 years: from AD 476, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, to 1640, the end of the British Revolution. But for China, the calculation is more complicated. There are at least three opinions as to when did the feudal society begin. The first sets the starting point in the year 476 BC, during the transition period between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period; the next sets it in 365 BC, When Shangyang helped Duke Xiao of Qin to accomplish the legal reform; the last sets it in 221 BC, when Qin Shi Huang unified China. These opinions are all well-grounded, though personally I prefer the first one. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, sharp changes in the economic base as well as the superstructure fully illustrated the transition of social formation. Nevertheless, no matter which point we start from, China’s feudal history lasted for more than two thousand years, which is twice the length of Western feudal history. If one starts with the Western Zhou Dynasty, then the length would be over three thousand years. In terms of historical progress, the victory of the British Revolution in 1640 marked the replacement of feudalism by capitalism in the West, creating a new era in world history. China was in the late Ming and early Qing period at that time. The old feudal dynasty fell in the hands of rebelling peasants, and the cavalry of the Manchurian nobles swept across China, establishing a new feudal dynasty on the ruins of war. The complicated mixture of class and ethnic conflicts had left countless bloodstains. Documentary literature at that time such as Hukouyusheng Ji (The Narrow Escape ), Bian Wei Shijin Lu (Journal of Tears in Bianliang ), Yangzhou shiri ji (The Ten-Day Massacre in Yangzhou) , Jiading Tucheng Jilue (Massacre in Jiading ) still stun readers with their records

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of cruel killings. Yet these changes only affected the lives of individuals and the fate of a dynasty; history itself still moves on in the old spiral slowly. In the two hundred years between 1640 and 1840, Western countries have developed to the point that “Subjection of Nature’s forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, steam-navigation, railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation, canalisation of rivers, whole populations conjured out of the ground — what earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour?”1 In comparison, China at that time had remained the same: thousands of peasants toiled in the fields and bearing the burden of scholars, who chanted their praise of the prosperity in ancient times of Emperors Yao and Shun and indulged in loud and empty talk of ancient texts and morality. On the one hand: As the cuckoo singing hastens ploughing of the land, peasants sigh in sadness. No grain or plough is left at home because of the heavy taxes. The merchants make profits in the market and peasants have to borrow usury. To make a living, they have to first satisfy the demand of government officials. The golden paddies are in the field and a bumper harvest is to be expected. But the merchants are collecting debts before the rice is reaped and stored.

On the other hand:

There are many wealthy people in Chang’an and they own vast land. They are not big merchants, but new government officials. Flaunting their riches, even their servants are arrogant. They get promotion by the court soon after their back-door dealings. They are appointed as regional leaders with great power in their hands. Common people learn in fear that great power is bought by great wealth.2

The old world was moving from maturity into slow decay. Even after 1840, China had failed to develop capitalism; instead it developed into an abnormal society, proving that without a qualitative change in social formation, history can only move in circles. Since the 1930s, the lengthy continuation of China’s feudal society has more than once caused thinking and debates among her people. Opinions vary on this topic, which is normal and perhaps constructive for the society. However, only with analysis and synthetic study of social structure can the outline of a society truly be illustrated.

3

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Privatization and Trading of Land In feudal China, land was the most essential means of production and wealth, and its combination with labor was on the premise of unfair distribution: a minor amount of people such as landlords owned the majority of land, and the majority of the population, namely the peasants, owned only a small amount of land. Although the inequality varied at different times and in different areas, concentration of landholding gradually became a common phenomenon in China after the end of a dynasty’s rehabilitation period. Dong Hua Xu Lu (Sequel to the Donghua Records) recorded a zouzhe (memorial) to the throne from Bi Ruan in the 51st year of Qianlong’s Reign (1786): “Many families in Henan had to sell their lands and properties because of consecutive years of bad harvests. Recently, people are selling their lands cheaply even when the crops are about to ripen. The rich families in Shanxi and other places heard about this, and came to buy the lands and practice usury. The poor peasants lost their living even in a year of good harvest.” Landlords seizing lands in a different provinces shows the expansion of their holdings at the expense of others, a typical example for the common trend in feudal society. This kind of land distribution forced peasants without land to fall into a tenancy with the landlords; the tenants and land-holding peasants labored hard on their small segments of land, constructing a small peasant economy. Land provided a means of production, yet the fragmentation of land limited the vision, actions and developments of small peasants. Therefore the basic production, as well as consumption unit of small peasant economy is individual peasant households; farming combined with family handicraft, their simple cycle of reproduction repeats on and on, forming the nature of a natural economy, which was the basic economic structure supporting the entire society. Its stability lies in its conservatism. Of course this did not mean that small peasants in the natural economy had no connection with commodities. Huangchao Xu Wenxian Tongkao (The Sequel to A Complete Collection of Imperial Documents ) records: “Other people need only earn enough to feed oneself, such is not the case for peasants. If they plant one mu (畝) (~797.3 square yards) of land, they have to pay for various expenses, such as farm tools, seeds, measurement tools, hiring hands, sacrifices, cattle, adding to a considerable large amount of money.” 3 The expenses mentioned in this text indicate the variety of trades peasants engage in. But in many circumstances these expenses had to be cut because they needed to feed themselves first. Compared with the hereditary manor economy in Western Europe and the panchayati raj in India, the most significant features of feudal China’s

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economic structure are the privatization and trading of land, which led directly to the constant concentration and fragmentation of land. Concentration meant that the landlord class possessed more and more land through annexation. However, such concentrations were not unstable. Royal families, aristocrats, bureaucrats and landlords could concentrate land using economic or noneconomic measures, but political revolutions and changes in official positions often led to enormous and sudden changes of ownership. When reading the Jiu Tang Shu (First Book of Tang ), Gu Yanwu sighed in his Rizhilu (Record of the Days ), “The world changes so frequently and people are not as kind as they used to be. Some have gained great wealth, only to cause hardship for their offspring.”4 It was more common to see the division of family property because of land privatization. After the Han Dynasty, the hereditary differences between older and younger brothers and between sons from wife or concubines were weakened. The Daqing Lüli (The Statutes and Precedents of the Great Qing Empire ) stipulated that: “Hereditary titles shall be inherited by the eldest son or grandson; family properties shall be divided evenly among all the sons no matter if they are wife-born or concubine-born.”5 Families with huge wealth usually had a large number of wives, concubines, sons, and grandsons. Property is divided among many family members, and after several generations the concentrated land would break up to nothing. This was another trend coexisting with land concentration. At the same time, individuals can sometimes change their class: some would rise from poverty to wealth and some would fall from grace. Liu Xuande in the late East Han Dynasty was “a descendant of Prince Jin of Zhongshan. In his fatherless childhood, he and his mother sold shoes to make a living.” 6 Moving from a royal member down to a vendor, he would not be considered a landlord. There were also rich second generations becoming penniless because of squandering their wealth. The Taiping Guangji (Taiping Miscellany) tells the story of Qutu Zhongren, who “inherited enormous wealth, land and many servants at the death of his father. He lost all his properties after several years because of gambling and a wasteful life.” 7 There were opposite examples. Zeng Yingzhen, ancestor of Zeng Guofan, built up his family fortune from poverty. The Ming Chu Shi Yong Gong Zhuan (Biography of Sir Yong ) in the 6th Volume of the Ji Yang Jiang Shi Zu Pu (She County’s Family Tree of Jiang Clan ), said, “Sir Yong, also named Benjie, is the second son of Sir Shou. As a man of humble beginnings, he worked hard and started from nil. He ended with huge wealth with over ten thousand acres of land.” The 9th Volume of the Ming Chu Shi Xiang Gong Zhuan (Biography of Sir Xiang ) said, “Sir Xiang, also named Dezheng, is the grandson of Sir Shou, and the son of Zhengzuo.

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As man of humble beginnings, he worked hard until the age of 50 when he collected his huge wealth.” 8 The protagonists in the latter two examples seem even more capable than Zeng Guofan’s ancestors. Therefore in Chinese feudal society, wealth usually only lasts for a few generations. As the saying goes, the same land has seen eight hundred owners in a thousand years, which best summarizes the great changes. Except for rare examples like Duke Yansheng, the descendant of Confucius in Qufu, big families do not last for centuries. The non-continuity of ownership of wealth provides a flexibility which extended the feudal society. From the viewpoint of a producer, in Chinese feudal society, the combination of labor force and land was realized in the individual households of peasants. One single household could complete the cycle of production, consumption and reproduction. Therefore Chinese small peasants had their own independent economy. By contrast, serfs in Western Europe were one part of the manor economy. Yet the small peasants were heavily exploited: They have to work hard in the field through the four seasons. They have to pay taxes and offer their unpaid labor for the government. They have to bear the heat in summer and cold in winter and they have no time to rest in the four seasons. Besides, they have to feed themselves and conduct social activities. Sometimes they will suffer more from flood and drought, tyranny, exorbitant taxes and arbitrary decrees of the government.9

However, as an independent economy, this connected the benefits of the producers with their own labor, which reflected a dream they pursued. As a consequence of this dual character it was not impossible for small peasants to live in affluence through their labor under an incorruptible government in peaceful years. According to the records in the Han Shu (Book of Han ): “for one hundred years since the migration of the Jin family, peace prevailed in the country. For over 70 years from then on till the year of Daming the population multiplied. Peasants worked hard in the rich land. One year of harvest could feed several provinces without concern of famine.”10 Although there is exaggeration in these lines through the flattering words we can still see that peasants were able to enjoy their pastoral life in the brief peace in the south of Yangtze River, even though the unrests which frequently troubled the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Tang Dynasty poet Meng Haoran described the peasants in that glorious age as follows: Preparing me chicken and rice, old friend, You entertain me at your farm. We watch the green trees that circle your village

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And the pale blue of outlying mountains. We open your window over garden and field, To talk mulberry and hemp with our cups in our hands. Wait till the Mountain Holiday — I am coming again in chrysanthemum time.11

In the poem we sense the leisure of the poet as well as the ideal life of small peasants. The individual economy restrained the peasants as they clung to their individual economy. Hong Xiuquan even designed the blueprint of his Taiping Kingdom according to small peasant economy. This mentality is also related to the prolonging of the feudal society.

The Bureaucratic Political System On the basis of the small peasant economy stood the centralized feudal autocratic monarchy. Since Qin Shi Huang united the six kingdoms, the emperor had stood high at the peak of political power, overlooking the toiling multitude. Below him, according to the inverse ratio of rank and number of officials, were different and interconnected levels of bureaucrats. This was the political structure of Chinese feudal society. As Wang Ya’nan had pointed out, the bureaucratic political system in feudal China has three characters: (1) Continuity—referring to the lengthy span of the Chinese bureaucratic political system, which is almost as long as Chinese culture. (2) Inclusiveness—referring to the width of range of the Chinese bureaucratic political system; bureaucratic political activities have a close and harmonious connection with various cultural phenomena in China, such as ethics, religion, law, possessions, art etc. (3) Coherence—referring to the profound influence of the dominating power of Chinese bureaucratic political system. The thinking as well as the outlook on life of the Chinese was imprisoned by the cage of the bureaucratic political system.12

Naturally, the bureaucratic political system became the target of hatred and attack after the ideals of democracy had spread among Chinese people. But taking a historical view, the creation of this system was inevitable and rational. Before it, what was practiced in China was a hereditary system of official ranks and pay, that is, the hierarchical inheritance of political power and material wealth. The chapter Wang Zhi (Royal Regulations ) in the Li Ji (Book of Rites ) states: “the kingship lays down ranks of nobility, which fall into five categories, gong (duke 公), hou (marques 侯), bo (earl 伯), zi (viscount 子) and nan (baron 男).”

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In the Spring and Autumn Period, “six tenths of the princes were of the same surname with the King of Zhou, three tenths were hereditary senior officials, one tenth were officials left from the previous dynasty. Therefore all the senior officials in court were related to the royalties.” 13 Qin Shi Huang was the first ruler to nominate and appoint candidates to different posts. On the one hand this was the beginning of the bureaucratic political system; on the other hand, it was the end of the hierarchal inheritance of political power. This was the result of strong criticism from scholars who had developed and given lectures under the patronage of the aristocrats in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It ensured the existence of a universal unified empire in political structure. The talent and capability of an individual became indispensable criteria for the nomination of officials, which brings about the question of how to select qualified candidates. In the Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties, an assessment and recommendation system was adopted, which selected qualified candidates among officials and civilians and recommended them to the royal court. This was one major way of selecting government officials and one major way of taking up a political career at that time. The emperor also directly recruited officials, which was called zheng (summon 徵), and the government departments’ appointment of officials was called bi (appoint 辟); at the same time, people could donate a certain amount of grain and go to Chang’an to await for the selection of the court, which was called zixuan (trade wealth for an official post 貲選). There were a few talented bureaucrats who stepped into office through these channels in the Han Dynasty, but in the end both top court and local officials neglected their duty. If the top court officials neglected their duty, there would be no qualified prefecture officials; if prefecture officials neglected their duty, qualified and skilled common people would not be selected. Hence a saying at that time was, “Of those who have been recommended, the xiucai (title of an official selected because of his knowledge and intelligence 秀才) knows no classics, and the xiaolian (title of an official selected because of his piety and integrity 孝廉) neglects his father. Purity turned out to be muddy; brave generals turned out to be cowards.” “Official posts were sold like commodities in the market and people bought them like businessmen.”14 Thus the jiu pin zhong zheng zhi (nine-rank system 九品中 正制) was created during the Wei and Jin dynasties to: “appoint distinguished scholars as references in prefectures so as to assess candidates.”15 It allowed both government officials and civilians to recommend candidates for official posts, which seemed to be better than the random nomination by individual persons. So “at the beginning, officials or civilians, people actively discussed

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A Long History of Feudal Society

the recommendation of candidates in order to give their praise or criticism.”16 But later on “grand reference, registrar, prefecture references and assistants, all the reference positions in the prefecture were held by nobles or gentry, resulting in unfair practices in the assessment.” 17 The nobles had took over the system, causing “no commoner in high rank; no nobles in low rank.”18 This process went through multiple changes. It also showed that the bureaucratic political system needed to be improved. The problem was not solved until the creation and establishment of the imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Lü Simian wrote: The advantage of the imperial examination system was that it could wipe out the selfish interests of political cliques. Those who were recommended through the selection system in the Han Dynasty were often social climbers, not to mention the nine–rank system […] In the examination system, the candidates needed to submit their own personal statement before they took the exams. The judge usually selected those candidates who were more well-known. The candidates could also find some influential referees to recommend them or could directly recommend themselves in written form. However the hometowns of these candidates were usually far away from the capital and they did not have connections with the judges. Therefore, with the strict supervision in the capital, corruption and malpractices in the examinations were not rampant. In the previous systems all the power was in the hand of the judges and they might neglect their duty and failed to recommend the real talents. In the examination system, the candidates could recommend themselves in written form and take part in the examinations. The probability of success was higher. Those who did not take part in the exam would not be selected even they had connections with the judges. Thus the corruption and malpractices of the judges could be effectively restricted, and therefore people would have more confidence in the credibility of the judges.19

In the circumstances at the time, this was a great creation. It provided common people with an opportunity to become the chancellor and take part in government politics.20 Therefore it enabled the possibility of political and social convection. As a result, the bureaucratic political system achieved much greater flexibility. In the pursuit of the historical causes of the prolonged feudal society, we have to see that the bureaucratic political system which was created from the imperial examination system could greatly soften social tensions with its social convection. But we cannot overestimate its function. Politics in Chinese feudal society was, after all, a sovereignty of bureaucracy instead of a sovereignty of

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

the people. Qian Mu once said that commoners could become high officials and high officials could become commoners. But the latter statement is not entirely true. The bureaucratic political system replaced the hereditary system of rank and possessions, yet in some degree it kept some variants of the latter system. Once a common person became a senior official he would enjoy political power as well as a privileged identity and high social status. Although his political power could not be inherited, his social status could be passed on to his offspring in the form of an ancestor’s patronage. Thus the despotic gentry and notables and influential families appeared. In the Lang Qian Ji Wen(Records of Langqian) Chen Kangqi told the stories of the Xu clan in Kunshan and the Zhang clan in Tongcheng, whose family members worked as hanlin in the Imperial Academy for several generations. These stories of praise reflected the extension of the ancestors’ patronage.21 The spiritual and material influence of the former generation would indirectly assist their offspring in their pursuit of a political career. In addition, it was common for a son or grandson to inherit his father’s or grandfather’s title of nobility in the bureaucratic political system. Therefore, the influence of the heredity system was still strong.

Patriarchal Clans and Guilds Attached to the above-mentioned political structure were different social organizations. The bureaucratic system in Chinese feudal society ended at the lowest level of xianling (county magistrate 縣令), but in terms of political structure, below that were more village and town organizations with different titles in different areas, such as du (都), tu (圖), xiang (鄉), li (里), and zheng (正). Even lower was the baojia (保甲), a type of neighborhood administrative unit which penetrated deep into the masses. These were the most basic political units in feudal counties, buy they also function as social organizations, and could be considered to be in a transitional stage in between. The real social organization in the countryside was the family, or the socalled patriarchal clan system. This is the most fundamental unit in the feudal society and the basis of the bureaucratic political system of the centralized autocratic monarchy. It did not belong to administrative system, yet its function goes far beyond the administrative organizations. The existence of patriarchal clans used blood as the tie and formed in themselves a type of social collective. The ancestral hall, ancestral graves, pedigree, patriarch and grand sacrifices formed its material appearance. Jing Zong Shou Zu (Respecting ancestors and regulating the clan) was its soul. Zhaoyi wrote in Gai Yu Cong Kao (Notes

10

A Long History of Feudal Society

during the Mourning Period ), “According to history, the most well-known virtuous clan was the Zhang family, whose nine generations lived under the same roof; but theirs was not the only example. Hou Han Shu (Book of the Later Han ) records the story of Fan Zhong, whose family shared their belongings for three generations. Miao Tong lived with his three brothers and shared their belongings under the same roof. After they each married, their wives asked them to break up the family and live separately. Tong shut himself in his room and pondered whether he had made any mistakes. His brothers and their wives came to apologize after they heard of this. Cai Yong lived together with his uncle and cousin’s family and they did not break up the big family for three generations, which earned them much respect among their neighbors.” 22 The enumeration of these examples by historians shows that such examples were not common in feudal society, but the people in a village often share the same surname and belong to the same clan. Though they each led independent lives, the geographical proximity and the blood tie made a strong unifying force. The success of one individual could bring glory to his own family and ancestors, as well as to the whole clan. That is why, in Lu Xun’s novella The True Story of Ah Q , when the son of Master Zhao passed the imperial examination at the county level and became a xiucai , Ah Q claimed that he was of the same clan with Master Zhao. Although Ah Q is a character from a novella written in the 20th century, he vividly reflected the psychology of the traditional patriarchal system. Similarly, if someone committed a crime, he would also bring shame to his family and clan. “According to the laws of the Tang and Song dynasties, the patriarch of the family in which any member was not registered would be imprisoned with involuntary servitude for three years; the status of the family would be degraded by two levels if they failed to fulfill unpaid labor for the government. According to the laws of Ming and Qing dynasties, if the whole family was not officially registered, the patriarch of the family who had paid the taxes would be flogged a hundred times, and those who had not would be flogged 110 times. Those who helped to cover up or cheat in the registration would be punished the same way. In the Jin Dynasty, if the whole family evaded registration, the patriarch would be beheaded.”23 Therefore the clan was responsible for the actions of its members and each member is responsible for their clan. In feudal China, the individual was overpowered by his clan. Even in times of revolution, such as the Taiping Rebellion, people acted in conformity of their clan. Of course, such was an extreme example. In more cases, domestic disciplines and State laws do not contradict. A criminal would also have been a disobedient son. Yu An Xin Bian (A New Record of Legal Cases ) documented the case of Liu Caiwen and his clan:

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Because of his thievery of the patriarch Liu Zhang’s ox, Liu Caiwen was ordered to pay a fine and host a feast of apology by another patriarch Liu Bin. He was then sent by Liu Gongyun to Mrs Liu née Chen (mother of Liu Caiwen) for disciplining. When he came back home he intended to sell the land his mother makes a living on for the feast of apology. He had a row with his mother and pushed her to the ground when she refused to let him sell the land. The next day, Liu Bin, Liu Zhang, Liu Dazui (son of Zhang), and Liu Gongyun went to Chen’s home to press for the fine. Chen told them what had happened and asked them to report his son for punishment. Bin said, “A thief and an unfilial son, we had better bury him alive lest he cause the clan more trouble in the future.” Chen refused. Bin said, “If we do not do this, he will definitely sell the land.” Bin then ordered Dazui to chain Caiwen and take him away. Caiwen refused to cooperate, and Bin ordered Liu Wendeng (a cousin of Caiwen) to force him along. Carrying straw in her hand, Chen asked Caiwen’s brothers Liu Xiang and Liu Ya to go with them. Xiang ran away halfway and Ya cried and begged for mercy; yet Bin ignored him and ordered Wendeng to dig a hole. After Chen put the straw inside the hole, Bin ordered Dazui to push Caiwen into the hole. Wendeng and Chen then buried him alive.24

This was a brutal process. It indicated that in order to protect the order of the feudal society, domestic discipline was sometimes more harsh than criminal law. The preaching of Da Xue (Great Learning) , the first of the Four Books , was often summarized as “cultivate one’s moral character, regulate one’s family, rule the country well, and bring peace to the world”. The foundation of the world lay in countries and the foundation of the country lay in families. So the attitude and duty of one individual to his family was connected with his attitude and duty to his country. As You said in the Lun Yu (The Analects ) “It is rare to see a filial son disobey his superiors; it is impossible to see an obedient person rise in revolt.” 25 In the biographies in Ershisi Shi (The Twenty-four Histories ) we can find that all the loyal officials were also filial sons. Although the records may not be entirely true, we can still see the power of traditional concepts. It is clear that family units played an enormous role in stabilizing and extending the feudal society. In cities, the hang hui (guild 行會) was the main type of social organization. Using different trades in industry and commerce as ties, guilds were benefit associations of merchants and craftsmen. Lun Yu had recorded that “craftsmen of a hundred trades work in the place to produce products”. By the Ming Dynasty, Tian Rucheng wrote in his Xihu Youlan Zhiyu (Travel Journal: Xihu ), “there were hundreds of trades and each used their own jargons; it sounded

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A Long History of Feudal Society

almost as if they spoke another language.”26 Indicating the varied division of labor industry and commerce. The main difference between cities and villages was that city residents all come from different places. “They left their native place for years, or decades. Some even married and had children in places far from their native lands.”27 They were very far from their own clan, and when sudden turmoil happens in life, they were more vulnerable than the small peasants. So it was a social need to establish a benefit association within the same trade. And people who practiced the same trade were often countrymen. We can often find proof in tablet inscriptions, such as the following ones found on Ming and Qing dynasties’ tablets in Suzhou: “All the shops in the Zheshao guild hall were located separately in the three towns of Chang, Yuan and Wu. There were over a hundred candle shops opened both in town and countryside”; “They all came from Changjun […] they needed to register themselves and pay taxes according to the rules to open butcheries”; “People whose native place was Lishui usually engaged in the boiling water business in Suzhou. Many people from Lishui would come and join the business”. 28 Therefore, it was common practice for men from the same region to go into the same trades, which is why guilds are often called hui guan (assembly halls 會館) or gong suo (governing offices 公所). According to tablet inscriptions in Jiangsu Province during the Ming and Qing dynasties, we can find guild names such as Zhejiang Assembly Hall and Jiangzhen Governing Office. They gave aid to those in the trade who were unemployed, ill or in poverty, who could not return home due of lack of money, or whose bodies needed to be buried after death.29 But this mutual aid was on the precondition of strict rules. So when the guild members accept the aid, they need to accept the rules as well: In Suzhou, there were few people in the gilding industry, and the profit was large. One master worker was allowed to take only one apprentice in order to monopolize the trade. When Dongsi broke the rule and took two apprentices, his fellow craftsmen told him to get rid of one apprentice, but he refused. People in the same trade were angry and called a meeting in the guild hall. There were hundreds of people waiting when Dongsi came. The final decision made by the four directors was to dismember his body in order to quench the public wrath. Dongsi’s screams went on as he was bound to a pillar and everyone was ordered to bite him. From top to bottom, his skin looked as if festered after the punishment.30

This characteristic of the guild made it the main protector of the feudal system in cities and towns.

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Confucianism Enthroned Above the social existence was the relevant ideological structure. The major part of the traditional Chinese culture was Confucianism. The dominance of Confucianism was formed through history. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, numerous schools of thought strived and competed with each other. Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism and Daoism were several of the mainstream schools, among which Confucianism and Mohism were the most prominent. Then came other schools. The unification of China by Qin Shi Huang ushered in the prime time of Legalism. These measures put forward by Li Si characterized the ironhanded Legalism. “Except for the books collected by the government, all the privately-collected books should be burned. All the books of songs and histories, as well as those about various thoughts, should be burned. Anyone who dares to talk about the Shi Jing (Classic of Poetry ) and the Shang Shu (Classic of History ) will be executed. The whole clan of anyone who dares to criticize government decrees will be executed. Any officials who cover up these crimes will be punished in the same way. Those who fail to burn the books within 30 days after the decree is put into effect will be branded and sent to build city walls. Only books on medicine, divination and tree plants are exempted. If anyone intends to study the law, they need to learn from the officials.”31 All these measures were put forward by Li Si, and demonstrated the strong-hand policy of Legalism. Time moves on. Soon after the books were burnt and Confucian scholars were buried alive, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu rose in revolt. Legalism was replaced by Taoism in the early Western Han Dynasty. Ban Gu wrote: “the problem in the Zhou Dynasty and Qin Dynasty was that their laws and etiquette were too rigid and cruel, which led to numerous rebellions. After the Han Dynasty was established, the outdated rules were abolished and the people had the time and condition to recover themselves. By the time of Emperor Xiaowen of the Han Dynasty, more benevolent measures were taken. By the reign of Emperor Xiaojing, the country has developed peacefully for several decades. The old traditions were removed and the people were honest and simple. The enlightened administrations of Emperors Wen and Jing of the Han Dynasty led to a golden age.”32 The policy to govern by wu wei (action without action 無為) was the consequence of too much interference in the previous dynasty. Behind this change the historical dialectics worked. But Taoism also became obsolete as time went by. After the period of Emperors Wen and Jing of the Han

14

A Long History of Feudal Society

Dynasty, “the laws were lenient and the people became rich. Some rich and influential forces emerged, which sometimes led to annexation. Some despotic locals acted truculently. Royal bureaucrats and top government officials also flaunted their wealth.”33 As a result, history put Confucianism back onto the stage through the hand of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. According to the record in the Han Shu , Dong Zhongshu played the role of intermediary in the rise of Confucianism. “Since the early reign of Emperor Wu, Weiqi Hou and Wu’an Hou became the prime ministers and they both advocated Confucianism. Later, Dong Zhongshu proposed to revere Confucianism only and reject other ideological thoughts. Confucian schools were set up and local officials recommended skilled persons and candidates to become xiaolian . All these measures were initiated by Dong Zhongshu.” 34 The change in the social economy which started from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods became a new order and an unprecedented unification in politics, and Confucianism suits this political need the best. The political content of Confucianism can be summed up as follows: (1) The concept of natural law. The heaven mentioned in Confucian texts has varied meanings. Sometimes it referred to the sky in nature. But more often, it referred to the dominating heaven. Confucius often cursed about “heaven wanting me to die” in times of bad luck. This concept of heaven differs from that of God in Christianity, which has a more concrete image. It arranged everything in the world unseen and its will is called the divine providence, which was emphasized more after Dong Zhongshu mixed his theory with that of the School of Yin-Yang: The heaven has five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Wood produces fire. Fire produces earth. Earth produces metal. Metal produces water. Water is winter. Metal is autumn. Earth is the last month of summer. Fire is summer. Wood is spring. Spring controls birth. Summer controls growth. The last month of summer controls preservation. Autumn controls harvest. Winter controls storage. Storage is the completion of winter. Therefore the father gives birth to the son and helps the son to grow; when the father grows old, the son preserves him; as the father is preserved, the son helps the completion of the father.35

Furthermore:

Only the principle of humans can reflect the laws of heaven. The heaven values benevolence and the preservation of the elderly, and the four seasons represent its purposes. The ruler should also value benevolence and preservation of the elderly. He should treasure life-long peace and happiness. His likes and dislikes, joy and anger, should all be secondary.

15

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

However the likes and dislikes and joy and anger of the ruler represent the four seasons.36

Therefore:

The ruler has to understand the heaven […] It is difficult to see the will and laws of the heaven. Therefore we need to observe the will of heaven through the changes of yin and yang, and distinct the orders and changes of the five elements. 37

This kind of personalized heaven bore a great mystique. Under the influence of the concept, the authority of emperors was set up with the help of the authority of heaven. It was said that “the three principles of kingship originated from the heaven.” 38 The alteration of dynasties represented the mandate of heaven. Emperors were also called the sons of heaven. “The son of heaven carries out the mandate of heaven and the world carries out the mandate of the son of heaven.” 39 Thus imperial edicts always started with “It is heaven’s will and the emperor’s command.” Imperial power was connected with the natural law of heaven, which became a tradition after generations of inheritance. In Chinese feudal society, the impact of heavenly law was so heavy that it was impossible to free oneself from it. That’s why the rebels of Liangshan had to hold high the flag of “acting for heaven” while they were looting, using their heaven to fight against others’ heaven. ( 2 ) T h e t h o u g h t o f u n i v e r s a l u n i t y. T h i s t h o u g h t e x i s t e d i n e a r l y Confucianism and was improved by Dong Zhongshu to suit the needs of the autocratic monarchy. He said, “the universal unity of the Spring and Autumn Period is the universal law of heaven and earth and the universal law of the time. Today, people study unorthodox ideas and believe in different ideals, which is why it is impossible to achieve universal unity; the legal system changes too frequently without consistency.” Therefore, “all the other ideological thoughts outside of Confucianism should be eliminated. Only after the false ideas die out, can we enforce a clear legal system and expect the people to obey the rules.”40 The contradiction between Confucianism and “false ideas” was not an academic issue but a political issue. Universal unity referred to “unity under the emperor.”41 Qing Shi Huang achieved unification, but he was not eager to look for a reasonable theory to illustrate the idea of nationality and the necessity of universal unity because he only saw the grand advancement of universal unity replacing fiefdoms. Theory in his hands was slower than history. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was different. He clearly remembered the Seven-kingdom Revolt in the Emperor Jin period. He saw the other side of the problem. Therefore history and theory were again united in his

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A Long History of Feudal Society

time. The universal unity of Confucianism became a cohesive force in the long feudal society. It opposed and prevented possible divisive tendencies. However universal unity was used to protect centralized absolutism and it rejected some things which should not be rejected and hampered the development of society. (3) Confucian ethics. This was the spiritual power that had maintained feudal society since the Western and Eastern Han dynasties. After the advocation of neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, these feudal ethical codes were regarded as “heavenly law” and became even more rigid. Dai Zhen wrote Mengzi Ziyi Shuzheng (On the Doctrines of Mencius ) to criticize the neo-Confucian theory of “upholding heavenly laws and eliminating human desires” that had prevailed since the Song Dynasty. He wrote: “People all know Laozi, Zhuangzi and Buddha are different from Confucian saints, but still hesitate to believe that they have absolutely no desire. Song Dynasty scholars, however, believed that they and the saints are the same. It is easy to tell the difference between heavenly laws and human desires. Therefore the ruler today should learn from the attitudes of the ancient saints and tolerate human desires of the people, if only for practical reasons. However, people were often incriminated on the basis of the heavenly laws. The superior, the elderly and the noble people could reproach the inferior, the young and the humble people on the basis of the heavenly laws and expect them to be obedient. Even if the inferior, the young and the humble win the argument by applying the heavenly laws, it is still considered an act of rebellion. Therefore people at the bottom could not make their desires understood by the ruling people; and if the ruler judges his subjects by the heavenly laws, then everyone would be more than guilty. If one died of legal punishment he might be pitied; however if one died of heavenly law, who would pity them!”42 Although he is still essentially loyal to Confucianism, his criticism of Song Dynasty Confucianism illustrated how the feudal ethical codes fettered human nature. After the May Fourth Movement, it was inevitable that this part of Confucianism was the most severely attacked. These three characteristics were closely connected and their impact infiltrated deeply for two thousand years. Li Zhuowu said, “It was not true that there have been no thoughts for two thousand years. If the thoughts referred to the thoughts of Confucius, there would be no thoughts. It was not true that there have been no disputes for two thousand years. If the disputes referred to Confucius, there would be no disputes.”43 In the long feudal society, Confucianism did undergo some changes. Liang Rengong said, “Confucius

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

gradually became Dong Jiangdu and He Shaogong; then Ma Jichang and Zheng Kangcheng; then Han Changli and Ouyang Yongshu; then Cheng Yichuan and Zhu Huian; then Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming; then Ji Xiaolan and Yuan Yuntai.” 44 Tao Xisheng also listed the seven changes of Confucianism. These changes indicated the development and enrichment of Confucianism, as well as the efforts of Confucian scholars in maintaining Confucianism’s status as the spiritual pillar. The above-mentioned aspects are interconnected and supportive in themselves, which formed the whole of feudal society. In order to show the long extension of Chinese feudal society we must completely examine the whole. It is reasonable to stick to one aspect, but, truth is never one-sided. Historians used to use the three words stagnant, obstructed, and hysteretic to describe the long-lasted feudal society. Comparatively, the last word is the most suitable. The length of time that feudal society lasted did not mean that Chinese society was stagnant. It was changing. The change was little and is not evident if we only examine the succession of two dynasties. But we can see the change clearly in the span of several dynasties. In the transition of generations, the change became smaller. However in the Ming and Qing dynasties there were evident changes in Chinese society: (1) the dispersive birth of capitalism; (2) the emergence of the scientific thoughts of Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, Song Yingxing, Li Shizhen and Fang Yizhi; (3) the emergence of democratic thoughts of Huang Zongxi and Tang Zhen. In addition, books such as Gui Si Lei Gao (Manuscripts of 1833 ), Jing Hua Yuan (Flowers in the Mirror ) and Hong Lou Meng (A Dream of Red Mansions ) brought new trends to Chinese society. However, these trends were still weak and could not break free from feudalism. In China, the appearance of new things came after the Opium War.

18

2

Chapter

The East and the West

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

For a long time China called Europe the Far West and Western countries called China the Far East. The Far West and the Far East represents the eastern and western ends of Eurasia. Historically, they looked at each other from afar, exchanging various stories about each other, including truth as well as outlandish imaginings.

Blurred Vision of the East and the West According to cultural relics excavated, the exchange between the East and the West dated back to the Neolithic Age. After that King Mu of Zhou traveled to the country of Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West 西王母) and he enjoyed it so much he was reluctant to return. The name of Xi Wangmu often appeared in ancient books. According to the Shan Hai Jing (Classic of the Mountains and Seas ), “Xi Wangmu lived in the hills of Kunlun in the south of the West Sea, at the bank of Liusha, at the back of the Red River and in front of the Black River. It looked like a human being with tiger’s teeth and leopard’s tail. It was good at howling and its fluffy hair was decorated with ornaments.”1 Although people today only regard such narrations as myths, they show that the ancient Chinese people had a deep interest in things from the West. The Silk Road from the Han Dynasty was more clearly recorded. It started from Dunhuang and passed through Xinjiang to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea and finally to Rome. The road was a link on the land route connecting the East and the West two thousand years ago. It played an important role in the economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. It also gave the ancient Chinese people knowledge from another world outside China. The Hou Han Shu said: The Kingdom of Daqin, also named Lijian, was located to the west of the sea. Therefore it was also called the West Kingdom by the sea. It covered thousands of li of land with over four hundred cities; several dozens of small kingdoms were attached to it. The cities were circled by stone walls and postal sites were coated with chalk. Trees and grasses grew in the fields. People worked in the farm land and they planted trees and kept silk worms. Their heads were shaved and their clothes were embroidered with different patterns. They rode in carts and beat drums when they came in and went out. The city they lived in covered about a hundred li and there were five palaces in the city located ten li from each other. The palace and their utensils were made of crystal. The king traveled to one palace and dealt with the affairs in the palace. He would move to another palace after five days. An official with a bag in his hand usually accompanied the king. People

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The East and the West

would throw their letter into the bag if they wanted to say something. The king would judge the cases after he returned to the palace. There were different officials under him.2

This was the earliest narration about the Roman Empire in Chinese historical books. After one and a half centuries, the description in the Wei Shu (Book of Wei) offered more details: The Kingdom of Daqin was also known as Lixuan, with its capital at the city of Andu. It was located some 10,000 li to the west of Tiaozhi along the coastline, and some 39,400 li distant from the city of Dai. The sea of the kingdom stretched out on one side, seeming to be the Bohai Sea, so that the East and the West naturally stood opposite each other across the Bohai Sea Daqin covered six thousand square li of land lying between two seas. The land consisted mainly of plains and was densely populated. Its capital was divided into five cities, each being five square li , and the circumference of the capital was sixty li . The king lived in the central city. In the capital there were eight ministers appointed to govern the country, and in the king’s city there were a further eight ministers appointed to govern the other four cities of the capital. If there were state affairs to be decided or disputes to be settled, all the ministers from the four cities would gather together in the central city. The king would listen to their discussion and enforce their decision. Every three years, the king would travel to inspect the country. If local officials were accused by commoners of dereliction of duty, they would be criticized or removed from office. The king would then order the people to elect a capable person to replace the official. The people were decent and tall and their clothing and etiquette resembled those of the Chinese, whence it was called Daqin.3

We can clearly see that the latter text was supplemented and revised compared with the former, which was the result of deeper exchanges between the East and the West over one and a half centuries. The road between the East and the West was named after silk, which indicated that the exchange between the two sides mainly focused on China. But the exchange was not always one-way. Appliances, techniques, art, plants, customs and ideology from the West flooded into China along the same road. Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty was the most important metropolis for these exchanges at that time. In the years of Wude and Zhenguan, according to the manners of the Qi and Sui Dynasty, the ladies in the court wore masks and coverings to cover up the whole body when they rode horses. Women of noble families also followed the custom. After the year of Yonghui, ladies

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

wore curtained hats and the masks were shortened so that the neck

was exposed. Although the court issued decrees to prohibit the change,

the fashion soon returned. After the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, nomadic hats became popular and masks died out. After Emperor

Zhongzong succeeded to the throne the court rules became very loose

and no ladies would wear a mask. In early Kaiyuan years, when ladies rode horses, they all wore nomadic hats and exposed their faces. Women of ordinary families rushed to follow the fashion. Some ladies

in court also exposed their hair or dressed in men’s clothing and boots when they rode horses. And the fashion was followed by both the court and ordinary people.4

Masks, curtained and nomadic hats, and boots and dresses were

all imported from exotic ethnic groups in Persia or Tuyuhun. Once they became popular in China they could not be eliminated even by

imperial decree. At the same time, tana, pancakes, Hu pancakes, wine,

Sanle beverage and Longgao wine from northern nomadic regions

were also much to the liking of the Chinese. These things were not only popular in Chang’an city but “popular among the nobles.”5

In addition to changes in food and clothing, the same kind of changes could also be seen in the art of that time. Kuchanese music, Indian music, Western Liang music and Gaochang music combined with Chinese traditional elegant music and ancient music, and transformed vocal music, dance music and instrumental music. This was a refreshing change. Yuan Zhen wrote: “Women learn to put on Hu-style makeup; then they learn to play Hu music. The tunes are often sad like sobbing, like birds singing in the lonely spring. Hu music, Hu horses and Hu makeup, they have been popular for 50 years.” 6 This is a vivid portrayal of the change. Hu customs were imported, but in Chinese cultural history we can see many changes from Hu customs into Confucian and traditional customs. The Silk Road has a beautiful and poetic name, yet to the people traveling on it the road was hard and lengthy. Marco Polo, the famous Venetian who came to the East in Yuan Dynasty, started from the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in 1271 and arrived in Shangdu (northwest of Duolun in Inner Mongolia today) in 1275 from Dunhuang. This long and difficult journey took four years. He was 17 when he left home. Among the Europeans traveling to the East on Silk Road, he was undoubtedly one of the youngest in a period of over ten centuries. He did not return until 21 years later when he left in a ship from Quanzhou. In the years he stayed in China, Marco Polo “learned the Chinese language as well as the languages of Mongolia, Uighur, West Xia and Tibet. Emperor Shizu of Yuan

22

The East and the West

liked him and appointed him as a government official. He asked for permission to go back home, which was rejected many times.”7 This experience made him an unmatchable authority in introducing China to Europe. For a long period of time the Westerners’ understanding of China and the East remained vague and fragmented. The Greek Caius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder) in Roman times wrote his Natural History and referred to China as “Serica,” the land where silk comes from. According to him, the Seres are “famous for the wool that is found in their forests. After steeping it in water, they comb off a white down that adheres to the leaves; and then to the females of our part of the world they give the twofold task of unravelling their textures, and of weaving the threads afresh. So manifold is the labour, and so distant are the regions which are thus ransacked to supply a dress through which our ladies may in public display their charms. The Seres are of inoffensive manners, but, bearing a strong resemblance therein to all savage nations, they shun all intercourse with the rest of mankind, and await the approach of those who wish to traffic with them.”8 Seven centuries later, the Byzantine historian Toeophylactus Simocata mentioned China in his Historiae Mauricii Tiberii Imperatoris , and his record was more close to historical facts: “the ruler of Taugast was named ‘Taissan’ which meant the son of heaven. The country enjoyed peace because the emperor was born to be the ruler. The people worshiped idols, the laws were fair, and their lives were full of wisdom. According to their custom, men were not allowed to wear gold jewelry, and the custom has the same effect as the law. However, the country was rich with gold and the people good at commerce.”9 Taugast here might be a transliteration of either da han (Great Han) or da wei (Great Wei), and Taissan most likely came from the Chinese pronunciation of tian zi (son of heaven). In the middle of the 12th century, the missionary John de Plano Carpini traveled to China to spread Christianity. The ninth chapter of his journal was dedicated to China, but his observations and records were mostly concerned with religion: They haue also recorded in hystories the liues of their forefathers and they haue Eremites, and certaine houses made after the manner of our Churches. which in those dayes they greatly resorted vnto. They say

that they haue diuers Saints also, and they worship one God. They adore and reuerence CHRIST IESUS our Lorde, and beleeue the article

of eternall life, but are not baptized. They doe also honourably esteeme and reuerence our Scriptures. They loue Christians, and bestowe much almes, and are a very courteous and gentle people. They haue no

beardes, and they agree partly with the Mongals in the disposition of

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

their countenance. In all occupations which men practise, there are not

better artificers in the whole worlde. Their countrey is exceeding rich, in corne, wine, golde, silke, and other commodities.10

Through the eyes of an emigrant from Europe living in China for 17 years, the journal dictated by Marco Polo portrayed the general social picture of China. Its publication let the Westerners know about the broad land of China, its constant succession of cities and boroughs, “fine vineyards, fields and gardens,” “many abbeys” of Buddhist monks, the large production of “cloth of silk and gold and many fine taffetas,” and “all the way excellent hostelries for travellers.” These descriptions “first roused the incredulity and then fired the imagination of all Europe,” to the point that “European literature, and especially the European romance of the fifteenth century, echoes with the names in Marco Polo’s story, with Cathay and Cambaluc and the like.” 11 Westerners saw the wealth of the East, which lured them to travel to the East. It was said that Columbus’ decision to travel was inspired by Marco Polo’s book. The relationship between China and the West at that time can be reflected in the life and experiences of Marco Polo. Before The Travels of Marco Polo , Xuanzang, the Buddhist monk, wrote the Datang Xiyu Ji (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions ) in the seventh century. The book portrayed various things of the West through the eyes of a Chinese person. In terms of cultural exchange, the two books both hold great importance. But in China, the Datang Xiyu Ji did not arouse much imagination. Since the chapter on Dayuan in the Shi Ji , each of Ershisi Shi has chapters specifically devoted to the records of foreign countries. We can conclude that China in history was not completely isolated; it had been watching other countries. However, by the time the Ming Shi (History of Ming ) was compelled in the early Qing Dynasty, there were in total only four European nations the historians could name clearly: Fulangji (Portugal, sometimes also refers to Spain), Lüsong (today’s Manila, which was occupied by Spain at that time, so it actually refers to Spain), Helan (Holland) and Yidali (Italy). In the first draft of the History of Ming, Yidali was written as Ouluoba (Europe). Although this was later revised, the mistake of confusing Italy with the whole of Europe indicates the vagueness of their knowledge. During the Middle Ages, the distance between the East and the West was simply too vast. Limited productivity led to limited means of transportation, which could not have broken the bounds of geographical distance. So the Chinese called Rome Lijian or Daqin while the Europeans called China Serica, Cina, or Cathy, each watching the other like watching flowers in the mist. Centuries passed and China was still mysterious to the West, just as the West remained exotic to the Chinese.

24

The East and the West

Zheng He’s Voyage to the Western Seas and the Age of Discovery In the 15th century, there seemed to be a nautical race between the East and the West. In the 28 years from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He sailed as an ambassador to the Western Seas (the seas and coastal regions west of the South China Sea) for seven times. The grand fleet of huge ships he led passed through over 30 countries, the furthest voyage reaching the east coast of Africa. We admire Zheng He today because his seven voyages to the West helped to promote communications between China and many countries in Western Asia. The journals about foreign countries left by his attendants, Yingyai Shenglan (The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores ) (by Ma Huan), Xingcha shenglan (The Overall survey of the Star Raft ) (by Fei Xin), Xiyang Fanguo Zhi (Annals of Western Countries ) (by Gong Zhen), provided valuable historical materials for the cultural exchange between the East and the West. However in 1435 the sails of this Chinese ocean-going fleet disappeared with the death of Zheng He. In the West, three well-known figures emerged after half a century. In 1492 the Italian Columbus crossed the Atlantic and discovered the new continent of America. The reason we use the term “discover” does not mean that no one had ever set foot on America before Columbus; but it places emphasis on the fact that because of his discovery, America first attracted the attention of the rest of the world. In 1497 the Portuguese Vasco Da Gama sailed to India after passing the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. He was the first person to travel from the West to the East by sea. In 1519 the Portuguese Magellan sailed to the Pacific along the American coast. Although he was killed halfway in the Philippines, his fleet continued the voyage and returned to Europe in 1522. The voyage lasted three years and circled the earth, which proved that the Earth we live on is a globe. The causes undertaken by the three linked up Europe, America, Asia and Africa geographically. We can safely conclude that they are grand geographical discoveries. In 1530 the humanist Jean Fiona said, “because of the courage of our navigators, the Atlantic was crossed, new islands were discovered, the faraway places in India were revealed, the big continents in the West, that is, the new world, which was unknown to our ancestors, were now known. In all these, as well as that of astronomy, Plato, Aristotle and the ancient philosophers, especially Ptolemy, made progress. However if one of these people came back to life to the world of today, it would be difficult for him to recognize the world geographically. The navigators of our age offered us a new globe.”12 From then on history became world history to a great extent. In a sense, these voyages were epoch-making events.

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

The comparison of these facts is thought-provoking. In terms of time, the first voyage of Zheng He was 87 years earlier than that of Columbus across the Atlantic. In terms of size of the fleet, the crew was over 270,000 for most of the seven voyages of Zheng He, yet those of Columbus, Da Gama and Magellan was 87, 140 and 260 respectively. Compared with the fleets of Zheng He, their’s were very small in size. In addition the ocean-going vessels of the day in China had a carrying capacity of over a thousand tons, “with the length at 14 zhang (a unit of length = 31/3 meters) and 4 chi (尺) (a unit of length = 1/3 meter) and with a width of 18 zhang (丈).” “Two or three hundred sailors were needed to move the sails, anchors and helms.”13 However it took only several dozens of people man the ship which was used by Columbus sail to America. Undoubtedly, the Chinese people dominated here. However the grand geographical discoveries were not completed by Chinese people. When it came to this, the huge momentum was not in proportion to the small achievement. And people will of course ask why when they read the history. The problems resulting from the contrast can be illustrated by further comparisons. In the West, while Columbus, Da Gama and Magellan sailed the treacherous ocean, they were not only guided by compasses but by the astronomy and geography of the Renaissance. According to Bernal, a British scholar of scientific history, in the Europe of the time the development of different technologies in mining and metal industry were seldom inspired by science. On the contrary, they inspired the development of science. However it was a different thing when capitalist industry in Europe was offered a chance to expand themselves through the world with the help of important ocean-going voyages. These were the result of conscious adoption of astronomy and geography for the purpose of winning glory and benefits. Cities in Italy and Germany, such as Venice and Genoa, and even inland Florence and Nurnberg, took a leading position in theory because of their wide commerce. The reports from 13th century navigator travelers Marco Polo and Rubriguis as well as the results of recent sailings revived and expanded the Greek geography so as to catch up with the newest knowledge. At the same time, the Italians and Germans improved their adoption of astronomy in navigation. They initiated the practice of producing astronomic watches with higher accuracy and less complexity so that all the sailors knew how to use them. And they also made it possible to draw sea routes on the map.14 Without these things, the valiant spirit of adventure of Spain and Portugal would only have been drifters on the sea. The ships of Zheng He were also equipped with compasses. However the Chinese of the time believed in

26

The East and the West

the round sky and square Earth, which was different from the Westerners’ sphericity of the Earth. It illustrated the different prerequisites for Eastern and Western navigation sciences. “No matter how mysterious the inner motives of Columbus were, his sailing was supported. Someone was needed to assess and confirm the benefits of one scientific hypothesis in practice.” 15 The theory served as the forerunner of revolution and the theory (hypothesis included) was also the forerunner of the grand geographical discoveries. Columbus, Da Gama and Magellan appeared in Western navigation history consecutively. Vertically, the three of them were connected closely in the order of time; horizontally, they completed their own causes respectively. In their age there was a large group of second-level and third-level navigators, who formed the whole grand geographical discovery. However the seven voyages of Zheng He was an unprecedented action which would never be approached by anyone after him. The reason why Western navigators persevered in their adventurous voyages to the East lay to some extent in the religious efforts of the Crusades. More importantly, the mysterious East was rich in gold, spices and other commodities. At that time, a Florentine man named Paolodel Pozzo Toscanelli told Columbus of hearsay about China: “even all the commodities sold by the businessmen in the world would not outnumber those in Port Citong (Quanzhou). Every year a hundred of huge ships carrying pepper arrived in Citong. This number does not include those ships carries other kinds of spices. The whole country with huge population is abundant in wealth; countless provinces and cities are all ruled by Gran Can. The term Gran Can is Rexregum in Latin.” Furthermore, “there were marble bridges decorated with stone pillars at the ends of the bridges in all the cities.” In such a place, “gold, silver, jewelry and spices were everywhere and people could acquire wealth easily.”16 From this unreal way of looking at the East we can see that the newborn bourgeois means of production was eager to seek primitive accumulation. Thus people one after the other were stimulated to travel to the East to acquire wealth. Behind these navigators was the demand of productivity and the driving force of economy. However the goal of Zheng He’s voyages was to advocate national prestige and offer foreign people the opportunity to see the glory of Chinese officials from such a great country. Some people also said, “at the decree of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, the fleet began its voyage after much toil. As to the voyage of Zheng He and the imperial decree to Hu Ying, there was much doubt.17 Therefore even he was trying to look for something, it was not wealth. What he was looking for might have been the missing Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty. His fleets were not necessarily connected with the inner demands of social and economic development in China.

27

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Strong and Sustainable Progress and Conservative and Defensive Resistance After the grand geographical discovery, the obstacles caused by geographical distance were more easily crossed. Great changes happened in the world pattern; the West adopted colonialism and the East became the colonies. The grand geographical discovery was a great achievement in world history while colonial primitive accumulation committed innumerable sins. However it was not easy to divide the two between achievements and sins. Engels said, “since the birth of class contradiction, it has been the wicked lust of human beings— greed and the will to power that levered historical development. When it comes to this point, the history of the feudal system and the bourgeoisie provide a unique and continuous proof.” 18 Without sins the stagnancy would not be broken and there would be no advancement. In this process Westerners came to the East in succession and occupied countries around China. They gradually approached China and lay in wait for China. In 1517 Portuguese ships entered the sea of Guangdong province and arrived in Macao in 1554. In 1575 Spanish people began to appear along the coastal region in Fujian. In 1601 the Dutch reached Guangzhou for the first time and took the Penghu Islands by force after 21 years. They moved further to invade Taiwan and were finally driven out by Zheng Chenggong in 1662. In 1591 Britain began to move to the East. In 1596 Queen Elizabeth wrote an unsent letter to the Chinese Emperor asking to establish trade relations with China. In 1600 French ships reached the East. The Americans were comparative latecomers. In 1784 an American ship, named “Chinese Empress” to indicate admiration for the East, first appeared in Guangzhou. The grand geographical discovery was completely accomplished by Portugal and Spain. Therefore in the 16th and 17th centuries, both of them had an advantage in the East. Britain began its dominance in the 18th century. From the advent of the Travels of Marco Polo , Westerners had been dreaming of and admiring the East. In the 16th century they finally arrived and several centuries of dreaming came true. China, the great ancient country in the East, became their biggest prey. However, although it was easy for Westerners to come to the surroundings of China and legally or illegally move about in some coastal regions of China, it was difficult for them to enter the heavy gate of the Chinese empire. At that time they did not have the “coercive power.” In 1655 the Dutch envoys Peter de Goye and Jacob de Keyzer came to Beijing. It was said that “the two envoys satisfied all the requirements of the Chinese people. They

28

The East and the West

brought valuables with them and allowed them to be called tributes. And they themselves called these gifts tributes too. They accepted with thanks gifts from the emperor; they knelt down in front of the emperor and practiced the rites of thrice kneeling and nine times kowtowing when they were mentioning the name of the emperor, receiving the imperial decrees and were received by the emperor; they were willing to act the role of diplomats from an dependent state paying tribute to its suzerain. They hoped to acquire trading privileges with this kind of action, just as they had in Japan. But all they got was permission to send envoys once every eight years. They were allowed to bring four merchant ships each time with the envoys.”19 According to A Chronology of Key Events , in the 161 years from this time to 1816, Western envoys were sent to Beijing to ask for trading relations and the right to preach more than 10 times.20 They were the real pioneer envoys who knocked at the gate of China. Although they most probably left the Forbidden City in deep disappointment, new envoys would again arrive with high hope after crossing the ocean. Generations of envoys indicated the unyielding aggressive policy of Western countries. Behind them stood thousands of businessmen and missionaries. Two centuries passed like this. Faced with the unyielding and sustained progress of the Western countries, China’s last dynasty more consciously resisted with an conservative and defensive attitude. The Qianlong Yuzhi Shi (Poems by Emperor Qianlong) revealed his deep thoughts:21 “foreigners come regularly to knock at the door; I would rather make concessions than open the door. At the prime time of prosperity, possible losses in future scare me more.” “I would rather makes concessions than open the door,” as a state policy, showed his deep suspicion of Westerners’ attempts to open the door. Westerners coming to the East were not absolutely ignorant of this mentality. Macartney said, “actually, I have never seen an official written ban on foreigners’ trading in the northern ports of China. What they said was an excuse used by the Chinese to cover up their real motive. They thought their peace and tranquility would be hampered by the frequent business from foreign countries if they permitted the door to be opened. The multitude had to obey the imperial order so as to maintain the imperial authority. And the motto of the Chinese government would never change.”22 Although the Chinese emperors and court officials in the Ming Dynasty did not welcome the Westerners crossing the sea, they were not as nervous and cautious as those in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore after the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1522–1566), private commerce on the sea could develop very quickly and soon expanded into different groups on a large

29

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

scale, taking advantage of the loopholes in the law. These private businessmen had business connections with Portugal, Spain and Holland and made a large amount of American silver flood from Lüsong into China. At the same period, missionaries from the West also brought Western culture to the royal court and scholar-bureaucrats. One of the well-known missionaries, Matteo Ricci, made close friends among the scholar-bureaucrats. People of the time often wrote poems to him to speak highly of him: “the heaven and earth are boundless, which cannot be imagined by small wisdom. A Westerner came to China from eighty thousand li away. He admires the tradition of China, and has a deep understanding of Confucianism. His books are full of wisdom, his friends are capable and talented. People of all nationalities lived in happiness. I can see and feel the harmony of the country myself accompanied by Confucian scholars.”23 This is a poem presented by Ye Xianggao. The poems indicated the harmonious relationship between them. But soon after the founding of Qing Dynasty, the government strictly forbade business with foreigners at sea. Fujian and Guangdong were the first to be affected. “On the day when the order went into force, people ran along the street and their houses were burnt down. Half of the population died.” In the coastal region, “the fire went on for two months. It was a horrible scene.” Large areas of houses were burned down. Then walls were set up or ditches were dug as a boundary line, and “no ship would be allowed to enter the sea and no one should walk beyond the boundary line. Those who did would be killed at once on the charge of violating the imperial decree.”24 These cruel prohibitions were designed at first against Zheng Chenggong in Taiwan. But the coastal commerce between China and the West was almost shut down. Later many priests became involved in the case of the Bureau of Astronomy. Under the threat of imperial prison, the activities of foreigners in China were rigidly limited. The ban over the sea was not lifted until 1865, the 24th year of Emperor Kangxi when the Qing government recovered Taiwan. Four customs offices were set up in four provinces, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, to allow Western countries to do business regularly with Chinese coastal regions. This demonstrated the strong national power of China after territorial unification and also the self-confidence of Emperor Kangxi. It was because of this confidence that Kangxi was not afraid of things imported and wanted to learn about these things. He concentrated his efforts on Western modern mathematics as well as medicine and geography. With this knowledge, he was more likely to believe things through actual evidence. Yang Guangxian, who initiated the case of the Bureau of Astronomy and advocated that “we should get rid of the Westerners in China even though there may be no good calendar

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The East and the West

in China,” was finally removed from office because he had no knowledge of mathematical calculations. After the assessment of the actual calculations made by Ferdinand Verbiest he became the first Westerner who took office twice in the Bureau of Astronomy. The diplomatic relationship between China and the West relaxed for some time because of this. In the reign of Emperor Yongzheng China began to prohibit preaching in China, which demonstrated the contradictions between the rules of the Vatican and Chinese etiquette. “China has religions of its own and so do Western countries. There is no need to preach Western religion in China just as Chinese religion will not be accepted by Westerners.” stated the imperial decree issued on April 8 in the fifth year of Emperor Yongzheng.25 Groups of Western missionaries were expelled. “Local Catholic churches will be converted into consulates and those Chinese believers shall be ordered to abandon Christianity.” — from a memorial to the throne from Kong Yu, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. 26 At the same time Emperor Yongzheng called in Catholic priests Parrenin, Feng Bingzheng and Fei Yin and told them, “those Christian believers know only you. Once turmoil happens near the borders they will obey your orders; it is still early to consider this possibility, but if one day thousands of warships come to invade, there will be serious disasters.”27 Compared with the high-sounding language in the imperial decree to repel foreign heretical beliefs and worship Chinese orthodox learning, his words were closer to the fact. However the ideological conflict did not affect business between China and Western countries. In 1756 when many British merchant ships in Zhejiang sailed north to Ningbo continuously, Emperor Qianlong became concerned: “foreign ships used to enter China from Macau in Guangdong province. They seldom traveled up to Ningbo…in recent years, more ships came to Ningbo to do business. There will be more and more foreign ships becoming familiar with this route. This will make Ningbo a new trading center. Ningbo plays the same role as Macau. But more foreigners will stay in inland cities if there is a new trading center. We should take precautions beforehand in these coastal regions.” 28 In the next year he issued an official decree “to forbid foreign businessmen from traveling up to Ningbo and they shall only stay in Guangdong to do business.29 Otherwise they would be ordered to turn back to Guangdong and not be allowed to enter China from customs in Zhejiang. This decree shall be transmitted to the foreign businessmen in Guangdong.” The event happened in Ningbo only, but the prohibition in the decree forbade all trading between China and Western countries except in Guangdong. From that time on until the outbreak of the Opium War, Guangzhou became the only channel connecting China with the outside world.

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Accompanied with the vanity as a celestial empire, the main goal of Emperor Qianlong was to choke the exchange between China and the West so as to draw a clear line between the two. In 1792 (the 57th year of Emperor Qianlong), British envoy Macartney came to China to seek business cooperation. However according to the memorial to the throne from Guo Shixun, governor of Guangdong province, this came as tribute paid to China from a dependent state. It said, “as a courteous subordinate, we recalled the celebration of his Majesty’s eightieth birthday in the previous year. It was an unprecedented ceremony where all the kings and chiefs from dependent states near the border of China flooded to the capital to celebrate the grand occasion. Now, crossing thousands of miles of the sea, the king of Britain sends his envoy to China to celebrate the occasion. All the people of the world would like to show their respect and admiration to His Majesty.” 30 He classified the British King as being the same as the tribal chiefs in the border regions. Although it was a geographical mistake, his words reflected that it was taken for granted that China stood high above the other countries. So when Marcartney refused to practice the rite of thrice kneeing and nine-time kowtowing, Emperor Qianlong felt angry: “I really felt resentful towards this envoy who was not familiar with the etiquette when he came to Rehe. The official who received him gave him too much preferential treatment which made him overbearing. When he leaves… just treat him according to routine etiquette and do not show unnecessary favor. An ignorant foreigner like him deserved no preferential treatment.” 31 He took the inequality between China and foreign counties as his precondition of the exchange between the two. Using this precondition to measure Macartney, Lord Macartney became “ignorant” and “overbearing.” The dignity of the heavenly empire was an ideology and also a system. The well-known Thirteen Factories district of Guangdong was its outcome. At that time the government would not relinquish control over foreign trade, yet government officials could not have dealings with foreign businessmen in order to save the dignity of the heavenly empire. This contradiction could be resolved with the practice of official regulation over businessmen and in turn businessmen’s regulation over foreigners. The general office of the Thirteen Factories and Cohong (the Canton system) acted as an intermiary between Chinese and Western businessmen in their trading; and also an intermediary between the Chinese government and foreign businessmen diplomatically. They were business rivals of foreigners and also guarantors and regulators of foreigners. With dual responsibilities, they became half-official and halfbusinessman. From China’s point of view the Thirteen Factories maintained the rules of the heavenly empire; from the Western businessmen’s point of view it

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prevented their contact with the Chinese people and government. Although the Westerners were resentful of this practice the emperor, government officials, gentry and businessmen in China did not recognize its weaknesses until the conflict intensified. Essentially, the vanity of preserving the dignity of the heavenly empire was interconnected with the consciousness of being conservative and defensive. “Yi ” (foreign tribes 夷) and “Di ” (barbarians 狄) were disparaging terms used to refer to foreigners and they also represented the attitude of guard and precaution. “Those who are not our kin are sure to be of a different mind.” Therefore people from the heavenly empire distained to do business with foreign businessmen and used a series of preventative rules to rigidly restrict the coming, going, staying and traveling of Western businessmen. The Dazhong Ji (Collections of Dazhong ) collected the applications to the Chinese government by British Ben Brown and the response from Changlin, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. What was written in it demonstrated the situation at the time: (application) “We Westerners are afraid of getting ill and we enjoy walking. But we are not allowed to enter the city of Guangdong or exercise outdoors. We beg your Excellency to allow us to enter the city or assign some place for us to ride horses or walk ourselves. Then we will not get ill.” (response) “It has been investigated and found that villages are densely populated in Guangdong, which leaves no open space. If foreigners were allowed to travel outdoors they might causes disputes with Chinese people because they cannot speak each other’s language. However it is possible that foreigners may fall ill because they are confined in their hotels. Thus we shall hereafter allow them to exercise on the third and eighteenth day of every month on the condition that they need to report to the authorities in advance. They shall be sent to Chen’s Garden in Haitongsi to have a free walk. But they shall come back before sundown and shall not stay overnight there. The Cohong shall also be ordered to strictly control the sailors so as not to cause trouble.” (application) “The number of sailors on our merchant ships are huge. Their illness will easily infect others. Please allow us to build some cottages near the river or sea. Thus we can send the sick sailors to these cottages for treatment and isolation.” (response) “You have been allowed to build several small houses on the bank in Huangpu when your merchant ships arrive. The houses shall be dismantled after you leave. And this is already favorable treatment.

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

If new cottages are allowed to be built in Huangpu foreigners can stay there when their ships come. But who will be responsible for the keeping of the new cottages when the ships leave? If foreigners themselves are needed to keep the cottages then they will have to permanently reside there. There are no government offices in the area. So it will be very difficult to prevent possible harassment from some Chinese people, or such accidents as fire or stealing. There will be no need for further discussion over this matter.”32

It was said that in Guangdong at that time that Changlin was considered a lenient senior official with Westerners. However from his reply we can see the contempt and guardedness in his attitude. The dignity of the heavenly empire was an unbreakable concept, resulting from the long infusion of Confucianism. Geographically, there are coasts and mountains respectively on the two side of China, with several dividing long rivers in between, which helped in the formation of an isolated system. People living in such a society will surely affected by the society. Using conservative measures to deal with progressive policies was the situation between China and Western countries and the cause of a series of changes after the Opium War. The development of transportation of any country and region is in proportion to the development of its culture and economy. The ssivity of China in the world community did not start from the Opium War. We can gain an inkling of it from after the voyages by Zheng He.

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3

Chapter

Decline of the Qing Dynasty

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

The flourishing sixty-year reign of Emperor Qianlong had passed when Chinese society entered the 19th century. Compared with the “flourishing age” the beginning of the 19th century was dim and dark. Varied social contradictions which were nurtured and accumulated in the last century became varied problems in population, finance, military hardware and political administration. People’s thinking was changing and the tendency of scholars-bureaucrats was changing. The uprisings of the multitude and comments on state affairs from scholars-bureaucrats indicated that both the royal court and the common people were suffering. This was an old picture in the process of change between dynasties. But imported commodities and drugs brought by Western ships in trading between China and the West added new things to this social change. The darkening clouds forebode the distresses and unrest of this century.

The Heyday Passed A flourishing age seldom occurred after the Song Dynasty. But in the 17th and 18th centuries while feudal society was declining, the Golden Age of Kangxi and Qianlong, also called the Golden Age of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, emerged. This approving term originated from the old histories. However it is not entirely groundless. When the new histories described the social situation in the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong it also used or quoted this term. The rebirth of a golden age in the Qing Dynasty was created under the leadership of a Manchu monarchy, which requires a little deep thinking to understand its meaning through comparison. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the emperors usually isolated themselves deep in their palaces and failed to communicate with court officials. The lassitude of the old age was shown through the emperors’ unwillingness to go to court, hold banquets, worship at the imperial ancestral temple, read memorials and even appoint candidates for government posts. In 1596, the 24th year of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, Sun Peiyang, Minister of Personnel, wrote a memorial to the emperor: “in recent months, court meetings have been suspended, examination and recommendation for official posts has stopped, annual rites have been abolished. Some officials are waiting to be promoted or transferred. And some candidates are waiting to be appointed. Because of the pressing situation, there might be some improper arrangement occurring in the Ministry of Personnel. Therefore I humbly beg your majesty to give advice.”1 The tone of its wording was almost begging, yet the memorial was not submitted to the emperor and failed to arouse any response. Furthermore, in

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Decline of the Qing Dynasty

the years of Tianqi, eunuchs were a severe problem. The abuse of power by the eunuchs was the consequence and also penalty of the emperor’s dereliction of duty. When Emperor Chongzhen came to the throne, the situation was too far gone for him to turn it around. He designated 50 persons as the Prime Minister in 17 years, however, “the court has no talents to use, the officials and the emperor lost credibility and the officials were all flattering and tactful.” 2 His anxiety and efforts could not avert the long-accumulated collapse. Later, in his official war proclamation, Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant uprising and the emperor of Dashun Dynasty, said, “The emperor himself is not a fatuous ruler. However he has been long isolated and blinded; the officials are all self-seeking and deceptive and loyal and righteous officials are rare…the noble men are wasteful and foppish, but they are treated as confidants; the eunuchs are greedy dogs and pigs, but they are used as underlings. The prisons are overcrowded and the soldiers have lost their loyalty. The taxes are exorbitant and the people intend to rebel.” 3 This was a factual judgment of Chongzhen and his age. In comparison the Manchu founded a new country by force and their courage, determination and brutality brought a new driving force to the Ming Dynasty. Their plain and uncivilized qualities also made them practical and realistic. At the age of 16 Kangxi took the reins of government into his own hands after he killed Ao Bai, the powerful Minister. He was an industrious emperor and he talked about his hard work in his old age: I am now approaching the age of seventy. I have been over 50 years

on the throne, and all corners of the world are generally in peace. Although I failed to provide an abundant life to every family or change

the outmoded customs and traditions, I have been diligently working with great caution. I dared not get slack and have done my utmost day and night for decades as if it were in one day. The word diligence is

sufficient to sum my efforts up. The previous emperors failed to have a long life and the later historians will groundlessly judge that the early death is due to debauchery. Even if the emperor is perfect those critical scholars will find faults. However, I would like to defend the previous

emperors. They died early because of exhausting efforts to deal with state affairs. Zhuge Liang said, ‘Humbly I shall toil to the last ounce of my strength, until my end.’ As a subject and official, there was only one

Zhuge Liang. However a ruler must bear the heavy burden and cannot

shift the blame to other people. How can an official be compared to a ruler? The official can take office or resign as he likes and he can return

home and enjoy happiness with his children and grandchildren at his old age. However the ruler has to work diligently until the last day.

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Therefore, “every time I read the memorials from a senior official asking for retirement I sometimes cry. You officials will one day retire, but when shall I have a rest?”4 As an aging emperor, what he said might not be total affectation. After him it was a regular rule for the early Qing emperors to personally read over the memorials from officials. It was said that Emperor Yongzheng would stay up late until midnight to do this. This demonstrated the centralization of political power into the hand of the emperor. At the same time, it was another thing to “neglect his meals and sleep because of work.” The Yuan was a powerful dynasty in Chinese history. However the strength of Genghis Khan, able to shoot condors with his bow, was lost by his offspring. The crudeness and parochialism, and their contempt for culture remained. The Mongolian nobles were not sinorized. They divided the people into four ethnic groups and the Han people were put at the lowest level. They despised intellectuals, and as a result, scholars were ranked ninth in a ten-level social hierarchy, right above beggars. The imperial examination system, a social ladder for scholars to climb, was valueless in the eyes of the Mongolians. “Soldiers, monks, nuns, Taoists, scholars and other professions could all take part in the examination according to their own registered permanent residence.”5 Monks, Taoists and even nuns could take part in the exams. The assessment of talents became a ridiculous hoax. What they did was dig a social gap and their roots could not grow deep in Chinese society and history. The Manchu nobles were different. Their reign over China was also a process of their Sinesization, which showed that the Qing Dynasty basically inherited the political system of the Ming Dynasty and they were willing to accept and automatically advocated the traditional culture in China. In the 60-year reign of Emperor Kangxi they held tests for learned scholars so as to promote literature, posthumously named Zhu Xi as one of the Ten Philosophers so as to encourage the neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties, advocated Sinology, and bought ancient books in order to compile the Tushu Jicheng (Collection of Books ) in ten thousand volumes. The flamboyant Emperor Qianlong even called together many scholars from all cultural domains and finally completed the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature ) in over seventy-nine thousand chapters. Although half of their intention was to destroy books this kind of enormous creation was unprecedented in culture and history. When the Qing Dynasty appointed officials they at least tried outwardly not to divide people into two classes, Manchu and Han. Senior officials above the sixth degree were half Manchu and half Han in number. For local governors and lower local officials, both Manchu and Han people would be recruited.These measures were much wiser than those of the Mongolians. Consequently the Manchu people

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Decline of the Qing Dynasty

accepted Han culture and tradition, and the Han people accepted the Manchu monarchy. In the following over two hundred years, the race consciousness possessed by the surviving adherents of the Ming Dynasty which had prevailed in the early Qing Dynasty was gradually forgotten. Compared with the previous dynasty there was a flowering in the reign of Kangxi and Qianlong. After the crackdown on the rebellion of the Three Princes and the recovery of Taiwan, people enjoyed over a hundred years of peace in which to revitalize their strength. However compared to the sunny spring days in the golden age of the Han and Tang dynasties, the golden age of Kangxi and Qianlong was nothing but clear days in late autumn. The development of history would not allow a flourishing age to last long. The turning happened in the late reign of Emperor Qianlong and was accumulating. The golden color would fade in the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and numerous holes and scars were revealed. Some memorials to the Emperor mentioned that corruption and poverty had “worsened and become incurable.” If a county official intended to seek promotion they would pay a bribe. What they obtained was decided by how much they bribed. How could the authority become the personal property of the local officials? The public funds became the tool for them to use in climbing the ladder. Their superiors would not investigate malpractices since they had accepted the bribes. Some newly-appointed officials who had not lost their conscience refused to take the bribes. Their superior would try all means to entice them into the evil dealings. It was the same in all the counties. It was the same in the whole world. Consequently, a big country suffered from a severe deficit. The officials levied exorbitant taxes to make up the deficit. The common people suffered in poverty and no one cared about them.6

This led to long-term mass uprisings which originated from religious groups. The fight of the White Lotus Society “was driven by the oppressive government” which would not be denied even by imperial edict. “The bandits of the Society claimed that they were driven to rebellion by the government. Last winter when Wang Sanhuai, the chieftain, was arrested and interrogated he also said the same thing. I was moved with compassion and ordered the execution suspended.” 7 Jiaqing was not a promising emperor to accomplish great deeds. However he saw the long-standing malpractice and wished to turn it around through cleaning out political corruption. In 1799 (the 4th year of the reign of Jiaqing of Qing Dynasty) when he had just taken political power into his own hands, he killed Heshen who had been the Prime Minister for 20 years. He then began to dismiss and demote a lot of Heshen’s followers and hoped

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

to clean up political corruption. In the process a group of well-known Han people, such as Zhu Gui, Gao Shulin and Ruan Yuan, were appointed as court ministers and local governors-general and governors. The change in proportion of Han and Manchu officials was dramatic. At the same time Jiaqing terminated the practice of inspection tours of emperors which was started by Kangxi (six times to Zhejiang province, four times to the northern borders, four times to Mt. Wutai) and became popular in the reign of Emperor Qianlong (six southern tours); and abolished the tributes paid by border provinces. “Imagine the large quantity of expensive valuables and treasures sent by those local officials. It is impossible for them to buy these expensive tributes at their own expense. These gifts must have been solicited from officials at lower levels who would in turn rack the common people. The life-blood of the common people is exploited to satisfy the greed of government officials. It is hard for the multitude to bear the heavy burden.”8 These words seemed high-sounding in the imperial edict. However, compared with the extravagancy of Emperor Qianlong, this selfcontrol and self-discipline were impressive. However the golden age would not return. His will did not stop the decline of society. More and more hidden problems began to arise. This was the heritage bequeathed by the father to his son. From 1803 more disputes over water transport happened. It was an established practice since the Ming Dynasty to send the grain from the south to the capital through the canal. It demonstrated the abnormal relationship between the northern political center and the southern economic center. Therefore water transport of grain became one of the three major problems in Qing Dynasty. This was in the charge of the water transport governor and a set of administrative offices below him. Since the middle of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, varied problems of corruption had become of concern to the public. There were local officials from different provinces, court officials and commanders from the army at different levels responsible for the transportation. From Guazhou to Dianjin, several hundreds of officials were involved. All the relevant officials knew about the problem of redundant personnel. However they had to appoint their men to transportation in order to seek personal interest.

The underlings who were extorted by superior officials would in turn extort money from the lower prefectures and counties: The soldiers would extort money from the counties when checking the quality of the rice. They often found fault with the color of the rice and refused to pay the money while the county storehouses were filled up, which often led to riots by farmers. The soldiers then used

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Decline of the Qing Dynasty

the opportunity to blackmail county officials who had to satisfy their demands. If their demands were not been met they would suspend the business using low quality as a pretext. They would sail away before the business was completed. Then other counties had to make up the shortage.9

Because of the greed of and blackmail by the water transport offices, their conflicts with the local officials in charge of grain management were inevitable which in turn resulted in disputes over sea transport and inland water transport. Those with vested interests in inland water transport would that transport system; local officials supported the sea transport system. In 1803 the canal was blocked and the ships carrying grain could not move on it, hence the first dispute. The dispute between sea transport and inland water transport would often rise from the lower levels up to the royal court, which might touch on the possibility of changing the ancestral rules. The discussion went beyond administrative concerns. Before and after this period of time, the disputes began to involve the imperial examination system. Shu Hede, Vice Secretary of the Ministry of War, in the reign of Emperor Qianlong, wrote in his memorial: First, candidates of the ancient time talked about their plans for potential office administration in the essays in the examinations. The essays today are empty talk without feasibility. Second, plagiarism is

severe and the essays are shallow and farfetched. Third, the students focus on only one part of the Confucian classics and choose to write on the designated topics. The ancient people needed to spent their whole life to study Confucian classics while these students only need several months to prepare for the topics. Fourth, their essays have been drafted

before they take part in the examinations and their views in the essays are superficial.

Therefore, “the examination system selects candidates and appoints officials according to the essays. This is not a good system.”10 Another scholar called Xu Dachun expressed the same ideas in his ironical On the Current Essays : The scholars are the most useless people and the essays are as bad as

mud. The purpose of the examinations is to look for talent. However they turn out to be tricks to fool people. A few good opening sentences will lead you up to the upper class. However, do you know the

historical classics or Emperor Gaozu or Taizong? With piles of books and new stationery the students draw long sighs and keep reciting

until they fall asleep. Is there any taste left in the bagasse of a chewedup sugar cane? Time is wasted in a short life. Even though an official

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

post is obtained, this will bring bad luck to the people and the court.11

Actually, before the golden age had passed, people with insight must have seen the declining quality of the imperial examinations and the examination candidates. People had doubts and wrote about their doubts to the emperor, which indicated that the existing order was on the decline. With the worsening of the situation, their views would be echoed in public opinion. Rulin Waishi (The Scholars ), a book satirizing the imperial examination system, was published in the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and become popular. This was evidence. At the same time, more and more people in the lower classes became believers of certain religious groups. The White Lotus Society in Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei provinces spread like a forest fire for many years. “The rebels who surrendered or were killed by the government army were estimated at ten million; the number reported by the Ministry of Personnel at a hundred million.”12 The whole world was stunned. However, ten years after the army withdrew, the Tianli Society in Northern China arose and on October 8, 1813 (the fifteenth day of September in the reign of Emperor Jiaqing) broke into the Forbidden City. Not only common people, but also eunuchs in court, Manchu slaves, offspring of the Eight Banners and even some senior court officials were involved in the incident. After the event, Emperor Jiaqing wrote a decree criticizing himself: Since I have succeeded to the throne I dared not neglect my duty

or abuse the people. After the White Lotus Society rebellion was cracked down upon I had hope that I and the people could enjoy peace from then on. However, on September 15, something unusual suddenly happened in the Palace. It was an unprecedented incident since the Han, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. I feel deeply ashamed. However the disaster is the consequence of long-term accumulation of problems. The major cause of the disaster is conservatism and

slackness. I have tried to warn the government officials repeatedly, but they are blind to the problem. What I can do is to reflect on my conduct.13

His words of distress and anxiety revealed his frustration in the failure to take action. Compared with the ambitious attitude of Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing seemed unable to deal with all these problems. The difference between the two deeply reflected the different worlds they were facing. The changing world pattern had developed beyond the reach of the emperor and foreboded a declining age.

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Decline of the Qing Dynasty

Population, Migration and Gangs Compared with the former dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was a period of population explosion, leading to new difficulties as the society began to decline. According to the records in the Donghua Lu (Donghua Records ), in 1651 (the 8th year of the reign of Emperor Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty) the number of male adults was estimated at ten million at that time. Household record was registered on the basis of one male adult in one household. Suppose there were five members in each household, then in addition to the population which might be covered up due to certain reasons the actual number was about sixty million. It reached a hundred million by the reign of Emperor Qianlong; in 1793, (the 58th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong) it jumped to over three hundred million; in 1834 (the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang) the number exceeded four hundred million. In some two hundred years the population had increased by over six times. Compared with the productivity of the time, the speed and number of increase was astonishing. Aeneas Anderson, a member of MaCartney’s delegation to China, said, “In this country, every place we went to was densely populated. The number of village people covering one li could fill up the biggest town in Britain.”14 This was one of the things which impressed him the most. Compared with the description of the Westerners Hong Liangji, a scholar in the reign of Emperor Qianlong and Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, expressed his more rational opinion and concern over population and family planning in his book, Yi Yan : Suppose at the first generation of a family, there was one member with 10 rooms and 1 acre of land. After he got married, there were two members with 10 rooms and 1 acre. This was a well-to-do family. If he gave birth to three sons, he would have four members in the family in the second generation. The three sons got married and the family now had over ten members. Thus the family of ten members had 10 rooms and 1 acre of land. They could just live from hand to mouth. In the third generation after the grandsons got married, over twenty members would share 10 rooms and 1 acre of land. It was hard for them to make a living. The population would increase by 50 or 60 times after the fourth or fifth generation.

From one household to society as a whole:

The population of the peasants was 10 times that of the past, but the land had not increased. The number of merchants was ten times that of the past, but the goods had not increased. The number of scholars was 10 times that of the past, but the schools had not increased.

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Compared with the past prices, it cost 30 to 40 times more to buy a litre of spirit, and 100 to 200 times more to buy a zhang of cloth. The income fell short of the increasing expenditure. People sold what they had at lower prices, but the prices of cotton and grain were increasing. Consequently, after diligent work for a life time, honest people could not make a living and evil people thought of looting.15

This was a native theory of the population. With the traditional ideology of human life it reflected a population pressure which had not arisen in previous history. In an agricultural country, the increase of population was undoubtedly due to the increase in the peasant class and landlord class. The increase of small peasants meant that the land would be more fragmented; the capability of production and reproduction would be reduced; and the increase in the landlord class meant that more land would be annexed. Therefore the increase in population promoted and accelerated the annexation of land. Productivity was low and the increase in farming land was slow, so with limited resources of means of livelihood and a sharp increase in population it was inevitable that the life of the peasants would become poorer. This was the natural outcome of population increase exceeding social load-bearing capacity. The pressure of the unprecedented population resulted directly in two noticeable problems. The first problem was migrants. Traditionally, Chinese farmers highly valued a stable life on their own land. However often they would be forced to leave their home because of hunger. It had happened in all the previous dynasties, and was especially the case in the Qing Dynasty. After the reign of Emperor Qianlong, more and more people were pressed into the limited space which was provided by the natural economy and their difficult livelihood was more tightly squeezed. This contradiction drove the poorest population to move to new places for means of livelihood. In the early reign of Emperor Qianlong, the registration inspection system was abolished and control over the flow of farming population was loosened. Thus spontaneous migration appeared. At that time, people in Shandong and Hebei province migrated to northeast China; and those from Fujian went to Taiwan. This was migration within the country. At the same time, people migrated to foreign countries. According to the Hai Lu (Annals of the Sea ) written by Yang Bingnan, the number of early emigrants to foreign countries was not clear. However there was a clear record of the places where Chinese people settled. This was an important book enabling Lin Zexu to know the world outside. There were Chinese emigrants in Siam, the Philippines, Penang and Malaysia, and especially in Siam. Most of the emigrants were engaged in gold washing, vending, brewing, pepper planting, casino gambling, and opium trafficking.

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Decline of the Qing Dynasty

It was said that there were over ten thousand Chinese emigrants in Pulau Penang; and tens of thousands in Gelama (a place in Malaysia). A person named Fan Shouyi arrived in Africa in 1707. At that time, there was little possibility of anyone traveling to Europe and America. After the mid-19th century, the destinations of emigration and the numbers involved exceeded those in this period. Thus the modern history of the overseas Chinese was born. Second, gangs. Due to the large population, some people drifted away from social production and became vagrants or close to vagrants. These people were the major source of gangs. Gangs worshiped loyalism. According to the Confucian definition, loyalty and brotherhood referred to ruler-subject relationship and friendship, two of the five cardinal relations in feudal ethics. However in gang culture, loyalty was nothing but a modification of brotherhood. They stressed mutual aid between friends. In an age when food was the first necessity of the people, mutual aid was first represented economically in the form of sharing food by everyone if there was any. It appealed to vagrants lacking the means of livelihood. Censor Chai Chaosheng said in his Lufu Zouzhe (Memorial of Lu Fu ) dated November 6 in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong that: “Sichuan was a vast and sparsely populated area. In recent years, migrants from other places have flooded into Sichuan for food. At first they worked as tenants just as the locals did. Later, thousands of migrants accumulated and they became vagrants. Some cunning and fierce people then became the chiefs among them. There was a gang named the Guolu Society according to local dialect, which made close contact with other gangs so as to help each other.” Many vagrants joined Guolu to feed themselves. Later, Mifanzhu became a similar gang. More and more people joined the gangs and took it as a way of living. Consequently the influence of gangs penetrated everywhere. Different gangs of different sizes acted in cooperation and became the third social organization in modern China besides clans and guilds. The development of gangs was related to the intensification of urban and rural social contradictions as well as to the ideology of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. However, it was mainly caused by the excessive population. In previous history books we used to politically stress its anti-feudalist side. But in fact the idea of overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming had nothing to do with anti-feudalism. Some people were involved with these ideas after the rise of the bourgeois revolution, which added some anti-feudalism into the gangs, but this was not the basic nature of the gangs, which had more the instinct of robbing the rich to feed the poor. Sometimes they would escalate into peasant revolts, such as the White Lotus Society in Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei provinces. After the revolts were wiped out, they

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

formed some relationships with government officials and local powerful clans. Later, some of the scholars in country martial arts schools, government officials and bailiffs also joined the gangs. In the later Qing Dynasty, gangs were not a healthy social organization. In 1876 (the 2nd year of Emperor Guangxu), the Shanghai Daily published articles about the origins of and changes to the Qing Gang: “it has been considered a problem in Anqing for a long time. Its name originated from the ships carrying grain by Anqing Gang. In the reign of Jiaqing and Daoguang, the gang members would make trouble along the bank where the ships carrying grain passed. They robbed or stole things and committed all sorts of crimes. Later, water transport of grain was abolished and they lost their living. They then moved to other places and carved out their own territories in different prefectures and counties. The rampant illegal activies of these various gangs started in the region of Huaihai and later spread to the northern and southern counties of the Yangtze River. The strength of these vicious groups, in which was established a strict ranking system among their members, penetrated everywhere.”16 These words reflected some kind of public opinion. The opinion was supported by scholars who echoed the views of the authorities, and also by comments from the common people. The echo and comments showed that as a blind force, the spontaneous impulse of gangs was often destructive. The morbidity of the gangs reflected the morbidity of Chinese society. While China approached its modern times with the mysterious kingdom of varied gangs, the bourgeois parties mounted the political stage.

Imported Goods and “Imported Disasters” On the eve of the Opium War, Guangzhou was left as the only customs post for trading between China and the Western countries. However the impact created by the exchange between China and the outside world had affected a large part of social life. In 1836 there were over 50 foreign companies staying in Guangzhou Guesthouse for Merchants, among which there were 31 British companies, 9 American, 1 Portuguese, 1 Swedish and 1 French respectively. There were also 11 companies from India. Then a group of compradors, liaison workers and servants who had dealings with Westerners appeared (these compradors were not business intermediaries and were different from the comprador class. However some of the latter originated from the former.) They made a living through dealings with foreigners. Thus they formed the group of Chinese people who were directly influenced by foreigners. The government often

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Decline of the Qing Dynasty

perceived them as “cunning crooks,” and tried to restrict them, but in the period before the Opium War began they became more active in the social life of the region near the customs. When the China Repository was issued it said in the preface: “thirty years ago, no one here could translate Chinese into English and no offspring of the Empire could accurately read, write or speak in English.” The comparison between the present and past indicated the change in trend in the 30 years. Of course, these changes were limited to certain regions and people. Another thing which affected China more in the same process was Western goods imported into Guangzhou. Guan Tong, a scholar of the Tongcheng School, wrote in his Jinyong Yanghuo Yi (On the Ban of Imported Goods ), “in several decades, the public all over the world are earnestly pursuing the trend of imported goods and even the poor do their utmost to follow the fashion.”17 “The world” he talked about did not refer to the whole of China. But it did at least show that the consumption pattern in the regions which imported goods had reached was changing greatly. Chen Zhanghan made a general estimate of the total amount of imported goods from foreign countries: “woolen cloth, feathers, serge, copper and tin, cotton, brazilwood and medicine at the value of a thousand million annually.”18 At a time when the taxes from agriculture were the major source of state revenue, this number was huge. Guan Tong and Chen Hanzhang were among those scholars-bureaucrats who were concerned about current affairs. However their comments expressed not appreciation but anxiety. They expressed their opinion under the titles Jinyong Yanghuo Yi and Lun Yanghai (On the Disasters of Imported Goods ) respectively. Their main point was that “the government should strictly forbid imported goods and cease the exchange between Chinese and Western businessmen. Stop using imported goods and burn them all. Punish those who disobey the rules.” 19 Their worry showed that they already felt the pressure from foreign countries. It was not rare at that time to thinkthat the cloth and clocks imported from Western countries were not needed. However it is not accurate to conclude that all the imported goods were “imported disasters.” What corrupted Chinese society was the opium. In the 20 years from 1800 to 1820, over four thousand boxes of opium were imported annually. And the number was growing. From 1839–1840 it rose to thirty-five thousand boxes. Such a huge amount of drugs was too much for Chinese society. Li Guangzhao wrote a poem, the A Furong Ge (Song of Opium ), to describe the social situation under the impact of opium smoking: The poisonous fog darkens the sky and haggard people are wandering. It is not a cure-all for immortality. It will hasten your death. The

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

foreign barbarians come with their vicious intent. Barbarian ships arrived at Guangzhou carrying so-called magic pills with them. It is called opium which can cheer people up. It brings sound sleep in the darkness and people are thrilled to have it. Guangdong people rush to buy it with their gold and silver. It controls the Thirteen Factories and defies Chinese law. The opium first corrupts Wuling and then spreads everywhere. In the pavilions in the cold dusk, people are lying on the luxurious beds. The lamp is lit and the smokers call each other friends. They hold the long opium pipe in their hand. The smoke from their mouth is floating in the air as their money flows away. They will soon return after they depart from the opium den. They forget the passing of the time. A handsome young noble man will soon be transformed into a skeleton. Butchers and wine vendors also become addicted to opium. The smoke affects the scholars at school and the women in the far chamber. Both men and women are consumed by the evil habit. Lying in bed, opium refreshes them in ecstasy. Heaven is faraway while hell is impending. The old ghosts take the new ghosts away and all are blind to the warning of the overturned cart in front.20

China had been through many natural and man-made disasters, but it was very rare to see such a formidable disaster in which tens of thousands people became drug addicts. It resulted in a series of serious consequences: (1) An enormous drain of silver. According to the then current price, one box of crude opium cost four to eight hundred silver dollars. Xu Naiji wrote in his memorial to propose to slow down the ban on opium: “Each carton contains a hundred jin; black opium is of the best quality at eight hundred dollars, white color takes second place at six hundred dollars, and red color is the lowest, at four hundred dollars.” Thirty-five thousand boxes of opium were estimated at twenty million yuan. At that time one silver dollar was equal to seven qian of Kuping silver dollar. Thus the total number would be ten million taels, while the total revenue of the national treasury was something over sixty million and thus national economy would be affected. (2) The reduction of silver in currency circulation resulted in a high price of silver and a low price of copper cash. “All provinces and different government levels ask for copper cash for taxation and tribute grain. However they need to convert the copper cash into silver because they need to turn silver over to the State Treasury. Consequently, it leads to serious losses. The salt merchants in various provinces use copper cash in their dealings and have to pay taxes in silver. They do not like this practice.” Consequently the problems of deficit in counties, salt administration and tariffs were serious. 21 Lin Zexu worried that in several decades the central provinces would have no silver to cover soldiers’

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Decline of the Qing Dynasty

pay. What worried government officials was soldiers’ pay, but scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants were all affected. Bao Shichen said, “the pay of the ordinary people is in copper cash while the merchants trade in silver. The goods are priced in the market in copper cash according to the silver standard. Therefore the prices are increasing because of the lack of silver. Ordinary people need to pay tax in silver so they have converted their copper cash into silver. However silver is becoming more valauable Consequently, ordinary people live in poverty.”22 There were many miserable stories of common people like this. (3) The number of opium addicts rose to two million at that time. According to the memorial to the throne by Huang Juezi in 1838 (the 18th year in the reign of Emperor Daoguang), “at the beginning only young men from rich families smoked opium and they were able to restrict themselves even though they fell into the wasteful habit. Then many people from government officials and scholars-bureaucrats, to merchants, artisans, actors and servants, even women, monks and nuns, became addicts. Other places like Shengjing were seriously affected.” 23 The addicts appeared with the inflow of opium and their number was increasing. Chinese people used to think that the Westerners would die without tea and rhubarb. It was a false idea. However the addicts would surely die without opium. In the reign of Emperors Jiaqing and Daoguang, Wang Yanmei from Kuaiji wrote: “Zhang Si, one fellow townsman of mine, traveled to Lingnan and fell into opium smoking, which cost him all his possessions. When craving opium, he would lick coal ash to survive.” These few words vividly depicted the horrible scene. Opium not only harmed the body but killed the conscience, leading to various sins. For almost a hundred years from that time on, opium was always related to various bad things. It became one of the most dangerous social ulcers in old China. We can see that it was through the opium disaster that Chinese people began to recognize imported disasters. Gong Zizhen, the most typical thinker on social criticism in this period, who was born in 1792 (the 57th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong) and died in 1841 (the 21st year of Emperor Daoguang), was concerned about state affairs and paid much attention to world affairs. He expressed what he thought with the wit of a poet. “Autumn has swept the land.” He used such imaginative thinking to accurately depict the situation and time sequence in the reign of Emperors Jiaqing and Daoguang. It was an age with problems both at the highest and lowest levels. At the highest level, “there were defects in all ancestral rules,” and at the lowest level, “the multitude in the mountains screamed and moaned in pain.” The multitude referred to the White Lotus Society and Heaven and Earth Society and included the intellectuals who were not content with the age. They struggled to look for a way out. These opinions

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

depict the social situation in the 1820s and 1830s and at the same time showed the sorrow caused by the failure to find a way through. As the old dynasty approached its end, China faced another round of change of dynasty. But this failed to be accomplished because the coming of Western capitalism changed the road of Chinese history. Under the threatening cannons, Chinese society hobbled into modern history. This road was not chosen by the Chinese people. It was effected by foreign impact, and hence the various abnormalities. It was the major thing which decided the destiny of China in the following century and it affected the social metabolism for almost a hundred years.

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4

Chapter

Rocked by Cannons

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

In July and September of 1839, the Chinese navy and the British fleet opened fire twice in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon and in the waters of Chuanbiyang estuary, which signified that the conflict between China and Britain caused by the ban on opium smoking and trade had escalated into a military confrontation. The war had begun. The Opium war lasted for over two years from June 1840 to August 1842. It was the last aggressive step by Western countries after their 325year long watching and waiting since they entered China in 1514. The cannons shocked China and Asia as well. For China, this war was a boundary monument which recorded the first step of ancient Chinese society out of the middle ages into modern times, forced by cannons. For Asia, the war changed the original pattern of the region. Before the war, China was a giant in the East and the biggest fortress of the feudal system in Asia. However the British battleships sailed in from the sea and broke down the wall of the fortress along the Yangtze River. The consequence: “Peace is negotiated in cold autumn, when weak China is thinking about ceasefire. Foreign barbarians are waiting in Jinghaisi, where the treaty is like an offering in the sacrifice.” Then, “the barbarian ships leave in content. The transportation on the Yangtze River is suspended for three months.”1 The Opium War was not only a British victory over China but also the final victory of the advanced West over the ancient East. From then on, the traditional relations between China and its neighboring countries were changing. Japan was shocked and aroused by the experience of China, and rose to change its own destiny.

Opening Eyes to See the World Was China’s failure in the Opium Wars caused by obsolete weapons? By political corruption? Or by the backward society? Chinese people have thought about this problem for a long time. We can say that the three are interconnected: backward society caused political corruption which in turn caused obsolete weapons. However this conclusion was not drawn until much later. Each generation observed and experienced the world under dual subjective and objective restrictions. Thus different generations had different understanding. At the end of the last century, an imperial decree from Emperor Qianlong talked about British envoy George Macartney’s visit to China: “our empire is abundant in natural resources and products and we do not need the exchange of goods from foreign countries to make up for any shortage,” 2 a statement which was widely quoted. People often perceive this as the mentality of an emperor. In fact such mentality was derived from the natural economy which had maintained

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the small-scale peasant production system for thousands of years. Natural economy not only provided products, but led to and further caused a vicious cycle of seclusion. This self-supporting and self-sufficient economy did not produce the desire and impulse to develop outward. Therefore in the twohundred-year reigns of Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang, China often played the passive role before the Westerners’ arrival in China. China changed from being passive to being defensive, then from being defensive to closing its borders. There were also visible political reasons and invisible economic reasons. During this period Portugal, Spain, Holland, France and Britain came to knock at the door, yet failed to cross the “great wall between China and the West.” On the other hand, the reign of Emperor Daoguang was characterized by the special “countermeasures against foreigners.” It was stipulated that “foreigners shall be forbidden to bring foreign women into their guesthouses or take a sedan chair in provinces”; “foreigners shall submit their reports through foreign businessmen”; “foreigners shall not be allowed to spend the winter in Guangzhou”; “the Cohong shall be responsible for the regulation of foreign guesthouses and companies;” “Han people shall not be allowed to accept loans from foreign companies”; “foreigners shall not be allowed to stay long in Macau”; “foreigners shall not be allowed to employ Chinese wet nurses and maids”; “foreigners shall not be allowed to enter certain gates.”3 Inconsistencies existed between the stipulation and implementation of these countermeasures. For example, foreigners were not allowed to spend the summer or stay long in Guangzhou.4 For a long period of time, these detailed countermeasures effectively prevented foreigners from watching China too closely. However this process effectively prevented Chinese people from understanding the world. As the conflict between China and Britain over the opium trade intensified, the criticism from scholars-bureaucrats attempted an ineffective solution: “Among the products from China, foreigners like tea and rhubarb the most. They are effective in curing diseases. The trade between China and the Westerners is about them buying from China what they lack, not that China has to buy anything from them.” They believed if “we forbade the export of tea and rhubarb” the foreigners would have to submit to China.5 Such distance between their perception and the truth demonstrated the vanity and ignorance caused by the closed borders. The Opium Wars were a contest of military strength between China and the West. The vague image of “Taixi” was unraveled before the Chinese people for the first time to reveal speedy battleships and powerful cannons. Lin Zexu,

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who had led battles against Britain as commander in chief, experienced the pressure in person and was impressed deeply. On his journey to Yili he wrote to his friend about the contrast between Chinese and Western weapons: “their cannons can cover the range beyond 10 li , so their cannons would hit us because ours had a shorter range. Our weapons were inferior. Their cannons can fire consecutively many times, yet we need much longer time and effort to make the second firing. Our technology was inferior.” In addition, “our soldiers were used to face-to-face combat and had never experienced fights in which the two troops were about 10 or 8 li from each other. They were at a loss as what to do.”6 His words were bitter because the experience came from the blood of Chinese soldiers. This contrast illustrated that the people at that time were questioning themselves after the bloodshed and pain and anger. Guan Tianpei was brave. However, after the fierce battle, his old cannon “leaked and failed.”7 The bodies of some cannons became red hot and exploded. Faced with the modern weapons from the West, the courage showed by the Chinese signifies a historic sadness. Yang Fang even collected used toilets from women as weapons. He regarded foreign cannons as heretical magic. His confusion before Western weapons conveyed a kind of historical irony. What was respectable about Lin Zexu was that he was the first one to use Western countries as a measure to show the shortcomings of China. In a period of over two years, China despatched over ten thousand troops. One governor (Yu Qian), two provincial commanders-in-chief (Guan Tianpei and Chen Huacheng), seven garrison commanders (Zhang Chaofa, Xiang Fu, Jiang Jiyun, Zheng Guohong, Wang Xipeng, Ge Yunfei and Xie Chaoen), two Eight Banners commanders in chief (Hai Ling and Chang Xi) and thousands of soldiers died in the war. But the number of casualties of the British army was less than one hundred. The fact demonstrated the wide gap between China and the West. Some of the Chinese people realized through the smoke of gunpowder that they knew nothing about their enemy. The Yi (Westerners) from the West were alien races which the Chinese had never met in history. The two thousand-year old view of the Yi was changing. Involved in the center of the storm, Lin Zexu became “the first person to open his eyes to see the world” in the turbulent age. He edited the Sizhou Zhi (Annals of Four Continents ), Huashi Yiyan (Foreign Opinion on Chinese Events ), Zai Zhongguo Zuo Yapian Maoyi Zuiguo Lun (On the Crimes of Opium Trafficking in China ), and Geguo Lüli (Laws of Different Countries ) which not only provide historical materials but also show the Taixi image and situation in written form through the eyes of the Chinese people. In 1832 (the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang) a fisherman in

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Fujian called Yang exchanged fish for rice with foreigners at sea and accepted books as gifts from them. On the intervention of the government, “the books were confiscated, and the case was reported to the Junjichu (Grand Council) and the Emperor.” Local officials were severely criticized in the imperial decree: “according to the handwriting on the paper, we can conclude that it was written by someone from the inland. In addition, the language in it is not coherent. Therefore the report of the governor must be trying to cover up the truth.” 8 The fact that a few foreign books could cause such a stir demonstrated the lack of an open mind and of courage. Lin Zexu was the first to walk out from this isolation. He had believed that the ban on tea and rhubarb export could subdue Western countries. However the powerful war put contradictions to the test of life and death. It forced a way through and forced people to recognize their rivals. At the turning point of modern times from the middle ages, Lin Zexu changed his opinion which showed his courage in fighting against the invaders and his open mind in accepting the new knowledge. The two qualities were both dazzling. What is thought-provoking is that it was the Westerners in China who approved of his ideas. “The Chinese government was totally ignorant of foreign affairs and was reluctant to learn. Therefore it still knows nothing about the West.” “However Governor-General Lin Zexu was different. He cultivated translators in his office and instructed liaisons to report the situation of foreigners daily to him.”9 Although Lin Zexu’s new knowledge was mixed with old prejudices he pioneered understanding of the West, breaking the barriers of traditional ideas. Subsequently Wei Yuan advocated “acquiring foreign technology to compete with foreigners.” This famous proposition, involving acquisition of a complete set of weapons and the cultivation and training of soldiers, inspired the Westernization movement after 20 years. The severe pain aroused the initial consciousness of reform of old things. “Foreign affairs”, which used to be set aside, began to become a new learning in the hands of Lin Zexu. Confucianism, which adopted the aim of cultivating the moral self, regulating the family, maintaining the state correctly and making peace in the world as well as regulating the affairs of human life and of the state, changed greatly. Before the Opium War, national welfare and people’s livelihood centered on taxation, salt administration, water transport and river projects. The Huangchao Jingshi Wenbian (Collection of Essays on Public Affairs of the Empire ) written by Wei Yuan in 1826 listed the above-mentioned important issues. After the Opium War, foreign affairs infiltrated both state affairs and common people’s lives and became a major focus in statecraft studies. This change is clearly recorded in the Huangchao Jingshi Wenbubian, Huangchao Jingshi Wenhoubian and

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Huangchao Jingshi Wenxubian (Collection of Essays on Public Affairs of the Empire Sequels I to III ). They illustrate the extension of traditional learning. The mixing of Chinese culture and Western culture was initiated in such extension. Foreign affairs as a new important component was a feature in the changes in statecraft studies, as was the difference between the new and the traditional approaches to statecraft studies. On the one hand, the change showed that foreign affairs had already become connected with actual political life in China; on the other hand, it showed that Chinese recognition of the West was deepening. Both sides started from the Opium War. If we do not understand the modern characteristics of statecraft studies our study will remain shallow. .

Government, Common People and Foreigners The Sanyuanli Incident took place during the Opium Wars. While the deeds by Lin Zexu signified the ruling class’ resistance to foreign aggression, the brave people from Sanyuanli and other places represented the spontaneous resistance of the common people. They were initial responses from the two poles of society in the process of ethnic conflict between China and the West. The unity of response is evident. It has been said in the past that the government was afraid of foreigners; foreigners were afraid of the common people; and the common people were afraid of the government. This triangular relationship was an exaggeration of their interrelationship. The Daoguang Yangshou Zhengfu Ji (Voyages of Foreign Fleets under the Daoguang Reign ) written by Wei Yuan recorded the written call to arms by Guangdong rebels when condemning Charles Elliot: “you boasted of your invincible cannons and battleships. So why did you not invade Guangdong when it was governed by Lin Zexu? Today, the fraudulent ministers have been bribed by you and retreated from the defense. Consequently, you availed yourself of the opportunity. If you move further to invade our inland river waters we would not be Chinese subjects of the Qing Empire if we did not gather an army of a hundred thousand to wipe out your cannons and battleships.”10 Here, the masses fought against the foreigners as “the subjects of the Qing.” Their criticism of the fraudulent ministers was not simply antagonism between the government and the people, and did not mean that “they were being unthankful or forgetting their ruler-father.” 11 Their wording reflected the conflict between loyalty and craftiness in traditional culture. The anti-aggression struggles of the common people on one side drifted away the government. However they were after all different from domestic

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class struggles, from those of the Heaven and Earth Society and the White Lotus Society. A common national consciousness and feelings connected the government and common people. The mass uprisings much acclaimed by today’s historians were often organized and led by the gentry. The gentry in China were different from government officials because they were not paid by the emperor. They were not common people either because they enjoyed some scholarly honor and identity, which resulted in some privileges. This was a social class which existed between the government and the common people. Because they resided in one place for a long time they became local leaders who had the say in deciding local affairs. They were not rulers, but they acted as rulers to some extent. The gentry class played an important role in modern Chinese society. Among the leaders in the 13 villages in Sanyuanli after they smeared their blood to swear fidelity in Niulangang, He Yucheng, Wang Shaoguang and Liang Tingdong were the most influential ones. They were respectively a juren (provincial graduate in the imperial examination), a jiansheng (a student of the Imperial College) (according to other records, he was a candidate for county magistrate) and an influential figure able to call upon ten local schools. Without the personal prestige of these individuals, the anti-aggression anger of the villagers would only have been in the form of dispersed struggles and would not have been organized into the powerful wave represented by 103 villages. When the masses rose like waves, the ideas of the gentry would represent those of the common people. Communication between the government and the masses was reflected by the gentry. Afterwards Liang Zhangju, Governor of Guangxi province, wrote in his memorial to the Emperor “the reason that Guangdong was saved was due to the strength of those villagers.”12 His tone was clearly favorable. Similar resistance against aggression often occurred in the one hundred years of modern history. It would be incomprehensible if we refuse to see the national consciousness involved in it. Among the government officials there were people who were scared by the foreigners’ cannons and brought disgrace to the country and themselves. Yu Baochun, a magistrate of Guangzhou, was transferred to his post by Lin Zexu. In the confrontation with foreigners he “actually got along with them.” When Lin Zexu was incriminated, he “chimed in with Qishan and changed completely his original attitude. He was instructed to negotiate and bargain with Elliot about the prices of opium and the issue of Hong Kong. When General Yishan, Counselor Longwen and Yang Fang arrived, he exaggerated the situation. Finally, the disputes were settled with costly bribery.”13 When the people in Sanyuanli encircled the British Army he “went out of town to settle

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the dispute.” 14 He played a minor role in the Opium War between China and Britain but in Guangzhou at the time he was severely condemned by the public as a traitor. According to the Yingyi Ruyue Jilüe (Invasion of Guangzhou by British Army ), he was in charge of the county-level imperial examination in Guangzhou held in September that year. Consequently, “the candidates burst into an uproar.” They said, “we learnt from the words of the saints so as to be instilled with sense of honor. We refuse to take part in the examination of the traitor.” 15 Finally he became the target of public criticism by the scholars and “was not tolerated by the Guangdong people.” At the beginning of the confrontation between China and the West, national pain was mixed with the debate between Chinese culture and Western culture which reflected the collective thinking of the majority of people. The gentry-bureaucrats, instilled with Confucianism, had not lost their ideal of driving out the aggressors. Therefore someone like Yu Baochun was not only condemned by the grass-roots masses but was alsodespised by the gentry-bureaucrat class. He was an image of government officials, but not their representative.

Social Changes under the Treaties The cannons were more than a psychological shock. The victory of Western ideology with the help of war was reflected in the form of the first treaty between China and the West. In the following over one hundred years, China signed more than a thousand unequal treaties with foreign countries. The network of these treaties compiled a so-called treaty system; with the treaties, foreigners could “legally” exploit and rule China and derail Chinese society. The starting point of the system was the first treaty after the Opium War; it was the earliest and it stipulated that the provisions should be revised in 12 years, which was a major feature of unequal treaties. In addition, its content (territory cession, indemnity, opening of five ports, tariff agreement, consular jurisdiction, housing construction on leased land, right of free preaching) represented the basic content of the whole treaty system. This set the initial premise for the later supplemental treaties. With the emergence of the first set of treaties, visible changes gradually occurred in Chinese history. First, the right of equality between foreign consuls and Chinese officials. This put great pressure upon the Chinese traditional social and political system represented by the Manchu government. The Treaty of Nanjing stated: “It is agreed that Her Britannic Majesty’s Chief High Officer in China shall correspond with the Chinese High Officers, both at the capital and in the

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provinces, under the term “Communication”. The Subordinate British Officers and Chinese High Officers in the Provinces under the terms “Statement” on the part of the former, and on the part of the latter “Declaration”, and the Subordinates of both countries on a footing of perfect equality.” 16 In the later Treaty of Wanghia with the U.S. and the Treaty of Huangpu with France “the right of equal correspondence” was also clearly stipulated.17 The reason why the Westerners laid stress on this was that they had been rejected for many years by the “defensive system between China and the West.” But the “right of equal correspondence” was not simply a problem of etiquette for traditional China. On the one hand this equal right was directly opposite to the Empire’s unequal treatment of foreigners. The implementation of such an equal right would break the imperial system and promoted the fall of the defenses of China. On the other hand, the specific equal right revealed certain notions of equality in capitalism. The capitalist equality was naturally hypocritical. But it was something which historically negated the feudal ranking system. In this sense, the equality request put forward by the West would cause many problems which people in traditional society were unwilling to see. Such problems might not be as obvious as that of the former one at first; however its heavy pressure could be felt. What troubled the people was that the purposeful equality requested by the West was unacceptable to traditional China, yet had to be accepted. Second, the cession of Hong Kong to Britain. This meant that Britain had obtained a base for its operations in China, and the opening of five additional ports offered them a channel to push deeper into the inland area from the coastal regions. The Westerners had pursued this for several decades since Macartney. They obtained from Emperor Daoguang what had been rejected by Emperor Qianlong. The change caused by the war demonstrated the loss of sovereign rights of China. “At the shocking news from the decree, I weep bitter tears of remorse.” In his poem, Huang Zunxian described the pain of the cession in the reign of Emperor Daoguang. For several decades, full of indignation and national emotions, we have been condemning the historical crimes committed by the imperialists resulting in numerous books and articles. This was a necessary part of historical study. It judged the justice and injustice in history. However ethical concepts were only one part of the history. The Communist Manifesto says that the development of capitalism drew all nationalities, even the most primitive, into the whirlpool of civilization. “In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations. And as in material, so also in intellectual production.” 18 According to these words, in the world expansion of capitalism, unjust aggressors were also in the vanguard in the development

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of history; the just opponents of aggressors were often laggards. Objectively speaking, aggression powered by greed has often been a means by which the advanced nations uplift the backward ones to some extent. The only way to illustrate the antimony is to use dialectical thinking. British Hong Kong and additional treaty ports and foreign settlements appeared after the Opium War as Westerners introduced their capitalism here and built up a state within a state, which for a long time became the symbol of colonization in modern China. In the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, someone who went to the foreign settlements in Shanghai wrote a poem Yichang Xing (Journey to Foreign Settlements) to describe their deep indignation and nostalgic sorrow, “it is a dramatic change now that the old Huangpu is transformed into a foreign settlement. The tall and low buildings are lining the streets. Flags of various colors are flying and the patterns are like a chessboard. Buses are clanging in the street and people need to ring the bell to visit a house. Dazzling lights shine through the windows. People speak in mysterious and strange tongues, and laugh at peculiar machines with make-up on their faces. Striking clocks are of fine craftsmanship and cloth is woven on the machine. The lamps are lit by electricity and the temperature is measured by a special indicator. Electricity illuminates the world. I am not a foreigner and I am shocked by all these. All the treasures are displayed here. The poison of opium can erode the body, yet People swallow it as delicious food. Our money has been spent on soldiers and weapons, and the flames of war have not ceased for twenty years. Li Guotai is a corrupt official and he holds a candle for the devil Thomas Elliot. The whole world of China has been connected and there is no need to bother the translators. The South bank of Guangzhou smelted iron with the iron ore mined from our country. It was regretful that we did not take the advice of economic isolation proposed by Tang Huang. It is already too late to close the gate of the country. The legacy of the saints is covered in dust. The waves became covered with smoke and our skies are veiled in mist. One day the gale will blow away the dust and the disasters will be gone.”19 This feeling was difficult to remove from the heart of a nation being invaded by foreigners. However Westerners set up several capitalist settlements in feudal China and opened many windows for Chinese people to see things they had never seen before. Many advanced intellectuals in modern times, such as Rong Hong, Hong Rengan, Wang Tao and Kang Youwei, searched for truth from the West and obtained their first perceptual impression of the outside world through Hong Kong and the foreign settlements. “Their palaces are magnificent, the streets are clean and policemen are strict. Therefore we realize that the West is ruled by the law. We should not adopt the old prejudices against them.” 20

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Perceptual impressions created admiration, admiration created contrast, and contrast created pursuit. Then the ideology and practice of reform was created. The capitalism of Hong Kong and foreign settlements were watched and admired by the masses under the feudal system. As with the hatred of foreigners, these feelings were all true. Third, imported goods from Hong Kong and the five ports began to assault the natural economy in China. The social and economic structure which had lasted for thousands of years was eroded and gradually changed. The process was very slow because of the staunch resistance of the natural economy. This resistance came from the huge inertness of tradition and the struggles of billions of peasants. When one part of the natural economy went bankrupt under the attack of imported goods, a group of producers would be thrown out of production as redundant. According to the observation of Westerners at the time, “Chinese workers were abundant in number. The low pay of the Chinese workers would not support the workers in the U.S.. It was the case in Shanghai, and the pay of workers in other places was even lower than Shanghai. Because the pay in Shanghai was much higher than other places many male and female workers from remote areas left their home and rushed to Shanghai to make a living.” 21 However there were not enough new production sectors to absorb them. Most of them had to return to the dense countryside population and move back into the natural economy, living in more difficult conditions. South Jiangsu was close to the foreign settlements and would have been the first place experiencing such a change. However by the reign of Emperor Guangxu, people were still mentioned as making a living by the combination of weaving and farming. “Those families who collected rents in the towns and villages would have piles of cloth in their house. When asked why, they answered that the tenants had no rice to pay the rent. Instead they paid the rent with cloth.”22 Facing this situation, the economic change caused by pressure from Western forces was like layers of ripples spreading on the water. The process extended and did not end in almost a hundred years. The natural economy was gradually disassembled and yielded to the creation and development of capitalist elements. The new mode of production was replacing the old, resulting in various changes in urban and rural social life. The complexity lay in the fact that the change in social and economic structures had dual significance. According to Western capitalism, the above-mentioned changes were the outcome of their reform of China based on the Western structure; to the Chinese nation, these changes were imposed on the Chinese people under the threat of death because they were forced to adopt the capitalist mode of production. The two significances were not in proportion to each other. Therefore the metabolism in

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the economy was realized in a distorted social situation. Those who benefited most were not China society, but the Western powers. Fourth, after the Opium War, more and more foreigners came to China (in 1850 there were about five hundred foreigners in China) of whom most were merchants and priests. Their activities not only brought goods and religion, but promoted the growth of things abnormal and new in Chinese society such as grafting, that is the comprador class and Chinese Christian converts. Besides the traditional scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants, a fifth occupational class was created. This group of people played a special role in modern Chinese history. As a class or level, they were Chinese people dependent on foreign countries. According to the Yingruan Zazhi (Annals of Yingruan ), “various commodities from China and foreign countries were gathered in Shanghai. Half of the interpreters were people from Guangdong. Being an interpreter, one could make a lot of money rapidly. Western merchants mainly bought tea and silk and the profit on these two were the lowest. What Western merchants sold in China was woolen cloth, cloth and feathers which did not sell well.” 23 This referred to the early compradors. In official documents it often stated that “the Christian converts were local despots who often bullied people and defied the law. They committed crimes and bullied the weak.” 24 Both these groups were connected with foreigners. It was understandable that they were despised because of their differences with their own nationality. But one outcome might create another new one. Many of the earliest ideological representatives of the Chinese bourgeoisie and the founders of modern industry came from the comprador class. Zheng Guanying, who started as a comprador and was familiar with Western operations, wrote to Yi Yan that: “on the waters of over two thousand li of the Yangtze River, foreign ships have made great profits and they have usurped the host’s role of Chinese merchants. It worries me a lot. New provisions will be negotiated after the old treaty expires. All the foreign ships on the Yangtze River will be recalled. The freight transportation expenses which have been reduced because of competition will return to the old higher level. The Western merchants dare not to oppose the change and they accept the market price in the upper and lower reaches of Yangtze River. Consequently, the profit of freight transportation will all go to the Chinese monopoly. This will not benefit the country or the people!”25 He discussed only the shipping business, but his worry for the state was evident. He did not intend to flatter the Westerners. The spreading of Western science and cultural knowledge in China was also due to those who believed in foreign religions. The rebel Hong Xiuquan and the revolutionary Sun Yatsen both believed in God and Christianity. In these figures, nationality did not

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die out. Instead it was connected with reform and progress and spontaneously was sublimated to patriotism. A distorted society created things with multiple appearances and nature. In the whole process of the Opium War, China used old weapons, government and society to confront a modern enemy. The cruel facts of the war revealed the gap between the two, which spurred a group of patriotic intellectuals to think through the contrast. Thus, in the slow change of Chinese society, such books as Haiguo Tuzhi (Records and Maps of the World ) and Yinghuan Zhilüe (A Short Account of the Maritime Circuit ) were published. This generation of Chinese started to learn about Western politics, society and history from geography. Geography reflected their determination to restore the country and signified the beginning of cultural modernization in China. It was a shame that those who paid most attention to these two enlightening books were not the Chinese but the Japanese. Japanese society was awakened by the roaring cannons while China fell asleep again when the roar died down. When Guo Songtao and Feng Guifeng mentioned the two books again in the 60s, 20 years had passed in their sleep. I cannot help but sigh with regret and sorrow when I read this part of history.

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Chapter

The Tragedy and Comedy of the Taiping Kingdom

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

The peasant rebels under the flag of the Taiping Kingdom invaded Jinling by force and built up a small heaven in human society. This was their comedy. After Tianjing was captured, their dream of the Taiping Kingdom was burnt down in the fire. This was their tragedy. The process took more than ten years and its rise and fall left an enduring vestige in history. There was both the joy of victory and the tears and blood of failure in the ups and downs. Both its tragedy and comedy contained rich social content.

The White Lotus Society, Heaven and Earth Society and God-Worshipping Society When Emperor Xianfeng had just come to the throne the Jintian Rebellion broke out and spread quickly like a prairie fire. As he inherited the throne from his ancestors he also inherited the disasters from his grandfather and father. From the early 19th century, sharp social traditions brought Chinese society to another stage of dynasty succession. In the several decades under the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and Daoguang, on the one hand the intellectual circle moved their attention from trivial details to the concerns of the world, and on the other hand the poverty and sorrow of the masses were accumulating and changing into unrest. After the Opium War, the social forces to change the old dynasty greatly developed and were collecting in different channels. Compared with the Yellow-Turban rebels in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Huang Chao in the late Tang Dynasty, the Red-Turban rebels in the Yuan Dynasty and Li Zicheng in the Ming Dynasty, these forces were more wide-spread in size and more complicated in composition. The most powerful forces can be listed as follows: (1) Branches of the White Lotus Society. After the White Lotus Rebellion in Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei was put down, the strength of other societies continued to grow quickly and assumed different names. They widely recruited followers and remained active in a half-overt and half-covert way along the north of the Yangtze River. The later Nian Army was one of these societies. (2) The Heaven and Earth Society. Compared with the White Lotus Society’s focus on theocracy, this assumed some political coloring of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. Its agencies covered Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Taiwan provinces and were moving into Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan. It took many names with local characteristics, and these organizations made contact with each other. As one fell, another rose. In the lower echelons of society in South China, they formed an organized force to contend with the government. (3) The

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God-worshipping Society, founded in early 1843. (4) Rebellion of minorities in outlying areas, featured by Hui rebels in the southwest and northwest. Individually, each of them was nothing different from previous rebellion forces. However they coexisted in time and space, echoed each other, and came together into a driving force. The turning point from the middle of the century to modern time witnessed the last peak of spontaneous peasant revolt in Chinese history. The impact and molding of the age gave them various unprecedented appearances in the process of dynasty succession. Gong Zizhen said in the 30s that “watching the world, I realized unrest is impending.”1 With a sharp awareness of current affairs, he sensed that the magma was rolling beneath the earth. Later history testified to his words. In the 50s and 60s, the hot magma erupted and the whole of China was caught in the fire of rebellion. These forces coexisted at the same time and did not belong to or control each other. The force which finally played the dominant role in dynasty succession was not the several-hundred year old White Lotus Society, nor the two-hundred-year old Heaven and Hearth Society, nor the outlying rebellions of minority groups. It was the God-worshipping Society which arose suddenly among all these forces. The God-worshipping Society was fomented in the ‘30s and founded in 1843. It rose in rebellion and made Nanjing the capital within several years. In a short period of time it achieved what the White Lotus Society and the Heaven and Earth Society had failed to achieve. This is a historical phenomenon worth thinking about. Although little notice was taken of it, this historical phenomenon should be explained in the historical narration. As far as I understand it, this winning by a latecomer was the choice made by Chinese society. (1) From the reign of Emperor Qianlong to that of Emperor Jiaqing, the White Lotus Society launched a large-scale rebellion which lasted several years and their activities covered the five provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Shanxi and Gansu. The Qing shi gao (Draft of Qing History ) wrote in astonishment: “the war with the bandits continued for ten years. According to statistics, more than four hundred assistant brigade commanders and over twenty commanders-in-chief died in the war. Such brave generals as Wang Wenxiong, Zhu Shedou, Mukedengbu, Shi Jin, Huilun, and Anlu also died in the battles.” “It was evident that the enemy was really ferocious.” 2 This was its wildest period. After the peak of violent waves, only aftershocks remained. Lacking in an inspiring practical political goal, the doomsday which it presented to the carnal world became all dark. And its prediction of a peaceful world was indistinct and intangible. As the doomsday approached, people were more scared than inspired by the idea of a new road. The Nian Army was almost like

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bandits, looting ordinary people, which to some extent resulted from its lack of idealism. The Heaven and Earth Society had the political goal of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. The slogan represented the indignation, hopes and pursuit of the surviving adherents of the past dynasty in the process of the bloody fights. However being a surviving adherent was not a profession to be passed on to the next generation. Two hundred years and several generations passed. Feelings and consciousness weakened or were concealed deeper in consciousness with the passing of time. Time is the cruelest thing of all. The ideal of “overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty” faded in content and only the outward form was left. The later Heaven and Earth Society inherited all the rules of its ancestors but it had a totally different ideology. The latecomer Godworshipping Society adopted the same ethnic consciousness of expeditions against barbarian tribes (the Manchu Qing Dynasty). However, Hong Xiuquan was wise enough to realize this point. Therefore he had no intention of “restoring the Ming Dynasty” but instead proposed to set up a new one. Of course, the God-worshipping Society did not bring a new mode of production from heaven. The new dynasty would not be better than the former one in social nature. The saying that the Taiping Kingdom brought a new world would be exaggerating. “New” had two connotations: First, the outcome of qualitative change and leap. This meant a new nature; second, on the condition that the nature did not change, one thing replaced another thing. This was a new form. The new dynasty of the Taiping Kingdom fell within the second meaning. However Hong Xiuquan borrowed the religion from the West. He changed the new dynasty into a heaven on earth in which the rules were formulated to rule the world through religious doctrine. This was unprecedented. The practical goal of dynasty succession created a powerful attraction which was mixed with the vague but distinct call from religion. This mixture led to such writings as Yuandao Jiushi Ge (Christian Song of Salvation ), Yuandao Xingshi Xun (Christian Maxim of Salvation ), Yuandao Jueshi Xun (Christian Maxims to Awaken the World ), Taiping Tianri (History of Taiping Kingdom ) and later the Fengtian Taohu Xi (War Proclamation against Foreigners ). To millions of small peasants who had been soaked in ignorance generation after generation, religious doctrines were easy to understand. The mysterious power was the most reliable and they by nature sympathized with justice and believed in God’s will. When justice and God’s blessing were mixed, the rebellion became a cause chosen by God’s will. A large number of small producers in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang therefore became old and new brothers in the cause of dynasty succession.

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(2) The White Lotus Society and Heaven and Earth Society believed in polytheism. The Eternal Mother, Jade Emperor, Matrieya and Guangong were all included. The pluralism in beliefs corresponded with pluralism in structure. The different branches of the White Lotus Society and the agencies of the Heaven and Earth Society were widely spread. These branches and agencies with many different names were independent of each other, which also signified a lack of unity in the two societies. Therefore although they made a show of strength it was difficult to unite them into a single large force. The God-worshipping Society was totally different. The only god they worshipped was the Heavenly Father–Emperor. When the heaven and earth had not been created, the world was in a chaos. The heavenly father-emperor used his invincible power to create the heaven, earth, mountains, sea and humans in six days. Thus the world was created with the sun and moon and stars shining in the sky. The light was called the day and the darkness was called the night. The day and night move on in endless cycles. All the creatures were created to be used by the human beings. The heavenly father shows his benevolence and love to the human beings.3

The myth of the creation of the world by God was imported from the Bible, but its coming to China effectively ruled out all the gods in Buddhism and Daoism both in time and space. In addition, “because of his invincible power over the heaven and the earth, he is the emperor.”4 Although the expressions of the lower level intellectuals were rough and farfetched, this kind of propaganda and instilment worked well with peasants who did not think deeply about them. To tens of thousands of people involved in the tide, on the one hand everyone was equal before God. All men in the world were brothers and all women were sisters. They believed that “God was their parent.” This equality abolished the ranking system in the carnal world and everyone would be embraced by God. On the other hand, God was “omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent” and he watched, manipulated and arranged all the people and things in the world. “All the things will be decided by Heavenly God and carried out by the Heavenly brothers.”5 Thus it set up an absolute power and all will was the will of God: “you will live if our heavenly father wants you to do so. You will die if our heavenly father wants you to do so. He is the biggest ruler over the heaven and earth.” 6 Thus religious disciplines naturally became heavenly laws. The originally motley crowd was organized into an army. Compared with the idea of fraternity which was used to maintain the old religious groups and gangs, the “heavenly law” of the God-worshipping Society was more cruel and strict. The mercy of God as the heavenly Father gave comfort to small peasants; the

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dictatorship of God as a heavenly god restrained the lack of discipline in small peasants. The duality made the universal unity of the Taiping Kingdom, which in turn collected an unprecedented enormous force which could not be found in the White Lotus Society and Heaven and Earth Society. Since the rebellion led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang it had been common to see the name of god adopted to start rebellions in the history of Chinese peasant wars. However from the White Lotus Society in the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and the Godworshipping Society of the Taiping Kingdom in the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, we can see that the religious groups among the people in modern times were experiencing a metabolism with the impact of imported ideas and religious rules. (3) The Taiping Kingdom waved the religious flag, but its religious doctrine was mixed with the peasant class’ ideals and dreams which had lasted for thousands of years. The process of peasants’ conversion into religious followers was also the process of peasants understanding the God-worshipping Society with their own ideals and wishes. Therefore, compared with mass rebellions in previous dynasties, although the dynasty succession in the form of the Taiping Kingdom adopted many new measures, what it reflected was still the natural wishes and dreams of Chinese small peasants as was shown in the holy treasury system. On the eve of the Jiantian Rebellion all those who attended the groups from the bottom to the top had already handed over their possessions to the treasury, which in turn would be distributed to the individuals from the top to the bottom. The conversion to the heavenly father was exchanged for the equal material division among people. After this, “everything captured in the battle shall not be privately owned and shall be turned over to the Holy Treasury.”7 On the other hand, the revenue of the Holy Treasury would be used to buy the necessities of life which should be shared by every member of God’s family. This abolition of private ownership and egalitarianism surpassed the development of history. Therefore it could not be maintained for long. However, in the founding of the Taiping Kingdom, it was in fact in practice for quite a long time. The origin of the Holy Treasury system remains in dispute. I have said that it was influenced by the Mifanzhu .8 Of course this does not mean that it motivated directly by the Mifanzhus . The development meant that the latter affected the former in the sequence of time. Mifanzhus only existed in a few branches of the Heaven and Earth Society while the Holy Treasury of the Taiping Kingdom covered the whole group. In this period of time, the idea of public ownership and mutual aid from the Holy Treasury undoubtedly greatly attracted a large number of poor people from southeast China. In the late reign

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of Emperor Qianlong, Hong Liangji said that “the households and population have increased ten times,” and “the number of idlers has increased more than ten times.” For several decades the social and economic changes in South China after the Opium War caused an increase in the number of people who had lost the means of production and livelihood. These people had often left their home to make a living and thus had drifted away from the protection of their clans. Although the ruling class called them “idlers,” they were actually the most helpless and bitter people in the society. Therefore they were the easiest groups to be collected together by even distribution and mutual help. The Holy Treasury to them was the holy water in which they could directly bathe. Western Christianity offered paradise as the home for souls to return to. In comparison the little heaven on earth created by Hong Xiuquan was a version with Chinese characteristics. In this sense we can say that Hong Xiuquan stole the fire from heaven and brought it to the people, which was beyond the capability of the White Lotus Society and Heaven and Earth Society of the time. So when the Taiping Kingdom was spread to Hubei and Hunan provinces, the poor peasants, boatmen, small producers and vagrants joined it like a flood. The Taiping Kingdom was looking for them and vice versa. The members of the Jiantian Rebellion evolved from approximately two-hundred thousand to a huge army of five-hundred thousand (claiming to be a million) after they attacked and occupied Wuhan and then moved east along the Yangtze River.

The Thoughts of Hong Xiuquan Hong Xiuquan was not purely a thinker, but his thoughts captured the hearts of millions of people and transformed them into an overwhelming force like crushing water. In the process, his personal thoughts represented and affected the social thoughts of the time. Consequently the history of the Taiping Kingdom often had a causal relationship with his outstanding knowledge and personality. Thus in order to explain the history of the Taiping Kingdom, we have to explain the thoughts of Hong Xiuquan. In terms of social changes, the materials left in written form about his thinking fall into three categories: (1) Worship of God. Compared with the change of system on the basis of the old by Kang Youwei, Hong Xiuquan replaced a dynasty in the name of God. The existence of God had not only religious significance but utilitarian function. It transformed Hong Xiuquan from a school teacher in Sanjia Village into the second son of the Heavenly Father. He was entitled “the Emperor of the Taiping Kingdom.” The religious authority created his power.

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Rebellion was an unusual thing to do and therefore he needed to take advantage of an unusual authority. His method was quite similar with those emperors in history who claimed that their power was bestowed by god. But, the God in the Taiping Kingdom was not a native god of China. It was borrowed from the Bible . It was a foreign god with “a long golden mustache to his belly.”9 His looks were different from the Sakyamuni Buddha and the sanqing (Three Purities) in China. Quanshi Liangyan (Lasting Stories to Awaken the World ) was the first book about Western religion read by Hong Xiuquan. However his knowledge of Christianity did not only come from such a superficial booklet. Hong Xiuquan read the Bible under the guidance of Luo Xiaoquan for several months, which gave him richer knowledge. God was not the only thing he saw from the Bible . The New Testament ’s Acts of the Apostles involved social equality and even distribution of possessions, which may be the origin of the primitive thoughts of equality. We may infer that it attracted Hong Xiuquan. According to research, the Bible read by Hong Xiuquan might have been the translation by Goshelia. There had been translations by Robert Malmqvist and these books had been considered heterodoxy in China at the time. Zeng Guofan condemned Hong Xiuquan in his Tao Yuefei Xi (On the Expedition against the Guangdong Rebels ): “he started with the stealing of the foreign heterodoxy.” But Hong Xiuquan was after all not a missionary. On the one hand, his knowledge of Christianity came from self-study which inevitably resulted in some misunderstandings, guesses and wrong interpretations. For example, he never understood the meaning of the Trinity, the union of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, (translated as Shengshenfeng at the time) and sent Shengshenfeng as a title to Yang Xiuqing. On the other hand, when using the name of God to gather the masses God needed to adapt itself to its believers. This need would inevitably produce some processing, reshaping and distorted interpretation of the original Western version and therefore God was given some Chinese characteristics. In the official writings of the Taiping Kingdom, God was sometimes connected with ideas in the ancient classical books. “The Shang Shu says, ‘sacrifice ordinary forms to the god.’ It also says, ‘the god is not consistent. His mercy brings peace and joy; his wrath brings disasters to the world.’ ‘The Shijing says, ‘serve the god.’ It also said, ‘adapt to the god.’ Mencius said, ‘even evil people can serve the god after they fast and take a bath.’”10 The god in the Shang Shu and the Shi Jing was the highest god in the mind of the people of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. It had nothing to do with the Christian God. After the interpretation of Hong Xiuquan the two became the same. This kind of argument had its defects logically and historically. However

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it enabled the people of the Taiping Kingdom to accept God and helped them in their smooth connection between God and their native ideas. In addition, the ideas of Buddhism, Daoism and other popular religious ideas were also infused into the God-worshipping Society. Taiping Tianri (The Days of Taiping Kingdom ) vividly depicted Hong Xiuquan’s fight against monsters from the “33rd level of heaven dwelled in by God” down to “the secular world”, which illustrated his extraordinary divine quality and capability.11 The idea of the “33 levels of heaven” came originally from Buddhism. These adaptations worked well with the common people. However the image of God was naturally distorted. The peasants with a rich imagination created a big patriarchal family for God in patriarchal society. Below Jesus, several founders of the Taiping Kingdom were transformed into the sons of God and their ranks corresponded with celestial phenomena: Hong Xiuquan as the sun, Yang Xiuqing as wind, Xiao Zhaogui as rain, Feng Yunshan as cloud, Wei Changhui as thunder, Shi Dakai as lightening, latecomers Qin Rigang and Hu Yihuang as frost and dew. In the Taiping Jiushige (Song of the Taiping Kingdom ), it was said that “the Heavenly elder brother was the crown prince of the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly King was the second son of him.” It also said that “we five brothers (referring to Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Zhaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai) were granted the title of Heavenly Prince with the blessing of God. We will humbly carry out the order of the Heavenly Father and assist our ruler in governing.” Xiao Zhaogui should also be a son of God but he became the brother-in-law of Hong Xiuquan in the secular world and it would have been incest if they both called themselves sons of God. In order to remove such contradiction, he claimed Hong Xuanjiao as the daughter of God and thus Xiao Zhaogui as the “son-in-law” of God. We can see that the family ties designed for God were totally random.12 Like the ranking of the rebels of Liangshan in the Hall of Loyalty and Fraternity, they designed a ranking for God’s family. This distribution of power among the leading group was not a new creation. The Chinese traditional ranking system used in the Chinese government and mass revolts was introduced into the holy family of God. These kinds of changes of Christianity were a creation by Hong Xiuquan which helped him stand high above the Westerners. This conscious superiority clearly showed in the attack of the Taiping Kingdom against the foreigners. These foreigners have long been worshipping God and Jesus. However, does any one of them know the different levels of heaven? These foreigners have long been worshipping God and Jesus. However, does any one of them know what heaven like? These foreigners have long been worshipping God and Jesus. However,

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does any one of them know that the wife of Jesus was our Heavenly sister-in-law?13

People of the Taiping Kingdom thought that “the reason why China was named Huaxia is that God has established his name here; China is also called the Heavenly Empire because the capital of Heaven is located here.” 14 Apparently, although he had golden hair and green eyes, God loved China more and therefore Wei Changhui told the British people that “the emperor of China (Hong Xiuquan) is the emperor of the world; he is the second son of God and the people of the whole world should obey and follow him.”15 The same idea was inscribed on the imperial jade seal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in these words, “worshipped by the world.” Hong Xiuquan’s view of the world was similar with that of Emperors Daoguang and Xianfeng. It was understandable that one Westerner, R. J. Forrest who had gone to Tianjing, considered the God of the Taiping Kingdom as a ridiculous illegal Buddha. He commented in despisingly that: “the Christ of the Taiping Kingdom is a ridiculous thing. It is the worst blasphemy of a madman. What he says about their followers is totally a joke and a farce.” He thought “if the Pope could reach him he would have burned Hong Xiuquan.”16 Some people thought that the resentment of the Westerners testified to the fact that the God of the peasants was worth praising because he possessed the qualities which the Western God did not have. In fact, not all the qualities bestowed on God were worth praising. The strongest evidence could be found in the plays often performed by Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Zhaogui: their bodies could be possessed by God and Jesus. The Tianfu Xiafan Zhaoshu (The Imperial Decree of the Descent of the Heavenly Father ), published by the Taiping Kingdom, earnestly recorded the admonishments and insults imposed on Hong Xiuquan by Yang Xiuqing in the name of God. Hong Xiuquan would certainly refuse being insulted by Yang Xiuqing, however as the second son of God he had to humbly accept it. And the consequent complicated contradictions led to bloody internal conflict as a solution. The adoption of the superstitious practice of God descending could not match the orderly system in Christianity. We can conclude that the misleading processing and interpretation cannot change nature. Therefore God had not been remolded into a new one. (2) Inheritance and advocation of the idea of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty from the Heaven and Earth Society, which was clearly illustrated in the Yuandao Jiushi Ge , Yuandao Xingshi Xun , Yuandao Jueshi Xun , Fengtian Taohu Xibu Sifang Yu (Proclamation of National War against Foreigners ), Fengtian Zhuyao Jiushianmin Yu (Decree to Eliminate the Monsters ) and Jiu Yiqie Tianshengtianyang Zhonggguo Renmin Yu (Decree to Save the Chinese People ). The first three were the essential documents of the God-worshipping Society;

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the last three were the official call of the rebel army. Both represented the theory and thoughts of the Taiping Kingdom from its birth. Many quotes from Western religious doctrines and Chinese ancient classical books (Li Ji ) are found in them. However the most moving part in them was the powerful call to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. The poison and evil of foreign barbarians are corrupting the whole country. Chinese people are servile to them as slaves. Alas, there are no genuine Chinese people now! China is the head while the barbarians are the feet. China is the divine land while the barbarians are monsters. The Chinese had their own image, but the Manchus forced them to shave their heads and wear queues, and thus the Chinese people became a race of beasts. The Chinese had their own clothes. However the Manchu changed the tradition and made the Chinese forget their roots. The Chinese had their own ethics. However, evil Kangxi ordered the barbarians to rape Chinese women and changed the Chinese into a barbarian race. Chinese women are forced to become slaves of the Manchus. It is painful to see the disgrace. The Chinese had their own rules, but the Manchus make evil rules to govern the Chinese people. All the Chinese men are under their control. The Chinese had their own language, but the Manchus have made their language the standard language and confuse the Chinese people with their language.17

The antagonism between head and feet, god and monster, China and foreigner, as well as the antagonism between Han and Manchu in outlook, clothing, ethics, spouses, system and language, represented the difference between China and foreign countries. It is thought-provoking that a peasant rebellion reopened the old scar between Manchu and Han people while most of the scholars were talking about the difference between China and foreign countries. Zeng Guofan tried to avoid this topic when he wrote the Tao Yuefei Xi , which was also a kind of response. Different historians have given their own interpretations. From the viewpoint of historical development of ideology, the idea of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty of the Heaven and Earth Society was directly influenced by that of the Taiping Rebellion. On the other hand, the underlying ethnic consciousness in the Han people had not died out over 200 years. When the Qing dynasty was failing and social contradictions were worsening, this ethnic consciousness would be lit again like a spark among cold ashes. So the Taiping Kingdom’s idea of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty contained the class struggle of the current social reality. That was the reason why it could produce such a large-scale social movement against the Qing Dynasty. Compared with the secret and limited

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activities of the Heaven and Earth Society, the large-scale movement against the Qing Dynasty of the Taiping Rebellion was greater in force and effect at the time and in the following period. As a historical disorder in mid-19th century, the Taiping Rebellion had a powerful impact on the social ideology of modern China. 30 years later, Sun Yat-sen founded the Xingzhonghui (Revive China Society) and adopted the guiding principle of “expelling invaders and restoring China.” He claimed to be a second Hong Xiuquan. The coherent relationship between the two was evident. The God-worshipping Society established by Hong Xiuquan died out after the failure of Taiping Rebellion. It was replaced by an anti-foreign religion movement. God could not affect the social ideology in China. People in the anti-Manchu movement in the early 20th century often thought of Hong Xiuquan not because he was the second son of God but because he paved the way for his anti-Qing Dynasty successors. (3) Opposed Confucianism and leant something from it. The Taiping Rebellion was considered one of the large-scale anti-Confucianism mass movements in history. They burned many Confucian academies and memorial tablets. After they captured Jinling they collected and burned a large amount of books: “they confiscated many books and threw them into the toilets, burnt them or soaked them in water. They killed those who read, collected, sold and bought books. Writers of books which were concerned in the least with the Manchu were regarded as violating the law. This frightened the people.”18 After Emperor Qin Shi Huang, there had never been a huge destruction of Confucianism and Mencius’ thoughts. Zeng Guofan called it “a total destruction of the etiquette, ethics, poetry and rules from thousands of years of Chinese history.19 However the destruction of Confucian and Mencius’ thoughts did not mean that the peasants in traditional society were released from them. I n t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e t h e Ta i p i n g m o v e m e n t a d o p t e d a l o t f ro m Confucianism. For example in the Yuandao Xingshi Xun , the description of the society of universal harmony took the three reigns of Yao and Shun: “When the ultimate ideal is realized, the world becomes a republic. The noble and able people will be elected. Trustworthiness and harmony are valued by all. People do not regard as their parents only their own parents, nor treat as their children only their own children. The elderly live their last years in happiness, the middle-aged are usefully employed, and the children are reared properly. The widowers, widows, orphans, childless men, and those who are disabled are all well cared for. Each man will have his job and each woman her hearth. Natural resources and commodities are not wasted or appropriated for selfish ends; disliking idleness, they labor, but not alone with a view to

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their own advantage. In this way selfish scheming are repressed and find no way to arise. Robbers, filchers, and rebellious traitors do not exist. No family will need to lock their front doors. Such is the state of universal harmony.”20

This description full of admiration comes from the chapter Li Yun (Evolution of Rites ) of Li Ji . It was written in the name of Confucius and represents a typical Confucian Utopianism. In terms of political system and social system, the creation of the Taiping Rebellion clearly came from the Zhou Li (Rites of the Zhou Dynasty ). The contradiction of opposition to and dependence on Confucianism could be clearly explained by the social history of the time. First, the anti-Confucianism of Taiping Rebellion was not because the Confucian system was the spiritual pillar of feudal system. It was unable to have such an insight on the basis of the small peasant economy. It fought against Confucius for the sole divine status of God. The exclusiveness of sole status decided that all the other authorities and idols should be removed. Therefore the shouting about fighting against Confucianism was not in proportion to the depth of the fight. It was said that Confucius was “lashed in heaven.” The purpose of the saying was to deprive him of his authority. God “ordered Confucius later to work in the garden” after he deprived him of his authority. This kind of reform through labor gave Confucius a chance to select a seat with the new Heavenly Father and Brothers and he was “allowed to live in heaven.” 21 The anti-Confucius attitude of the Taiping Rebellion was inconsistent: At first they regarded the Four Books and Five Classics as evil books. Afterwards, they allowed people to read these books after they made some revision. They abandoned the Zhou Yi . As to the other books, they removed the parts about supernatural beings, funerals and sacrifices. Relevant chapters in the Zhong Yong (Doctrine of the Mean ), Shang Shu , Li Ji and Zuo Zhuan (Zuo’s Commentary ) were removed. The Meng Zi (Mencius ) and the Shi Jing were used to offer sacrifice to God and the word ‘emperor’ was added in front of the word ‘God’. In the Lun Yu , the courtesy title of Confucius was removed.22

Second, Confucianism was the social ideology in China of the time. After two thousand years of instilment it had grown deep into everyone’s heart. Not everyone who was dominated by it realized this. Hong Xiuquan was born in this society and had made a living by teaching the Four Books and Five Classics, and he had taken part in the imperial examinations. He had been baptized by Confucianism before he was baptized by God. Therefore in his spontaneous opposition to Confucianism he was also somehow steered by it, which became more evident after he became the Emperor of the Taiping Kingdom. His spirit

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as a rebel faded and his inertness as a ruler gradually crept up. Confucianism might not play a role in the rebellion, but it works as a governing philosophy. As a result, the ethical codes of san gang wu chang (three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues) made their way back.

The Tragedy of the Taiping Rebellion In Chinese society of the time, the Taiping Rebellion possessed varied advantages. Its cause started as a comedy. In March 1853, Taiping troops captured Nanjing and then they moved to the west and north and defeated the Jiangnan Camp and Jiangbei Camp; before the event of Yang Wei in September 1856, Taiping troops had brought the Yangtze River regions from Wuhan to Zhenjiang, as well as most of Jiangxi and Anhui, under control. It had reached its peak. However, tragedy lay in wait in Nanjing. The choice of Nanjing as the base of the Taiping Kingdom had been planned soon after they rose in rebellion: “when they were still in Yong’an they said that Jinling was like heaven and promised the soldiers a reunion with their wives when they captured Jinling.”23 They often encouraged the soldiers in battles by saying “we shall soon capture south of the Yangtze River and we should have no fear of government forces.”24 At the time, most of the rebel soldiers had never seen Nanjing, yet they had heard a lot about the great wealth in the south of the Yangtze River and the big city of Jinling. They admired Jinling as a potential capital for the Taiping Kingdom. The leaders of the Taiping Rebellion had a discussion concerning the movement of their army several days after they captured Wuhan as to whether to move to the north or to the east. The former was put forward several times and rejected several times. According the records in the Dunbi Suiwenlu (Biography of Dunbi ), “Bian Sanniang, a female chief of the rebels led an army of over a thousand women. These big-feet women all came from Guangxi. She suggested to Hong Xiuquan that they should attack Henan by way of Xiangfan and finally capture the center of the central plains. Yang Xiuqing wanted to attack the rich regions in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and he suggested taking Jiangning along the Yangtze River. The disputes could not be settled. Under the pretence of God’s command, Yang Xiuqing enticed Hong Xiuquan to move to the south of the Yangtze River. Bian Sanniang was angry with the decision and led her troops back to Guangxi. No one knew the end of them.”25 Yang Xiuqing, in charge of political and military affairs, was more eager on this point. The discussion of the Taiping leaders over the location of the Taiping

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Kingdom showed that what attracted them the most was the rich economy and “the home of emperors.” They later published a book, Jian Tianjing Yu Jinling Lun (On Choosing Jinling as the Capital ), including 41 essays with the same title to explain the advantages of choosing this site. It is said that when a ruler selected the location of his capital he would first observe the topography of the land. And the location should be the center of his kingdom. … Jinling, a big city, was the center of the southeast with beautiful scenery and of strategic importance. The people were kind and honest. There were hills in the central region which was flanked by rivers. This was the best location given by the Heavenly Father-Emperor as our capital.26

From today’s viewpoint, their ideas showed they were content to keep their little heaven and lacked ambition to conquer the world. Compared with the little heaven, Beijing was far away. Through the activities of these historical figures we can see that what actually mattered here was the conservative and contentment small production ideology of millions of small peasants. The narrow production environment produced narrow vision, which in turn produced narrow thinking. The outcome of the choice of Nanjing brought the Taiping Rebellion to its historical turning point. First, its offensive against the Manchu Qing Dynasty was converted to defense. Its occupation of Nanjing was a major victory which at the same time became a heavy burden. It had to “turn to Anhui, Hubei and Jiangxi for supplies and still wanted to move to Hunan. Its attention to the upper reaches was like a baby waiting to be fed.”27 The military and economic situation caused by this restricted the military movement of the Taiping Rebellion. It was forced to reduce its wide range after the Jintian Rebellion. Thus the turbulent waves of peasant war were reduced to shallow water centered on Nanjing. Although it tried to send troops to the north and the west, the goal of its western expedition was to take the upper reaches as a defense for its capital; its northern expedition was an isolated force moving into the enemy territory, a kind defensive movement in the form of an offensive. The book Bian Yaoxue Wei Zuidi Lun (Condemnation of the Crimes of the Sinners’ Den ) included various opinions on the Taiping Kingdom’s northern expedition. There was an irrational opinion which thought that “As for the city of the sinners, it would do no good to our people even if we take it; and it would bring no shame to our army even if we abandon it.”28 This attitude formed a sharp contrast with their concern over the southeast area. Therefore when the north expedition led by Ling Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan was defeated in the northeast, the troops finally scattered while the relief troops failed to come to rescue them. However it was a fatal contradiction

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for the rebel troops to adopt a conservative strategy. The continuation of this fatal contradiction would cause fatal consequences. Secondly, after their occupation of Nanjing, the abundance of the city which had been the capital for six dynasties promoted the tendency of love of comfort and the ranking system. Feudalization followed. Hong Xiuquan wrote a lot of poems such as You Xue Shi (Ode for Youth ) and Tian Fu Shi (Poems by the Heavenly Father ). What are the poems about? First, the divine right of the Emperor. “You humble people shall serve your emperor with loyalty. I send your emperor as the heavenly emperor and his words should be obeyed as heavenly will. Every one of you should obey your emperor.” 29 Secondly, the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues. “The one who make mistakes will always be the daughters-inlaw, sisters-in-law, humans and subjects while the father, brothers, heaven and emperor will never make mistakes.”30 “The life and death of a subject is in the hand of the Emperor and the officials should not disobey” “If the Emperor rules all evils will die out.” “Honest ministers like Yi Yin and Zhou Gongdan should be set up as models so that the court will be upright and just.”31 It even ruled that boys aged above five should not come close to their sisters, which was even stricter than the traditional standard of seven years old. Under the impact, the political ranking was harsh and strict. “When the East Prince, North Prince and other princes as well as senior officials traveled, all the other low-level officials and soldiers should avoid direct contact with the entourage. Otherwise, they should be beheaded if they disturbed etiquette. When the East Prince and his guards travel out, if the officials or soldiers have no time to take shelter they have to kneel on the ground along the street. Those who dare to walk directly into the guard will be beheaded. When the commanders and his guards travel out, if inferior officials or soldiers have no time to take shelter they have to kneel on the ground along the street. Those who dare to walk directly into the guard will be beheaded.” 32 In addition, there were numerous courtesy titles used to address the wives of the military counselor, prime minister, commanders, generals and other officials, such as wangniang (王娘), guipin (貴嬪), guisi (貴姒), guiji (貴姬), guiqiang (貴嬙), guiao (貴媼), guinai (貴奶), guiyuan (貴淵), guixian (貴嫻), guijie (貴婕), guizhou (貴妯) and guili (貴娌). It was doubtful whether the residents in the little heaven could remember all the rules and titles. 33 However the purpose of the practice was evident: to differentiate the nobilityfrom the inferior commoners. The ranking system was stricter than that of the Qing Dynasty. The fraternity and sisterhood were forgotten. Small peasants longed for equality; yet the small peasant economy had often been the root of inequality. The Taiping Kingdom issued the much-acclaimed Tianchao Tianmu Zhidu (Farming Land System

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of the Taiping Kingdom ). However the utopianism of the document and the cruelty of class struggle of the time decided that this land system was a mere scrap of paper. Its value lay in the fact that it provided a universal harmony of peasants in modern ideological history. The actual taxation policy in the Taiping Kingdom was “to pay taxes and rice as usual.” The policy was set on the premise of the existence of land owners, so that it protected not only the benefits of the peasants, but the rights to land ownership and rents of the landlords. The protection represented concern over the sources of taxation, not the landlords. However the old landlord-peasant relations remained. As late as in 1861 (the 13th year of the reign of Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty) Liu Zhaoxun, a big landlord of three or four thousand mu of land in Wujiang, could collect rice at one thousand and three hundred dan .”34 He was not an isolated case. In the heavenly kingdom, the real heaven became only a shadow. They tried to change the world according to their demands, for example by abolishing commerce, but were rebuffed by reality. As a result, economically, politically and ideologically, history returned to is starting point after a cycle. The limitations of the times were the real limit. The heroes of the Taiping Rebellion fought a violent war at the expense of their blood and lives from Jintian and Tianjing in order to achieve their ideal. However before a new model of production was established they could not find a way to replace the feudal system with their own strength. Nothing could take the place of the feudal system and the Taiping Rebellion had to return to the feudal system. The secular forces gathered on the basis of one religious ideal would lose in confusion with the fading of the ideal. An old scholar wrote a poem to describe the extravagance in the Taiping Kingdom: “carts, horses and clothes show the luxurious life in the palace. There are dozens of urns of goldfish and hundreds of cages of precious birds. Somebody presented 14 phoenixes last year (according to Taiping Kingdom records: Phoenix sang in ancient times for Prince Shun and Emperor Wenwang. Therefore, in the reign of the Taiping Kingdom, the bird is also an auspicious sign. Someone presented 14 pheasants as phoenixes to please the emperor.) The emperor orders a hunt for dragons this year. Extravagant and costly vessels, exotic flowers and rare herbs, precious stones and fine art works are everywhere.”35 At the same time, the religion which lost its ideal was converted into bigotry and emptiness. “My son will succeed to the throne and he has been adopted by Jesus as his son. The young ruler is Jesus’ son and also my son. The successors of future generations are also sons of God who will govern the world with such a dual identity.”36 Originally the heavenly father had been the

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father of all the people. Later it became the ancestor of one patriarchal clan. This evolution transformed the Taiping regime in Nanjing into an immature feudal regime. The regime and the dying Manchu Qing feudal regime were confronting each other. Intellectuals such as Wang Tao and Rong Hong joined the Taiping Rebellion and later left because of this immaturity. Rong Hong who had been to Tianjing said, “those they have recruited were all vagrants. And they were the most ignorant people in society. They did not strengthen the Taiping troops but instead they became a heavy burden, which weakened the force of the Taiping Rebellion. Because these ruffians did not have discipline or religious belief even punishment would not prevent them from looting and killing.” “After the troops captured Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou cities, the morality of the soldiers was getting steadily worse under the influence of great wealth and beautiful women because the extravagant life ate away their will and ambition and finally led to doom.”37 This was the typical attitude of intellectuals of the time to the Taiping Rebellion. The Manchu Qing regime, a declining feudal political power, became the winner in the struggle. One major reason was the rise of the political force of scholars and landlords represented by Zeng Guofan. This group of people valued the learning of life experience, enlisted talented people and organized a new military force with jingsheng (students or scholars who study Confucian classics 經生) as its backbone in the name of protecting ethics and virtues. These people usually studied Confucianism. They were the ones with the strongest faith among traditional intellectuals although without high rank or status. They could often be converted from a Confucian scholar into a fierce general after experience in the army. When the Manchu and Han landlord class was at a loss, these people walked up and became the backbone uniting the whole landlord class to confront the Taiping Rebellion. In a sense, the confrontation between the late Taiping Rebellion and the Manchu Qing regime was actually the confrontation between the Taiping army and Zeng’s army. Comparing the two persons, Hong Xiuquan seemed more idealistic. But his ideal in the actual world was only a heresy. Zeng Guofan knew more about Chinese society and thus could represent the traditional society. The former used his ideal to gather social forces while the latter used tradition. Undoubtedly the personal characters of the heroes in this historical change would become the element affecting the outcome. We can compare the men around Hong Xiuquan and those who worked for Zeng Guofan. The two got together the groups which could impact on China. In terms of quantity, the talented people in the mid-19th century tended to stand

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by tradition. Their personal choice represented some kind of historical choice. While the Manchu Qing Dynasty was strengthened with the appearance of the Confucian scholars, the Yang Wei Event happened inside the Taiping Kingdom and placed it in jeopardy. The reason why the Taiping Kingdom could continue to exist after the Yang Wei Event was that the widespread movement of the Heaven and Earth Society and the Second Opium War greatly weakened the strength of the Qing government. Hong Rengan happened to emerge at the time of crisis and became the leader of the late Taiping Kingdom. In terms of personality and knowledge, he was the first-class talent in the Taiping Kingdom. However his lack of military ability (the reason Li Xiucheng despised him) made it impossible to turn it around in the time of civil wars. The Zi Zheng Xin Pian (The New Essay on Economics and Politics ) written by Hong Rengan was the most complete guiding principle to developing capitalism in China of the time. He was open-minded and forward-looking with profound vision. However this did not fit into the Taiping Kingdom and drifted away from the peasant struggle, which decided that it would not have such a huge influence among the people of Taiping Kingdom as the little heaven of God did. Neither would it be converted into material forces. It only left a valuable document for the social ideology in China in the 19th century. Many links were needed to connect peasants with capitalism, and these did not yet exist in China. The struggle of the Taiping Rebellion persevered until its city wall was blown up by Zeng Guofan’s army; until the sky and rivers were lit up by the burning of the mansion of the Heavenly Emperor. This was a tragic war. The tragedy lay not only in its final failure but also in the fact that they assaulted tradition with religion yet they could not release themselves from tradition with the help of religion. The people who opposed feudalism could not rid themselves of feudal things. Therefore there was a historical grief in their heroic and tragic cause.

The Aftermath in History As a peasant war which changed dynasties the Taiping Rebellion failed after a decade of action. However it was a huge tsunami in modern China. A lot of things had changed after the tide had receded. In terms of social economy, although the Taiping Rebellion did not change the land system, to some extent it eliminated some landlords and reduced the economic oppression by the landlord class as a whole, which resulted in the run-off of landlords and shrinkage of the landlord economy. Some peasants were able to obtain some land. At the same time, after the civil war, the

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population was greatly reduced and land lay waste. The divisions between lands were lost. “The land registration and taxation registration documents of the government were all lost.”38 All this made it possible for guest peasants to open up wasteland and created a new permanent renting system. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, “many guest peasants competed to open up wasteland. Those who were strong and fierce even seized the land owned by the native people.” “The native peasants who returned home after they fled from famine would lose their own land and became homeless. Their land and houses were occupied by strangers. They were not able to retrieve them by force or lawsuits. Consequently, they would seize others’ land and houses. There were frequent changes of ownership. As a result, all the land in the territory has lost its original owner.” 39 A large number of land-holding peasants emerged in this process. After the Opium War the infusion of capitalist economic forces of Western countries started in southeast China. These new land-holding peasants were no longer in the old natural economy; instead they could directly participate in and were affected by the market. This economic environment would undoubtedly promote the increase in land-holding peasants and the increase of production and consumption, which would help a little in the birth and development of capitalist relations of production. In terms of social politics, the Taiping Rebellion disrupted the whole feudal system. The ruling class could never recover from this disruption. Therefore it indirectly promoted the tendency of independence of local authorities from the centralized government, which greatly weakened the latter. The old political system had to change. The power expansion of provincial governors was a response to the stirring Taiping Rebellion; yet they had not expected to see such series of changes across the whole system. The Incident of Dong Nan Hu Bao (Incident of the Southeastern Peace Treaty 東南互保)40 in 1900 and 1901 was an unprecedented event in the over 270 years of the Qing Dynasty; it originated from the impact of the Taiping Rebellion. Another indirect impact of the Taiping Rebellion is the emergence of many figures in modern history in Hunan province; in the crackdown on the Taiping Rebellion, a lot of senior officials appeared in the Xiang Army.41 The old isolation was broken and the exchange with foreign countries began. In a place where isolation and opening up coexisted it was easy to create typical protagonists and antagonists in history. Moreover as a historical event, the Taiping Rebellion produced an indirect impact on many political powers that followed. In the period of the Hundred Days’ Reform of 1898 Kang Youwei often quoted the Jintian Rebellion as a driving force to compel the emperor to start reform. A negative example was also used to promote reform; During the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 Sun Yat-sen

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consciously accepted the positive anti-Qing influence of the Taiping Rebellion and learned a lesson from the negative effect of the internal conflict stemming from power struggles. All these influences indicated that after the failure of the Taiping Rebellion it continued to promote the development of politics in Chinese society. Its aftermath was long-lasting.

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6

Chapter

Twelve Years After

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

According to Article XXXIV of the Treaty of Wanghia with the U.S. in 1844: “… inasmuch as the circumstances of the several ports of China open to foreign commerce are different, experience may show that inconsiderable modifications are requisite in those parts which relate to commerce and navigation: in which case, the two Governments will, at the expiration of twelve years from the date of said convention, treat amicably concerning the same, by the means of suitable persons appointed to conduct such negotiation.”1 (There was a similar provision in Article XXXV of the Treaty of Huangpu with France in 1844.) The treaty was signed after the war. Compared with the just-concluded war, 12 years was far away. The royal court was secretly happy with the peace they obtained at the expense of the “ten-thousand-year treaty.” Looking at the old scenery in the Forbidden City, they had not realized the potential heavy burden and endless trouble caused by the agreement on modification after 12 years. However ignorance is never an amulet. Their recklessness and defensiveness was in contrast with the Westerners’ graveness and aggression. The consequent negotiation developed into military conflict between aggression and counteraggression, which led to the second national war in modern China.

“Refusing to Fight, Make Peace or Defend; Refusing to Die, Surrender or Escape” From 1853, Britain had begun to think of modifying the treaty. Its basic requirements were: (1) “To obtain access generally to the whole interior of the Chinese Empire as well as to the cities on the Coast: or failing this, to obtain free navigation of the Yangzi [River] and access to the cities on its banks up to Nanking 2 inclusive, and also to the large and populous cities within the seaboard of the Zhejiang Province.” (2) “To secure the permanent and honourable residence at the Court of Peking of a Representative of the British Crown; and if that cannot be obtained, to provide for habitual correspondence between Her Majesty’s Representative and the Chinese Chief Authority at the seat of Government, accompanied with sufficient security for the passage of the correspondence without interruption on the part of local authorities.” “To provide for ready personal intercourse at the desire of either party, between Her Majesty’s Representative and the Governor of the Province in which for the time being he may be residing.” “To provide that, in the construction of the Treaty to be concluded, all doubts are to be solved by reference to the English version and that alone.” In addition the ban on opium trade should be lifted; internal or transit duties should be abolished; and regulations should be established

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for the emigration of Chinese Laborers. 3 Britain was the most enthusiastic about modifying the treaties. However in the three treaties between China and Britain there was no such an article about modifying the content after 12 years. It quoted the basis from the Treaty of the Bogue: “should the Emperor hereafter, from any cause whatever, be pleased to grant, additional privileges or immunities to any of the subjects or Citizens of such Foreign Countries, the same privileges and immunities will be extended to and enjoyed by British Subjects.” However the problem was that there was no “additional privileges or immunities” to share. Britain was the first to demand it. Therefore its request was groundless. In 1854 the new British envoy John Bowring was sent to China. With U.S. commissioner Robert Milligan McLane and French minister Alphonse de Bourboulon, he presented the new requests to the Chinese people. Their first problem was Ye Mingchen, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi province and imperial envoy in charge of foreign affairs. However Ye Mingchen was unwilling to have deals with foreigners. And the Westerners were unimpressed by his unwillingness. Hosea Ballou Morse commented: “in August 1852, Ye Mingchen was appointed the imperial envoy in charge of foreign affairs and the Governor-General in Guangzhou; Xu Guangjin was transferred to Wuchang as Governor-General; they were responsible for suppressing the rebels threatening the Yangtze River. From that time on it has become a government policy to give foreign representatives the cold shoulder. And this diplomatic policy was implemented by the imperial envoy in Guangzhou.” 4 “In terms of foreign affairs, he was very strict with foreigners. If he received an official document from a foreigner he would reply in just a few words. Sometimes he made no reply at all. In addition he was unwilling to observe the diplomatic principles in communications with foreign trading countries. He had no idea of the situation of those countries and had no plans to deal with them.”5 This state of isolation from Westerners made him an unreachable enemy to foreigners. Therefore the three envoys went north together and arrived in Fuzhou, Shanghai, and finally Tianjin. Their threatening words were submitted to the emperor Xianfeng by some senior officials – Guiliang, Yiliang, Jierhange and Wang Yide respectively. 6 Xianfeng was a young emperor, but his response reflected the distinct prejudice of the ancient Chinese against foreigners. He wrote his solution in his decree and “urged them to give up their vain hope and greedy request.” 7 At the same time he stressed the imperial system that only the imperial envoy in Guangzhou should be responsible for foreign affairs. He referred to it as “a kind of confinement.” It contained two contradictory sides: “this foreigner is cunning and often makes trouble. Therefore it is not advisable

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to rebuff him because he might create a disturbance. However it is not proper to tolerate his unreasonable demands.”8 The fear of conflict and the wish to resist Westerners were both evident. Therefor the negotiations between China and foreign countries were fruitless. Xianfeng hoped to restrict the greedy offense of Western capitalism on the basis of Chinese feudal theory. This measure had already been used by Emperor Daoguang in the Opium War. It showed that the son had not made any progress compared with his father. The Westerners who had traveled north were sent back to Guangzhou and Ye Mingchen by the imperial system. Ye Mingchen was undoubtedly a top talent nurtured by Chinese tradition: he became a jinshi 9 at 26; governor at 38; governor-general at 43; and prime minister at 46. It was rare to see someone who enjoyed a high reputation in the imperial academy and rapid promotion in his official career. He was too young and aggressive to understand the difficulties of the real world. As the top government official responsible for foreign affairs, he naturally dealt with his strange counterpart with the inertial thinking from the old tradition. In terms of the nature of the matter, the Westerners were from another age and world. The situation of the confrontation between China and the West in the Opium War recurred. The difference was that with the courage and spirit to “acquire foreign technology to compete with foreigners,” Lin Zexu had opened a window for Chinese society to look at the world; Ye Mingchen closed it with his extreme contempt for foreigners. Faced with the violent conflict between Chinese and Western nationalities, his mindset of “wiping out the humiliation and maintaining the dignity of China” was similar to that of Lin Zexu. But Lin Zexu was the first Chinese to make the first step forward from the middle ages to the modern age because he opened his eyes to watch the world. Both in heart and mind, Ye Mingchen was close to the middle ages and he defended the backwardness while resisting foreigners. The difference led to the differences between the two figures from the 40s and 50s respectively. (1) Self-confidence turned into conceit. The Western countries proposed modifying the treaties in order to fight for benefits from their aggression. But what concerned Ye Mingchen was the etiquette between China and foreigners, that is, saving face. “The arrogance he showed to the foreigners was many times worse than that of Xu Guangshen. At first Xu Guangshen refused to let the foreigner envoys into his office in the city and refused to meet them. I often condescended to see them outside the city even though I needed to travel so far as to Humen. But Ye Mingchen would refuse to have meetings of any kind.”10 Bowring requested a meeting with the imperial envoy and Ye Mingchen responded he would see the British envoy in “a storehouse near the river.” 11

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According to him diplomatic victory over the foreigners did not mean the defense of China’s benefits and sovereignty through face-to-face competition and negotiation, but spiritual depreciation and insult towards them, which represented the resentment and resistance of the Chinese people against foreigners after the Opium War. Consequently “not only Britain but France and America resented it.” 12 The depreciation and insult represented the resentment and resistance of Chinese people against foreigners after the Opium War. They stemmed mainly from personal feelings and the prejudice of Chinese tradition. These feelings and prejudice made it impossible for him to have a modern diplomatic consciousness even though he was facing modern diplomatic rivals. The ambition to repel the foreigners turned into conceit. (2) Toughness turned into ignorance. In October 1856, after a long yet frustrated attempt to enter the city, using the Arrow Incident as an excuse, Britain shelled Guangzhou with cannons. The attack on Guangzhou was unexpected; Qiying and Xu Guangshen tried to delay it. When it came to Ye Mingchen, there was no time left for any delay in both the Westerners’ entrance into Guangzhou and the modification of treaties. At the time Ye Mingchen was inspecting the military performance of soldiers on the drill ground and “all the civil and military officials looked each other in astonishment as the cannons roared. Only Ye Mingchen remained motionless.” After two days, the Westerners “shelled the governor-general’s office. One official came to ask him to hide among the smoke of cannon fire. Ye Mingchen smiled to order him to leave, with a book in his hand.”13 Not all the government officials of the time could show such courage and confidence in time of crisis. Compared with the despised cooperation of Bogui with the invaders, Ye Mingchen intended to show Chinese traditional heroism, which shone through two thousand years of history and deserved the respect of following generations. His heroism alone, however, could not fill the historical gap between Chinese weapons and Western cannons. It was an act of perseverance to stand against the cannons, yet it was also an exhibition of ridiculous ignorance. Their heart deserves our understanding, but at the same time we should learn a lesson from the event. (3) Composure turned into self-deception. In December 1857, British and French allied forces launched the second attack on Guangzhou. It was said that Ye Mingchen “remained calm and silent and did not make any arrangements”14; he was neither shocked nor calm before the impending disaster. He simply chose “not to fight, make peace or defend.” 15 As the situation of the war worsened, generals and other officials came to discuss ways to defend the city. Ye acted as if nothing was happening. In traditional China, rationality and

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irrationality often coexisted within one individual. “At first, the father of Ye

tried planchette writing. Afterwards Ye ordered the building of the Changchun temple of Lu Dongbin and Li Taibai. All military affairs would be decided by the

gods.” “Rationality was needed in the time of pressing crisis. But Ye Mingchen turned to fortunetelling for instructions.” “The subordinate officials realized

the pressing problem and requested to deploy defending forces, but Ye refused; they then requested to deploy militias and Ye refused again. They insisted

on pressing their request and Prime Minister Ye answered: “The planchette says we shall just wait for 15 days and everything will be all right.” However,

superstitious beliefs would not lead to victory. After two days Guangzhou was occupied and all the imperial officials in the city, including Ye Mingchen, were taken prisoner. Xue Fucheng wrote about the public opinion of the time: “What

use is empty talk before the strong enemy? We had no defense; yet we told each other that the foreigners were poor and desperate. It was like exposing your

neck to the sword of a thief while telling the others that the poor man dared not break the law. If we believe in our own lies, the disaster would come soon!”

Ye Mingchen seemed to live his last part of life in contradictions. On the

one hand he could still look for a spiritual pillar of strength from the old

historical traditions even after he brought ruin and everlasting infamy upon himself. He compared himself to Su Wu: “I would not beg for my life as a soldier. If Su Wu had lived until today he would encourage me to eat more.” On the other hand, he was imprisoned in Calcutta, where he came into contact with foreign newspapers and got to know about Western society. The new

knowledge caused some changes in his thinking. “Now I understand. The

information I got was much clearer than that which I got in Hong Kong. I had

known nothing at the time.”16 To a person who was anxious to outdo others, it was not easy to acknowledge this. However it was already too late to make up for his huge historical mistake which harmed China and himself. In Chinese

history, Ye Mingchen was long reproached. However his life was a tragedy of

the age. Consequently his lesson has been discussed and considered by later scholars for a long time. They made a profound rethinking after the discussion and consideration. In the reign of Emperor Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan wrote to his

family “being high as a top official in the court for a long time, I was deeply worried that I might make the same mistake as Ye Mingchen in his later life.”

His “deep worry” showed that he was thinking about his official career and he was extremely discreet while he was changing the traditional way of dealing with foreigners.

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The “Gengshen Incident in 1860” In the spring of the next year British and French allied forces moved north, captured Dagu and besieged Tianjin. The Chinese government was forced to sign the Treaty of Tianjin with Britain, France, U.S. and Russia respectively. In 1859 war broke out again because of the modification of treaties. In the next year, the allied forces captured Beijing. Under harsher terms, China signed the Treaty of Beijing with Britain, France and Russia respectively. These seven treaties constituted the second group of unequal treaties. Wars were fought and lost, showing the force and cruelty of Western invasions and the hesitation and ignorance of the Chinese emperor and officials. In 1858 (the 8th year of the reign of Emperor Xianfeng) Censor Chen Qingsong pointed out the contrast with poignant satire: “There has been a lack of overall planning concerning foreign affairs. They came to Tianjin and were then sent back to Guangdong and were dodged again in Guangdong. However, this would not be the end. The foreigner was vigilant in recognizing our situation and used military force. Not only was Ye Mingchen captured, but the present situation was also stuck.”17 The Chouban Yiwu Shimo (Late Qing Foreign Affairs ) in the reign of Emperor Xianfeng recorded the old cases concerning negotiations between China and Western counties. We can guess what Xianfeng thought about foreign affairs: he was reluctant to throw away the inherent dignity of Chinese emperors in front of foreign countries. After the Treaty of Tianjin was signed the Westerners returned south and the situation in Tianjin and Dagu eased. Grand Secretary Guiliang and Minister Hua Shana went to Shanghai to negotiate with the Westerners in the hope that, at the expense of tariff exemption, they would give up the request to diplomatic residence in Beijing, the right to trade along the Yangtze River the coastal regions and the authority to travel inland, and that they would withdraw from Guangzhou. In the hard process of negotiation, the imperial decree arrived and its tone was sharp: “Guiliang and relevant officials are clearly and earnestly instructed to negotiate with them and prevent them from entering Beijing and the inland regions, stop their trading along the river, and demand they withdraw from the capital city of Guangdong province. These are the four priorities of the Qing government. If Guiliang and the others had tried their best how could the negotiation be prolonged for over two months? Why did they ask for instructions again from the court? The reason to allow the foreign envoys to enter Shanghai is to prevent them from entering Beijing and Tianjin. If they are allowed to go to Beijing at any time, how do we receive them? Is there any difference from a permanent envoy stationed in Beijing?

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Why should the foreign envoys be sent to Shanghai and why are Guilang and the officials sent to save the situation? In a word, no concessions shall be made on the issue of permanent envoys in Beijing and trading rights along the river; as to the other two issues, they also need to be settled.”18 All the four issues which were “clearly and earnestly instructed” concerned Chinese sovereignty. However what Xianfeng tried to do was to maintain the fences and gaps between China and foreign countries, and especially to avoid direct confrontation between the Chinese emperor and Westerners. He feared that face-to-face contact would destroy the etiquette and laws of the imperial empire. So he would rather abandon the benefits from tariffs. Later, historian Meng Sin said, “the foreign envoys refused to kowtow, which was tolerated. Such humiliation was worse than that of losing the country. We shall not allow foreigners to rampage our land, even if we have to sacrifice the country. There is honor and glory in dying for justice. This was current public opinion of the time.” He then said, “if Guilang had acted according to the instructions and allowed exemption of the imported goods from duties the foreigners would have compromised on the issue of permanent diplomatic residence because they valued profits the most. However, if the customs duties had been removed foreign goods would have flooded China. What would it have been like in China? I dare not imagine the consequences.”19 His comments hit the nature of the problem. This kind of mentality led to Sengge Rinchen’s angry yet ignorant attack on the Westerners who came to Beijing to modify the treaty in 1859. Then the ceasefire after the Treaty of Tianjin was broken and the military conflict developed into more violent wars, which ended in Xianfeng’s “hunting expedition to the north” and the burning to ruins of the Yuanming Yuan. The Opium War shocked the coastal regions in China, and the four-year long Second Opium War completely rocked the spine of Chinese society. It started in Guangdong province and spread finally into north China. The imperial empire fell into the hand of foreigners and the defense of the Chinese empire totally collapsed. One court official in Beijing who witnessed the event said, “after the Westerners entered Beijing from Anding Gate they immediately hung up their national flags on the city walls. They repelled Chinese soldiers and overthrew the cannons into the ditches.” They set up 46 foreign cannons and pointed them to the south.” “The city walls in the north were also captured by foreigners. They set up several hundreds of camps and forbade Chinese people to enter the gate. They only obeyed the orders of Parkes.” Before peace was negotiated, “those barbarians felt so cold that they could not stay on the city walls. Thus they broke into the houses of ordinary people.”

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Residents in the northern city fled to the southern part of the city. There were crowds of whole families running for their life in the street. Nobles, officials and rich families who had no time to escape would “remove the boards and tablets from their mansion gate and close up the offices.” Under Western military control, the old sino-foreign relationship was completely reversed. “Several days ago, in Sanzhuanqiao of Chongwen District, a moron who laughed at foreigners was beaten almost to death. His home was also damaged by the foreigners.” In these circumstances the glory of the capital flooded away. Someone wrote about the situation in pain: “the drums of foreign barbarians brought a sleepless night.” The state was seized while the mountains and rivers remained the same. The painful memory would be engraved in people’s minds. The pain became anger when he talked about the scene when James Bruce, 8th earl of Elgin rode in a sedan chair to the Ministry of Rites to sign the treaty. The purpose of the Westerners was to trample on the old rule that foreigners in Beijing could only take carriages but not sedan chairs. They intended to seize equal communication with the Chinese government by doing so. But Chinese scholars believed that this was even more humiliating that burning, killing and looting: “How could a British earl be so arrogant in China!” More bitterness was stirred up: “it was unprecedented that a foreign country could bring such disasters. In the Ming Dynasty, China had been troubled by Japanese pirates; however it had never happened that an alliance of several foreign countries invaded the land of China.”20 But the pain and anger could not avail against the rights and cannons of the foreigners. Surviving the warfare of the British and French allied forces, the scholarbureaucrats called it the “Gengshen Incident.” The writings which recorded the First Opium War were entitled Daoguang Yangshou Zhengfu Ji (Voyages of Foreign Fleets under the Daoguang Reign ). “Xianfeng’s northern hunting expedition” and the occupation of Beijing by the allied forces took place in northern China; but the aftermath spread afar. In 1860 Zeng Guofan, who was in a stalemate with the Taiping Rebellion forces in southeastern China, said “I received the official communication from Prince Gong and knew that the carriages of the emperor were travelling to Rehe. At the same time, the foreign army was 20 li away from Beijing. Weeping in grief, I was at a loss as what to do.”21 “At a loss” was a reaction of bewilderment under the heavy blow. This mentality was typical among the scholar-bureaucrats. Chinese people at the time had already realized that irresistible changes had to come even though they did not like it. At first, the realization was vague and mixed with wild guesses and misinterpretations. But compared with over 10 years of ignorance and dreaming of the old imperial empire after the Opium War, a change had happened.

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Division of the Landlord Class In the period of the Second Opium War and after the war ended, top court officials Yixin, Wenxiang and Guiliang had contact with foreigners for negotiation; Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, top provincial officials in charge of military affairs, met with Westerners on the Yangtze River as they cracked down on the Taiping Rebellion. Among the landlord class in power at the time, these two groups were the first people who came into contact with capitalism. Zeng Guofan and Yixin, leaders of the Westernization reformists, were at first reluctant. They, like the other scholar-bureaucrats of the time, despised Westerners and believed that the power of the imperial empire could repel foreigners. But in the unwilling communication with Westerners after the failure of the war, they gradually sensed something from the other world from these foreigners; they acquired new knowledge which they could not obtain from Chinese traditional history and their thinking was changing. After the First Opium War, Zeng Guofan cursed British people both in his diary and letters to his family and said that “they are like dogs and sheep in nature.” For a scholar and government official who had never seen the Western world, the curse came partly from history and partly from hearsay. But after the Second Opium War he realized from his own experience and observation that the Westerners “valued faith.” Although it did not eliminate his doubts and defensiveness against Westerners his knowledge made him more reasonable and practical. There were not many such reasonable people concerned in foreign affairs in China at the time. Therefore their opinions and those of the traditional diehards diverged. These people became the earliest Westernization reformists in Chinese history; their emergence signified the real division of the Chinese landlord class. In the history of over two thousand years, reformists had appeared among the landlord class many times. Their practical efforts to save the world were praised to some extent by later historians because what they did was conducive for the society of the time. But after all, the reformists of the landlord class were bounded by the tradition and their reforms represented the restoration and rejuvenation of traditional society. The restoration should not break the old cycle. On the contrary, the Westernization reformists had a different goal. Subjectively, they might not want to break the old ways; but their propositions had the tendency of drifting away from the old cycle. Therefore the emergence of the Westernization reformists indicated an unprecedented crack in the hard shell of feudalism. With this as the starting point, the feudal landlord class of thousands of years began to divide.

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As a result of the Gengshen Incident, the Treaty of Beijing was branded with national humiliation. Therefore Yixin and Wenxiang, who signed the Treaty, were often condemned by later historians. Indeed, as the top officials responsible for diplomatic activities, they made compromises and concessions which had been written into history and could never be washed away. As the loser of the war, they were given no choice; nevertheless many people tended to tolerate the losing soldiers and criticized severely the civil officials who signed the Treaty. Some even concluded that Yixin and Wenxiang willingly betrayed their country. This inference made history more of a complete mess. Yixin and Wenxiang regarded the Taiping Rebellion and peasant rebels as illness within the body, while the invasion by Russia and Britain as disease on the outside of the body; it was said that this was a summary of their thoughts. However there is another long-forgotten saying: “As the old saying goes: ‘Fostering cordial relations with the enemies is an expedient, while preparing for war is a pressing matter of the moment.’22 It is an immortal motto indeed.” We can see clearly their will to defend the country against foreigners. It stood to reason this kind of thinking could more clearly represent their own feelings as the landlord class in power. This was the unyielding side in their thinking. It was because of their unyieldingness that they put forward the proposal to build ships and cannons and build up a prosperous country with a powerful army, which was now commonly known as the “Westernization Movement”; however people of the time used to refer it as the “Self-Strengthening Movement”. The term “self-strengthening” signifies a spirit of national defiance against the West. Therefore, in the minds of Yixin and Wenxiang, compromise and unyieldingness coexisted. The contradiction reflected people’s bewilderment at the division of feudal tradition under the pressure of capitalism. It was impossible to explain it without dialectics and historicism. Compared with those scholar-bureaucrats still indulging in the old times, the bewilderment signified some kind of exploration between the old and the new, which might nurture a historical advancement. In the late century there were three types of people among those who were involved in the war against the West. First, people like Wenxiang. Wenxiang Zhuan (Biography of Wenxiang ) in Qing shi gao recorded some words of Wenxiang: “People often say that the foreigners were like dogs and sheep in nature and they had no knowledge of politics. But if there will be some policy change in their country, their king will put the matter to the Upper House for discussion concerning affairs of the aristocracy and to the Lower House for discussion concerning affairs of the common people. The parliament will make the final decision. All the matters will be decided by public opinions.” He drew

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a conclusion: “China has a very strict hierarchical system. It is difficult to set up an Upper House and Lower House as in those foreign countries. However,

it is an advisable idea.”23 He understood the difficulty in real practice, yet had a

hope for the future. Although his opinion about the parliament went beyond the

military issues, it contained his will to “acquire foreign technology to compete with foreigners”. At the time it was rare to find such a person with such insight

and knowledge. He was a Manchu aristocrat; his opinions would undoubtedly face more restrictions and taboos than those of the earlier reformists who were civilian intellectuals.

Thus Wenxiang showed more courage in this sense.

Second, people like Qiying who sought peace at sacrifice of principles.

After the Opium War, he was once in charge of foreign affairs in China (chief

representative of China in signing the Treaty of Nanjing and Governor-General

of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and imperial envoy in charge of foreign affairs after the war). What he relied on was sly and perfunctory muddling. He once tried to build up a close personal relationship with Henry Pottinger and

adopted a foreigner as his son despite his position as a top imperial official.

Behind this improper action was his plot using personal friendship to eliminate the conflict with the West. But he did not really understand the Westerners

and in his memorial to the throne, he commented on the Westerners with depreciation and contempt.

But it has never been seen in history that a sly plot has been used to settle

diplomatic disputes. In the Second Opium War, Qiying was appointed by

Emperor Xianfeng to Tianjin to take part in the negotiation. As Qiying talked about renewing his friendship with the British, Li Taiguo brutally revealed his hypocrisy with the documents and memorials he had captured. The joke by the

Westerners left Qiying at his wit’s end and his diplomatic career and life came to an end.

Third, stubborn diehards such as Xu Guangshen and Ye Mingchen. Their

confrontation with the West came mainly from their emotion derived from traditional ideology. The emotion was unnecessarily wrong in terms of national rationality. But the emotion would be turned into blindness when reason was

drowned by emotions, and the blindness would lead China to more suffering in the oppression by the West. Among the three types, the one who could

conform to the historical trend and work in the interests of China were people

like Wenxiang. The coexistence of the three types of people clearly showed an unprecedented pattern among the landlord class in China.

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Birth of Reform Ideology After the Second Opium War, 11 ports were added: Tianjin, Niuzhuang (later replaced by Yingkou), Dengzhou (later replaced by Yantai), Tainan, Danshui, Chaozhou (later replaced by Shantou), Qiongzhou, Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Jiujiang and Hankou. Western capitalist forces then entered deeper into the Yangtze valley and northern China, which was a direct change caused by the treaty. Another change was the establishment of central ports. After the Opium War the center of foreign commerce moved gradually from Guangzhou to Shanghai. But the center of diplomacy remained in Guangzhou where the imperial envoy was stationed. The separation of economy and politics showed the restrictive approach of China and the anti-restrictive measures of foreigners. After the Second Opium War the Commerce Minister of Nanyang was set up. So Shanghai, as the center of the ports, achieved some kind of unity both economically and politically. In northern China Tianjin, where the Minister of Beiyang was stationed, became another center of ports. Compared with the south it had a more diplomatic coloring. In addition, the increase in ports resulted in the increase of foreign settlements. Commerce, preaching, navigation and migration went deeper as the Westerners moved deeper into the inland, which resulted in the co-existence of Chinese people and foreigners. After the national war ended the conflicts between civilians and foreigners came. The situation started after the end of the First Opium War and worsened after the Second Opium War. At the same time, some outdated and rigid feudal traditional ideas were forced to change which was reflected in the use of two words, Yi (barbarian tribes) and Yang (foreigners). The word Yi had been used to refer to all foreign people or affairs outside of China since the time of Confucius. The difference between Yi and Xia (or Hua ) (both refer to China) defined different ethnic regions and different culture levels. Chinese used the familiar term which had been used for thousands of years to dig a deep moat between modern China and the modern West in etiquette, culture and mentality. As early as the 1930s British people began to understand the meaning of Yi . In the over ten years after the Opium War, both civilians and the government documents used the word Yi when they talked about foreign people, officials, vessels and languages. After the Second Opium War, it was clearly stipulated in the Treaty of Tianjin, that “It is agreed, that henceforward the character Yi shall not be applied to the Government or subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, in any Chinese official document issued by the Chinese authorities, either in the capital or in the

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provinces.” The use of Yi was then limited. This was the point at which Yang succeeded Yi , which reflected a major change in Chinese traditional ideology. The change was imposed by outside forces, but it was reasonable to some extent because it symbolized China’s first step into the world. But it was a painful experience for those who went through the change. Luo Dunyan, an assistant minister in Guangdong, wrote in his memorial to the throne that “people’s hatred towards foreigners was strong. Since foreigners entered the city, local officials dared not mention foreign affairs. They dared not used the term Yi in official documents. Instead, the term foreign affairs had to be used.”24 Evidently he perceived the change of titles as flattery. This mentality showed the historical inertness of social ideology. Compared with the stubborn attitude of Luo Dunyan, Hong Rengan, Prince Gan of the Taiping Kingdom, was more reasonable. He said in the Zi Zheng Xin Pian , “correspondances were made under the terms such like amicable communication. The old disparaging expressions like paying tribute, obedience of the Yi, and barbarians should be eliminated. These disparaging terms will only lead to disputes and has nothing to do with the actual running of the state.” 25 The difference between Luo Dunyan and Hong Rengan reflected two sides of Chinese intellectuals, which is worth thinking about. In the past we often stressed the inequality imposed on us by Western aggressors. But Chinese feudalism was often blind to the inequality imposed by us on foreigners. It was understandable that this topic would arouse national feelings. But the inequality imposed on foreigners could not be considered as struggle against foreign invasion. There was an age gap between the inequality of Western capitalism and Chinese feudal inequality. Consequently the Westerners who imposed the unequal treaties demanded equality from the Chinese people. For Chinese people, this was a kind of blow by history which came partly from the imposing power and partly from reasonable understanding, which resulted in the change of wording in official documents and private writings. The change indicated the increase in the importance of foreigners and foreign affairs in China. There were two kinds of responses to this, willing or unwilling to accept the change. But the change was inevitable. The change from Yi affairs to foreign affairs and to diplomatic affairs recorded the development of the Chinese people’s world ideology under the impetus of exchanges between China and foreigners. The process was long and every step was slow and difficult. After the Second Opium War opinions and writings which reflected the early reform ideology appeared, one of which was Hong Rengan’s Zi Zheng Xin Pian . It was the most comprehensive capitalist reform guideline of the time. Its content heralded the ideas of early reformists. The birth of such an essay

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was closely related to Hong Rengan’s experiences in Hong Kong for many years when he came into wide contact with Western missionaries and Western ideology. Hong Xiuquan, with a different life experience, wrote his thinking in the Tianchao Tianmu Zhidu and it was impossible for him to produce the same thoughts as Hong Rengan. Second, the Jiaobinlu Kangyi (Protest from the Jiaobin Studio ) written by Feng Guifen showed the absorbing of Western ideology by the dividing landlord class. Feng Guifen had lived in the foreign settlements in Shanghai. Therefore he knew more about Western ideology than Wei Yuan, but was imbued with the influence of thread-bound Chinese books which made his book different from that of Hong Rengan. There were two essays in the Jiaobinlu Kangyi which best reflect the demands of the age: Cai Xi Xue Yi (On Adoption of Western Knowledge ) and Zhi Yangqi Yi (On Production of Foreign Weapons ). The Westernization movement listed a lot of measures and its main ideas were covered by Feng Guifen’s book. Thirdly, there was Jiushi Jieyao (On the Salvation of the World ) written by Zheng Guanying. He was a comprador, a man of thought, and was familiar with modern industry operation. He was in business yet had ambition beyond making profits. His book covered many things such as unskilled Chinese workers (piglets) (coolies in imperialist English), customs (the evil practice of drowning female babies by the parents because of the feudal view on the inferiority of women in the Qing Dynasty) and heresies, and reflected his opinion on experiencing the world. It also reflected something of the time. One of the most meaningful essays was Lun Zhongguo Lunchuan Jinzhi Da Lüe (On the Development of Chinese Vessels ), which said that the development of ships should be changed from governmentrun to privately-run. Compared with the new opinions of the time, it was concerned more about the economy and showed more expertise. In addition, he put forward the possibility of setting up consulates in foreign countries. Many of its proposals were many years more advanced than the actual history. Fourthly, in 1861, Rong Hong put forward seven suggestions, for example on improving the government and army, changing the education system, and operating foreign affairs. In terms of educational background Rong Hong was more Westernized than the above-mentioned three. Therefore he had a deeper understanding of the historical distance between China and Western countries. Although Rong Hong soon left the Taiping Kingdom his propositions and efforts did not change. It is thought-provoking that at almost the same time he was accepted by Prince Gan of the Taiping Kingdom and was also accepted by Zeng Guofan who was the commander-in-chief of the Xiang Army whose purpose was to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. Some of his opinions were able

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to be put into practice because of the help of the latter. It showed that in the 1860s, the rivals in the civil war seemed to have a mutual recognition under the pressure of national conflicts. Generally, these were the major reform thoughts reflecting the changes in China around 1860. People have paid more attention to the epoch-making significance of 1840, but in fact 1860 was also an important year. In terms of the metabolism in social ideology, it was more of a milestone than 1840. The continuous pressure imposed on China in the century was in nature the will of capitalism to change the world and improve the backward nations according to its own image. The brutal aggression and expansion of the Western nations was unconsciously mixed with a kind of historical content which could not be changed by will and feelings, that is, to force China to change its traditional feudal system of thousands of years. Therefore only in the process of its own modernization could China actually resist a modernized aggressor. This was the identity bestowed by history on modern China’s movement against invasion and feudalism. The reason why the advanced countries were advanced was that they could understand this historical tendency to different degrees. Therefore they tried to use conscious reform to achieve the self-improvement of China so as to prevent foreign aggression. The reason why the obstinate people were obstinate was that they clung to the outdated traditions, which ran through every link of modern history and constituted the mainline of the century’s history. However Chinese people responded earnestly to the content behind the back of the national wars, which in turn constituted a kind of social ideological tide and involved all classes. This undoubtedly started after the Second Opium War.

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Chapter

A Small Step towards Modernization

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

The so-called Westernization Movement had many other names: “Restoration of the Emperor Tongzhi,” “New Policy of the Emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu,”, “New Policy of Self-Strengthening,” and “Self-Help Movement of the Landlord Class.” The Westernization Movement was a concept reflecting an age and it summarized the activities and events at this stage of modern history without any comdemnation or disparaging meaning. Later the word Westernization was connected with or considered equal to the servile worship of everything foreign and thus it became a disparaging term with some subjective coloring. “Restoration of the Emperor Tongzhi” was a name created after the defeat of the Taiping Rebellion. It was connected with Chinese history and reflected the hopes and dreams of the Manchu dynasty to restore the old traditions. However Chinese society was facing dramatic changes caused by modernization and the so-called “Restoration” would never happen. On the contrary, the term “New Policy of the Emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu” somewhat differentiated the old from the new and therefore was closer to the facts. Foreign scholars would choose to use the term “Self-Strengthening Movement” in order to indicate the Chinese’s resistance against the Western aggression. Self-strengthening was a term from ancient times in China. The chapter of Qian Xiang in the Yi Jing stated that: “The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.” But in the 1860s the term was enriched with new meanings. Yixin, Wenxiang, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, as well as many well-known and unknown people who were concerned about China’s future, used the concept to express their thoughts and understanding. “All people are discussing selfstrengthening without exception after the negotiation of the treaty.” 1 In fact the word self-strengthening had double meanings. First, in terms of class significance, what it sought was the self-restoration of the dynasty before the attack of the peasant wars (the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Army). This was an ancient question raised again in Chinese society. Secondly, in terms of the sense of nation, what it sought was the self-strengthening of China in the face off the fierce foreign invasion. After the Treaty of Beijing was signed, “foreigners retreated back to Tianjin and their battleships returned to the south.” Those appointed to deal with foreigners felt that “there were changes compared with previous dynasties” because the foreigners “would harm our land and people.” This was a secret gratification mixed with a little surprise. Definitely not complacency. “The flame of war is approaching Tongzhou. The Emperor fled to Rehe in haste. There are only crops left in Miyun. The Palace is crowded with

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soldiers.”2 The humiliation and wounds caused by the Western cannons were severe. So, trying to draw a lesson from the bitter experience, the discourses of court officials focused mainly on “subduing the enemy by self-strengthening, which must result from military training. After the treaty was signed China needs to strengthen its national power. We will make peace if they are friendly; we shall be well prepared if they are hostile.” 3 The defense against foreign countries by self-strengthening had already become self-awareness. This was the outcome inspired by the Second Opium War. The importance of the double meaning of the word “self-strengthening” changed gradually over the 30-year long Westernization Movement. At the beginning they focused more on buying foreign weaponry to crack down on peasant rebellions. They thought that “the Taiping Rebellion and Nian Army are illnesses within the body.” But after the defeat of the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Army, the self-strengthening of China began to grow. In the early reign of Emperor Tongzhi, Li Hongzhang led the Huai Army4 into south Jiangsu province. After comparing Western artillery with Chinese guns he wrote in a letter that “once China has cannons and battleships the foreigner will retreat.”5 It was clear that he hated to stoop before foreigners. Naturally, the figures in the Westernization Movement had their own faults. So the historical outcome in resisting aggression was not always successful. This was another problem. The industrial revolution was achieved after the completion of the bourgeois revolution in the Western countries. In comparison the Westernization Mov e me n t w a s l i k e a n i n du st r i a l re vol u t i on , a l t h ou g h i t l a ck e d t h e fundamental premise of a revolution. China had moved away from tradition in the sense that it adopted certain Western ways; yet its leaders failed to break away from the ropes of tradition because their purpose was to defend the old with the new. Consequently, the turned out that “Progress is retail business, not wholesale. It is made piecemeal, not all at once.” What Dewey said of China around the May Fourth Movement is an appropriate description of the Westernization Movement. The initial steps taken by Chinese society out of the middle ages into the modern age started from these piecemeal progresses. The Westernization Movement covered a lot, but in general its major achievements fell into two categories: (1) a series of modern military and civilian industries were set up in the process; (2) varied modern facilities in science and technology, culture and education were established. All these changes and the relevant ideological changes constituted a small step towards modernization.

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The Office of Foreign Affairs The Westernization Movement was initiated in January 1861 when the Zongli Yamen (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 總理衙門) was established. It was the government body in charge of diplomacy (negotiations with foreign countries such as religious cases and diplomatic missions) and all the affairs with foreign countries involving finance, the military, education, production, minerals, transportation, sea defense and borders. Also called the Office of Translation or the General Office, it became the governing body for all foreign affairs. It “resembled the Junjichu ”6 and was under the direction of the Princes. Therefore its status and impact exceeded those of the six ministries and were not lower than those of the Grand Council. From then into the early 20th century, the Zongli Yamen actually became a new backbone of the Qing Dynasty. Before its creation the office which was in charge of receiving foreign envoys from its dependent states or foreign countries was the Li Bu 7 or the Lifan Yuan 8. The Honglu Si 9 was also sometimes involved in foreign affairs such as F the communications between China and Burma. These government bodies showed the intention of China as an imperial empire to rule foreign countries on the premise of the inequality between a superior empire and the Yi people. But in the 20 years from the reign of Emperor Daoguang to Emperor Xianfeng, the newly-arrived foreigners announced with their cannons that they were not envoys of a dependent state paying tribute to China. Consequently, the body in charge of foreign affairs had to be changed. In the tenth year of Emperor Xianfeng, the Fuyi Ju (Office of Foreign

Affairs 撫夷局) was established in the Jiaxing Temple. Instructions: eight Manchu and eight Han officials would be selected from the

Cabinet, ministries and the Junjichu to work on a rotating basis. The

routine would follow that of the Junjichu . New Instructions: the

officials would work on a shift basis every five days; four Manchu and four Han officials would be appointed to the office and one of them would stay overnight in the office. New Instructions: select one

Manchu official and one Han official from the 16 members in the office as directors and select another two officials responsible for handling memorials to the throne, notes and documents. The confidential

documents would be written by the officials from the Cabinet; tariff affairs would be handled by officials from the Ministry of Personnel;

courier station affairs would be handled by officials from the Ministry of War.10

It was soon renamed the Zongli Yamen . The changes in names demonstrated

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that the idea of a big empire has been assaulted and shaken. So, partly, it was imposed by the demands of foreign capitalism and thus branded with the mark of semi-colonialism. At the time, both government officials and common people considered it as something evil. The gentry were ashamed of working in it for fear of public criticism. This mentality reflected what traditional people felt about the humiliating situation which came partly from the inertness of thousand years of isolation and partly from the national pain after their major defeat. Therefore the Zongli Yamen was initially considered as a temporary organ. “Once the military and foreign affairs are settled it will be abolished. The Grand Council shall regain jurisdiction.” 11 In the late Qing Dynasty there were annual lists in the Library of History especially designed to record all the officials who took office in the Grand Council, Cabinet, ministries and local provincial organs. There was no such list for officials in the Zongli Yamen . In the change from the Ministry of Rites , Lifan Yuan , to the Zongli Yamen we can see the difference in and connections between the old and the new, which represented the first change in the modern political system. The Britain Division, France Division, Russia Division, U.S. Division and the later Sea Defense Division under the Zongli Yamen were all unprecedented organs in charge of unprecedented affairs. They were connected with Tongwen College, the General Tariff Office, and the Nanyang Minister and Beiyang Minister who were established in Shanghai and Tianjin respectively; together they constituted a new system outside the traditional ranking system. It was established to deal with the political situation temporarily, but with expansion of its power it became a backbone of the “new administration.” Therefore Shen Ruilin, a minister of the Ministry of Penalties in the reign of Emperor Guangxu said with emotion: All the policies to strengthen China come from the Zongli Yamen and it handles more affairs than the six ministries. The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the appointment of officials. Today, all the overseas envoys need to be appointed by the Yamen. Officials for the Customs are also designated by the Yamen and the Ministry of Personnel is only responsible for the registration. The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of payment. The customs tariffs and expenditure for diplomacy are governed by the Yamen. The Ministry of Revenue is only responsible for accounting. The affairs concerning foreign envoys in Beijing, agreements on foreign settlements and reception events are all in the charge of the Yamen. The Ministry of Rites exists only in name. The development of sea defense, purchase of battleships and weapons and establishment of telegraph and post offices are all decided by

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the Yamen, and the relevant functions of the Ministry of War have been removed. The enforcement of the law was originally in the charge of the Ministry of Penalties. However foreign envoys adopt international law and use lawyers in the law suits. In religious cases, foreign priests would often interfere in the cases and were biased towards converts. Therefore all these cases will be handled by the Yamen and not heard by the Ministry of Penalties. Production was originally in the charge of the Ministry of Works. In order to compete with foreign battleships and cannons, shipyards and railways need to be developed to strengthen the defenses, and relevant offices have been set up in the Yamen. The Ministry of Works is at loss as what to do. Actually, the Zongli Yamen is handling the affairs comprehensively from all the six ministries.12

Of course, these were not changes replacing the old with the new. They were the addition of a new thing onto the old. This was the establishment of the new without elimination of the old, which was the characteristic of the Westernization Movement as a whole.

Self-Strengthening and the Quest for Prosperity The Westernization Movement took its first step in military industry with the purpose of self-strengthening by imitating Western military technology. The idea was first proposed in the late Opium War. Before Lin Zexu was removed from his post in Guangdong, he suggested that the Emperor “use one tenth of the tariff from Guangdong customs to produce artillery and battleships so as to strengthen resistance against foreign aggression”13; at the same time, Zheng Fuguang from Anhui wrote a book Huo Lunchuan Tushuo (Diagrammatic Presentation of Battleships ) which represented the efforts of civilian patriots. But the former was rebuked by Emperor Daoguang as “total nonsense,” and the latter failed to obtain any social recognition. It was the arsenal set up in Anqing in 1861 that put the ideas into practice. It reflected the hope of Zeng Guofan, Governor-General of Liangjiang, to “recruit forward-looking talents and skilled craftsmen to produce weaponry so as to support military strategies.” 14 In 1865, with the support of Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang set up the Jiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai (sponsored by government customs duties, which might make it the largest arsenal of the time). In the same year Li Hongzhang set up the Jinling Arsenal in Nanjing; in the next year, Zuo Zongtang set up the Fuzhou Dockyard in Fuzhou; and in the following year, Chonghou set up the Tianjin Arsenal in Tianjin. The four arsenals were the most important new military factories. In addition, 20 arsenals at provincial level were

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set up to produce weaponry (the Hunan Arsenal was later suspended, so only 19 arsenals were set up). Such an army of arsenals showed that a substantial number of people had realized that troop training not only involved martial arts, but also good weapons. In this process not only artillery, steamships, ammunition and detonators, but also the machinery to produce weaponry, was introduced into China. Many large factories capable of mechanized mass production were established. These industries were sponsored by government revenue and their distribution of products was controlled by the government; they had no profit accumulation within the country or any market relations outside the country. Therefore their production would not be affected by the law of value. The stubborn conservatives condemned the military industries of the Westernization Movement as “wasting a large amount of money,” which was a conclusion made on the basis of value estimation. In terms of relations of production, their conclusion reflected a continuation of the government-controlled industries in history. The land of over two hundred mu is surrounded by a wall. Large factory buildings were set up in the center. There are two machines operating. Big and small wheels are revolving on the axles so as to saw the timber and iron and grind other materials. There are wrought iron factories, casting factories, big and heavy machine factories, arsenals and shipyards. The land in the east is flat and about 70 zhang in space. It directly leads to the Pujiang River. A 9-zhang wood column was set up for loading and unloading. A shipyard over 10 zhang in length and 30 zhang in width was built. There are houses and steam engines in operation in the yard.15

These narrations vividly depicted the grand view of steam engine production, which could not be contained within the traditional society on the basis of small production. Although its adoption and accumulation was for the purpose of making profits its inherent demand would resulted in many unexpected changes. At the same time, thousands of employed workers crowded into these industries and this represented the new social force in modern China. The existence of these people depended on mass machine production. They operated the machinery, and the machine production led to benefits and ideas which were different from those of traditional manual production. Before this, the shipyard and storage houses had also employed Chinese workers but generally speaking the employed workers of the time had not yet constituted a social group. It was after the appearance of Westernized industries that a whole generation of industrial workers was born in response to the development of military industries. And they were the reason why the Westernized military industries had epochmaking significance.

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Westernized military industries started from the 1860s and reached their peak in the 1870s. At the period of their peak the first Westernized civilian industries were created. There were inherent links between the two. First, people who acted as envoys to foreign countries had seen with their own eyes the rapid development of industry and commerce in Western countries and they realized that their battleships and artillery were not divorced from their prosperity and power. On the other hand, foreigners reached deeper into the inland regions. In the contact with foreigners there were much more business affairs than military affairs. In order to protect their own benefits, the Chinese started the so-called “business war” in order to defend business interests. While Lin Zexu promoted the idea of“acquiring foreign technology to compete with foreigners”, the Westernization reformists saw something further. The most profitable private enterprises were: the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company set up in 1872; the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company set up in Luanzhou in 1877; the Mohe Gold Mine set up in 1887; the Tangshan–Xugezhuang railway built (later extended and renamed as the Tianjin-Shanhaiguan railway) in 1880; the Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau set up in 1882 (burned down in a fire in 1893, rebuilt and renamed as the Huasheng Textile Factory); the Hubei Textile Bureau set up in 1889; as well as matches factories and telegraph offices were also set up. By the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 there were over 40 private companies. Other modern industries, except for modern banks, had also appeared. Most of them had the intention of resisting foreigners, and some operated very well. The private enterprises in the Westernization Movement borrowed the capitalist operations and production relations. Their capitalist nature has been universally acknowledged. How should we measure their monopolistic nature and the impacts thereof on the development of national capitalism? In China, the common people would take the government officials as their role model, ruler and teacher in many matters. The officials did not only represent political authority but served as a model in educating the public, which was a social mentality nurtured by tradition. Thus without the advocation of authorities and models it was usually hard for people to accept and adopt new things. In Westernized industries, government-controlled corporations and governmentsponsored private corporations played a pioneering and leading role in breaking the shackles of feudalism and installing capitalism. But governmentcontrolled corporations and government-sponsored private corporations were after all an abnormality. Government officials were in charge of businesses and corruption came with “government supervision” which caused the deep contradiction between capitalism and feudalism. Moreover their monopolistic

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nature restricted the free competition of capitalism, which in turn resulted in problems in the rise and development of capitalism in China, and became the greatest contradiction of the age.

The Beginning of Modern Cultural Education T h e n e w c u l t u r a l a n d e d u c a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s w e re a m a j o r p a r t o f t h e Westernization Movement, next only to industries in importance. These facilities were new things which grew in the margin of the traditional feudal culture and education system. Although they did not replace the latter completely their existence created a breach in the conservative tradition. In 1863 the Tongwen Guan (Imperial Foreign Language Institute 同文館) was set up. It was a college to cultivate translation skills of foreign language s. First the English department was set up and was taught by British missionary John Shaw Burdo. Then the Russian department, French department, German department and Japanese department were set up. American missionary William A. P. Martin worked as its president for 30 years. Modern education in China started here. In the following two years similar language colleges, the Guang Fangyan Guan (Institute for Dialects 廣方言館), were set up in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Undoubtedly, this was progress. But the titles “Tongwen ” and “Guang Fangyan ” reflected the old self-conceit. Therefore this was a slow progress under the heavy burden of deep-rooted tradition. The establishment of the Tongwen Guan and Guang Fangyan Guan led to the translation of books. The Tongwen Guan translated almost two hundred foreign books in 30 years, especially books on diplomacy, history, geography, politics and law, including the first Chinese version of international law. By 1868 the translation bureau of the Jiangnan Arsenal had translated 199 foreign books in 40 years, primarily on natural science and applied sciences. Half the books in the catalogue of foreign books compiled by Liang Qichao were translated by the Jiangnan Translation College. Missionary John Fryer worked in the Jiangnan Arsenal as a translator for several decades and his work in translation contributed greatly to the communication between China and the West. The Ge Zhi Huibian (Chinese Scientific Magazine ) he edited was an influential publication at the time. The purpose of the magazine was not preaching. Much of it was devoted to science and technology. Although he was a Westerner, he participated in and supported the Westernization Movement in China. There were other people like him at that time. Another thing worth mentioning was the pioneering work by the Westernization Movement in sending Chinese people to study abroad. Under

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the direction of Rong Hong, from 1872 to 1875, 120 schoolboys were sent to the U.S. (they planned to study for 15 years before completing their study and returning to China, but diehards worried that these schoolboys might become “Americanized Chinese” and “would not be the original obedient subjects of the Qing empire.”) 16 In the same period, Fuzhou Shipping College also sent over 30 students to Britain and France to study naval matters. This was actually an opening up to the world. Among the two groups of overseas students there were famous historical figures. One of the best known is Zhan Tianyou in the first group, who built the Jingzhang railway; another is Yan Fu in the second group who translated the Evolution and Ethics . The development of the Westernization Movement itself appealed to talented people. Scholars who were instilled with the imperial examination system would not understand machinery, cannons, steamships and telegraph. Therefore a series of military and technological colleges were established, among which the Machinery College of the Jiangnan Arsenal (1865), the Shipping College of the Fuzhou Shipping Arsenal (1866), the Tianjin Telegraph College (1879), the Tianjin Naval College (1880), the Shanghai Telegraph College (1882), the Tianjin Armaments College (1886), the Guangdong Naval College (1887) and the Tianjin Military College (1893) were the best known. These were technological institutes. Under the tradition of “stressing theory and neglecting technology”, intellectuals had never taken technology as their specialty. But stimulated by Western things, people realized the importance of technology. When these colleges first appeared they were not esteemed as part of the imperial examination system. But their existence shook and disintegrated the imperial examination system. After a while they became more accepted by the public; self-strengthening colleges which specialized in Western learning were set up. Traditional colleges started to offer courses on Western learning. The changes to follow the trend in the traditional colleges reflected the changes in Chinese values. All these promoted the development of publishing and printing. There were altogether about 30 new-style cultural and educational institutes set up in the Westernization Movement. This number could be perceived as a group. They were of the same importance as military and civil industries. It was these series of organizations (including missionaries involved in cultural activities) that transmitted knowledge of acoustics, optics, chemistry, electricity and the history and situation of the West, and brought forth a new world beyond traditional culture. This was a real intellectual inspiration which affected a generation of intellectuals and nurtured the noble-minded patriots of the Hundred Days’ Reform of 1898. Liang Qichao said later, “the production

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bureau has translated dozens of science books. Li Shanlan, Hua Hengfang and Zhao Zhonghan worked in this. They had profound knowledge and they were very conscientious and interested in the translation of the books. Their achievements could rival those of Xu Guangqi and Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty. The churches in China have also translated a lot of books. In the years of Emperor Guangxu, there were some reform-minded scholars who wanted to study abroad and who treasured these books. They were ‘hungry for knowledge.’” 17 To some degree, the Western knowledge brought forth by the Westernization Movement shocked the Chinese society ten times stronger than that of the old peasant wars. Although there were no angry roars involved, the new ideas and concrete examples of practices were changing the prejudices and beliefs of people which had lasted for generations. The advocates of the Westernization Movements did not expect this.

Adopting Western Learning on the Basis of Chinese Confucianism In 1861 Feng Guifen, who had a clear understanding of the situation because of his experience with foreigners, said in the Jiaobinlu Kangyi , “in order to strengthen China, we shall adopt foreign technology on the basis of Chinese Confucianism.” He was perhaps the first person to think of combining Chinese Confucianism with Western learning. In his view, adopting the strong points of the West and protecting the tradition were of the same importance. After Feng Guifen, people involved in Sino-Western contacts such as Li Hongzhang, Guo Songtao and Xue Fucheng also expressed the same kind of idea. By the 1870s –18 80s, more people were involved. Wang Tao, Zheng Guanying, Shao Zuodan, Shen Shoukang, Sun Jiading and Sheng Xuanhuai expressed the same idea of “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” in their discussions; the idea represented their common notion. After the first Sino-

Japanese War in 1894– 1895 it became a popular term. “Zhang Zhidong loved to use it the most and the whole country accepted it as words of wisdom.” 18 According to the modern social structure, these people belonged to the landlord reformists, Westernization faction and early reformists respectively. But they all accepted the guiding principle of “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” and expressed how they thought about it. Apparently, from the 1860s to the 1890s, those who talked about current affairs and Western learning of the time all adopted the approach. We can examine them more carefully. People in the Westernization faction were mostly senior officials in the

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court; people in the group of early reformists and others who were involved in the discussion were civilians. The latter submitted themselves to the former. The Westernization faction were those who implemented the policy of “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism”; while the words of the reformist group was more a kind of theoretical guidance. Words were followed by actions. Theorists would often become sharp critics. For both the theorists and the practitioners, the idea of “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” was the guiding ideology of the Westernization Movement. “Each principle has had its own century in which to manifest itself.”19 The principle of “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” was later criticized for upholding feudal values. In fact, in China of that time, people in the gentry class tended to clung to the old tradition. There was no other feasible way than “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” if China, a country choked by feudalism, wanted to introduce capitalist culture to break the chains of the old traditions. Without the premise of “Chinese Confucianism,” the “adoption of Western learning” would lose its basis and could not take root in China. Therefore the “adoption Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” at least provided a way to learn about the foreign world and to bring a part of the world into China. It created a mixture Chinese and Western culture, which led to the establishment of military factories and private enterprises, as well as the development of modern cultural industries including translation, publishing, technology, colleges and the emergence of international students. These anti-feudal reforms, with their limited strength, eventually broke the shackles of feudalism and promoted the metabolism of modern Chinese society. The concept of “adopting Western learning on the basis of the Chinese system” reflected the combination of Chinese and Western learning and defined their differences. “Chinese learning” “was something familiar, referring to the “traditional feudal ethics,” the four books and five classics , the doctrines of the ancient emperors, or the historical records, political writings and maps. It generally covers all aspects of Chinese traditions and culture, and was referred to as “Dao”. Western learning came to China at times of national conflict, and was alien to the Chinese people. Therefore the recognition and assimilation of Western learning was a tough and tortuous journey undertaken by generations of Chinese people. In the decades of the late 19th century, the spread of Western learning among Chinese people consisted of the following stages: (1) In the 20 years between the First Opium War and the Second Opium War, a few officials in the coastal regions began to open their eyes to the outside world. Hai Lu (Annals of the Sea ) by Yang Bingnan, Sizhou Zhi (Translation of

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Encyclopaedia of Geography ) by Li Zexu, Haiguo Tuzhi (Records and Maps of the World ) by Wei Yuan, Haiguo Sishuo (Four Essays on Off-shore Countries ) by Liang Tingtan, and Yinghuan Zhilie (A Short Account of the Maritime Circuit ) by Xu Jishe were records of their obsevations. They were severely shocked by and hoped to obtain the “powerful battleships and cannons” from the West, which was the utmost in Western learning or “advanced technology” in the minds of the people. Only a few individuals began to consider the technology of machinery production. (2) From the early 1860s when the Jiangnan Arsenal was set up to the 1870s when other provincial arsenals were successively set up, the exploration of Western learning centered on military technology. “Weapon production was based on natural science,” therefore translation had to be done in order to produce weapons. At the time, the translations done by the Shanghai Arsenal College were mostly about military production and machine production. Books on mathematics, atmospheric acoustics, optics, electricity and chemistry were also entering China. The scientific careers of prominent modern scientists such as Xu Shou, Xu Jianyin, Li Shanlan, Hua Hengfang were all closely related to translation. During this period, weapon production was seen as a way to promote the study of natural science.20 (3) In the 1870–1880s, the focus of the machinery industry moved from selfstrengthening to the quest of wealth. Xue Fucheng wrote a book entitled Jiqi Zhi Cai Shuo (Wealth from Machinery ). Zheng Guanying advocated “the business war” and said “great wealth of ten thousand would surpass a million soldiers.” The call brought about the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company, the Shanghai Textile Corporation and similar factories. They realized that industry was the basis of commerce and natural science was the premise of industrial development. Their demand for Western learning was augmented with the development of Westernized industries. Acoustics, optics, chemistry and electricity were considered the core of Western learning. The books translated in this period were mainly on science and technology. Patriots hoped to “learn from scholars from China and the West, translate useful books from Western countries and sell them to the public at a low price, so that the people shall be introduced to the wonders of Western science, and pedantic traditions and accusations shall be abolished Rulers and the people shall become united and undivided.”21 (4) Science and technology impacted on the education and political superstructure. People with sharp vision in the 1870s realized that: “more colleges would foster more talented people and the establishment of parliament could provide a channel for public opinion. The manufacturing industry and the troops and navy were actually at the bottom of the list.” 22 By the 1890s,

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Chinese intellectuals started to discuss openly. “Chinese people were shocked by and admired the scientific knowledge of Western countries. However books on politics existed in China so they did not think they needed to learn from foreign countries. They did not know that China’s problem lay in the political system. The development of Western countries was not limited to natural science.”23 The establishment of a parliament was put forward as a political proposal, which was a breakthrough in the recognition of Western learning. People making such a proposal did not intend to revise the idea of “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” and they considered parliament as a kind of “adoption”. But parliament was related to civil rights and its establishment would naturally restrict and weaken the monarchy and reform Confucianism which valued the loyalty of “subjects” to their emperor.” For many years, whether to support the establishment of a parliament or not has remained the major chasm between reformists and the Westernization faction. The chasm was finally bridged. Wenxiang, Minister of the Zongli Yamen in the 1870s and Zhang Shusheng, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in the 1880s talked about the political system in Western countries in their proposals to the emperor. The former said, “China has a very strict hierarchical system. It is difficult to set up an Upper House and Lower House like those in foreign countries. However, it is an advisable idea.” 24 The latter said that Western “training is aimed at making the country more prosperous and bringing benefits to other aspects of the nation, skills are cultivated in schools and politics are discussed in the congress. The ruler and the people unite as one. They insist on practical usage and refuse empty talk. They make plans before taking actions. This is their system. Ships, cannons, guns, torpedoes, railways and electric wires are the products of the system. China imitates the products and discards the system. Consequently, China cannot catch up. Even a navy of battleships and well-connected railways will not secure victory.”25 Guo Songtao and Peng Yulin echoed the same idea. They were perceived as typical Westernization advocates. But they had more or less understood “the basis of Western learning” and wanted to bring it into China so as to reform Confucianism. (5) Deeper than politics and education was the philosophical idea of metaphysics in Western learning. It was not discovered and promulgated until the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century. With the gradual spread of Western learning there were some people who came into contact with it in the 1880s. Several years before Yuan Fu discussed the ideas of Darwin and Spenser, Zhong Tianwei had written Ge Zhi Lun (On Science ) to generally explain the origin of Western learning: “Western learning originated in Greece and falls into three categories. The first is called natural science which studies the appearance

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and nature of the things in the world; the second is called ethics which studies

the ethical qualities of people; and the third is called reasoning which studies the right and wrong of words.” He mentioned such names as Aristotle, Beacon,

Darwin and Spenser, and briefly introduced their theories and corrected with facts the unwarranted idea that “Western learning originated in China.” His

brief and accurate exposition was rare in China at the time. The exploration of

Western learning from natural science to philosophy was an essential phase in the process through which Western learning entered China. Later Kang Youwei

and others began to talk about Beacon and the Evolution and Ethics was popular for a time.

The adoption of Western learning was motivated by the idea of “adopting

Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism”, and moved from the outside to the inside and from the concrete to the abstract. At the same time,

it gradually impacted on the idea of “adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism.” Because Western learning was a new learning and

Confucianism was the old learning, Western learning and the Chinese system would inevitably contradict each other. Western learning would be fermented on the “basis of Confucianism,” which would naturally promote the metabolism of

the Chinese Society. Many people in the Westernization Movement were faced with constraints and problems; they tried their best to reform Confucianism

by synthesizing Confucianism and the modern knowledge of the West. Lu Muzhai, Dean of Tianjin Military College, said that at first he did not care about Western learning, “however, after I read the books on science translated by

Western people and discussed this with Yan Youling I realized that in the greater

world the knowledge was passed on by ancient saints and sages. Scholars nowadays give no regard to the origin of the knowledge. Instead, based on the information spread by the Westerners, scholars propose reform and religion which is not compatible with China’s situation. Therefore the doctrines and

theories of the ancient saints and sages should not be abandoned.”26 The internal

conflict regarding the “adoption of Western learning on the basis of Chinese

Confucianism” promoted the exchange of ideas. Originally Confucianism was a restriction on “the adoption of Western learning.” However “the adoption

of Western learning” would use “the Chinese system” as a foothold and exert influence according to its own demands. Although people tried to restrict its

influences to a certain degree, this was not feasible. As the contradiction became

more apparent, more open-minded people would guide their actions according to the circumstances and move forward under the stimulation of the facts.

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Easy to Clarify Theories, Difficult to Resolve Disputes 120 years after the Westernization Movement we can examine the past with a little more rationality and less emotion and draw a practical and realistic conclusion over the rights and wrongs. However, at the time, any creative new measure proposed would arouse sharp criticism and debate. These measures often faced strong antagonism. Part of them might die young amid such antagonism. In the traditional society, people who clung to the wall between China and the West would not tolerate them. They claimed that the “adoption of Western knowledge” should be based on Chinese Confucianism. The road to “adoption” was full of barriers. In the past arguments, people had considered the Westernization reformists and the conservatives as birds of a feather. Although there were differences between them, the fact was that the pot calling the kettle black. It was not historical reality. It was strange that when discussing the Opium War, people would often overestimate the debate between the ban on opium-smoking and the opium trade and its opposite side; and while describing the Westernization Movement people would ignore the violent and venomous debate between diehards and Westernization advocates. There was debate and anger between the two groups. To sum up, there were three major debates: At the end of 1866 Yixin proposed to the court to add an astronomy department to the Tongwen Guan and to recruit scholars aged below 30 from the gentry class (Xiucai, Juren, Jinshi and Hanlin). The proposal was a necessary step for the development of the Westernization Movement. But people clinging to tradition thought of it as a Western heresy attempting to “change China.” They thought it would mislead these young gentry into the wrong way of Westernization and harm the future of the country. Thus it greatly enraged the conservative bureaucrats and provoked their strong attack. Among them the most influential in traditional ethics was Grand Secretary Wo Ren, who sincerely believed in the invincible power of Chinese traditional ethics: “the principle of establishing a state lies in Confucian rites and morality not in political tactics; the foundation lies in the hearts of the people not in technology.” The contrast of rites and morality with political tactics and the contrast of people’s hearts with technology made Western learnings seemed small and shallow under the glory of the Chinese traditional culture and reflected the integrity of the conservatives: “government officials must be selected from candidates who have been taught with the Confucius and Mencius teachings and virtues under the imperial examination system. Why do they have to study techniques to

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build foreign ships and guns?”27 His sincerity deeply reflected the heavy force of traditional inertness. Suppressed by this heavy inertness, some scholars who had intended to enter the College changed their minds. Yixin, who was in charge of the Westernization Movement, said with regret, “Since Woren put forward his idea, the scholars in Beijing and the provinces got together to discuss it and came up with rules to block the proposal. They even condemned it as a groundless rumor which would corrupt people’s minds. Consequently, no one wants to take part in the new examination.”28 Among the debate concerning the establishment of arsenals and sea defenses in the 1870s, shipbuilding was a major issue. In 1871 Secretary of the Cabinet Song Jin criticized that the production of naval battleships in Fujian cost too much without any achievements: “the battleships will be used to surpass the foreigners. However, since peace has been made, it is useless to build vessels. Even if the battleships will be used in battle, they cannot rival the foreign ones. Therefore shipbuilding is a waste. Some people say that the battleships could be sent to capture the pirates; we have already sent the navy to guard the open seas. Provided that the ships are strong enough, our navy, whichis familiar with the deeper waters along the underwater bank, . There is no need to build additional ships. Some people propose to build the ships for water transport. According to estimates, the cost will be higher than that of large junks.” He proceeded further from Fujian to Jiangsu province and insisted on “suspending the two shipyards and transferring the funds for the shipyards to the Ministry of Revenue.” People who held similar ideas were Wu Tang, Yinggui and Wenyu, who was Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang province successively. 29 These proposals was submitted as memorials to the emperor and then sent to provincial leaders as imperial edicts, and caused great changes. Zuo Zongtang, the founder of the Fujian Shipyard, was the most active in opposing the proposal. He said: “the most important way to strengthen China is to build ships. Since I assumed the post of Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, I have engaged in shipbuilding. Foreigners sail outrageously with their superior ships and cannons on the sea because we have no ships to rival them. Therefore we must learn from their technology in order to compete with them.” Considering the issue from a different aspect, his conclusion was different from that of Song Jin: “It must be the first priority of the country. If shipbuilding is suspended the country will lose its great expectations and the military force will be weakened. Some people say it is a waste of funds. However over three hundred million has been spent on the project and it will be impossible to retrieve the money. A lot of funds have been spent on the payment of foreign technicians. It will be a great loss to suspend the project.” Song Jin’s

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attack angered and hurt him at the same time: “the court has secretly ordered provincial governors to investigate and carry out the plan. Now the project has been successful and disputes still exist. I would humbly like to express my appreciation and sincerity for the patronage of the court. I am even willing to sacrifice my life and whole family for the state. However, it will not benefit the state in any way. I feel bitterly disappointed every time I think of it.”30 What he said expressed the frustration of the Westernization advocates. At the end of 1880, Liu Mingchuan was ordered to return to Beijing and he tried his best to request permission to build a railway. He said: “in order to strengthen our country, we need to give priority to troop training and weapon production. However our top priority is to build railways immediately. The railway will benefit water transport, relief efforts, commerce, mining, taxation and traveling. And it is especially important for the deployment of the army.”31 Li Hongzhang had the same intention and spared no efforts to help him. He thought “all the other countries have railways, but China has none. It is like living in the ancient times without boats and carts. Consequently, we lag behind.” 32 They compared the differences between China and the West and were not happy with falling behind the Western powers. However more people responded with an “uproar of astonishment.”33 They condemned “the railway building advocated by Liu Mingchuan and Li Hongzhang” as “actually an attempt to destroy ancestral rules and disrupt the world.”34 They believed that “The saints shaped tree trunks into canoes, and made carts from boxes; they invented the first machines. Afterwards, Zhou Gong created the compass and Kong Ming invented wooden walking horses. What they intended to do was to imitate the saints. They would not use up the advantage of the machines because they wanted to leave space for future development by later generations.” It can be seen that the purpose of foreign countries was to seek wealth and that of China was to nurture its people. So railway building “is feasible in foreign countries and not feasible in China.”35 The confrontation between loyalty and wealth demonstrated the prejudice of a farming society towards an industrial society. Many people in the court and the public believed that railway building would “disturb the gods in the mountains and rivers, which might result in drought and flood.” Although this opinion was groundless it conformed to public mentality. The confrontation between the old and the new therefore led to long disputes. The idea of fengshui and the dragon vein was more backward in nature compared with the “traditional ethics” of Wo Ren. However in a backward society, such backwardness could be powerful enough to match the strength of steam locomotives. To sum up, the three major disputes caused quite a stir at the time. In

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addition there were innumerable minor disputes and conflicts. The new policy would face obstacles from all sides in every step of its development. When Sheng Xuanhuai prospected for coal mines in Jiangxi and Hubei province, his geological exploration violated the graveyards of local clans which in turn aroused attack from different feudal forces. More disputes came one after another. We can imagine the difficult situation from the materials left from the time. Guo Songtao said: “I personally think that the heart of the Chinese people is indeed unreasonable. The biggest disaster brought by Western countries is opium. British gentlemen also think it a disgrace to invade China with such a disaster and they try to eliminate it. However, the scholars of China are addicted to it and not repentant. Opium has corrupted China and its people for several decades, but no one is concerned about it. Clocks and toys are in every household; imported cloth reaches the most remote regions; in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces people even give up Chinese currency and use foreign currency. Everyone is blind to the problem. However many people will rush to violently oppose the building of railways and telegraphs. Some even take foreign machines as the enemy of the people. Zeng Jiegang once traveled from Nanjing to Changsha by ship and this stirred severe criticism among the officials and scholars. The dispute lasted for several years. They are willing to be corrupted and exploited by the foreigners while trying their best to block their own way to benefits. What do they want to do!”36 The painful and stern tone portrayed the ignorance of the conservative bureaucrats. Obstinacy was a social disease at the time. It did not only exist among the consrvative bureaucrats. The new policy would inevitably encumber its leaders. Yi Xin, the sixth child of his family and an advocate of Westernization was thus nicknamed “Barbarian Six”; Ding Richang, a capable talent the Westernization Movement, was called “Barbarians’ slave” ; Li Hongzhang who devoted his life to Westernization had long been criticized by the gentry. In his old age he said in grief: “The slander has not stopped for 30 years.” Guo Songtao was the most miserable. As the first Chinese diplomat in foreign countries, he left China accompanied by sarcasm and criticism. As one of the more precocious and capable officials among his Westernization colleagues, he was under more severe attack because he told the truth. Before he died the printing plate of his book Chushi Riji (Journal of a Diplomat ) was destroyed; after he died (the peak of the Gengzi Event), someone proposed to the emperor that his body be displayed as a punishment. The hatred of the conservatives of Westernization advocates was sometimes extremely bitter. However the problem which made the situation more complicated was that protection of ancestral rules was often

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connected with nationalism and patriotism. The irrational was covered up by the rational and thus it could represent the gentry’s opinion and then public opinion. The conservatives took advantage of the divine things and forced the reformers to go back to the old route. It was the same case in the one hundred years of the modern age. We used to stress the feudal identity of Westernization advocates and conservatives. However this was not enough to conclude the sharp conflict between the two sides. On the one hand, the Westernization reformists advocated the protection of feudalism; on the other hand, their undertaking exceeded the range of feudalism to some extent. The reformists also criticized the advocates of Westernization. But their attack was different from that of the conservatives. In fact reformists and Westernization advocates were brothers born of the same root. Although they set up their own cliques there were similarities among their differences and differences among their similarities. Therefore there were not so much uproar and anger in their debate. Reformists criticized the Westernization advocates for their idea of “adoption of Western learning while abandoning the Western system” and for their limited steps in advancement. Their criticism was an ideological preparation for the coming reform. We used to stress the differences between reformists and Westernization advocates, but the real difference lay in the fact that the former advocated the new and did not remove the old while the latter advocated the new and removed the old at the same time.

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Chapter

The Evolution of Urban and Rural Society

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

In the half century from the Opium War to the first Sino-Japanese War, more ports were opened according to the demand of the treaties. In 1842, five ports were opened under the Treaty of Nanjing; in 1858 and 1860, China signed the Treaty of Tianjin and the Treaty of Beijing respectively with Britain and France, pursuant to which 11 more ports (Dagu included) were opened; in 1876, four more were opened under the Treaty of Yantai; in 1887, three more were opened under the Sino-French Treaty for Continuous Trade; in 1893, one more was opened because of the Sino-British Treaty on Tibet; and more ports were opened (Zhangjiakou) in Xinjiang and Mongolia for Russia. Over 30 treaty ports were opened altogether. These ports were opened according to the provisions of the treaties and were called “treaty ports.” Later there were “automatic ports”. These were ports opened on the initiative of the government after weighing the pros and cons. There were also “specially opened” ports. Under the Boxer Protocol, foreign troops were permitted to set up 12 posts along the railway line from Beijing to Shanhaiguan. The provisions did not provide for the right to open these places, but they were opened after foreign troops were stationed there. The tendency of opening was: moving from the coastal region to the Yangtze River; and from the lower reaches to the upper reaches and deeper inland. These ports were breaches in the enclosed body of the Chinese social system. Foreign capitalism continued to penetrate into China continuously. Capitalism was greedy, aggressive and represents a spirit of dynamic innovation. They subsided, sprouted, took root and bulged in the body of the old society. Thus the single color of two thousand years became a medley of colors. Through these cracks, China became involved in the world market of capitalism. The evolution of urban and rural society began gradually.

New Social Forces Among the opened ports, those with the most evident changes were Shanghai (entry to the rich southeastern China), Tianjin (entry to northern China) and Guangzhou (entry to the Pearl River valley). Among the three cities, Shanghai provided the most typical example of changes of urban society of the period. The evolution of urban society covered a panorama of various people in a boundless universe. What we select and analyze here is mainly the change of different classes, that is, the new social force produced in modern China under the stimulus of capitalism. These forces mainly appeared in cities. But they were closely related to new economic relationships, and so formed the backbone of social changes as a whole.

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(1) Compradors. As a profession, compradors did not originate from in modern times. The Ming Hui Dian (Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty ) (the 26th year of Emperor Wanli of the Ming dynasty) in 1598 recorded: “compradors paying tributes such as jewelry, mink and horses. And the emperor thought highly of their capability.” With the modernization of Chinese society, “maiban” became the Chinese translation of “comprador” and its connotation and denotation changed. At the beginning, they were suppliers responsible for providing goods for the court. In the age of the Thirteen Factories they became part of the Canton system (Cohang 公行) and had dealings with foreign businessmen. Their responsibilities lay in purchasing, promoting, accounting and treasury safeguarding, as well as providing the necessities of life for foreigners. Bailing, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces in the reign of Emperor Jiaqing, said: It was reported that the necessities of life needed by the foreigners could not be bought by themselves because of the language barriers. Therefore some people were designated to be responsible for that.

He also said, “At first, Macau had been responsible for the issue of certificates. In recent years, Guangdong customs has been responsible for issuing the certificates. The government office is located far away and it is not easy to supervise them. Thus it is inevitable that those avaricious compradors might collude with domestic and foreign merchants and secretly buy or sell foreign goods. The the future candidates for compradors should be selected from the honest native people with the patriarch as the guarantor. They will be given a special certificate after being appointed by the Assistant Governor in Macau. Their work will be supervised by the Assistant Governor in Macau or relevant county officials if they live near Huangpu. Those who dare to do illegal business shall be severely punished.”1 We can see the social composition, origin, social position and function of compradors from the memorial. Under the Thirteen Factories system, the post of comprador should be appointed by the government which made them a kind of inspector besides their regular duties. Compared with the past, their social functions were different. Compradors were the closest people to foreign businessmen. At the same time they were constrained by the Canton system merchants and interpreters with semi-official relations. After the Canton system was abolished, compradors were changed from government-controlled to independent individuals, and became a trading medium between China and Western countries dependent on foreign businessmen, which made them the real modern comprador.

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Because of the historical connection between Cantonese and foreign businessmen in the time of the Thirteen Factories, initially half of the compradors were Cantonese. With the expansion of foreign trade and foreign companies, people from outside Guangdong province began to take the position of comprador. At that time in China they were the first group of people who became rich rapidly. One Western traveler wrote in his journal about his travels in China: one who had only one hundred yuan could accumulate his wealth rapidly into several thousands after he became a comprador. A comprador, a with monthly salary at 25 yuan, could accumulate thousands of yuan in six years. 2 As Governor of Guangdong province Guo Songtao stated in his memorial to the emperor: “Chen Shoushan and Xu Gualin, rich civilians in Xiangshan, are both dependent on foreigners and get millions in wealth.”3 We can infer that these two rich men were compradors. The source of their wealth was completely different from that of people in other walks of life. Thus as a social profession, the financial success or loss of these compradors depended on the situation of foreign business capital. According to Li Hongzhang, “it was a new profession outside of scholars, peasants, craftsmen and merchants.”4 We termed them the comprador class. These names had one thing in common. They signify that the appearance of modern compradors was an unprecedented social change. The evaluation of these people by Li Hongzhang was that they fell into two types. “First, some jobless second generations of merchant families in Guangdong and Ningbo had no other profession to make a living. Therefore they chose to become interpreters; secondly, Britain and France set up charity schools to enroll native children of poor families and provide them with a way of living. These village boys of humble background were affected by the foreign habits and became Christian converts. These two groups of people are dull of natural disposition and harbor evil intentions. They know nothing except making profits and carnal pleasures. The majority of them only speak foreign languages and only a few of them can write in foreign languages. What they know is only the items of the goods and their language level is rather shallow like slang.” They could “accumulate great wealth” and “were unscrupulous.” His contempt for the compradors as a whole was evident. What he said was different from later political criticism of the compradors. However, there were similar points. But compradors constitute a complicated issue in historical research. There were people such as Wu Jianzhang and Yang Fang who started as compradors and ended as officials which was bought by the wealth they accumulated. Between the 1850s and the 1860s they were active both economically and politically. They were the initiator of the idea of “borrowing foreign troops to

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suppress rebellions” in south Jiangsu province. Closely attached to foreigners, they were servile to them. Some books related them to people such as Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang. But Zeng Guofan perceived them as servile people “who worshiped foreigners as gods.” He had the intension of accepting some Western things, but he despised the servile attitude of Chinese people. Thus after Bai Qiwen defeated Yang Fang, Zeng Guofan was pleased to see this: it “would frustrate those who take advantage of foreigners to bully people.” 5 Undoubtedly, what he said drew a dividing line between the Westernization advocates and some compradors. There was another group of compradors, such as Zheng Guanying and Xu Run as well as later Yu Qiaqing. They were employed by foreign companies and controlled a large amount of currency. They later invested in or established independent modern industrial and commercial enterprises and competed with other enterprises including foreign capital. Among the modern capitalist enterprises established by Chinese people since the 1870s, the capital of compradors occupied a large proportion. The China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company, the Renjihe Insurance Company and the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company established by Tang Tingshu and Xu Runzhi, the Shanghai Telegraph Company established by Zheng Guanying, the Ganzhang Shipyard established by Guo Ganzhang, the Junchang Shipyard established by Li Songyun, the Hongkou Shipyard established by Zhang Zibiao, the Shanghai Textile Corporation established by Zheng Guanying, Tang Rulin and Zhuo Peifang, the Gongheyong Silk Mill established by Huang Zongxian, the Yuanchang Mill established by Zhu Dachun, the Yutaiheng Mill established by Chen Keliang, and the Shanghai Paper Mill established by Cao Zixiang and his brother are well-known in history. Could the nature of their industry be stained by the smell of currency from being compradors? In his Das Kapital , Marx has never looked into the different sources of capital as a decisive basis (the section on “primitive accumulation” dealt with another question). His example should be considered the answer. Therefore, in theory and in practice, these enterprises were part of national capitalism. Unrespectable people established respectable national enterprises, which was a disconnection between people and their career. This disconnection broke the much-loved identity and seemed odd. But it was created by history. Compradors were the Chinese who knew capitalist knowledge best. The China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company was first in the charge of Zhu Qiang, who was an old-style shipping merchant and faced many difficulties in financing. Later it was taken over by Tang Tingshu and Xu Run, and one million shares of capital were soon raised. The change in the Shanghai Textile Company

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was the same before and after Zheng Guanying took over the company. Apparently, modern business operations were very different from old ones. As compradors, they had the nature of compradors related to the profession. But as Chinese people, they had their nationality. The multiple disasters in modern China were often stimulants of nationalist consciousness. A well-known comprador, Zheng Guanying was also good at expressing his ideas. He said in the early 1890s: Since trading relations were established between China and foreign countries, those foreigners act against law and reason and Chinese people suffer from humiliation and bullying. All outraged and upright Chinese cannot wait to fight the enemy to death. Therefore battleships are bought, forts are built, weapons are produced, the navy is established and troops are trained. We spare no efforts in strengthening the defense and expect that victory will come soon. However, the foreign countries are secretly laughing at us. Why? What they try to do is to undermine the economy in China without using force. They use the ceasefire and treaties to exploit the energy of China so as to destroy it in the end. Military invasion is visible while business exploitation is invisible. If our business is not developed we will be extorted by them. A strong army alone will not be enough to defeat them. Therefore my conclusion is that “business war is more effective than military war.”6

He adopted national consciousness in industry and commerce. Tang Tingshu, another famous comprador, was pro-foreigner according to a Western newspaper. But after he left the Jardine Matheson and entered the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company, he used the knowledge and experience obtained from his work in foreign companies to harm these foreign companies.7 He had the purpose of seeking wealth, but what he did reflected a spontaneous choice. Under the shock of the ideology of the time, it was not surprising to see a group of compradors break away and enter national capitalist industries. The unity of two opposite natures, the nature of compradors and that of nationality, often make us try to ignore the latter which would of course lead to a logical simplicity. Marx said that the nature of human beings “is the sum of all their social relations in reality.”8 Thus one social relation would lead to a nature. Historical figures were always specific individuals; only through the specific can the specific be reflected. Therefore the nature of class, nationality, personality and humanity should all be considered when judging a person. (2) The national bourgeoisie. According to existing materials, in the period between 1860 into the 1870s and the 1890s, over three hundred newstyle industries were established in China. About 260 enterprises still existed

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in 1894. The sponsors or major investors of these enterprises were mainly bureaucrats, landlords, businessmen and compradors, who constituted the national bourgeoisie. In addition, about 30 civilian industries were set up in the Westernization Movement and operated until after the first Sino-Japanese War. All these enterprises constituted the major statistical basis for estimation of the force of Chinese capitalism, or national capitalism, in this period. Of course, what they reflected was the situation of industrial capitalism. We used to count commerce out when we studied national capitalism. Objectively this was because compared with industrial capitalism, commercial capitalism contained a more complicated combination of the nature of compradors and nationality, as well the combination of the old and the new. It was not easy to draw a clear divide between the two sides. However it was not impossible to capture the reorganization and change of traditional enterprises after the opening of treaty ports. From the Jingguang Drugstore to the Huangyang Drugstore, from the business of hardware, imported cloth and cotton yarns operated by people like Ye Chengzhong, we can see the lines of their gradual evolution. The basis of this evolution was the higher proportion of manufactured products from big capitalist goods industries. According to Marx’s theory, the value and surplus value produced in the productive process could only be realized by the selling of these goods in the process of circulation. Commercial capital was one type of movement of industrial capital. Therefore, with the above-mentioned change in the roles of goods, the nature of old-style business itself was changing at the same time. The relationship with commercial capitalism was becoming closer and their capitalist features would become more evident in circulation. The birth and development of commercial capitalism after the opening of the ports were facts. But it was created before the birth of the Chinese machine industry. Compared with the West, it was abnormal in nature and distorted in form. For many years we classified the bourgeoisie into the comprador class, the bureaucratic bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie, which was the need at a certain stage of time when it was preferred to use political elements to explain economic phenomena. Politics of course restricts the economy, but politics is not equal to the economy. Lenin said: “the essential sign of class difference lies in the status it has in social production, that is, the relationship with the means of production.”9 According to his idea, a certain class was usually the reflection of a certain relationship of production. Therefore class was in nature an economic category. After classes appeared there would be political and ideological struggle. But they were derivatives of the economy. Our division of bourgeoisie into compradors, bureaucratic and national bourgeoisie endowed them with

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negative or positive meaning. The derivatives were overstressed. There would be distortion if we study history with extreme approaches. A History of Chinese Modern Industry published in 1957 quoted the Encyclopedia of the Chinese Economy : S o m e o f t h e c a p i t a l i s t s i n C h i n a a re b i g b u s i n e s s m e n o r b i g landlords,… in addition, there is another kind of capitalist, that is, government officials. In foreign countries there are people who get rich as government officials,… however the numbers of capitalists who are big businessmen and big landlords is less than the number of bureaucrat-capitalists in China. In these foreign countries, some government officials accumulate wealth during their tenure and later become influential bureaucrat-gentry in politics after they retire and people are afraid of them…the secondary type is merchant-gentry, among which there are also government officials. Some of them are merchants and officials at the same time. They usually work as government officials and secretly do business.10

According to some statistics, from 1872–1913, among those who established modern enterprises landlords represented 55.9%, businessmen 18.3% and compradors 24.8%. Most of the landlords who invested in modern industry held official positions and many were consultants from among second- or third-level Westernization advocates. Only a few were landlords.” 11 If these bureaucrats, landlords and compradors were counted out, how much of the national capital would be left? And the 18.3% remaining were not so clean under careful examination. For example, Zhou Tingbi and Ye Chengzhong were both government officials. It was a mess. Indeed, there were multiple levels existing in the Chinese bourgeoisie. The cause of the difference was mainly the amount of means of production they possessed. Therefore, adopting Lenin’s idea to the end, they fell into the classes of big bourgeoisie, middle bourgeoisie and small bourgeoisie. Chinese bourgeoisie went through almost one hundred years from birth to death. It was a class who suffered a lot of mishaps in its short life. In the first 80 years of modern history, they were closely encircled by feudal forces. Their progress was slow and difficult. Not only landlords but craftsmen and peasants opposed them. In June 1874 a Western newspaper reported the difficult situation of silk reeling industry in Guangzhou: The adoption of machines in silk reeling was much opposed. Some criticism was not groundless, but some was totally ridiculous exaggeration. The replacement of manual operation by machines caused imaginary fears in people’s minds, which was the major reason they opposed it. …the second reason was that it was immoral for male

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and female workers to work in the same workshop. The third reason …craftsmen may hurt themselves into the machines because of lack of skill. People opposed it because the steam whistle was too loud and the machines were too noisy. They also said that the tall chimney would damage fengshui. A machine silk reeling factory has been established in Henan province recently and it was much opposed by many people.12

These were not isolated cases in the development history of Chinese capitalism. Almost the only people who did not oppose Zhang Jian were his country fellows. The second 30 years was the historical advancement of newdemocratic revolution. Although it was still a bourgeois revolution in nature, many local struggles had gone off track towards opposing the bourgeoisie—of course, this would be a later story. Nevertheless, in its short life, the bourgeoisie left something positive to China. They provided a material basis for social metabolism on which early reforms and later revolution could depend. But, the rough life and weakness of the bourgeoisie in China meant that the changes in superstructure and ideology happened ahead of the basis. The basis could not catch up with the superstructure, which resulted in a disconnection. (3) The working class. New modes of production produced the bourgeoisie. They also produced the working class. This rule changed a little in China: the new mode of production was first brought to China by the cannons of the foreign bourgeoisie. It was not until the Treaty of Shimonoseki that foreigners obtained the legal right to build factories in China. But before the first SinoJapanese War, they had already illegally built up shipbuilding, materials processing, many small light industries and public undertakings in the foreign settlements. The total capital was estimated at approximately 28 million yuan. The labor employed by these industries came from local places. Therefore the Chinese working class had already appeared while the Chinese bourgeoisie was in gestation. By 1894 there were about ninety thousand workers in China. Concerning the Chinese working class, we used to focus on the deep pain they experienced and on their advantages. For example, they were exploited, but their distribution was grouped and they were full of fighting spirit. After many years of propaganda, these qualities were familiar. The stress on these aspects reflected the general class quality of the working class and was also the need of history. But there is another side which needs stressing. Thus it is reasonable to explain the issue completely in another historical situation. First, compared with workers in the West, “the salary of Chinese workers was almost half as much.”13 It was clear that they were severely exploited. But compared with Chinese peasants, their life was less tragic.

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In 1890 the average salary of a male or female worker in the Shanghai Textile Company was about 5 silver dollars.14 Their daily wage was 0.174 silver dollars. In the same period, the average salary of a worker in the Wuchang Textile Company was 7–10 yuan. 15 For technicians, the monthly salary would reach 30 yuan or more. 16 In 1883 the total income of an ordinary peasant in Hebei province was only 18 even in a year of harvest.”17 In addition “this was not net income because they needed to pay taxes.” The net income was estimated at a little more than 1 yuan each month. Therefore a peasant suffered more. The comparison does not harm the image of the working class. The power of the working class lay in the fact that they represented a new mode of production, not in the pain they suffered. Secondly, the Chinese working class was not a class without any fault. We often mention that the Chinese working class had a natural connection with peasants because most of them came from the countryside. Indeed, the feature provided a historical basis for the alliance of workers and peasants. But one advantage might bring a relevant disadvantage. Because of the close connection between workers and peasants, workers would impact on peasants and peasants would impact on workers. And the same feature would also make it possible for the Chinese working class to fall into small production ideology. So, in modern China, the workers might be easily attracted to the power of the gangs. Zhu Xuefan said that in old Shanghai: It was estimated that about 20% of the total number of workers in the post offices joined societies and gangs. The proportion in the total number of workers in Shanghai was bigger. If added to those workers who joined societies and gangs, as well as the societies established by the workers themselves in different fields such as fraternities, sororities and Guandi societies, as well as societies established by countrymen with the same hometown such as Guangdong Gang, Ningbo Gang, Shandong Gang, Hubei Gang, Jiangbei Gang, the proportion of workers as some kind of society members would be much bigger. Among these numerous organizations many people were related to gangs and depended on them.18

What he described was the situation in the early 20th century, and undoubtedly the impact of gangs would have been bigger among workers in the late 19th century. The relationship of the working class and gangs was not included in the ideas of Marx and Engels. But it was a fact in modern Chinese social change. Just like the feudal impact on the Chinese bourgeoisie, we are not afraid to see the feudal impact on the Chinese working class. Both were deeply rooted in the same land with a long feudal tradition. And both were dependent on an inadequate natural endowment of capitalism. Therefore both had the

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same weakness. Of course, the weakness of the working class was not a chronic illness which demonstrated the impact of the traditional society over the power of a new class. It was something exterior not the inert nature of the class. With the development of its subjective consciousness, the inert nature should be able to surpass the exterior.

Social Change in the Countryside The countryside was dependent on cities, which was a characteristic of the capitalist system. This characteristic decided that the birth and development of capitalist relations in urban society would be promoted and spread to the countryside and lead to the evolution of rural society. The change in vehicles of the time provided the actual material for the promotion and spread. On the major channels of the coastal and river regions foreign ships, such as Taigu, Yihe and Qichang, and Chinese ships of the Shipping Corporation were developing quickly. “Large junks from Shanghai, fishing boats from Ningbo and red-bill ships from Guangdong all lost their business.” And half of the river boats in the south of Hankou “stopped operation.”19 Early railways appeared in north China and Taiwan. With the increased speed of carrying capacity of the new vehicles, the content of the exchange between countryside and cities began to change. On the one hand spun yarn, imported cloth, hardware, kerosene and dyes entered the countryside gradually. These were imported goods different from the traditional hand-made goods. Their cheap price and high quality made them a fatal rival to the handicraft industry. Therefore they inevitably brought bad luck to the latter. According to the records of the time, we can see the cruel historical process in which manufactured products pushed aside and replaced hand-made products. Sugarcane planting is a profitable business in the southeastern provinces. After trade relations were opened, people began to love the imported white sugar brought by foreign ships. The Chinese sugar gradually lost its market. Local merchants lost their business and went bankrupt.20 The people of Guangdong province used to use peanut oil. They usually grew crops on the barren areas on the hills. Peanut farming was the most profitable. Less fortunate hill farmers depended on peanuts to make a living. They would extract the peanut oil while the dregs would be used to fertilize the land. They planted sugarcanes which gave good profits, but the costs were no small sum…since kerosene became popular, they have lost business. Peasants, workers and merchants involved in the business suffered consequentially.21

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“Imported matches have replaced fire-stone and iron plate in most of the cities and have grown increasingly popular through the years, in particular the cheap phosphorus-free matches made in Sweden. Here (in Ningbo) the price of each box of matches was only 5 qian and the retail price to local vendorswas 10 wen a box (10 packs). It was an affordable price for people of different classes.” 22 In northern China, “in Gucheng Village (not far from Xiongxian county in Hebei province) most of the villages were engaged in refining saltpeter or sulfur for illumination. After imported matches became popular, the business has gradually disappeared.”23 The iron produced in Hubei and Guangdong had good sales before the years of Emperor Xianfeng. In recent years (the 11th year of Emperor Tongzhi), imported iron was cheaper. Chinese-made iron was more expensive and inferior in quality. Consequently, nine tenths of the domestic iron merchants went bankrupt. On the other hand, foreigners used machines in their iron and copper factories. The initial costs were high; however they produce fine produce with less workers, which could be used for vessels and weapons. Eventually, the domestic iron manufacturers gradually died out as imported iron was cheaper and of higher quality.24 Take Guangdong for example. The needle production industry in Foshan took a leading position. Hundreds of thousands of people were engaged in the industry. However they started to go bankrupt once foreign needles were imported.25

These records of the love for the new and reminiscence of the old reflect the same tendency. On the other hand, agricultural products such as silk and tea continued to be exported; silk and tea as goods represented the transition to a different sort of economic relations. The poet Bai Juyi wrote about a tea merchant in his poem Pipa Xing (Song of the Pipa ): “merchants prefer profit to the pain of departure, and had left for Fuliang buy tea.” This was a traditional merchant in the traditional society. Yet silk and tea had entered the worldwide capitalist market. According to annual customs statistics, among the major exported goods from China, the volume of tea increased from 1,022,159 kintal in 1871–1873, to 1,055,064 in 1891–1893; silk from 37,529 (1871–1873) to 59,946 (1891–1893); soybean from 57,506 (1871–1873) to 760,522 (1891–1893); and cotton from 8,486 (1871–1873) to 290,417 (1891–1893). 26 These changes and the demand for raw materials from the developing capitalist industries in China led to changes in the structure of the agricultural economy. Silk from Hangzhou, Jiading and Huzhou and tea from Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei

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province were very popular. The Nanxun Si Shi Xing (Silk Market in Nanxun ) written by Wen Feng vividly depicted the situation of silk production: It is the time to sell silk and villagers rush to the market to sell their products. The street is so crowded with shops and merchants that the carts cannot move in the jam. The price of silk has been increased this year and the sales of one day will exceed tens of thousands of silver. Small vendors sell silk to the big merchants who will in turn transport it to Shenjiang where they do business with foreign merchants. Millions in silver flows into China and Chinese merchants are thrilled. Six tenths of the peasants give up grain planting and turn to raising silkworms. The saints in ancient times used to worry that people are eager to get instant benefits and set aside the foundation. The extreme prosperity of silk industry will affect grain planting. I am afraid that this will lead to a bad harvest next year.27

With the rapid development of commercial agriculture, new cities and towns were created such as Dongji of Yanglou in Hubei province. More than thirty thousand people centered on the place to produce Dong tea and created a market there. In these places, the culture of self-supporting and self-sufficiecy had been broken by the changes caused by the commodity economy. But the export-oriented commercial agriculture could not control its own destiny and it rose and fell with the demand and supply on the world market. According to the statistics of the taxation office in southern Anhui province, “in the tea business the situation is getting worse in the 13th year. It is estimated that a million taels of silver will be lost, which will not only encumber the merchants but also the tea plantations in southern Anhui province.” 28 The difficult situation demonstrated the cruel side of the commodity economy compared with the natural economy. In the past we usually wrote about this phase of history with rage. Our sympathy with those bankrupt peasants and craftsmen was naturally connected with our hatred towards the economic aggression of imperialism. Indeed historical study could be emotional and we could still hear the painful groans and screams from this part of the hundred-year long history. But sympathy and hatred should not replace rational analysis which is more important to historical science. It was well known that Marx with bitter hatred exposed the sins of primitive accumulation, but he praised the replacement of feudalism by capitalism and called it “a revolutionary” historical function.29 There should be new vitality of the new mode of production in this stage of history besides the disasters caused by the dissolution of the old mode of production. If we are loyal to historical materialism we have to admit that the theme of history

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should be the latter, not the former. The pains caused by the replacement of the old mode of production by the new can only be resolved after the replacement is completed. But it had not been completed in modern China. Thus on the one hand, the new mode of production struggled under the heavy pressure of feudal forces; on the other hand, society trembled amid disasters. The distorted history meant that the Chinese people had to bear the pain for the decline of the old mode of production and the scares development of the new mode of production. The complicated problem here was imperialism, which was interwoven with the above-mentioned changes of Chinese society. How to deal with this problem? Marx had predicted in 1853 that: “the primary condition which preserved the old China was its isolation. When the isolation was broken by force from Britain, the subsequent dissolution was inevitable. Just like the mummy kept carefully in a sealed coffin, it would dissolve when exposed to fresh air.” 30 The term “force” used by Marx was undoubtedly a synonym of aggression. But he did not sum up the relationship between China and foreign countries as aggression and counter-aggression. He thought the dissolution of the old China was welcomed. This dissolution was brought about by aggression and interwoven with national aggression in history. But it was not equal to aggression. It was a major thought of Marx to differentiate between aggression and the social change brought by aggression. He expounded on the bourgeoisie in the Communist Manifesto: “it forced all the nationalities—if they did not want to die—to adopt its mode of production; it forced them to promote the so-called civilized system in their place, that is, become a bourgeois.” It would be closer to the historical fact if we use this view to analyze the metabolism of imperialism and Chinese society.

The Churches and the Gangs Two noticeable forces appeared in the evolution of urban and rural social changes. (1) Foreign churches. Missionaries came with merchants to China after 1840. Because of the devotion of missionaries, Western religion penetrated into China even further than commodities and it reached poor and remote areas. Churches with a big cross on the roof were set up and a large number of believers gradually emerged in Chinese cities and countryside. The social status of these believers was different: in the countryside they were at the bottom of society and were despised by public opinion. The gentry even regarded them as aliens.

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Even open-minded people like Zheng Guanying despised these believers: “Any Chinese people who have a little conscience will not be cheated by the foreign religion. Among the Christians, some were are seduced by money, some were madmen who have lost their sanity, some were villans wanting to take advantage of the church, and some were criminals seeking shelter from the church to avoid legal punishment. They have no respect for the government and the law, thus 1) dared to do unreasonable and illegal things.” Therefore, “they violate the law and commit crimes; native people are bullied by them. The crimess are innumerable.”31 But in the cities there were more believers from the upper class. French missionary Joseph de la Servière mentioned in his Histoire de la mission du Kiang-nan , an official named Wen Yage, who “was a member of the Imperial Academy and held important official positions in Anhui province, and had been in charge of the imperial examinations in Anhui province.” As a person with a deep traditional background he “received Holy Communion twice” at the age of 74 and “preached to his own family, and settled over 20 fellow converts in his home, most of whom were ill or even dying. He baptized them.” 32 After becoming accustomed to Western religion, urban intellectuals would tolerate it in their writings even though they did not believe in it. The Jin Men Za Ji (Journal at Tianjin ), published in 1884, commented that: “the main purpose of the religion is to demonstrate the divine God, persuade people to correct their mistakes, treat people with love and faith, and save the soul of human beings from the sins. Its rules are reasonable to advocate virtues and morality. It is useful to correct the problems of the society.” It also said: “the priests are elegant and polite with wide knowledge and good eloquence. They are people of profound insight and consideration. Most of the books on natural science were translated by priests. They constantly strive for perfection in their translation and their works are indeed useful. They are ready to help regardless of the negative opinion of others.”33 These were words of praise. The difference between the two indicated the distribution of feudal tradition in urban and rural areas was not even. But the introduction of foreign religion to China was a process by which foreign forces became an internal force of motivation. Thus the contradiction between aggression and counter-aggression and the difference between Chinese cultural mentality and foreign cultural mentality were interwoven in the process. In addition, strong opposition to foreign things was aroused. Therefore the struggle against foreign religions accompanied tradition all the way. The most well-known anti-Christian missionary cases in the 1840s and 1850s were the Qingpu case, Dinghai case and Xilin case. From the 1860s to the first SinoJapanese War, public opinion and numerous activities against foreign religions

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erupted like a storm. Over 30 major influential religious cases occurred in the over 30 years. Geographically they centered on the Yangtze River area, although some cases happened in northern and northwestern China. Those involved included people from the bottom of society but also many gentry members and government officials. Although these were specific cases they were often raised to become ideological issues: “if heresy runs wild and the orthodox principles cannot be advocated, what will the world be like? All our scholars, peasants, artisans and merchants should share a bitter hatred of the enemy and jointly resist it.”34 Consequently, “the houses which received them were burnt; if one took strangers in, he would be captured; Chinese who became Christians were despised by the whole clan and would not be allowed to take the imperial examinations forever.”35 The fierce ideological conflict caused the rise of social unrest. Before modern nationalism was created, it was natural to use traditional ideology to express our national feelings against foreign aggression. The peak of these struggles was the Boxer Rebellion. (2) The Gelao Society. This was a native force in Chinese society. It originated from the Heaven and Earth Society and got its name in the years of Emperor Tongzhi. But its development was also directly connected with the Xiang Army. Xue Fucheng later said: “according to secret investigation, the Gelao Society started in Sichuan province and then ran wild in Hubei and Hunan provinces. The Xiang Army was established and disbanded in a short time. Since then the Gelao Society began to grow and eventually dominated the Hunan province. 36 Xue believed that its members had been soldiers of the disbanded Xiang Army. In fact this was only partially true. In 1865 Zeng Guofan wrote in official document about “the danger of the alliance. In recent years, different camps have had connections with each other, which was the cause of mutinies in the army. There is no good way to eliminate the disease.”37 The “alliance” mentioned reflected the fact that Gelao Society members joined the Xiang Army. After Tianjing was captured, Zeng Guofan was wise enough to order the dismissal of 120,000 soldiers of his Xiang Army; in addition, more soldiers, about 100,000, were dismissed from other branches of the Xiang Army. After years of a life of killing, they had turned peasants into army ruffians. It was impossible for them to return to the life of peasants. Thus they swarmed to the Gelao Society to pursue the old well-traveled life. The Gelao members acted in response to each other. In the 5th year of Emperor Tongzhi, after the chief of the Geolao Society heard that the Xiang Army in Jiangxi province had been dissolved, he sent men to “invite” the dismissed soldiers to join the Society.38 In 1868, when the Ting and Jun troops of the Xiang Army were dissolved, the Gelao Society in Hubei province also sent men to stop the

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soldiers on the river.39 The Gelao Society grew rapidly along the Yangtze River and spread widely in urban and rural areas in Hunan and Hubei province and in Shanghai. As well as retired soldiers, the Gelao Society accepted unemployed boatmen, boat trackers, impoverished peasants and craftsmen. There were people wilder and fiercer than them, that is the salt smugglers in the Lianghuai region. These people joined the same society and formed an influential social force in the late 19th century. Without their participation, the struggle against foreign religions in the Yangtze River area and other struggles would not have had much impact. But they were a blind force drifting away from social production and caused public disapproval. In the study of the evolution of urban and rural society in the late 19th century, another issue needs to be considered - the response of Chinese laborers abroad to China. Early Chinese laborers abroad were mostly impoverished peasants and unemployed urban poor. They were sold or smuggled to foreign countries and suffered a lot. Jiu Shi Jie Yao , issued in the reign of Emperor Tongzhi, said: Those who were cheated to go abroad and died in accidents were estimated at several hundreds. Some died half way of disease, some committed suicide. Some burnt the ship and all perished together. Although some reached the bank what they did was extremely hard manual labor. They suffered from lack of food and ill treatment; some were tortured or killed without any protection. Their lives were trampled like mud and ashes. Alas! These innocent Chinese were forsaken thousands of miles away. This is brutal and miserable!40

This was part of the history of overseas Chinese. According to the estimate of Xue Fucheng who went to Britain, France, Italy and other foreign countries as a diplomat, by the late 19th century (1890) “two or three million” overseas Chinese lived away from home in the colonies of Britain. About three million Chinese lived in Southeast Asia. They mostly engaged in land reclamation, planting, hired labor and mining. 41 After they went through many mishaps and insults, some of them became able to support themselves financially or developed their own businesses, which contributed foreign currency to China. Some overseas Chinese invested in urban and rural enterprises in China. In this period overseas Chinese in America remitted money from American banks in San Francisco every year and “the total reached about eight million taels of silver.” About 140–150 thousand Chinese worked in Singapore and “the total amount they remitted back to China was no less than ten or twenty millions. 42 These numbers are not comprehensive statistics, but we can infer the overall scale of the money remitted by overseas Chinese. The trend grew stronger in

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the 20th century. Part of the money from overseas would disappear because of the “blackmail” by “corrupt officials and gentry”. But the majority of the money would enter the changing economic channels in China, which helped to promote the evolution of urban and rural societies.

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Chapter

The Japanese Approaching

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Since the beginning of the Opium War, the Japanese had been watching the experience of China with worry. In the middle of the 1850s, under the command of M.C. Perry, the East India Fleet of the U.S. reached Edo and compelled the opening of Japan, and the Convention of Kanagawa was signed. The pain they suffered in the situation was similar to that of China. Therefore the history of China promoted their self-examination and search for a way out for their own nation. In the early 1860s the Japanese were as deeply affected by the disasters imposed on China by the British and French allied forces as if they had experienced it themselves. This sense of crisis triggered the gestation and explosion of the reform and self-strengthening movement in Japan. But history likes to play jokes. The self-strengthening of Japan meant for China that the later-developed Eastern capitalism would break into China following in the steps of Western capitalism. Their expansion used force from the very beginning. Compared with paving the way with commodities and preaching by the Western powers, they were more eager and cruel.

The Rise and Coming of Japan In 1863 the first Japanese ship, named Prince, entered Shanghai with the mission to investigate Chinese society. The familiar scene reminds us of the detective activities in 1816 of Lord Amherst, the British ship. History repeated itself after 50 years. Was this an omen? After eight years, in 1817, two treaties were signed by China and Japan (clause 18, the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Friendship ; clause 33 of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Trade ). The Chinese government thought it was condescending to sign treaties with Japan. It hoped to prevent Japan from becoming the foreign aid of Western countries: “At that time, if their demand was refused they would stop making trouble; if their demand was met they would think we were yielding. They would collude with Western countries. Therefore it would be better to show clearly our permission to relieve them.”1 But Japan asked to “follow the examples of the Western powers” and its proposal “contained and selected the preferential provisions from the treaties with the Western powers.” They requested “the same provisions as those of the Western powers.”2 This was a big step in emulating the Western powers. At that time, Chinese people’s knowledge of Japan was mostly hearsay. They took precautions against Japan and scorned it. Therefore they thought that Japan’s request to “share all the preferential treatment” was a crude imitation. Yinghan, Governor of Anhui Province, said in his memorial to the emperor,

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“Japan used to be a dependent state and was not like those Western powers who signed treaties with China. Now they come to take advantage of our crisis, which demonstrates their evil intentions.”3 He thought that the Japanese with yellow skin and black eyes were not equal to the white Westerners. At the time, Japan was inferior to Britain and even to Peru (when China and Peru signed a treaty over the sharing of all preferential treatment Japan has not yet obtained this privilege) In 1873, when Emperor Tongzhi met foreign diplomats, Soejima Taneomi, the Japanese Foreign Minister was to meet the emperor after the other envoys from Britain, France, Russia, Germany and the U.S. and so was given lower status. The discriminatory arrangement angered the Japanese minister and he threatened to return to Japan. This kind of thinking of the Chinese people changed after 1874. In this year Japanese troops invaded Taiwan to show Japan’s wish to expand its territory by force. The reason for their military action was that fifty-four Ryukyu fishermen were killed by Taiwan local native people. It had been one part of the negotiation between China and Japan in the previous year. The officials of the Zongli Yamen responded to Japan’s criticism with two answers: (1) “Both of the two islands belong to the territory of China. The killings between local natives should be judged by China and it is not the business of Japan.” 4 This meant that both Taiwan and Ryukyus were under the rule of China and the conflict between local people was a Chinese domestic affair; (2) “These natives in remote islands are not civilized like the Emishi in Japan. Such criminal cases may happen in any other countries.” These words were said by Mao Changxu. He perceived Taiwan as an uncivilized remote place and explained the killings with the reason that it was too far for the law to reach.” 5 The first answer stressed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and the Ryukyus. The Ryukyu was a part of China from the 15th year of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty to the early years of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. In over five hundred years, the Ryukyus paid tribute to China regularly. But in the 30th year of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyus submitted itself to Japan and thus became dependent both to China and Japan. Jiang Yanfu called it “a woman married to two men.” Thus after Japan’s self-strengthening movement to abolish vassal states, the ownership of the Ryukyus remained disputed between China and Japan. 6 The first answer silenced Japan; the second answer was almost equal to acknowledging Japan’s power over the Ryukyus and counting Taiwan out of Chinese sovereignty and gave Japan an excuse to send troops. At the time, Okubo Toshimichi and Okuma Shigenobu drafted the Treaty of Taiwan which took advantage of the second answer and said that “Taiwan is a place beyond the reach of Chinese law.” Thus “it is a land without an owner”7 and therefore “it

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is the duty of Japan to revenge the Japanese people murdered.” They not only considered the disputed the Ryukyus as their own but began to covet Taiwan. The battle started in early May and ended quickly in early June. The Japanese army occupied the Ryukyus. The Chinese government had the intention of repelling the Japanese army, but senior coastal officials gave insufficient combat preparations as an excuse for not doing so. Finally, with the interference of Western powers, the Treaty of Taiwan was signed. Japan got silver as compensation and took advantage of the provision that “the Qing Empire shall pay 100 thousand taels of silver as a compensation for the killed Japanese subjects.” The wording severed the connection between the Ryukyus and China. Basano, a French consultant for Japan, later said, “The luckiest result of the treaty signed by Japan and the Qing Empire in 1874 was that it made the Qing Empire acknowledge Japan’s right over the Ryukyus” because they regarded the Ryukyus victims in the treaty as “Japanese subjects.”8 The deeper meaning of this conflict lay in the further understating of each other after watching each other from afar: “The Japanese army returned in victory and Saigo Tsugumichi, its commander-in-chief, was awarded a title of nobility. From then on, Japan despised China even more.” 9 China knew that it should not underestimate Japan. In the same year, Wenxiang said in his memorial to the court, “Japan had been a small country in the sea. They learnt Western military strategy and bought only two ironclads. However, they dared to launch an attack. As Sheng Baozhen and other coastal region officials have not bought ironclads yet and were not a match for the Japanese troops. The reason for making a concession to Japan was insufficient preparation. Therefore we need to take immediate action to strengthen defense in order to prevent a similar situation in the future.”10 So the talks and construction of coast defense began. The modern navy was born. At the same time Taiwan which faced Korea across the sea began to attract the attention of people. Shen Baozhen proposed to move the governor ’s office from Fujian to Taiwan. After some changes, the idea was accepted by the government: the Governor of Fujian Province would be stationed in Taiwan and Fuzhou at regular intervals. At the same time, relevant military facilities were set up in Taiwan, Fuzhou and Xiamen, which provided the basis for the establishment of Taiwan Province. These two recognitions reflected the difference between offensive and defensive. Compared with people inside China, the Chinese who had been abroad as diplomats had a clearer understanding of the rise of Japan. Guo Songtao, envoy to Britain after 1877, wrote a book Lundun Zhi Lifuxiang (To Minister Li from London ) and said, “Over two hundred Japanese people were educated in Britain in different

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fields.” Therefore he hoped that China would “learn more in addition to military strategy” and send more students overseas “to learn different subjects” of Western technologies. In his words there was no rage but only sober thinking after observation. His proposals demonstrated that the rise of Japan was an inspiration to the Chinese. But in China at that time many people chose to hate and despise Japanese and it was hard to find people who were willing to learn from Japan.

From Diplomacy to War Sending troops to Taiwan was only an initial step for Japan. After it annexed the Ryukyus it landed on the Korean Peninsula. Japan had a passion for “conquering Korea.” According to the analysis of Jiang Tingfu who learnt a lot from his study of modern Chinese diplomatic history, there were several reasons: “(1) Japan would not be able to strengthen itself without expansion via the sea; (2) If Japan did not strike first the Western powers would occupy Korea; (3) Conquering Korea could provide compensation for those who had lost in Japan’s abolition of vassal states.”11 These motives constituted a strong inherent desire which was not easy to dispel. Korea was the closest dependent country of China at that time. The close connection included historical origins and home defense. If Japan wanted to take Korea it must first cut Korea’s dependent relationship on China. Thus the contradiction between China and Japan sharpened. In early 1876, Japanese envoys Kiyotaka Kuroda and Inoue Kaoru led three battleships to Korea. Before they left the American envoy presented them with a book, Baili Tidu Riben Yuanzheng Ji (Expedition of Perry to Japan ). Twenty years previously Japan was forced to open its door under the threat of the U.S. fleet. Now it was following the U.S. example to invade Korea. Consequently the Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity, also known as the Treaty of Ganghwa , was signed. It said clearly in the beginning of the treaty that “Korea is an independent country.” The “independence” from Japanese battleships and cannons had only literal meaning. But Japan used it to deny China’s suzerainty over Korea. From then on, China and Japan who did not border on each other were interwoven together. Three years later Prince Gong said, “With its conspiracy and force, Japan has become a strong power in Asia. It was not punished in the war of Taiwan last year. Our defeat in the Ryukyus this year made it even more aggressive. I am afraid that it will prevail in Korea one day.” Taking the national power into consideration, he sighed, “China needs to provide aid, however

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we lack enough power to do that. On the other hand, we cannot sit by and watch. I am concerned about the situation in Korea. At the same time I am also concerned about the situation in our own country.”12 The contradiction between China and Japan was made more complicated because of the political contradiction inside Korea. In 1882, triggered by the contradiction between the old army and the new army (soldiers under Japanese training), the Imo Incident demonstrated its intentions against Japan. But it was also mixed with the political struggle between the open-minded and the conservative. After the mutiny the Chinese government sent several thousand Huai Army troops to Korea to “crack down on the mutiny on behalf of the Korean government.” This was the most active interference in Korea by the Chinese government since the Yuan Dynasty. However its motive was mostly to defend against Japan. “Japan has long planned to control Korea and there are many pro-Japanese officials. Japan first will send troops to crack down on the mutiny for Korea and those pro-Japanese Korean factions will use the opportunity to respond. Consequently Japan will do a favor for Korea. If China fails to act Japan will be more arrogant.” Therefore “before Korea asks for aid China should send naval troops to Korea to show our patronage. Japan and China have an agreement and our troops in Korea should also protect them. Thus we will foil the enemy’s scheme.” 13 After the suppression of Imo Mutiny, the Huai Army was stationed in Korea for a long time. But in the mutiny Korean people killed Japanese officers and stormed the Japanese embassy. The release of public anger against Japan was used by Japan as an excuse to blackmail Korea. Thus it obtained the right to station troops in Korea after the Treaty of Chemulpo was signed. Consequently the power of China and Japan in Korea were both greatly expanded. Comparatively, the pro-Japanese officials who were nurtured by Japan’s intention to “reform internal politics” were more aggressive. After the Sino-French War broke out, Yuan Shikai, in Korea at the time, proposed to Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang: “The Korean emperor and officials are fooled by the Japanese and are thinking of independence from China. The reason why they intend to do this is that China has been involved in the war with France and has not sufficient troops to send to Korea or deal with Russia. They are thinking of using Japan as their aid to achieve independence. Half of the influential officials in Korea think this way.” 14 Korea intended to extricate itself from the status of a vassal state and seek independence. It was a rational intention under the stimulation of modern changes. But its efforts were dependent on Japan and its independence was stained by Japan’s attempt to fight against China. The final result was the Gapsin Coup in 1884 in which

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the pro-Japanese group killed people who “were loyal to China.” Although it was an unsuccessful coup planned by Japan and suppressed by the dominant Chinese troops, it was not fruitless to Japan. According to the Tianjin Convention signed after the coup, Japan obtained the equal right with China to send troops to Korea. Some people criticized Li Hongzhang: “Li Hongzhang’s men did not know anything about international law and made a huge mistake.”15 Actually, this was a little unjust. Li Hongzhang did indeed “try to make concessions to both sides” but the one who made the huge mistake was Empress Dowager Cixi. According to historical records, “Li Hongzhang reported the situation to the government and the Empress Dowager issued an edict which said, ‘China could promise to withdraw the army, but could not promise never to send troops to Korea… both China and Japan could send troops to Korea in case of major events.’”16 This change converted SinoJapanese diplomatic confrontation into military confrontation. Later people said, “In the negotiation between China and Japan much effort has been spent on Taiwan, but the Ryukyus was ignored; China sent troops to Korea to intervene in the Imo Mutiny and the Gapsin Coup in 1884. The more we retreat, the closer they will press. They become more and more greedy and aggressive as we gradually yield to them. Consequently we will lose our peace. This is really disturbing.”17 Although the observation did not include every twist in the diplomatic situation between China and Japan, it depicted the general picture. Ten years after the Gapsin Coup, the First Sino-Japanese War broke out. The First Sino-Japanese War was the first modern war with a foreign country both in form and content in Chinese history. The major sign was the appearance and fighting of the navy. There were three major battles in the War, with the decisive battle fought on the Yellow Sea. The violent battle which lasted for over five hours decided the fate of the Beiyang Navy and the Japanese fleet and the fate of the War as a whole. At the same time, it further decided the SinoJapanese situation in the later half century: it is not an exaggeration to consider the cannon roars of the September 18 Incident after thirty-seven years as the historical echo of the cannon roars on the Yellow Sea. Both officers and men were courageous. On the boundless sea they used their rage and blood to define the patriotism and heroism of Chinese soldiers; Zhenyuan was severely damaged in its attack and was later hit by a torpedo, and Commander Deng Shichang and all his men, two hundred and fifty people all together, died in the battle; Jingyuan was encircled by the enemy fleet and was destroyed. Two hundred and seventy men—Commander Lin Yongsheng and his men—died in the battle. Chaoyong and Yangwei caught fire after being

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hit by cannon balls and were totally destroyed in the fire. Commander Huang Jianxun and Lin Luzhong floated on the water: “Someone threw a rope to rescue them, but they refused to be rescued and died in the sea.” Jingyuan was engaged in a fierce fight with enemy battleships. It was hit ten times by cannon balls and caught fire three times, “its mast broke off and the Commander could not deliver his orders to the soldiers and the soldiers were at a loss. First Mate Liu Guanxiong said, ‘The whole army will be destroyed if we do not give orders at once.’ He urged commander Ye Zugui to hang up the flag again and lead the rest of the battleships to change formation and attack the enemy battleships from the side.” “More than ninety soldiers died in the battleship formation and over six hundred people were drowned with their battleships.” However their rage and blood failed to win China a victory. “The most important thing in deciding the result of the battle was the efficiency of the cannons on the ships. Before the battle a request to equip both Dingyuan and Zhenyuan with twelve more advanced cannons had been denied. The court claimed that a large amount of money had been spent on the events to celebrate the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, which had led to a shortage of funds. Also, much ammunition used in the war did not meet the requirements of the cannons. It was the mistake made by the Tianjin Arsenal.” 18 Political elements became the ultimate reason here. China took action earlier than Japan in buying ships from the Western powers. However the tonnage, speed and firepower of the Chinese ships in the Yellow Sea battle were all inferior to those of the Japanese ships. Li Hongzhang said the victory of sea battles lay with the cannons on the ship and “a slight inferiority might lead to a totally different result.” 19 He was wise enough to see the importance of a small inferiority. But Empress Dowager Cixi’s ideas prevailed. Chi Zhongyou who edited Haijun Shiji (Annals of the Navy ) said, “Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang planned to increase the funding for the navy to resist Japan. Zhang Peilun, a censor, also criticized the court’s ignorance of the situation and for using funds intended for the navy to build the Summer Palace, which resulted in the defeat in the war. Japan has been developing rapidly and strengthening its army so as to invade China in the future.” 20 In Empress Dowager Cixi’s mind, the Summer Palace was more important than the navy. Therefore “300 thousand taels of silver would be taken annually from the naval budget” to build the Summer Palace.21 The funds which should have been used to buy battleships were spent on the construction of the luxurious Summer Palace. Consequently, the inferiority of Chinese navy was inevitable because of the requisition of funds. Before the battle on the Yellow Sea broke out, the court severely condemned the generals of the Beiyang Navy for their performance in

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the war. Li Hongzhang replied in his memorial to express his difficulties:

According to the naval statistics of different countries, Japan’s old and new ships number twenty-one, nine of which were bought in the 15th year of Emperor Guangxu. The fastest speed is twenty-three sea miles per hour and lower twenty miles per hour. We bought ships earlier than Japan. At that time, the technology was not as advanced therefore the fastest speed was only fifteen to eighteen miles per hour. Today, our speed can exceed twenty miles per hour. The number of our ships has not been increased since the 14th year of Emperor Guangxu because the court stopped purchasing foreign ships. Ding Ruchang and other generals have requested to purchase new ships. However, I dare not to put up the request because of the deficit. [Therefore] we are not sure of our success in naval battles because our ships are slower in speed.22

There was indescribable bitterness in his words. In the most pressing moment of the First Sino-Japanese War, Weng Tonghe was ordered by Empress Dowager Cixi to ask for suggestions from Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang stared at him in silence. Li turned away after a while: “‘You have been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and refused many times to approve our request for more funds. How could we get the battleships without due preparation before the impending crisis?’ Weng Tonghe said, ‘It is our responsibility to reduce expenses. Why do you not make a request again in this emergency?’ Li Hongzhang said, ‘The government and some officials always think that I am too arrogant and greedy. What will happen to me if I make such a fuss?’ Weng Tonghe was wordless.” 23 The gap in quality of military weapons was one phenomenon. Looking deeper into the phenomenon, we can see the gap between the social politics of the two countries.

Changes in National Spirit The defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War forced China to sign the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki which caused multiple disasters to Chinese society and has been repeatedly mentioned and expounded in all kinds of historical books for several decades. However the grave disaster was also a spiritual blow which promoted changes of China’s national spirit. Yi Jing said, “Poverty will lead to changes.” But people’s recognition of “poverty” often started from painful bloodshed because the pain, frustration, humiliation and sacrifice caused by poverty broke the hard shell of inertia and numbness and forced people to examine themselves so as to see the decay

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and loopholes in things to which they had become accustomed. The painful sublimation often came hand in hand with deeper recognition. Therefore the warning brought by the defeat was the outcome of rational thinking and produced the starting point for “changes.” Since 1840, every defeat of China caused by foreign aggression would push China further down the road of isolation. The crushing defeat in the First SinoJapanese War “imposed a huge disaster on China.” The awakening of the Chinese nation as a whole started here. This was a historical turning point in modern China. People used to use the mass revolts in different places during and after the First Sino-Japanese War to describe this awakening. This was actually not accurate. The revolt of the masses mainly represented a defensive instinct against aggression. It was an emotional state with more anger. A similar scene had happened over fifty years before in Sanyuanli. But we should not shift the awakening of national spirit to half a century earlier. Liang Qichao later said, It was the First Sino-Japanese War that awakened China from its dream of four thousand years. A huge problem in China is the fact that the government has long regarded its people as slaves and the people have also got accustomed to this treatment and regarded themselves as slaves too. If the slaves dare to talk back and interfere in the business of their owner they will be lashed by their angry owner. Therefore the slaves usually will not care about their owner ’s business not because of their nature but because of their old habit. Chinese people maintain an indifferent attitude towards Chinese national affairs even after experiencing national humiliation not because of their nature but because of their old habit. In addition, China’s vast territory and backward transportation have isolated Chinese people in different provinces and they treat people from different provinces as foreigners. Their lack of communication was like the huge whale described in one novel. The whale was so big that he did not know that there were people living on his body. Therefore the people will not be shocked until they suffer a heavy blow. Japanese people rose in revolt because of the humiliation caused by the Uraga Warship, which later promoted the reform in Japan. People did not change their traditional bigotry and arrogance even after the Gengshen Event in 1860 and the Gapsin Coup in 1884. People were awakened from their sound sleep because of the cession of Taiwan and the two billion indemnity.24

The sign of “awakening” as a historical phenomenon is not indignation. Its definition should be the subject’s conscious awareness of its historical mission. It is the same case concerning a class or a nation. As a modern saying goes: it is

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moving from “being-in-itself freedom” to “being-for-itself freedom. In modern China, it was represented in the form of changes resulting from the recognition of poverty. “In February and March of 1895, the ceasefire treaty would soon be negotiated. It was just the time for the metropolitan examination in Beijing. Hundreds of thousands of juren (舉人) 25 from different provinces gathered in Beijing. Kang Youwei submitted a proposal to the court but was rebuffed. Liang Qichao made frequent contact with other candidates and called for a joint petition on the pressing state affairs. The petitions of Guangdong and Hunan were submitted first on the same day and the other provinces followed suit. The juren visited the Court of Censors and submitted their proposals with different views every day. Afterwards, thousands of juren from eighteen provinces gathered in Songjunan (the former residence of Yang Jisheng, a martyr in the Ming Dynasty) with Kang Youwei as the actual leader to present a joint petition. The purpose of the petition was mainly three parts: first, refusal to make peace. Second, move the capital to another place. Third, implement a reform. The final goal lay in the reform. They said that if the court had conducted a reform earlier there would not be a crisis now; if the court refused to conduct the reform now there would be a greater crisis in the future. The sharp tone of the petition offended the government officials and they refused to transmit it to the emperor. These juren returned home later and brought their views back to their hometowns, which gradually enlightened the people in different provinces.”26 Intellectuals were the brain of the nation and their mission was to reveal the mission of the nation. Therefore it was not strange to see that the awakening of China started with the battle cry of one thousand and three hundred juren in “Gongche Shangshu .” 27 These groups of people were both students and gentry scholars, selected talents from all over China. They had been well educated under the influence of the traditional Confucian classics. But they drafted and jointly signed their name on the Letter to the Emperor. What they did exceeded the conventions in the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, which strictly prohibited intellectuals from taking parting in current affairs. This letter was unprecedented in over two hundred years of the Qing Dynasty. These one thousand and three hundred people were indeed a “group”. Therefore “Gongche Shangshu ” was not only the views of scholars but an influential social activity. This gathering of intellectuals often reminds us of the imperial college students of the Han Dynasty and the Donglin faction of the Ming Dynasty. Those gatherings in Han and Ming Dynasty were a response to the call of loyalty and fraternity. Their opposition to the treacherous court officials was often mixed with clique struggles and traditional ethics. But

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“Gongche Shangshu ” was gathered under the stimulus of a national crisis and their common recognition came mostly from their concern about the future of their country. Defense against foreign aggression and reform of domestic affairs were integrated as one. Thus its historical significance was unparalleled. The appearance of juren and intellectuals on the stage was different from the senior officials in the Westernization Movement. Their breadth and depth represented the change of public and intellectual tendency. Tan Sitong later wrote about himself in Shang Ouyang Hu Shu (A Letter to Ouyang Hu ): I fail to see clearly the situation of foreign affairs although I have been concerned about it. After experiencing the sharp pain, I begin to devote all my attention to it and almost lose sleep and forget to eat because of anxiety. The acute pain from the crisis of China worries me so much. However, I fail to find a way out. Thinking about the changes in several decades, I try to probe deep into the cause by reading classic books and consulting knowledgeable people. To avert the crisis, it is not advisable to adhere to past practices. I think the only way to solve the problem is to follow the example of Western countries and stage a reform.28

What he said faithfully demonstrated the hardship and pain of his ideological conversion resulting from the shock and anxiety. Zhang Taiyan, who focused his attention on scholarly study until he was twenty-eight years old, turned to politics at this time. Behind them was the change of a generation of intellectuals stimulated by the First Sino-Japanese War. Bao Tianxiao, who later became a well-known novelist, was a nineteen year–old xiucai 29 in Suzhou City at that time. He said in his old age, China was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War at that time. After the cession of Taiwan, more ports were forced to be opened and foreign settlements were set up in Suzhou. The national spirit hidden in the heart of Chinese people burst forth. A group of students who had never been concerned about state affairs began to participate in current affairs. Why were they stronger than us? Why were we weaker than them? Why were we defeated by small Japan? What other knowledge should we gain besides the traditional Chinese eight-part essays?30

Thus those who had devoted themselves to the study of traditional writings used in the imperial exams began to open their eyes and see the world around them and were attracted to the different new knowledge and public opinion. This change directly and indirectly impacted on the attitude and life style of many people and created the embryo of modern intellectuals. The tide of reform was rising with the awakening of national spirit and became the main trend of the time. It attracted every patriotic Chinese to seek a way for reforms in China.

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For example, businessman Jing Yuanshan consequently turned into a prominent political figure. At the same time, revolutionaries such as Sun Yat-sen, Yang Quyun and Chen Shaobai entered the stage, representing the next stage of history. It was the roar of guns that awakened them.

A Powerful Enemy as a Model Before the Meiji Reform a few Chinese people realized that Japan deserved their attention. In the Zi Zheng Xin Pian published in 1859, Hong Rengan said, “Japan has established business relations with the U.S. and learnt different technologies and rules from Americans. Therefore Japan will become strong on the basis of industry in the future.”31 It was a prediction with insight. Li Hongzhang saw the situation more accurately. In a letter to Yixin and Wenxiang he said, “Today’s Japan will become the Japanese aggressor of tomorrow. It is located far from the West and next to China. If China can stand alone it will depend on us and wish to learn from the West. If China cannot strengthen itself it will follow the evil example of the West. A small isolated country like Japan can take reform measures and learn from the West. However a country like China which knows well about the law of changes from poverty should be able to make the decision to change after confusion.” What he said evaluated the situation of Japan and China with deep vision. In the 1870s Japan showed its strength by sending troops to Taiwan, which stimulated the Westernization faction to strengthen coastal defense. More and more Chinese people began to watch and study Japan. Many works were written in this period. Some influential books were as follows: (1) He Ruzhang, the first Chinese envoy in Japan, wrote Shidong Shu Luo (Journals in Japan as an Envoy ). He was not a person of profound vision and he was loyal to the facts in his narration. He faithfully “recorded everything he has seen in Japan.” Thus his book provided reliable and specific information about the history, geography, customs, politics and economy in Japan. He went to Japan almost ten years after Japan’s Meiji Reform and he observed that its tradition was changing from the traditional ways affected by the Chinese Han and Tang Dynasties to Western ways. Both government and schools “emulated the rules, facilities and languages of the West.” Even “the small details in etiquette and diet will follow the Western example.” A lot of his poems wrote about the “half-Western and halfnative life style in Japan.” “Foreign buildings stood side by side with Japanese houses at the port of Kobe; many things from the West, such as railway and

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telegraph, have been set up in Japan.” He sighed that “they were not forced to follow the Western style.” He also mentioned he followed the Western etiquette to “bow thrice” when he presented credentials to Japanese emperor: “In the past, the etiquette and ranking system of Japanese people were extremely strict and its emperor stood high above and the exchange of information between the emperor and other officials needed to be transmitted through other people. In the beginning of the Meiji Reform, its minister Toshimichi Okubo proposed to “simplify the etiquette”. His proposal was adopted by the emperor and the complicated rituals were simplified.” Apparently he was not against this change. The traditional rituals of Japan were similar to those in China. Therefore what he wrote in his journal was for the eyes of the Chinese. (2) Huang Zunxian “collected the old news for the new policy” and wrote Ribenguo Zhi (A History of Japan ). He also wrote Riben Zashi Shi (A Collection of Poems on Japan ) according to what he himself saw and heard. He was a Chinese counselor in Japan accompanying He Ruzhang. Compared with the latter, he had a deeper understanding about the situation in China and the world. Therefore his observation of Japan was deeper. 32 What he wrote was more than a record of history. He said, “After the reform in Japan, they discarded the old ways of life in favor of the new and most of the old rules were abolished. The purpose of my writing is to inform people of the present situation of the world, especially that related to Western countries, with the hope that it will be of some use.” Therefore his writing focused on the time after the Meiji Reform. Shihuo Zhi (Annals of the Economy ) talked about the mining, shipping, farming and production in Japan; Xueshu Zhi (Annals of Education ) narrated the promotion of education and overseas study of Japanese people. “Educate people with only Western learning.” Xingfa Zhi (Annals of Criminal Law ) explained the new-style prison system and the adoption of French laws; Bing Zhi (Annals of the Army ) mentioned that they had adopted the French and British system in the army and navy and learnt about weaponry production from Germany. The extension in the books would often remind Chinese people of themselves. For example, Zhiguan Zhi (Annals of Government Offices ) said, “The Western government would not differentiate between corrupt and honest officials, court officials and provincial officials, or civilian and military officials. Their arrangement makes it possible for officials to perform their own functions methodically.” He thought that these ideas accorded with Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou) . The Japanese official system used to be based on Tang Liudian (Institutional History of the Tang Dynasty ). After the Meiji Reform it mainly followed the

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example of Western rules. China should realize the purpose of the book, Zhou Li , and take the West as a model. Lisu Zhi (Annals of Traditions and Customs ) said, I find that Western countries depend on united forces to do things. Government administration, business, shipping and electricity will all

take advantage of the power of the masses to be completed. This unity is under the regulation and guidance of etiquette, law and sentiments among the people. Therefore their morale as a united group will not

be lost. That is the reason for their domination in the world. In these

countries, societies and parties will be set up in order to achieve some

goals and the people want to join them to share the benefits. Although

people belong to different parties, members of the same party are united. The different parties motivate and compete with each other.

This reminds us of the societies and factions that appeared in a short time after the Hundred Days’ Reform. What was said in the book was like a kind of expectation. It was clear that Huang Zunxian’s writings about Japan were intended for change in China. Therefore after Ribenguo Zhi was published, people supporting reform were greatly affected. In Pingdengge Shihua (Poems of Pingdengge ), Di Baoxian said that people “valued it as a treasure.”33 (3) Riben Shumu Zhi (Catalogue of Japanese Books ) edited by Kang Youwei and Riben Bianzheng Kao (Analysis of Reforms in Japan ) were specially written for the emperor. Compared with He Ruzhang and Huang Zunxian, the latter book by Kang Youwei was more practical. The book of twelve volumes chronologically narrated the politics, economy, culture, diplomacy, justice, education, police, government offices and military in Japan from the first year to the 23rd year of Meiji government. In the narration of the reforms of Japan, it also provided comments on their significance and advantages, which directly reflected the political proposals of the author. It was like the comments made by the author Sima Guang in his Zizhi Tongjian . The book was presented to the emperor in March 1898 with the title Riben Bianzheng Ji (Annals of Reforms in Japan ). Later it was renamed Riben Bianzheng Kao and presented again to the emperor. The purpose of the change stressed the arguments of the author and the aim of the author to” follow the example of Japan in everything.” He claimed that “no book would exceed this one in its coverage.” It was presented to the emperor with the following expectation: “European countries and the U.S. used three hundred years to build their system; Japan followed suit and used thirty years to build the system; if China follows the example of Japan, in three years a great plan will be made; in five years, the system will be completed; in eight years, initial success

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will be achieved; and in ten years China will become a huge power.” It was said that the book “was presented to the emperor soon after one volume was completed and the emperor pressed for the next one. The emperor was quite pleased to read the example of Japan in such a book.”34 The book greatly impacted on the Hundred Days’ Reform later. Kang Youwei later edited a chronicle and said, All the views on official system, finance, constitution, navy and army, development of Xinjiang, unity between Manchu and Han people,

education of men and women, change of calendar and moving of the capital, as well as affairs of agriculture, industry, business and mining,

are approved of by the emperor. The imperial edicts on the new policy were usually different from routine edicts and senior officials were at a

loss as to the source. They suspected that they have been laid down by me. Actually, such things have never happened in our dynasty. What I did

was only to submit my views. The emperor added his comments and then made the decision himself.35

The characteristic of Kang Youwei’s ideas was to reform on the traditional basis. In his preface he mentioned the reform measures in Japan and he often searched in Chinese ancient history for an equivalent precedent for the reform. This far-fetched comparison was arbitrary in academic research. But it reflected the reformer’s intention. The recognition of these three people was formed before the First SinoJapanese War. Huang Zunxian and Kang Youwei’s works came out after it. At the time, Chinese recognition of Japan was entering a new stage. Japan rose from a small island and launched a war in China after crossing the sea. Chinese people witnessed the change and it was more impressive than the history of Western countries. Therefore the more humiliating the war, the deeper the understanding of the success of Japan’s self-strengthening. Thus a strong enemy became a model. Soon after the Treaty of Shemonoseki , in March 1896, China’s first thirteen international students to Japan were on their way. The direction of their voyage was just the opposite to that of Japanese envoys to Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty. Parts of Western learning began to enter China from the 1860s. But it caused more disputes than progress. In the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan defeated China’s incomplete adoption of Western learning with its complete adoption of Western learning, which proved incontrovertibly the effect of self-strengthening with adoption of Western learning. Against this specific background, the model of Japan was magnified by those with the expectation of reform. The discussion which had gradually appeared in the Westernization Movement was gradually converted into a social movement.

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Introspection from Three Aspects Before the First Sino-Japanese War, earlier reformists had criticized the Westernization Movement to varying degrees, among which there were insightful opinions. But talking was talking after all. Before the decline of the Westernization Movement it was not possible to create a social impact by talking. The Beiyang Navy was annihilated in the First Sino-Japanese War. Japan’s weapons destroyed the painstaking efforts made by the Westernization faction to close the loopholes, which was a crueler blow than the criticism. Therefore the thirty-year-long Westernization Movement became the target of national introspection. First, the introspection from the reformists. Liang Qichao criticized the idea of Westernization after restoration: Those who advocate reform always talk about troop training, mining and trade relations. This is true. However, how can the officers have military knowledge if they are not educated at school? How can the soldiers fight bravely in the battle if weak and illiterate people are randomly recruited without medical checkup? How can the soldiers be ready to sacrifice their life if the pay and death benefits are meager? How can they defeat the enemy if they do not have knowledge of maps? How can we develop our country if we cannot produce battleships and weapons by ourselves? How can the navy attack the enemy if the soldiers have never experienced any emergency situation? Such troop training is not training at all. Mining schools have not been established. Foreign experts are hired with high pay because of the lack of Chinese mining technicians. Roads are blocked. The transportation expenses from inland to the ports increase the original price several times. Such mining is not mining at all. Business schools have not been established and no one has the relevant knowledge. Manufacturing is not developed and native products have no sales. Roads are blocked and transportation expenses are costly. Exorbitant taxes are imposed everywhere like greedy tigers and wolves. The consuls do not handle foreign businesses and the state does not protect its overseas businessmen. Such trade relations are not trade relations at all. New schools have not been established. And there are no teachers for the new schools. The imperial examinations system remains the same. Many people still depend on it to pursue a political career. The official system does not change and students from new schools are not used. Such education development is not education at all. Other fields such as railways, ships, banks, post offices, agriculture and production

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also have similar problems. All the problems originate from one and the same fundamental source. If the source is not reformed all the measures taken will end in vain.36

What he said was harsh. But it was not a groundless attack. It reflected the sincere criticism of the former generation by the younger generation in the river of history. The point where the Westernization Movement was denied was the place where the reform movement would start. Therefore, “in conclusion, the basis of the reform lay in the education of talents, which would be realized by the establishment of schools and colleges. The establishment of schools and colleges needed the change of the imperial examination system. And the most important of all lay in the change of the government administration system.”37 Second, the introspection of the Westernization faction. Yixin said, “The failure of China lay in its refusal to Westernize. It was not Li Hongzhang’s fault. (Li Hongzhang should be given the right to negotiate the cession of land).”38 “Refusal to Westernize” here referred to “total refusal.” But the “Westernization” mentioned by Prince Gong of the Qing Dynasty was different from the later “total Westernization” in quality and quantity. It reflected a will to accept a little more of capitalism. In the 1890s, it conformed to the historical trend before reform came onto the stage. The thought he expressed with a negative sentence exceeded the boundary of the Westernization Movement. Third, the introspection from practice which mainly came from the personal experience of those who survived the sea battles of the First Sino-Japanese War: China has a vast land, a large population and a long coast. Therefore we have to set up a navy to defend it. The establishment of the navy should follow the Western system completely otherwise it will be insufficient to fight against aggression. The Western naval system has been established for many years and there are many books elaborating its advantages and disadvantages. The rules of our navy are different from those of the Western countries because of the restrictions of our government system. It is not easy to emulate the West in the naval system, so we will not be able to ensure our success. All the rules in the navy except those on uniform and language should emulate those in the Western system. It was not advisable to adopt only those which accord with the Chinese situation and remove those which do not because this will lead to new defects.39

They stressed “Westernization” or the “Western system”, which was not a servile admiration of the West but a lesson learnt in a bloody war. They served in the army and knew very well and suffered a great deal from the defects of adoption of “Western ways” on the basis of the “court system.” The suggestion “not to adopt only those which accord with the Chinese situation and remove

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those which do not” struck home in their analysis of the defects of “adopting Western learning on the basis of the Chinese system” which defended the old with the new. All the introspections reflected that the time had pushed the mainstream of Chinese national ideology ahead of Westernization and “adopting Western learning on the basis of the Chinese system.” But just as the First Sino-Japanese War promoted the Westernization faction’s recognition of the necessity of reform, it also promoted part of the conservative faction’s recognition of the Westernization Movement. Therefore the idea of “adopting Western learning on the basis of the Chinese system” would not disappear in Chinese society. For many people, this was an impassable chasm.

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Chapter

Philosophy of Changeability and Immutability

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Li Hongzhang said after the Second Opium War, “the wide communications between countries on the Earth is an unprecedented change for thousands of years.”1 What he said contained the pain from the two defeats in the war and the outcome of the introspection of Chinese society. Therefore, in the following several decades, people from different walks of life focused their attention on current affairs and reform and expressed their own ideas on this topic. But there were more people who did not want change. Therefore one the one hand, the impending situation forced people to deepen their recognition which in turn promoted reform beyond the old tradition; on the other hand, every step in the transition from the old to the new would face heavy resistance from those apologists driven by benefits and morality. Modern China staggered amid the contradictions. The First Sino-Japanese War turned the situation into an “emergency”. Thus a series of events occurred: “Gongche Shangshu ”, Society for National Strengthening, Kang Youwei’s repeated letters to the emperor, Society for Protecting the Nation, and Hundred Days’ Reform. All constituted a social change. It entrusted the future of China to the reform and its spearhead touched the “established laws” Undoubtedly, this was more than a step towards modernization. With it came the acute contradiction between change and immutability, which would in turn developed into a bloody struggle.

Philosophy of Changeability Change and immutability were two contradictory answers to the questions raised by the age. Both answers came from the reality of Chinese society and each reflected part of the reality. But the argument over the reality needed the help of history; the argument over the concrete needed the help of the general; in order to convince the majority, the authorities’ help was needed. Therefore, in order to expound change and immutability, both sides quoted the ancient Confucian classics as their basis. After over two thousand years of evolution and accretion, Confucianism had become a profound and complicated ideology in which, as Yi Jing expressed in its simple dialectics, “Deprivation leads to changes, changes in turn lead to smooth development, and smooth development will lead to continuity.” 2 Dong Zhongshu added his own arbitrary judgment of immutability: “The law originated from the heaven. The heaven does not change and the law will not change.” 3 There have been disputes over change and immutability since ancient times. The old and fresh contradiction repeatedly provided society with

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a convenient way to express different ideas. After the defeat in the First SinoJapanese War, modern Chinese again picked up on the disputes. The disputes based on reality were translated into a war of speculative language. The disputes in modern time had their own characteristics and the most outstanding was the awkward incorporation of much Western thinking. The contradiction of change and immutability at the time took on some philosophical color, and a concrete thing was covered with a metaphysical case. Xinxue Weijing Kao (On New Learning ), Kongzi Gaizhi Kao (On Confucius’ Reform ) written by Kang Youwei, as well as his seven letters to the emperor and his memorial to the throne during the Hundred Days’ Reform; Bianfa Tongyi (Overview of Reform ) by Liang Qichao; Ren Xue (On Benevolence ) by Tan Sitong; and Tianyan Lun (Evolution and Ethics ) by Yan Fu as well other essays constituted the philosophy of the reformist faction of the time. Its gist can be summarized as follows: (1) Changes existed in the world and universal changes can be demonstrated through common sense and experience. Kang Youwei said, Change is the law of the heaven. The heaven changes between day and night and changes between winter and summer. The heaven lasts long because it can change. The volcano can melt metal. Seas change into fields and fields into seas. The earth lasts long because it can change. People grow from childhood to old age. Their body changes all the time. Confucius said, “It passes like this.” He perceived change as the fundamental principle. The time changes in winter and summer, therefore people change clothes to adapt to the changes of the time. This is the call of the ancient saint given to the future ruler.

These words came from Jincheng Eluosi Dapide Bianzheng Ji Xu (Preface to On the Political Reform of Peter the Great ), which was written specially for the emperor. It most originated from nature and could extend to the topic of reform. Therefore other reformists besides Kang Youwei also liked using nature to expound on society as the premise of argument. (2) “Change will change and immutability will change too.” Liang Qichao said, “In a word, the law is the instrument of the state. Change is the principle of the heaven. The earth has been connected and foreign countries are developing rapidly. Change represents the general trend. Changes will change; immutability will change. In terms of the first case, the power of change will be held by us so as to protect our nation, our race and our Confucianism. In terms of the second case, the power of change will be delivered to others and our future will be in the hands of others. Alas, I dare not say what the consequence will be…”

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He used the word “change” many times which included two meanings: first, the subjective process of modern Chinese history since the opening of China to foreign countries; second, the subjective recognition and attitude of the people in this process. “Changeability will change” meant that the subjective and objective were in accordance with each other. In this case, reform would become a conscious subjective process and bring the same outcome as in Japan with its self-strengthening. “Immutability will change” meant that the subjective deviated from the objective. Reform became a passive process imposed by others. Poland and India were ruined in this way. “How to choose between to do or not to do?”4 These were two opposite futures for a nation. The Chinese could make the choice and they had not much time in which to do it. (3) “Change will lead to survival and immutability will lead to destruction; total change will lead to power and prosperity and small change will lead to destruction.” This came from the sixth letter of Kang Youwei to the emperor and represented the common view of the reformists. The last two sentences criticized the painstaking efforts of the Westernization Movement over thirty years; it also explained the quality, quantity and degree of modern social change. The small changes of the Westernization Movement were not a bad thing but they were only a quantitative change. “The purchase of ships and weapons is a change of facilities but not a change of situation; the establishment of post offices and mines is a change of situation but not a change of government administration.”5 These changes with the intention of self-strengthening only touched a part, “thus it does not bring forth the new through the old.” Under the threat from the Western powers, “the defeats were unavoidable.”6 Compared with “small change,” total change was different. “Japan revised its constitution, which was a total reform.”7 Taking Japan as one model, total change would break the boundary between the feudal political system and capitalist political system and achieved qualitative change. The difference between total change and small change drew the historical dividing line between the reformist movement and the Westernization Movement. (4) “Pioneering” and “being equal to other countries”. This was Kang Youwei’s understanding and interpretation of the “changing situation.” He said, “Right now, we should rule the world with a pioneering spirit not a conservative attitude; we should rule the world with the same equal position with other countries. And it is not reasonable to rule the world as the sole ruler.”8 The change from the state of “sole ruler” to “equal to other countries” indicated that the world had changed completely. The change made people realize the fact that “China was only part of the vast world and China was only one country among over fifty countries in the world.”9 In the exchange between

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China and the West, European countries “broke through the door of China which has been closed for several thousands of years, awaked us from our sound sleep, and occupied our home.”10 Therefore the phrase “being equal to other countries” would naturally remind the Chinese of the brutal annexation in the period of Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. In this circumstance, “maintaining the status quo” would lead to destruction. “If we were content in our ignorant state, why should we complain about being annexed; if we were content in our state of unrest, why should we blame other people for being insulted?”11 These two questions became the historical basis for Kang Youwei’s idea of “pioneering rule of the world.” “Pioneering” was a negation of the “maintaining the status quo.” Here, Kang Youwei seemed to reveal the distorted historical logic in modern China, that is, the motive force of social change came mainly not from interior movement but from exterior pressure. (5) “World change” and “tendency”. Yan Fu was trained in Western Speculative Philosophy and therefore his argumentation on “world change” was more philosophical than that of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. “The changes which are happening right now are unprecedented in the Qing Dynasty. It is difficult to find the cause of the changes. If we have to name it, it should be called tendency. When the tendency approaches even the saints are not able to reverse it.” The reform was promoted by the current situation which was actually promoted by “tendency”. What the word described was intangible. But it triggered social development on a deeper level. “The development of tendency will not be reversed by even saints.” It was not a power which could be diverted by human will. Those who could feel and recognize “tendency” would acquire a kind of historical initiative. “The saints have the ability to recognize the direction and the reverse direction tendency. Therefore they adapt to the tendency and will not defy the tendency.”12 The “tendency” mentioned by Yan Fu was actually close to the law of social development. But “it is impossible to know its cause” reflected that he could not explain the law. However this does not matter here. (6) “Break through the net”.13 This topic came from Ren Xue written by Tan Sitong, which represented the bravest opinion in the period of the reform. “The net” he mentioned included wealth and position, folklore (textual criticism and poetry and prose), sociology, the monarchy, ethics, heaven, religion and Buddhism. Its coverage exceeded that of Kang Youwei. Qian Mu who studied Ren Xue said, Tan Sitong talked about solving the disasters with the power of the heart, which refers to benevolence. The external appearance of the power of the heart is connection. What impairs connection is ethical

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codes. Connection must be based on equality while ethical codes impair equality. The foundation of the ethical codes is the San Gang Wu Chang. The ruler-subject is the core of the ethical codes. If the connection of the heart cannot be achieved, the disease will grow which will lead to disasters. The disasters result from lack of benevolence. In order to strengthen the heart and return to benevolence, the first priority is to break through the net. The ruler is the head of all the false learning. Unfortunately, if one becomes the emperor, he would conduct a massacre to maintain his throne. Therefore the premise of reform is revolution in which the reign of the ruler and the false learning will be destroyed. After the false learning is destroyed the cardinal guides will be destroyed. As a result, equality between people will be established. Then benevolence can be restored so as to rescue the world from disasters.14

We can see that the meaning of “break through the net” seemed to exceed the coverage of reform and move closer to revolution. Among the gentlemen involved in the Hundred Days’ Reform, Tan Sitong was the most advanced in his thinking and his thinking went beyond the age. But he finally died for the cause of reform. Liang Qichao later said at the beginning of the coup, “He stayed at home all day and waited to be arrested. Before he was arrested he came to see me and I tried to persuade him to flee to Japan. He entrusted me with all his works and some family letters. He said, ‘If no one is willing to sacrifice himself there will be no way to fight for future and express our devotion to the emperor. Someone should flee and someone should stay. Let us take our different responsibilities.’ We hugged and parted from each other.”15 His choice to sacrifice his life was his response to the call of his beliefs and the emperor. The contradiction here was a complicated historical contradiction. The argument of the reformists had two characters. First was the connection between “change” and “the new.” Kang Youwei said, “According to the change from the Yi Jing and the reform from Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals ), the reform of those kings are everyday renewal.”16 The idea of “everyday reform” came from the Books of Rights, Great Learning : “Reform every day.” According to the explanation of Tan Sitong, it was “removing the old and setting up the new.”17 Therefore “daily reform” referred to set up the new and removing the old.” “In the reform, removing the old and setting up the new should be dealt with at the same time so as to achieve the expected result. Setting up the new without removing the old will leads to setbacks in the reform.”18 This was the difference between the “change” of the Hundred Days’ Reform and that of the Westernization Movement.

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However, compared with setting up the new it was more difficult to eliminate the old because it would cause the hatred of those whose private benefit was harmed. The benefits were not rational, and when mixed with the historical inertia it became a power to protect the old. People who went through the Hundred Days’ Reform said that in May 1898, “Liang Qichao and another over one hundred juren jointly signed a petition in which they requested the abolition of the eight-part essay system. No government offices including the Zongli Yamen wanted to accept the petition and transmit it to the emperor. At that time, about ten thousand candidates were expecting to take part in the imperial examination so as to take up a political career. Therefore the proposal of Liang Qichao and other followers greatly hurt the interests of these candidates. Consequently they regarded Liang Qichao as the archenemy.” In July, “the imperial edict ordered that all the corrupted temples be converted into colleges. As a result, the evil monks were enraged. The influential monks in the major temples in Beijing and other provinces bribed the government officials and eunuchs to report to Empress Dowager Cixi with a slander that the emperor had become a Christian convert.” In August, “Cen Chunxuan proposed to cut down redundant personnel in government offices such as the Household Administration Office, Transmission Office, Guanglu Temple, Honglu Temple, Tangchang Temple, Taipu Temple, Dali Temple and other provincial level offices. The redundant officials who had entrenched themselves in a position and did no useful work felt upset and irreconcilably hostile to the reformists.”19 In the reform there were also people at the bottom of society whose interests were violated: The Ministry of Works has an office in charge of street administration.

The Water Transport Office is in charge of rivers and ditches. There are

other offices involved in the affairs of streets and rivers. However no one really takes the responsibility. Consequently the streets and rivers are contaminated by dung and dirt. There are dust storms when the

wind blows. The streets become muddy when it rains. Pestilences rage

in spring and summer time. Foreign people perceive the roads as a pigsty and those in the provinces as a toilet. A lot of funds are spent on it every year. Relevant taxes are imposed on the merchants. However

the funds are embezzled and not a penny is spent on road building. The annual funds for construction go partly to the Ministry of Works

and partly to other relevant offices; recently, someone submitted a

memorial to the throne and reported the problems. Then the court ordered the relevant offices to repair and clean the roads and move all

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vendors outside of Daqing Gate and Zhengyang Gate to a place near

the city walls. Both the officials and civilians thought this inconvenient. The officials urged the civilians to submit a joint letter asking for this to be changed.”20

The situation worsened the conflict between the reformists and the antireformists. Compared with the obstacles met by the Westernization faction, the reformists were facing fiercer enmity. Therefore Liang Qichao sighed later, “The activities of removing the old easily causes public wrath. So those who were worldly-wise and played safe would not like to do it.”21 Second there was the combination of “change” and historical evolutionism. In Chinese traditional thinking, changes proceeded in the form of cycles. The scholars believed in the transition of five ethics and three dimensions; common people called it the thirty years of change from the east bank to the west bank. The old and ignorant cyclical theory was first broken by the two books of reformists. The first one was the Tianyan Lun by Yan Fu from which Chinese people for the first time learnt the evolution “axiom”: “Survival of the fittest in the natural selection.” Immutability is not the will of the heaven. The law of the things lies in the changes. What can be seen at the present time might be removed after several decades or millions of years. We can deduce the future on the basis of the past, but we cannot deduce the end of it. The world is changing, but there is something in it which does not change. What is it? It is natural evolution. It has two functions: one is competition for survival and the other one is natural selection. All things, especially living things, are like this. Competition refers to the survival of the fittest. One creature competes with other creatures and their survival depends on natural selection. Natural selection refers to survival in the competition. The reason for survival depends on natural selection and its own ability, as well as its surroundings, which affect each other. Natural selection lies in the nature. It is actually the competition of the whole world. Spenser said, ‘Natural selection is the survival of the fittest.’ All things compete to survive. At the same time, nature selects from the things. Thus, competition and selection lead to changes.”22

This scientific principle did not exist in the 13 classic works. But in the changing situation facing the modern Chinese it provided an interpretation acceptable to those involved. Thus the Western view of nature became a special social view after it came to the East. The other book was Kongzi Gaizhi Kao written by Kang Youwei. It for the first time brought evolutionism into social history and used litterateur Yue Tan’s idea of the “Juluan age”23, “Shengping age”24 and “Taiping age”25 to explain the

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past, present and future of China. “The reign of Emperors Yao and Shun was the Taiping age when humanity was held high. Confucian scholars regarded it as the perfection… Confucius brought order and Shengping out of chaos. He advocated the benevolent reign of the ruler, especially Taiping, according to the rules of King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty and advocated Taiping from democracy according to the rules of Yao and Shun.” Reform on the basis of the old mentioned by Confucius was used by Kang Youwei to include his capitalist and political ideas, such as parliament, elections, civil rights and equality. For example: “The hereditary system began in ancient times. It originated from the enfeoffment system. Confucius was concerned about the battles between regional princes and suggested reducing the territories of the princes, which of course offended them. When I read Wangzhi (The Kingship ) I find that the measures to select and train talented personnel were clearly invented by Confucius and the hereditary system was opposed by Confucius. The way of selection was the creation of Confucius.”26 This far-fetched interpretation was apparently subjective and arbitrary. But it provided a historical basis for reform in reality. With this basis, the idea of “the three ages” of He Shaogong was used by reformists as a tool to deal with absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy and democratic republic. Imported evolutionism bestowed traditional Confucianism with a brand new meaning and traditional Confucianism bestowed imported evolutionism with a Chinese form. Before Tianyan Lun by Yan Fu, Kang Youwei had read up about evolutionism from publications introducing Western learning. The two “first times” indicated that from the very beginning the “change” of reformists and Western evolutionism were integrated. This never-before-heard-of idea called for a never-before-heardof system. At the same time, it brought a revolution to the Chinese traditional philosophy and changed the most obstinate thing: world view. On December 16, 1898 Sun Baoxuan said in his diary, Yesterday I read Preface Four to Tianyan Lun. Yan Fu said, “The isolated small island was the most suitable place for natural selection with the sudden aggression of foreign creatures. The old would gradually die out and the new would grow quickly after a long time. Take the Russian cricket as an example. The new species came from Iran wiped out the old species. Song thrushes in Scotland died out gradually after spotted thrushes immigrated to Scotland. The native bees in Australia which did not have stings soon died out after those with stings entered Australia.” I closed the book and exclaimed, “What he says is quite true. Our yellow, black and red races are dying out from the earth.”27

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More and more Chinese accepted evolutionism; and more and more traditional scholars were converted into intellectuals in the modern sense after having been brainwashed. “Bellicose people would talked about military affairs, people with commercial awareness would talked about business, people interested in new equipment would talked about farming technology, and people interested law would talked about new laws.”28 Historically, this scene was more breath-taking than the bloody fight in the war.

Philosophy of Immutability The philosophy of immutability was in contrast to the philosophy of change. It was a philosophy without rationality, representing the ideology of the old age. Therefore it was powerful both politically and socially. Its ideas can be summarized in four points: (1) Ancestral rules should not be changed. After the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform, Empress Dowager Cixi demanded of Emperor Guangxu: “The country is the country of our ancestors. How could you arbitrarily change it! I have selected all those government officials to help you. How could you dismiss them! You should not listen to those heresies and cause turmoil by changing the traditional system. Kang Youwei was no better than those I have selected. How could the theory of Kang Youwei surpass our ancestral rules. You are really stupefied!”29 This was a kind of emotion and also theory which was typical at the time. (2) Eliminate “heresy” to clarify the mind. To clarify the mind was a response by traditionalists to deal with the opening of people’s minds by the reformists. Both the two sides had a strong consciousness. Bin Fengyang, president of Yuelu Bookstore, said that Kang Youwei and his men “spread heretical ideas among scholars in different provinces. I was afraid that his lectures would bring disasters to China if we did not eliminate them. His heretical lectures would do more harm than those foreign countries.”30 In order to win people’s support, the pens of the traditionalists became fiercer: “We swear to unite together to kill the evil person who is without courage and loyalty. It will be most gratifying to the people to see the day he is eliminated.”31 (3) Condemning reform “as attaching to the West and undermining Confucianism.” Ye Dehui, one of the conservatives in Hunan Province, said, “What Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao wrote to undermine Confucianism was not a reliable theory; their shallow talk of Western learning was not sufficient to rule the world; with the ideas from Liu Shenshou, Gong Dingan and Wei

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Moshen, they totally denied two thousand years of Confucian classics; after Liang Qichao, Xu Qin and Ou Jujia edited new newspapers they coined many strange words from Western languages, which was a bad influence on the Chinese language.” But the following ideas could be considered to be “attaching to the West and undermining Confucianism:” “The traditional ethics set up by the saints should not be changed by the heresy of equality; the imperial power should not be challenged by civil rights; those with lower social ranking should not cross the dividing line; the limited resources should not be wasted; give them to the poor people who would not spend lavishly, which is in accordance with the common prosperity proposed by Christianity.”32 These ideas clearly pointed out that the Confucianism of these scholars had been Westernized. But their fogeyish efforts constitute a kind of hullabaloo and slander, which demonstrated both the strength and fatigue of traditional Confucianism. (4) “The proposal of reform starts from the change of technology, then moves to a change of politics, and finally to education. The traditional ethic codes will be wiped out.”33 One major focus of the controversy between change and immutability lay in the three cardinal guides (ruler guides subject, father guides son, husband guides wife). Wenti, a censor, said, “The purpose of adopting Western learning in China is to enlighten Chinese people with Western learning so as to strengthen China. To eliminate all the classic works in China, adopt Western learning completely and convert Chinese people into Western people by gradual infiltration is not the purpose.” Therefore, “if we totally forget our foundation in learning and politics and just follow what is reported in the newspapers, such as advocating civil rights, establishing political parties, reforming the system, and abolishing the kowtow etiquette, Han and Manchu characters, the ranking system between the ruler and the subjects and between men and women, internal disorder will be inevitable.”34 He believed that once the three cardinal guides were broken the nation would be in peril. Immutability supporters included the conservative faction and the Westernization faction. The idea of the latter, to defend the old with the new, once conflicted with that of the former, to defend the old with the old. But their conflict lay in the “way of adoption” not the “basis”. Therefore when the newer thing tried to deny the “basis”, the Westernization faction converted from changeability to immutability. This was also a kind of metabolism. Two points annoyed them the most. First, the issue of Confucius. The reformists did not oppose Confucius. On the contrary, they wanted to “protect Confucianism,” which was equal to “protection of the state and the race.” They invited Confucius to be their banner man for reform. “The greatness of

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Confucius lay in the fact that he could establish a new school of thinking (create Confucianism) and inspired creativity.”35 In Kongzi Gaizhi Kao the reformists claimed that all the things they learnt from the West actually originated from Confucius. Thus Confucius was totally changed. The reformists perceived it as a wise way: “People will be shocked if they are confronted with reform suddenly because China values the monarchy and the traditional system. Therefore we should first use Confucius’s reform as a model and then the public can accept it.”36 But the conservatives and the Westernization faction were most intolerant of this “heresy” and “irresponsible and evil act.” Under the flag of “Yijiao ,37 Ye Dehui angrily condemned the idea of Confucius’s reform as “taking advantage of Confucius to reach their evil goal.” 38 Zhang Zhidong, a well-known leader of the Westernization Movement, flatly stopped his cooperation with the reformists because they tried to change the traditional lunar calendar and use Confucius to number the years. He “detested the most the ideas of Gongyang and always opposed it strongly for forty years and perceived it as the source of traitors and villains.”39 He totally denied the Confucius of Kang Youwei. Second was civil rights and equality. Liang Qichao, President of Shiwu College at the time, was the most radical: “In the future three generations, the root of a weak China will lie in the increasingly superior position of monarchy and the increasingly inferior position of the people.” Therefore the reform must “start from debasing the power of the emperor.” The relationship between ruler and subject was the first of the three cardinal feudal guides. But he considered it as the relationship between a “manager” and a “shopkeeper”. “Why can we not remove it?” He expressed even more unorthodox ideas: “When reading Yangzhou Shiri Ji (The Ten-Day Massacre in Yangzhou ) I was deeply enraged. The massacre in the city was the action of a traitor of the people.” He was directly accusing the Manchu ancestors.40 What he said had a strong smell of gunpowder, and exceeded the political boundary of Kang Youwei. Liang Qichao later recalled: “Students first talked with ardor about reform in their houses without communication with the outside, and the outside had no idea of their thinking. When they returned home and showed their notes to people in Hunan quite a stir was caused in Hunan Province.” 41 The direct consequence of the stir was fierce criticism by the diehard gentry in Hunan Province: “Who will rule the country if the power of the emperor is debased? It will lead to a great disorder in the world!” “This is an attempt to poison Chinese people’s mind and they will betray the Qing Empire and become Western citizens.”42 Soon afterwards Zhang Zhidong wrote Quanxue Pian (On Learning ) to “express similar ideas.” According to top officials at the time, he was interested in “Western technology and Western politics.” But when those

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Western things exceeded his boundary, he would consciously defend against them: “According to the three cardinal guides, ruler guides subject, so civil rights are irrational; father guides son, so the idea of equality between father and son is irrational; husband guides wife, so equality between men and women is irrational.”43 The equality of civil rights was the most epoch-making in the ideas of reformists. It has advanced ahead of the two thousand–year tradition and thirty-year new policy. Thus it was inevitably attacked by the conservatives and the Westernization faction. The struggle between change and immutability fundamentally lay in two points. First, how to treat Confucius; second, how to treat learning from the West. Basically, the former concerned tradition and the latter concerned reform. In the social movement of modern China, the two sides were inextricably involved. Reform—improvement or revolution—would be realized in the breaking of the old tradition.

New Waves in Ideology and Culture After the Coup of 1898 (the Wuxu Coup), the Hundred Days’ Reform failed as a political movement. But as an ideological and cultural movement, the liberating effect brought by these advocates of new learning could not be wiped away by Empress Dowager Cixi’s coup. The first group of intellectuals with modern thinking began to appear from then on. These people might derive from the Westernization Movement, or had been awakened by the national crisis. They lived in an age plagued by frequent ills and were concerned about the nation; they pursued truth and a way out from the West and became the social force with the strongest initiative to take on the responsibility of the age. Their practical activities in the reform movement established a historical starting point for the subsequent reform. Many leading figures in the democratic revolution came from the new-style colleges at that time (the Metropolitan University, Hunan Shizheng College, etc.), such as Huang Xing and Cai E. Many intellectual and poetry societies mushroomed in a short time, which enabled Chinese people who had been content with individual households to see the forms and power of “groups”. With their different purposes they tried to open the minds of Chinese people and introduce knowledge of social science and natural science from the West. “Knowledge is power.” Knowledge was inevitably transformed into a political force in modern China. In terms of replacement of the old with the new in ideology and culture, the time around the Hundred Days’ Reform was a quickly developing period. Qiu

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Tingliang from Wuxi set up a newspaper in the vernacular Chinese language and claimed that “vernacular Chinese is the basis of reform.” He listed eight advantages of vernacular Chinese: (1) it saved time; (2) it eliminated arrogance; (3) it avoided wrong pronunciation; (4) it protected Confucianism; (5) it was easy for children to learn; (6) it trained mental ability; (7) it would not waste skills; (8) it was convenient for poor people. “In conclusion, the use of classical Chinese will prevent the development of learning and the use of vernacular Chinese will encourage the development of learning.”44 At the same time some other intellectuals in Suzhou and Anhui Province echoed his idea. They were twenty years ahead of Hu Shizhi. The new language “filled with emotion” used by Liang Qichao was popular at the time. He combined slang, rhymes and foreign language free from the restriction of the ancient essay writing. Although the traditionalists considered his writings “heresy,” they were unprecedentedly widely read. When the new thinking broke through the old, the new writing style also broke through the old. The thoughts of Liang Qichao affected a generation of intellectuals and promoted the transition of the old literary style to the new. The poems written by Huang Zunxian reflected current affairs and society with an evident difference from the traditional old poems. His Jin Bieli (Departure ) read: My heart is like the turning wheels, filled with sorrow. Boats and carts gave people time to say goodbye in ancient times. Ships and trains today have no patience to wait for people. The bell rings to hasten departure. Passengers are at the end of the world before I return home. I hope you will come back soon in a hydrogen balloon.45

In the ancient poems of departure, sad and sentimental scenes like pavilions and drinking were often described. But in the age of ships and trains, these old scenes seemed irrelevant. The difference between the departures in the old and present time reflected the changes in Chinese life caused by modern transportation. The form of classical poems contained new content. This was a reform to the “Tongguang Style” of the time. In addition, the reform of Chinese characters was also put forward. Yimuliaoran Chujie (Introduction to Chinese Phonetic Alphabet ) written by Lu Hanzhang first touched upon the Romanization of Chinese characters. There were other reformers after him, such as Cai Xiyong, Wang Zhao and Wu Zhihui. Their different ideas focused on one unprecedented cause. We can see that many proposals of the New Culture Movement emerged in the period of the Hundred Days’ Reform.

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Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Gengzi (1900) was the last year of the 19th century and Xinchou was the first year of the 20th century. At the turn of the 19th century to the 20th century, the Boxer Rebellion arose amongst the sharpening of national conflict, which demonstrated the long-repressed anger of the victim of aggression against the aggressor. At the same time it contained the resistance of one culture to another culture and the suffering of the old-style small peasants and handicraftsmen caused by the dissolution of the natural economy. It was also related to the political situation after the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform. In the order of modern historical changes, the rise and fall of this patriotic revolt against imperialism was a phase of history between reform and revolution. People at the time called it “an unprecedented change since the establishment of the country.”1

Three Forces In the year of Gengzi, three forces accompanied by weapons started successively in the country. In early May the Boxer Rebellion, which mainly consisted of people from the lower classes, started in the Yellow River reaches and swept through north China. The forty-year-long anti-foreign religious trend was soon turned into “eliminating the foreign” by force under the leadership of the Boxers. This was a spontaneous movement “which soon had a quick response from the public in areas in Beijing. Many people both in the cities and the countryside joined the Boxers. Altars equipped with the weapons of the Boxers were set up everywhere.”2 “Eliminating the foreign” became self-consciousness in the spontaneous movement. “A saying was widespread: ‘The foreigners have been in Beijing for forty years and their doomsday is coming. Therefore Gods have been sent from heaven and incarnated in the body of the Boxers who will then burn the foreign houses and embassies and wipe out all the foreigners and converts so as to restore the Qing Dynasty.’”3 This consciousness connected and controlled thousands and even millions of people from different classes and professions. Thus when the Boxers entered Zhili from Shandong and entered the cities from countryside, the rebellion soon developed into a blazing prairie fire. In July and August Tang Caichang organized the societies and gangs in the Yangtze River reaches and planned to rise in rebellion under the name of “Independent Army.” He was a radical bourgeois reformist but he failed to go beyond the limitations of the reformists. Therefore, in his announcement, there were anti-Manchu ideas accusing the Manchu of being “servile before foreign

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aggression” and expressions to protect the emperor, saying that “we should not abolish the ethical code of being loyal to the emperor.”4 This contradiction brought him the support of revolutionaries. But when “serving the emperor” became the purpose of the Independent Army, he lost the support of the revolutionaries. At the time, Kang Youwei had made the prediction abroad that: “our army in the south will soon dispatch troops and then will sign agreements with foreign countries to implement Western laws. They will move north to suppress the Boxers together with foreign countries so as to save the emperor (i.e. Emperor Guangxu) 5.” 6 He hoped that Tang Caichang could form a stalemate with the rebellious north so as to complete his failed attempt in the Hundred Days’ Reform. But Tang Caichang, a scholar, was commanding “ten thousands of vagrants without any military training” and suffering from shortage of funds. After repeated delay, he was arrested by the Qing government after the secret was revealed. The rebels in other places rose in haste and were soon suppressed. He said before his death, “Concerned about the current situation of China, I tried to follow the example of the Japanese coup in order to protect the emperor. I failed because of the leakage of information and am waiting for my death,”7 This demonstrated the heroism of a reformist soldier dying for his goal. In October the bourgeois revolutionaries led the Huizhou Uprising in the reaches of the Pearl River. In the summer of that year British Hong Kong planned to encourage Li Hongzhang to “declare independence” in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces and asked the Xingzhonghui to join. The attitude of Britain reflected its intentions against Russia; the attitude of Li Hongzhang reflected the contradiction and quest of the Westernization faction in the new situation; Sun Yat-sen tried to set up an independent southern government so as to “reform China.” This was a divided cooperation. It appeared in a special situation and miscarried because of the changes in the situation. Sun Yat-sen hoped that the cooperation could succeed “and benefit the country.” But he “did not believe in the capabilities of Li Hongzhang.” So, as he tried to promote cooperation with Li Hongzhang, he sent “Zheng Shiliang to inspect and lead Huangfu, Huang Yaoting and Huang Jiangxi in Huizhou and prepared to start the rebellion; Shi Jianru and Deng Yinan went to Guangzhou to plan for rebellion and assassination as a coordinated action; Yang Quyun, Chen Shaobai and Li Jitang stayed in Hong Kong to be responsible for funding and weapons.” 8 Two months and twenty-five days after Ling Hongzhang accepted the imperial edict and returned north, the Huizhou Uprising happened. It lasted for half a month and created an impact in the bloody battle. But finally it failed because of the lack of “outside aid” and of food and weapons. To “eliminate the foreign” by force, “save the emperor” by force, and launch a revolution by force, forces

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from different classes and different political groups tried to find a way out for

themselves and China within a short period. Violence was the last means by which to reform society. When many people resorted to such a means, Chinese society fell into great peril.

Among the three forces, the Independent Army maintained the positive

side of bourgeois reformists and showed a difference from the Wuxu period.

It created a great impact along the Yangtze River and “developed quickly in

the prefectures and counties in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangxi,” 9 which

demonstrated that its political proposition did not lose the power to summon popular support. But after the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform, reformism and improvement had already exceeded their historical peak.

In the political turmoil at the end of the 19th century, its bright color was

fading. The brave attack of the Independent Army showed revival of the reformists after the Hundred Days’ Reform. But it failed to form a huge wave to stimulate the whole situation. The Huizhou Uprising organized by Sun Yat-sen was the second violent blow inflicted on the Manchu Qing Empire by the bourgeois revolutionaries which represented the most advanced force in

Chinese society at the time. But this force had not yet reached the epoch-making point.

One Western biographer once described Sun Yat-sen like this: “In the

second half of 1900 Kang Youwei ignored him, Liang Qichao betrayed him, Li

Hongzhang still refused to establish a relationship with him, and Liu Xuexun continued to tease him; the Zilihui (Self-Reliance Society 自立會) would not

listen to him; the Gelao Society sold him out. Lord Blake opened a door for him in Hong Kong, but Chamberlin closed it. The Japanese fraud made him

lose his munitions. The Tokyo government deserted him when he needed help

the most.”10 Conspiracy and exile made Sun Yat-sen a vague figure in people’s legends and understanding. Therefore the gunpowder of the Huizhou Uprising exploded in a corner of Guangdong Province and died out there. Compared

with these two forces, the patriotic and anti-imperialist Boxer Rebellion greatly impacted on China and foreign countries. National crisis became a cohesive

force which guided the lost small producers and caused an eruption of the national fighting spirit which had been deeply hidden in the old social forces. In

this process, backward means of production and social consciousness showed their unusual vitality through actions of justice.

The three different forces chose armed struggle to end the 19th century and

welcome the 20th century.

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Social Activities of the Boxers After the late Qing Dynasty there were three versions as to the source of the Boxers. (1) The Boxers originated from the Ligua Society (Liguajiao ) of the EightDiagram Society (Baguajiao ) which originated from the White Lotus Society. Therefore, “the Boxers was one branch of the White Lotus Society.” This idea came first from Yihequan Jiaomen Yuanliukao (Research on the Origin of the Boxers ) written by Lao Naixuan. (2) The Boxers evolved from civilian corps. Most foreign researchers held such a view. (3) The Boxers came from secret civilian societies of martial arts. The three different ideas showed the complexity of historical research on the Boxers. The origin of the Boxers still remains complex. In modern China, the pressure of population and turbulent situation produced varied secret societies in the north and south of China, which was a characteristic of the lower class of society. The Boxers grew out of the Dadaohui (Big Sword Society 大刀會), Hongquan (Red Fist 紅拳), Meihuaquan (Plum Blossom Fist 梅 花拳) and Shenquan (Shen Fist 神拳). Its members were mostly poor peasants, hired laborers, impoverished proletarians, boat trackers and boatmen in the Yellow River area, horse keepers, carpenters, umbrella repairmen, cooks, vendors of different goods, “those who did not need to pay tax, militia, and private teachers”11 and famine victims. It inevitably took on the color of a secret society. The Boxers were active in the places which had been greatly affected historically by the Eight-Diagram Society. Its connection with the White Lotus Society was inevitable. This connection linked the Boxers and secret societies because of their similarities: “Before they planned to loot a certain village, they would first recruit new members. After they got together they would swallow one special amulet and dance while they prayed for god descending. The chief fooled the masses into believing that they would be protected by the god. They would wear yellow flags, red and yellow scarves and amulets made of yellow paper in the battle. The chief carried with him a yellow flag and a statue of god, or was dressed in a yellow robe. The soldiers carried weapons and kowtowed to the southeast direction and uttered imprecations and thought they would be invincible.”12 But the Boxers were not a gang or a secret society. Its violent and persistent opposition to foreigners and religions differentiated it from other organizations in lower society. The patriotism produced from national conflict made the Boxer Rebellion an anti-imperialist mass movement and made it develop far from its original form. Before the appearance of the Boxers, many anti-aggression groups such

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as the Pingyingtuan (Pingying Society 平英團) appeared, which was a direct response to the pressure of guns. They opposed armed aggression with armed anti-aggression so as to fight against the foreign invasion of China. The conflict between nations here was demonstrated in the opposition of the interior to the exterior. But the Boxer Rebellion happened after the capitalist forces of the West and the East had grown deep into Chinese urban and rural areas. What they resisted was something alien which had infiltrated them. Part of the West had been internalized; and part was being internalized. Compared with the threatening guns, the latter was more complicated. Foreign religions were one breach from which hatred erupted with a lot of historical content First, the violent anti-foreign movement contained economic consciousness. Twenty years after Gengzi, Li Dazhao said that the Boxers “burnt all the foreign things, which contained economic meaning and was a rebellion against the oppression of the industrial economy.”13 After 1840 the cannons of the Western powers brought goods and machines from the West. Behind the goods and machines was another mode of production. They were embedded into Chinese society and gradually tore the natural economy apart; imported capitalism promoted the birth of national capitalism. The evolution showed a historical inevitability. But for China, it was first caused by the defeat in national war. Therefore the reorganization of the modern economy was clearly reflected in the fact that Western manufactured products had snatched the living of small producers; Western ships and trains had snatched the living of boatmen, boat trackers, porters, post house waiters, sailors and salesmen. “Imported cloth, silk, laces, stocks and scarves snatched the job of Chinese needleworkers; kerosene, imported candles and lamp bulbs entered China and the cypress trees of several southeast provinces lost their market. Imported iron, needles and nails made Chinese foundry workers jobless. And there were numerous smaller examples.”14 According to the statistics of Yuan Xu, around the year of Gengzi, among the poor people in Shuntianfu, “those who were afflicted by the railway” were estimated at over ten thousand. 15 In terms of capitalist development in China, this process was primitive accumulation in nature but the bloody primitive accumulation was combined with the oppressor’s plundering of the oppressed. More and more groups of small producers went bankrupt in this process and lost their living, which reflected the historical pain contained in the dissolution of the old mode of production and the suffocation of a nation under exterior pressure. Compared with the former, the latter was more apparent. The Boxers “hated imported goods the most, such as imported lamps and washbasins. They would destroy them when they saw them.” “Walking in the market, they would

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destroy all things related to foreign goods and kill those who sold them,” 16 which reflected the bitter hatred of those small producers who had lost their livelihood. The hatred was fermented in hunger and blood and tears. But the hope it contained was related to the old mode of production. They did not know imperialism but they knew foreign people and things. Thus all things foreign became the cause of their pain. Their anti-foreign attitude included opposing imperialism as well as ships, railway, electric wire, machines, foreign colleges, foreign books, foreign languages and foreign clothes. The form of struggle showed the national sentiment of the majority of people of the time and the wishes of old-style small peasants and handicraftsmen. Second, “hostility towards foreign religions” contained a traditional national cultural mentality. In modern China, compared with goods and cannons, foreign religion imported more Western learning which affected a generation of intellectuals in China. In this sense, it was one medium of Chinese and foreign cultural exchange. But as an imported ideology it was totally opposite to Chinese traditional culture. The teaching of the only God and its exclusion of polytheism and ancestor worship not only offended Daoism and Buddhism, but trampled on Confucian ethics; the preaching, baptism and confession which were formed in Western tradition and history were totally heretical and unethical to Chinese people who had a totally different tradition and history. Between the two sides lay a gap of two different cultural mentalities which has been formed over thousands of years. Matteo Ricci, an Italian missionary to China in the Ming Dynasty, deeply understood the difference. His far-fetched adoption of Confucianism made him a success in preaching foreign religion in China. But modern missionaries had different ideas in a different historical situation. In the early 40s one priest who had been through the Opium War described in his letter that “the cannons were roaring,” and “the cities were conquered by the conquerors.” He said full of confidence, “The political demand was met under the threat of cannons. Once I walked randomly to one city gate and such words seemed always written on the city wall: ‘Foreigners are not admitted.’” “I am a foreigner and a missionary. When I saw the words on the wall I burst in through the gate in spite of the astonished Chinese people. It is the time. We have kept silence until today and it is now the time for us to shout in the streets of Chinese cities.” 17 What he said showed the impending aggression and the humiliation of the Chinese people when they saw foreign religions invade. Thus the spreading history of Western religions in modern China became the history of religious cases. On the one hand, missionaries consciously took a hostile attitude towards Chinese traditional culture: “How could we preach

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the new if we do not remove the old? The development of our religion lies in the destruction of theirs.” 18 In the conflict between “development” and “destruction,” foreign religions became a political power: “In cases involving the churches, the officials would often show favor to the converts and priests and blackmail ordinary people; the converts would often take the advantage of the churches and bully ordinary people.” Sometimes the priests, Chinese Christians and local officials even sat together in the office.” 19 Separation of religion from politics was a negation of the unification of the state and religion. It had been one historical victory of the bourgeois revolution in Europe. But the European bourgeoisie won secular power for the church in China. On the other hand, under the influence of traditional culture, Chinese people’s hatred for the foreign religions was increasing: “What they have respected and worshipped for generations was detested by foreign people, which resulted in their hatred towards foreign people.” 20 The process of the hatred was the process in which Chinese people tried to guess about foreign religions with their own traditional ideas. In the year of Gengzi, the Boxers searched a church. “They found a strange wax figure and thought it was a mummy and they regarded dried longan as human eyes. Consequently they accused foreign people of brutality.” 21 After Xishiku Church was besieged for a long time, it was rumored that “the priests painted their roof with women’s blood and buried a vessel filled with women’s blood underground. Therefore their buildings would not be destroyed by magic.”22 These words reflected one nation’s hatred towards another and one nation’s conjecture about another. In 1924 Lu Xun wrote in his Lun Zhaoxiang Zhilei (On Taking Photos ): Thirty years ago, people in S city often spread rumors that foreigners would tear out people’s eyes. One female worker “saw a jar full of persevered human eyes which were laid in layers like little crucians.” He sternly pointed out: preserved Chinese cabbages were popular in S city; the cloth-made eyes would be hung in front of Goddess Yanguang, “which were exactly like little crucians.”23 Thirty years was an approximate figure. What he in fact analyzed was one side of the social mentality as the Boxer Rebellion approached. The politicization of foreign religions in semi-colonial China bestowed the anti-foreign religion struggles with the nature of anti-aggression. But the anti-aggression nature was showed through the self-defense and exclusiveness of traditional culture. Third, the awareness of “eliminating the foreign” was stimulated by the national crisis. Several years after the Treaty of Shimonoseki Kang Youwei, as a patriotic intellectual, repeatedly appealed: “China is besieged by the big powers of Russia in the north, Britain in the west, France in the south and Japan in the east. China is in great peril!” “The sea is swelling and the cannons are roaring.

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How can people not feel the peril of the aggression of foreign countries!”24 What stimulated Kang Youwei also stimulated people in the lower ranks of society. Compared with the “changed situation” after the two Opium Wars, China at that time was facing an unprecedented crisis. The big powers competed to carve out their spheres of influence. They violently broke through the closed door and imposed their violence on the people who lived in closed China. “Since the cession of Taiwan, the Japanese army rapes and loots the Chinese people; Germany is in Kiaochow Bay, Britain is in Kowloon and Russia is in Jinzhou and Lushun. Their aggression destroys the families of Chinese people. And the taxes are extremely heavy. The foreign soldiers in Kiaochow Bay damaged the statues of ancient saints while Chinese people had to swallow their pain and humiliation silently.”25 Sharpened national conflict promoted the strengthening of national opposition. Thus “eliminating the foreign” as a slogan attracted people’s attention in north and south China, which reflected the fact that the people’s recognition was deepening from the specific to the general. Before a united capitalist market was formed in China, the spontaneous recognition of the people could not produce modern nationalism. But it was clear that the slogan exceeded the destiny of one individual, one family, or one local place. The carving competition started from the Kiaochow Bay Event. Shandong Province became the first target and thus became the starting point of the storm. “After Germany captured the Qingdao region, the forces of the churches became rampant. Those scoundrels take advantage of the churches and bully ordinary people.” The hatred of the lower class was the strongest. They hated German people and extended their hatred further to cover all the Europeans. “They hated the Europeans and those who were close to the Europeans.” 26 Therefore “the Boxers rose in rebellion and asserted “supporting the Qing and eliminating the foreign.” People “gathered to respond to the call and came in great numbers.”27 Cai E later said, After the First Sino-Japanese War, all Chinese who were concerned about the crisis got together to call for immediate action and caused a stir. Some advocated reform to strengthen the state, some advocated the enlightening of the people, some warned the people with frightening words, and some tried to cheer up people with selfimportance. In a short time, all the Chinese people echoed the same ideas and they were unwilling to accept the fate of colonial slaves; in a short time, the Hundred Days’ Reform was staged. This was the strengthening measure issued from the court. There have been disorders in the Yangtze River region. This was the action of the lower class. At the same time, rebellions arose in the northern provinces.

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These were outbursts under the oppression of foreign countries. 28

“The sudden eruption” of the northern provinces he mentions referred to the Boxer Rebellion. He did not approve of it, but he observed events through history and pointed out that the Boxer Rebellion was the direct response of the Chinese people under the threat of foreign aggression. The multiple historical content decided the national justice of the Boxer Rebellion and the historical restriction of this just struggle. Qu Qiubai pointed out that the major of the people who constituted the Boxers were “vagrants and the unemployed labor class whose economic status and livelihood made it impossible for them to have clear political awareness and class consciousness.29 Because of the lack of clear political consciousness, traditional ideas became a natural consciousness. Sahara Tokusuke, a Japanese who edited Quanshi Zaji (An Account of the Boxers ), recorded one agreement drafted by the “Boxers bandits” in Quzhou in the period of the Boxer Rebellion which kept to the ideological materials of the time: 1. Declare all the treaty indemnity invalid. 2. Foreign countries should pay China 400 million taels of silver as funds for the army. 3. Foreign ships which have entered China are not allowed to leave. 4. The rent of the foreigners shall be doubled. 5. Return the administration office to China. 6. Kang Youwei should return to China and be punished. 7. All foreign churches should be confiscated. 8. Japan should return Taiwan to China. 9. Germany should return Kiaochow Bay to China. 10. Russia should return Dalian Bay to China. 11. All the priests should return to their own country and shall not be allowed to come back. 12. China has the sovereignty over Korea and Annam. 13. Chinese customs should be in the charge of Chinese people. 14. All foreign envoys to China should obey the rules of Emperor Qianlong and are not allowed to enter Beijing. 15. Pay the Boxers 400 million taels of silver as indemnity. 16. Japan should pay tributes to China according to the rules of Emperor Qianlong. 17. Those Chinese who have contact with foreigners and do not obey the rules of the court shall be punished by the court. 18. All foreigners should kowtow when they meet government officials. 19. Foreigners are not allowed to travel in China.

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20. All Russian railways built in Siberia and other places should be demolished. 21. Britain should return Tan An and Kowloon to China. 22. Tariffs on imported goods in China shall be doubled. 23. Foreign merchant ships should first report to local officers before they enter the port. 24. Rice is not allowed to be exported. 25. Taxes on all goods which are exported to foreign countries shall be doubled.30

As an imperial “treaty”, this was a fake. But as a kind of historical material it authentically reflects the thinking of the writer. The profound patriotism here was deeply rooted in the conservative consciousness of the natural economy; the strong desire to resist foreign aggression was connected with the old idea of a heavenly empire and the difference between China and the West. The contradiction showed the backward feudal content in one just anti-imperialist mass movement. When the old-style small producers spontaneously became the subject of the national struggle, they could not represent the nation and tradition at the same time. The contradiction was not the outcome chosen by the subject. Rather it was the prescriptive outcome of history. The old productivity could only use the social ideals of the middle ages and could only find the spiritual and material weapons of the middle ages: “The Boxer fainted after he uttered imprecations and bowed thrice. He soon rose and danced.” The imprecations were as follows: “Invite the gods to descend. First, Tang Monk and Pigsy; second, Friar Sand and Monkey King; third, God Erlang; fourth, Ma Chao and Huang Hansheng; fifth, Ji Dian and Buddha; sixth, willow tree spirit; seventh, Huang Santai; eighth, Leng Rubing; ninth, Hua Tuo; tenth, Li Jing and his three sons and ten thousands of troops from heaven.” 31 Hongdengzhao 32 “recruited virgins. Every time they traveled they would hold high red flags and dance in the street in small groups. Passersby must face the wall and kneel down before they passed. They also claimed gods descending of such names as Fan Lihua, Mu Guiying, Zhang Guilan and Liu Jinding.”33 Using magic as weapons showed the ignorance of the whole group. But it was a fact. Although evolutionism had entered China, what the majority of Chinese population knew well was still Monkey King and Huang Tianba, particularly in economically backward north China. Luo Dunrong, a scholar in the early Republic of China said, “The ideas of the northern Chinese mainly came from operas. And the northern operas featured mainly theocracy. One myth opera would be showed each day. Gods of Honor and Journey to the West were the most popular. Therefore the goddesses and gods worshipped

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by the Boxer bandits were figures from the operas. The ignorant masses had a superstitious belief in the magic of these gods. So the rebellion had been fermenting for hundreds of years.”34 To point out the ignorance was not to mock it. Thousands of lower class people were collected together under the guidance of spirits and deities, holding flags, banners, swords and other traditional weapons to bravely confront the imperialist firearms and artillery. Ignorance was sublimated into heroic tragedy. Like the Hundred Days’ Reform, the Boxer Rebellion was prompted by sharpening national contradictions. In terms of the succession of the old by the new in Chinese society, the backwardness of the Boxer Rebellion became a historical inverse flow after the Hundred Days’ Reform. One leaflet in the year of Gengzi stated: “The evil traitors of Baoguohui will soon die” and this hatred for Baoguohui was listed as one of the “seven rages of god,”35 which reflected the Boxers’ hatred for the new party. The saying “one dragon, two tigers and three hundreds of sheep” also came from this hatred. Although the Boxer Rebellion has long been praised as a movement against feudalism, in fact “under the pretense of resentment of foreign religions, the Boxers accused Emperor Guangxu of being the leader of foreign religions and the Hundred Days’ Reform of following Western examples.” 36 Li Hongzhang was accused together with Emperor Guangxu. Yikuang and Kang Youwei were different, but they both adopted foreign things to change China. According to the Gengzi Guobian Ji (Gengzi Revolution ): “Yikuang saw the crisis and urged Empress Dowager Cixi to practice a new policy. The Empress Dowager said, ‘We have our established rules and a new policy is unnecessary!’ and Yikuang kept silent and left.”37 Qin Lishan, an international student “went to Tianjin alone and wanted to see the leader of the Boxers,” and tried to persuade him to change “supporting Qing, eliminating foreigners” to revolutionary opposition to the Manchu government. “The Boxers condemned Qin Lishan as a fake foreigner and ordered him to be led out.” 38 The Boxers extended their opposition to foreigners and foreign religions further to cover the Westernization faction, reformists, and the anti-Qing government revolutionaries. The Boxers in Baoding went even further, “they had a deep hatred for southern Chinese because they were all employed by foreigners and had connections in the telegraph office and railway station. The Boxers called them fake foreigners and wanted to kill them. The southern Chinese were killed and only a few escaped.”39 Their hatred for the southern Chinese was because they were close to foreigners. People who opened their eyes to the world in the 1840s put forward the topic of “learning foreign advanced technology so as to surpass them” after the

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failure in the national war. On this topic, the opposition to Western aggression and learning of advanced foreign things was unified. This unity represented the historical direction of modern China. After twenty years some influential bureaucrats from the landlord class started the self-strengthening movement which focused on “Westernization;” after fifty years the gentry-bureaucrats and intellectuals who were changing into the bourgeoisie started the Hundred Days’ Reform. Although the people involved had different social backgrounds, they reflected the unity to varying degrees. Thus the difficult change of Chinese society from the middle ages to the modern age began. The forties, sixties and nineties formed three coherent historical links of metabolism. Undoubtedly, the Boxer Rebellion expressed more anti-aggression courage than the Westernization faction and reformists. But the strong desire of the bankrupt small peasants and handicraftsmen to return to the natural economy made it impossible for them to go beyond the middle ages. Therefore, while they bravely resisted foreign aggression, they instinctively protected the old and decayed ideology which had persisted for two thousand years. The latter was the interior meaning of anti-aggression. With few exceptions, the contemporary reformists and revolutionaries held a negative view of the Boxers. The negative view contained some apparent prejudice. In September of the same year, the Zhongwai Ribao (Zhongwai Daily ) commented, “the reason why people would like to believe in the Boxer bandits is that they think the Boxers can support the Qing government and eliminate foreigners. We Chinese people naturally have the desire to protect China from foreign aggression and to strengthen our country. However, there should be a right way to achieve this goal.” “The Boxers imagine that the foreigners consist only of a few envoys, some businessmen and hundreds of priests. The foreign countries in their mind are nothing but several small islands. They think that they will wipe out all European and American foreigners with a single blow and then they can restore the traditional universal unification and close China again.”40 Patriotism was always a moving power. But the patriotism of modernization and the patriotism of returning to the middle ages were different, which differentiated the two historical contents of modern patriotism and shows the versatility and complexity of history. The patriotic movement looking back to the middle ages reflected the confusion of the old-style small peasants when facing national selfstrengthening and modern reform. The confusion decided that they would respond to the most obstinate faction of the landlord class. One official who witnessed the Gengzi Event recorded in his writing:

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At first, the emperor listened to Kang Youwei and staged a reform

and appointed new officials from the new party. All the court officials were afraid of the new measures. Afterwards, the Empress Dowager returned and killed several people in the new party and ordered the

arrest of Kang Youwei and his student Liang Qichao. Kang Youwei escaped to Britain and Liang Qichao to Japan for protection. She then

consulted the court officials and put the emperor under home arrest and declared that the emperor was ill….

The envoys from the eight foreign countries recommended one famous French doctor, which was rebuffed by the Empress Dowager;

they asked several times and finally got the permission. After careful treatment, the doctor said that his majesty was ill but the illness would

not affect his long life. The Empress Dowager felt pity after hearing it. Kang Youwei arrived in Japan and established with Liang Qichao the Qingyibao (Newspaper on the Qing Dynasty), and criticized and

revealed the secrets of the Qing palace. The court officials and the Empress Dowager were greatly angered and ordered Li Hongzhang

as the Governor-General of Guangdong to get rid of Kang Youwei. Li

Hongzhang arrived in Guangdong and failed to report to the court.

After a long time, he reported that it was impossible to capture Kang

Youwei. The Empress Dowager was in a rage: “I shall revenge it!” In the winter of the same year, she planned to depose the emperor.” “On December 24, Pujun, son of Zaiyi Prince of Duan, was selected as the crown prince….

Zaiyi ordered the foreign envoys to extend congratulations. However, they disapproved of the decision. Zaiyi felt angry and thought of

revenge. At the same time, the Boxers from Shandong province had spread to Beijing.41

“Empress Dowager Cixi consulted Zaiyi and planned to take advantage of the Boxers.” He might not have witnessed all the details of the event. But compared with the records of other people, what he described about the development and mentality of the event was true. The old party planned to use the Boxer Rebellion to “achieve their goal,” which caused confusing historical complexity. After four court meetings, the Boxers and soldiers killed foreign envoys, besieged foreign embassies and attacked foreign churches. Their action to eliminate foreigners echoed the old regime’s hatred of foreigners. Organizations such as, Longtuan (stationed in the residence of Prince Duan), Hutuan (stationed in the residence of Prince Zhuang), and Xiantuan (stationed in the residence of the Princess Royal), emerged which showed that the royal

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family members and bureaucrats had believed in the Boxers.42 Public opinion of the time “claimed that Prince Duan opposed foreigners not because of public anger but because of a personal grudge.” 43 Empress Dowager Cixi and Zaiyi believed this. But the purpose of most of the old regime members in enlisting the Boxers’ help was not because of personal grudges. Zuo Shaozuo, an official of the Ministry of Penalties, wrote in his letter: “At the age of fifty-four, I have been deeply concerned about the problems of Westernization. It is lucky to have the Boxers sent from heaven to revenge us. It was like a quick recovery from a chronic disease for us subjects of the empire.” This statement reflected the longheld anger of the landlord intellectuals. This accumulated anger was attached to national sentiment and also represented extreme bigotry: “In the past, Ding Richang and Guo Songtao dared to write books to praise the battleships and cannons of foreign countries. All the scholars accepted the idea and thought themselves well informed of current affairs. Afterwards, Kang Youwei and his people depreciated the saints and emperors in China to flatter foreign people and proposed reform. Every time I think of the ideas of Ding and Guo I feel bitter hatred. Their bodies should be dismembered!” He despised those Chinese who thought highly of foreign ships and cannons, but he could not find a way to overcome them. Therefore a supernatural power became a way for him to release his anger: Those rebels are truly our people with pure hearts. They are soldiers descending from heaven. At first, I had doubts about them. But gradually, after observation, I came to believe they actually have magic with them...

The descent of the army from heaven shows that we will succeed with

the guidance of heaven. Perhaps our ancestors are also watching and guiding us from heaven...44

Some people held personal grudges, but the process from bigotry to superstition more accurately reflected the common mentality of the conservative elite in the late 19th century. Grand Secretary Xu Tong, deeply instilled with neo-Confucianism, wrote a couplet to the leader of the Boxers to express his feelings: “A most fantastic tale to attack the heresy and clarify the mind with loyalty, piety, chastity and honesty; a deed worthy of praising to terrify the foreigners with invincible might to revenge scholars, peasants, artisans and merchants.”45 In the couplet, “attack the heresy and clarify the mind” and “terrify the foreigners with invincible might” praised the Boxer Rebellion and expressed the internal logic between the “holy law” of neo-Confucianism and the “magic power” of the Boxers:

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Someone said to Xu Tong, “The Boxers have used their witchcraft to prevail for now. But can we depend on them to crack down on foreigners?” Xu Tong answered, “Ships, the telegraph and machines are all witchcraft of the foreigners and the Boxers use their witchcraft to fight poison with poison and the disease will be cured.” “Will the Boxers be sure of their success?” “The Boxers are gods and foreigners are ghosts. The gods will surely defeat the ghosts!’”46

The scholar-bureaucrats monopolized knowledge. Their irrationality reflected the stubbornness and unyielding spirit of traditional society in the face of national conflict and reflected the incurable decline of traditional society. Gangyi, Yuxian and Ling Bingheng, equally famous as Xu Tong at the time, were responsible officials. They had the intention of saving the country and in the final battle between feudalism and capitalism. Over several months the situation developed quickly from “fighting against” priests and foreign envoys finally to Empress Dowager Cixi’s “hunting journey to the West,” in which the dream of saving China was turned into the tragedy of harming China. It was the common tragedy of one generation of obstinate scholar-bureaucrats. Ling Bingheng, who committed suicide after the defeat, left a poem to express his sorrow: It is impossible to fight or make peace, I choose to die for the patronage of my Emperor. The blood of a white-haired subject such as me, Will be spilt on the city gate.47

The Last Scene of the Gengzi Event Qiu Jin, nicknamed Jianhu Swordswoman, who was beheaded for being a revolutionary, wrote a poem Jingweishi (Stone of Jingwei ): “[The Boxers] caused great turmoil, the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing.”48 She ignored the cause of the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion, which might be misleading. But she pointed out the successive connection between two historical events. Aggression stimulated anti-aggression. The former represented violence and the latter anger. However, in the tortuous development of history, anger often became the cause of new violence. The contradiction decided the chronicity and hardship of modern national struggle. In the seventh month of Gengzi Liu Kunyi, Governor-General of Liangjiang, wrote in his report to the government: “I think the war was caused by the violent killings by the Boxers under the

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pretext of destroying the churches. The foreign countries sent more battleships and soldiers and conspired together to rob us under the pretext of protecting their people and churches and cracking down on bandits.”49 The East and West powers “conspired together to rob us” and it did not started from Gengzi. But “their joint conspiracy” in the form of the Eight-Nation Alliance was the direct consequence of their excuse of “protecting their merchants, civilians and priests.” Thus, with the capture of Dagu Fort by the Alliance, China was facing its last national war of the 19th century. Different classes and people expressed different reactions to the aggression of the Eight-Nation Alliance, which constituted the last scene of the Gengzi Event. As a patriotic mass group, the Boxers showed an unyielding national spirit through their fight against guns and cannons with their blood and bodies. Dmitry Yanchevetsky, a Russian journalist, narrated the scene at Tianjin railway station on the night of June 2 in his book Baguolianjun Muji Ji (An Account of the Eight-Nation Alliance ): After each fire of the guns, we would hear terrible screams. The red lanterns fell and died out. But the Boxers were still waving their big swords and lances and cried loudly, “Boxers! Red lanterns!” They marched on to the station. There was a master among the group, a tall old man with a stern face. He led a group of Boxers and charged at us. The kid who was marching ahead of them was carrying a big banner, on which read three big words “Yi He Tuan (the Boxers)”. The moonlight was shining over these insane men and over their big swords and banner. More bullets were fired, the banner fell and was raised up again, fell again and was raised up again. 50

After one month and three days (June 9 of the lunar calendar), a telegraph message from Weihaiwei reported of the local Boxers: “They charged violently in the battle and the Alliance shot with firearms. 51 They died like the grass swept by a big wind and only a few members survived. But the rest were not afraid of death and they were soon shot dead afterwards in their attack.” The bloody road on which they walked calmly to death would never be wiped clean by time. But, as a loosely-connected spontaneous grouping of the lower classes, the huge effect of the Boxer Rebellion was gradually dissolved in the other violent military conflicts and defeats. According to records by people of the time, in early August (mid-July of the lunar calendar) “the Boxer bandits were everywhere”52 in Beijing and Tianjin. But ten days after Tianjin was captured, the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing by force. It had taken the British-French allied forces over one month

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to cover the same distance forty years previously. The contrast showed that the quickly-gathered masses were dispersed in a short time. In the two days before the fall of Beijing, “the Boxers from other places ran away overnight; the local Boxers in Beijing disguised themselves. In one day and one night, tens of thousands of Boxers disappeared more quickly than they came.”53 Their collapse and retreat was the consequence of the lack of united leadership and organization, as well as the consequence of the victory of guns over superstition. It was as real as the fact that the Boxers used their bodies to fight against guns and cannons. The coexistence of the two points reflected the advantages and weaknesses of the old-style small producers as a social force. After this, scattered resistance by local people still existed but this was only the aftermath of the large-scale fight. “Who would share the consequences after numerous arduous battles; A cold star falls in the camp overnight.”54 Nie Shicheng, a senior general of the Huai Army, was condemned by the Boxer leaders as a “fake foreigner.”55 He was also criticized by the conservative local people because he “attacked the Boxers to protect foreigners.”56 However he directed his army and went into several fierce battles with the Eight-Nation Alliance. “The Westerners thought his army was the most valiant they had ever met.” When the Alliance approached Tianjin he resented the Boxers “because they burned and looted everywhere” “and caused the crisis due to their elimination of foreigners.” Consequently, he killed “over a thousand of Boxers.” The Boxers “hated him and kidnapped his family while he was engaged in fierce battle with foreign soldiers.”57 The situation before the foreign invasion illustrated the complicated social contradictions in China in the year of Gengzi. But before the disastrous foreign invasion, Nie Shicheng chose to take off his helmet to fight in the battle and finally “died of severe wound in the belly.” His end, together with that of thousands of Boxers who died in the gunfire of the Alliance forces, showed the same heroic national spirit. Before his death some court officials “had planned to impeach him for collaborating with the enemy and sold Xigu Fort for 800 thousand dollars.”58 After his death, “the court did not show any solicitude. Instead it accused him of dereliction of duty and said that his death was not to be regretted.”59 As a patriotic soldier it was a worthy death; as a feudal subject, he would have turned in his grave. In sharp contrast with Nie Shicheng, Dong Fuxiang was considered a backbone by the conservatives. “Empress Xiaoqin (Dowager Cixi) praised him and he answered, ‘I have no other ability but killing foreigners!’”60 As a result, Xu Tong spoke highly of him to everyone and thought that the future of China would rely on him.” In fact the Gan Army directed by Dong Fuxiang killed only Akira Sugiyama, a clerk of the Japanese legation in China. He had besieged the

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legation quarter with over ten thousand soldiers to “show his courage to kill foreigners.” But the stalemate with several hundreds of foreign armed soldiers lasted almost two months and the siege failed. When Tianjin was captured, Dong Fuxiang was ordered to lead the army to resist the enemy. “He escaped all the way back to Beijing after he was defeated in Yangcun.”61 When the EightNation Alliance attacked and entered Beijing, “among the roaring gunshots, Dong Fuxiang ran away with his remnant soldiers from the Zhangyi Gate.” 62 Gaozhan Riji (Diary of Gao Zhan ) recorded two ballads of the time: “The Ballad of Eryue Street: ‘The foreigners were scared of Dong Fuxiang. Dong Fuxiang will kill foreigners and destroy the railway.’ Later there was another ballad: ‘The foreigners hated Dong Fuxiang. Dong Fuxiang will run away before the guns are fired.”63 Lu Wantian, a Chinese convert who once worked as a teacher in Huiwen Methodist College, was one of the people besieged in the Japanese legation. As a Christian, he was thrown into a situation by an age which he could not control: “He and the officials and civilians of different countries built defenses. For over one hundred days, they kept guard day and night, exhausted and hungry. Many people died and could not be buried and those who survived were sick with hunger. As one who was besieged, he sang Hallelujah with other people who ‘were released from months of suffering’ when the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing. But, as a Chinese, he cried with sorrow when he saw that the Westerners had “fired gunshots at the Forbidden City.” This was the sorrow of a nation: “We have lived on and been nurtured by the land for over ten generations. We were born as Chinese and will die as Chinese. Witnessing the crisis, I cannot bear the pain. Looking back on the suffering for months, it was an unprecedented experience.” 64 The sorrow for the nation expressed the national sentiment of one who called himself a “Christian.” In China in the year of Gengzi he and the Boxers, who had the same feelings as he did, became enemies. After the Alliance entered Beijing, “the Chinese converts took advantage of the foreigners to bully others.”65 These cases often appeared in historical records. The differences among the Chinese Christians showed that some Chinese converts with conscience were not a product totally nurtured by Western religion. In terms of their nature, they were one of the outcomes of the sixty-year-long infiltration by foreign aggression forces into Chinese society. Under the threat of the cannons of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Beijing became a real hell on Earth: “The residents crowded the street, fathers calling their sons and wives crying for their husbands. The whole city was drenched in cries and pain. Half of the population escaped and half died. The bodies of civilians, as well as those of soldiers who defended the city, gathered like a hill.” 66 When

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north China was submerged in national war, south China remained as before with the policy of “mutual protection between Chinese officials and foreigners.” “Mutual protection” reflected the intention of both the Westernization faction in charge of the southeast region and the Western powers to resist the Boxer Rebellion, which protected the interests of the Western powers in the Yangtze River region and south China. Therefore it constituted the opposite side of the anti-imperialist and patriotic struggle. This was the reason why Britain was the first to show great interest in “mutual protection.” However the efforts made by southern governors in “mutual protection” contained their own motives after their observation of the situation. Zhang Zhidong said, “The unrest started from Beijing and the government declared war on foreign countries, which shocked the coastal region. As foreign countries watch and wait, they will soon enter and capture the Yangtze River if any unrest happens in the Yangtze River. And we will lose southeast China.” Therefore, “the two sides now remain calm and are on guard against each other. It would be better to live peacefully with each other.”67 He was one of the initiators of the “mutual protection” policy, which was undoubtedly a typical intention to keep the territory intact. The duality of “mutual protection in the southeast” produced double effects on Chinese society of the time. On the one hand it restricted the anti-imperialist movement in the south and relieved the Western powers of their concerns in the south while they were engaged in the fight in the north. On the other hand it prevented the Eight-Nation Alliance from invading the south and forced the winning Western powers to be careful of the tens of thousands of Chinese troops in the south while they were ready to carve up China. At last, with the collapse of the conservative bureaucrats and aristocrats under exterior pressure, the Westernization faction again entered the power center of the Qing Empire. Consequently, the “new policy” appeared in the early 20th century. The failure of the Boxer Rebellion showed that justice could not defeat injustice when moral anger was still connected with the old traditions. But after the guns in the Gengzi Event fell silent, the crazy carve-up of China which had been happening since the Kiaochow Bay Event also lost its force. This was the result of many reasons. One major reason was that the Western powers realized that “China has not lost its fighting spirit and the Boxer Rebellion is evidence.”68 This showed the winner’s fear of the loser. From then on, “foreigners still tried to carve out their own spheres of influence by force or in a peaceful way. But they are not so rampant as before.”69 The turn-around in the carve-up rush relieved China from falling into the status of a colony in the process of dismemberment. But the failure in the national war rapidly deepened the semi-colonial state of Chinese society.

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Deepening of the Semi-Colony After the Treaty of Nanjing was signed, Chinese society gradually became a semi-colony. This was a quantitative change. But there was some qualitative change within the quantitative change. Therefore, the process fell into several phases. The succession of Gengzi and Xinchou was the end of one phase and the beginning of another. The deepening of the semi-colonial state was reflected in the establishment of a semi-colonial system. It meant that the old-style national opposition and struggle could not change the future of China. This change was particularly reflected in the twelve clauses of the Boxer Protocol with Western countries plus the nineteen appendices. It could be summarized in four points: (1) Changes under the military threat. Before the Xinchou Treaty was signed, the big powers had carved up part of Chinese territory. But the legal stationing of foreign troops in Chinese territory started with the Xinchou Treaty : “The nations shall respectively station their army to defend their legation and defend themselves in their quarter where the legation is located.” This was the Westerners’ direct response to the attack on the legation launched by the Gan Army and the Boxers in the last year. It resulted in an armed legation quarter which possessed all the administrative, police, land and judicial right of a foreign settlement and its dependent territory. The provision that “Chinese people have no right to reside in the quarter” showed its more barefaced aggression than that of foreign settlements and dependent territory. With the same excuse (to protect the legation), China was forced to destroy Dagu Fort and the military strongholds distributed from Beijing to Haikou, which were in turn replaced by “some strongholds in which to base foreign troops at places where foreign countries think necessary,”70 which was undoubtedly an extension of the legation quarters. For the big powers, the significance of basing troops in China did not lie in the number of soldiers but in the right to do so. Under this right, the cannons located in Dongjiao Minxiang were watching and supervising the Forbidden City, which represented the authority of the treaty system and the peril facing China. One Western historian said at the time, “It71 has fallen into a state with very low statehood, so low that it can only maintain a little quality of a nation of independence and sovereignty.”72 In the period of the Second Opium War the sending of permanent envoys to Beijing was one major purpose of the British and French allied forces. We can say that at that time the fierce aggression of Western countries contained some modern diplomatic views and depicted their opposition to Chinese historical prejudice against the West. But the appearance of the envoy group (delegation

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group) after the Xinchou Treaty made the diplomats into one force involved in internal affairs. It represented the collective will of the big powers which in turn controlled the political situation in Chinese society. In 1918 Chen Duxiu wrote in one essay: “No Chinese person from the President to the lavatory workers was not scared of the warlords. This was a household fact. But the envoy group was scarier than the warlords. Have a look. How arrogant were the warlords in Beijing several days ago! But they fled after a small warning from the envoy group. Would the impeachment of the parliament or the order of the President be so powerful?”73 This happened fifteen years after the Xinchou Treaty , but it was a change brought about by the military threat since the Xinchou Treaty . The Office in Charge of the Affairs of All Nations (Zongli Yamen ) was replaced by an Office of Foreign Affairs which “ranked above the other six boards in the government.” It was a change of Chinese political structure according to the treaty. We cannot say that there was no metabolism in the change, but its implementation was imposed by foreign forces after China’s defeat. Therefore the metabolism of the old with the new at the same time showed a deeper fall into a semi-colonial state. Liang Qichao had predicted several years previously that: “Changes will change; immutability will change. In terms of the first case, the power of change will be held by ourselves so as to protect our nation, our race and our Confucianism. In terms of the second case, the power of change will be delivered by others and our future will be in the hands of others. Alas, I dare not say what the consequence will be.”74 Comparing the Xinchou Treaty with the Hundred Days’ Reform, his words were a kind of prophecy. (2) Economic sanctions. The indemnity under the Xinchou Treaty reached 450 million taels of silver, plus the interest over the course of thirty-nine years. The total would reach over 982 million and 230 thousand taels (with the changes of the situation the indemnity paid by China was reduced or stopped due to varied reasons, so the actual total paid was smaller than this figure.) Adding in the local indemnities it exceeded 1 billion. Because it needed to be paid in foreign currency and the price of silver fell in successive years, China had to bear more losses because of the exchange rate. The plundering-oriented economic sanction meant profound national pain to China. First, in the eighteen years from 1895 to 1913 there were five hundred and forty-nine factories and mines opened with Chinese national capital, among which there were only seventeen factories and mines whose capital ranged between 1 million yuan to 5 million yuan. But by the time the Gengzi indemnity was reduced or stopped, the silver paid by China in those years had reached over 652 million and 370 thousand taels, which was 1 billion in silver dollars.

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From the huge number we can see that the national economy was severely depressed. Second, according to the investigation by different countries, China’s annual fiscal revenue was 100 million taels of silver and it had to pay 110 million taels. The Ministry of Finance said, “The current financial capability of China cannot bear the burden. However, since the treaty and indemnity have been decided, we have to try our best to abide by it in spite of all the difficulties.”75 This was truly a dilemma. “Full support” was internal pressure converted from outside pressure: the annual sum of the indemnity was shared by all the provinces, the provinces in turn assigned it down to local prefectures and counties, and the prefectures and counties assigned it to ordinary people of all walks of life. The final result was that more taxes and levies were imposed so that “all the necessities in everyday life were levied.”76 Every Chinese person had to bear the suffering of the Gengzi indemnity. It resulted in a consequence just as Everard Duncan Home Fraser, the British envoy in Hankou, said, “The indemnity means the need to levy heavy tax on the whole of China. But the provinces involved had been deprived of their resources by the Alliance forces in the disorder. These provinces who had faithfully contributed their share still needed to do more to pay their quota, which deepened their resentment of foreigners.” 77 Another consequence was that anti-tax struggles became a major focus of mass uprisings. In the last ten years of the late Qing they sharpened social contradictions and provided some practical conditions for the subsequent Wuchang Uprising. The two consequences showed that economy was transformed into politics, and in turn affected society and history. (3) Severe punishment of war criminals. After the Gengzi Event, the winning powers repeatedly requested that some people be beheaded. Thus the clause on punishing those officials as war criminals stated that “all the people included in the imperial edict and those who were listed by envoys of the countries shall be punished severely due to their crimes so as to console the victims.”78 These people had been the supporters of Empress Dowager Cixi and were sacrificed then to the will of foreigners: Zaiyi, Prince Duan, was first removed from all official positions and sent to the Zongrenfu 79 to be severely punished. Next his title of nobility was removed and he was to be sent to the Zongrenfu into temporary custody. Then he was sentenced to be banished to Shengjing for life imprisonment. Then he was sentenced to be banished to Xinjiang for life imprisonment. And later he was sentenced to execution. Because he was a relative of the royal family, as a mercy to

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him, he was sentenced to be banished to a remote area of Xinjiang for life imprisonment. The official pay of Zailan, regent in court, was cancelled and his official rank was reduced. Later he was sentence to be banished to Xinjiang for life imprisonment. Finally, he was sentenced to execution. Because he was a relative of the royal family, as a mercy to him, he was sentenced to be banished to a remote area of Xinjiang for life imprisonment. Zaixun, Prince Zhuang, was first removed from office and then sent into custody at the Zongrenfu. Later he was sent to Shengjing for life imprisonment. Finally, he was sentenced to commit suicide. Fujing, Prince Yi, was first removed from office and then sent into custody at the Zongrenfu. Zailian, Beile 80, was first removed from office and then ordered to ponder his mistakes in solitude. Zaiying, Beile, was first removed from office and then sent to the Zongrenfu into custody. Xu Tong, Grand Secretary, was sentenced to execution. Because he had committed suicide and had been removed from office, he was exempted from further punishment. Gangyi, Grand Secretary and Minister of Personnel, was removed from office and later sentenced to execution posthumously. Because he was dead he was exempted from punishment. Zhao Shuqiao, Minister of Justice, was first removed from office. Later he was sentenced to execution. Finally, he was sentenced to commit suicide. Qixiu, Minister of Personnel 81 , was first removed from office and later was sentenced to execution according to request of the foreign countries. Xu Chengyu, former Minister of Penalties82, was first removed from office and then sentenced to execution according to the request of the foreign countries. Yingnian, a censor of the Court of Censors, was first demoted by two grades and then sentenced to execution and finally to commit suicide. Yuxian, Governor of Shanxi Province (former Governor of Shandong Province), was first removed from office and banished to the border area for life penal servitude. Later, he was sentenced to execution. Li Bingheng, former Governor-General of Sichuan Province, had committed suicide and been removed from office posthumously. Therefore he was exempted from further punishment. Dong Fuxiang, Commander-in-Chief of Gansu Province, was first downgraded but retained in office. Later, he was removed from office.83

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They were considered the chief criminals with the highest ranks in the government. The imperial edicts were repeatedly revised and the punishment got more severe with every revision, which showed that no one could resist the aggressive foreigners in order to save their own life. The diehard bureaucrats represented the most backward and corrupt side of Chinese society. In the year of Gengzi, they killed people out of bigotry: “They had taken the opportunity to frame those dissident officials and consequently Yuan Chang, Xu Jingcheng, Lian Yuan, Xu Yongyi and Lishan had been sentenced to execution. 84 In the year of Xinchou, they themselves were killed and deported for their bigotry. They were not worthy of our sympathy. But they were designated by the big powers to be punished as a warning, which was a humiliation for the nation. In one hundred years of modern history, a series of senior officials were ‘severely punished’ under the pressure of foreign countries. This was unprecedented.” (4) Psychological defeat. The purpose of psychological defeat was to destroy the national spirit. First, according to the provisions of the treaty, China should send Prince Zaifeng to Germany to convey its regrets over the assassination of Clemens von Ketteler; send one senior official Natong to Japan to convey its regrets over the assassination of Akira Sugiyama 85; and “erect on the spot of the assassination of his Excellency the late Baron von Ketteler, commemorative monument worthy of the rank of the deceased, and bearing an inscription in the Latin, German, and Chinese languages which shall express the regrets of His Majesty the Emperor of China for the murder committed.”86 According to one Westerner, the building of the arch cost 360 thousand taels of silver and its splendor surpassed the archway in the palace. 87 To every Chinese who walked through the arch, the splendor was not a splendor but a symbol of suppression. Second, imperial examinations were to be suspended “for five years in all areas where foreigners were massacred or subjected to cruel treatment.” 88 The old-fashioned scholar-bureaucrats were the elite figures nurtured by the traditional education system. So they often became conscious opponents of foreign religions. The five-year suspension of imperial examinations showed the spiritual suppression of this group of people by foreign countries who were familiar with Chinese social situation. “They thought that Chinese people have long valued the success in the imperial examinations and their punitive measure could teach them a lesson.”89 The scholars depended on the imperial examinations for their future. So the suppression deprived them of their living and hit home. But the situation changed as time went by. “Before the suspension expired Chinese people began to discuss the abolition of the imperial examination system.” Six years after the Gengzi Event, the Westernization faction proposed to put the views of the reformists into effect and the old-

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fashioned scholar-bureaucrats were thus dissolved. The suppressors never expected such a change. Third, the government “was to prohibit forever, under pain of death, membership in any anti-foreign society.” 90 As an imperial decree it made a sharp contrast with the court discussion about “public sentiments” in the year of Gengzi. The change from the latter to the former showed that the diehard opponents of the foreigners had completely yielded after being crushed. As the Gengzi Event passed, the national psychological defense which had been maintained by traditional ideology was dissolved by shock, which signified one of the major changes in Chinese society in the early 20th century. Since the later reign of Emperor Daoguang, the Manchu Qing Empire had led many national wars under the flag of resisting foreign aggression. It was a process which mixed confrontation and defeat. The multiple defeats led to surrender; the multiple confrontations showed unyielding spirit in the face of the aggressive forces. The two intermingled with each other, which showed the contradictory mentality of the later Qing government in the national conflicts in the late 1860s. The time between Gengzi and Xinchou was a turning point. On February 3, 1902, the Times reported that Empress Dowager Cixi had received foreign envoys in Beijing two days ago and the description was vivid: “Upon entering the room, the Empress seized the hands of Mrs. Kango (wife of the American envoy) and held them for several minutes. She trembled and sobbed that it was a huge misstate to attack the legation quarter and it was now too late to repent.”91 “Being too late to repent” seemed like a self-examination, which led to her subsequent attitude of “doing what China’s strength allowed to win the favor of the foreign countries” and represented her servility and flattery. This servility and flattery had never been seen in the past. The defeat in the national war was reflected in her total loss of national awareness of resistance. The psychological changes which Empress Dowager Cixi went through after the war of the Eight-Nation Alliance represented the changes of a dynasty. Thus the servile and flattering attitude was not a personal phenomenon. While the Alliance forces entered Beijing, most of the bureaucrats in Beijing “hung the national flags of the foreign countries at their door to show they were obedient citizens” and “let off firecrackers and prepared wine and food to welcome the foreign troops.”92 This was not seen in the time of the Gengshen Event. According to the records of the time, in the area of the Shunzhi Gate where the German troops were stationed: “The scholars named the shops ‘Dexing ’93, ‘Desheng ’, ‘Dechang ’, ‘Deyong ’, ‘Defenghou ’, ‘Dechangsheng ’, etc. The connection between De and Germany demonstrated the servile attitude of these people. The British, American and Japanese people disapproved of such

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a practice.” The person who recorded this commented with anger, “It was impossible for foreigners to understand the flattery in such Chinese words. It represented an extremely shameless servile attitude of the Chinese people.” 94 “The shameless servile attitude” depicted the moral bankruptcy of the scholarbureaucrat class who had claimed their self-righteousness in the time of national crisis. But looking deeper into the moral decay, we can see that the loss and confusion was caused by the collapse of the spiritual pillar which has been supported by two thousand years of history and tradition. The deeper significance which lay behind the moral decay affected not only the scholar-bureaucrat class but also the other social classes. Someone made a comparison with the lower classes in northern China: “In the time of the Boxer Rebellion they held a profound hatred towards foreign things and would kill those who used them. Such trivial matters as foreign cigarettes, glasses, umbrellas and socks would lead to killings.” After the Alliance forces invaded this changed: “People liked to wear Western-style clothes even they were worn out, and foreign words were used everywhere even with many mistakes in the spelling and usage. People would take pleasure in their connection with foreign things.”95 It was not easy to estimate the proportion of these people in the lower class. But their existence was a fact, as were the servile scholar-bureaucrats. Zhou Zuoren wrote about a rickshaw boy in his Zhitang Huixianglu (Memoirs of Zhitang ). The rickshaw boy had been a Boxer but had converted to become a devout Catholic. “He worshipped the statues of Jesus and Virgin Mary in his house and prayed devoutly every morning.” When asked why he did this, he answered, “Their gods are effective while ours are not.”96 In the year of Gengzi the fierce opposition of foreigners peaked with the support of traditional ideology. And its failure led to the dissolution of the national psychological defense which had been maintained by the traditional ideology. The age in which the old social forces acted as an independent force in anti-imperialist struggles had passed. Liang Qichao said that the turn of the 19th century into the 20th century was “the hand-to-hand fight between two opposite forces in China and thus was an age of metabolism of the old with the new.” 97 The national psychological defense supported by the traditional ideology had been the Great Wall resisting foreign aggression. But it became the backward side of the national spirit after the creation of new social forces in modern China. In the time between Gengzi and Xinchou, the dissolution of the backward side promoted the awakening of a new national spirit: “The Eight-Nation Alliance marched north. Our country surrendered. The alarm of the invading ‘Western barbarians’ woke up the servile Chinese from their dreams.” 98 Thus, “since the Boxer Rebellion caused the

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decline of the Qing Dynasty, the revolutionaries began to emerge.”99 Revolution represented the democratic republicans’ opposition to the feudal autocracy. But the fact that revolution became the main trend after the 20th century began was the outcome of the awakening of a new national spirit caused by the efforts to save China.

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Assault of the European and American Storms

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

In February 1902 George Morrison, a journalist of the Times in Beijing, said, “We did not suffer any losses in the revolt.1 Actually, our authority has been greatly strengthened and it is safe to say that our status in Beijing or China has never been so high as today. Our connections with Qing officials have never been so close.”2 His observation as a Western journalist showed one important change in Chinese-foreign relations in the early 20th century. He mentioned “never” twice, which reflected the contrast and connection in history. In the past century, wars ran through Chinese-foreign relations and the national exchanges driven by wars would never be sweet. The facts from the Opium Wars to the Eight-Nation Alliance’s invasion in Beijing demonstrated the repeated violent destruction by foreign forces of the national barriers and the repeated efforts of the Chinese landlord class to rebuild the broken national barriers. Attack and resistance coexisted in the same time and space. Consequently, various things from the West and Japan were penetrating deeper in China. But they could not permeate all the small cracks like mercury. The Xinchou Treaty was a major change. It crushed the already weakened national psychological defense of the landlord class. “The tacit permission of the court, the secret agreement of the government, the inward losses of influential provincial governors, the sly obedience of the envoys, as well as the bizarre provisions of the treaties, could not be fully understood by ill-informed ordinary people. However, the saying that doing what China’s strength allowed to win the favor of the foreign countries was an open proclamation of the royal court; on the other hand, we are told that it would be better for a responsible minister to present a gift to a friend than to a slave.”3 Thus once the defense was broken people would lose their shelter from the storm. Foreign things rushed in from all sides. A new phrase, Oufeng Meiyu (the European and American storms), was coined to describe the situation.

The Western Thunderstorm in Asia Since 1840 such terms as powerful battleships and cannons, acoustics, optics, chemistry and electricity and Western art, were successively used by Chinese to condense things imported from foreign countries. The order reflected the gradual deepening of recognition. Among these terms, imported things referred to concrete objects. But the “European and American storms” involved more than concrete objects. In the storm, the politics, economics, military matters, thoughts and culture imported from foreign countries rapidly penetrated into different aspects of Chinese society. There was too much to watch and it was

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impossible to number and name all the things. The new term created in the early 20th century condensed all the foreign things, both material and abstract. It probably originated from Cai E. In February 1902 he used the term “the rocking European and American storms” 4 in Junguomin Jiaoyupian (On Education of the Public ) to describe the contemporary situation. Later, Liang Qichao in his poem said, “The endless European wind brought storms to Asia.” Both mentor and disciple used similar words to express what a generation of Chinese people felt. The new term became popular within a few years. When the office of the Shanghai Newspaper Association was first completed it published articles to commemorate its origin and presented the concerns of the business circles over China’s future: “Since the ports were forced to open to foreign countries, the storms from European countries and the U.S. have swept the land of South Asia for a long time.”5 These words portrayed the popular public opinion in the early 20th century. The European and American storms contained both turbulent gales of bloodshed and insistent gentle breeze and rain. Compared with the former, the latter did not leave so much pain and hostility. But thousands and millions of people were soaked in the rain after the storm. It began to accumulate before the Xinchou Treaty and expanded in force afterwards. The coastal ports were the first to accept the Western influence of imported things in the last century and the first to be washed by the European and American storms in the beginning of this century. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Preface to the Shanghaixian Xuzhi (Annals of Shanghai County ) was written with impassioned language: “Shanghai was geographically accessible to all directions. With the opening of the ports to foreign countries, it has become the most prosperous and bustling trading port in China. It has witnessed numerous changes in history. Looking back to the reign of Emperor Jiaqing, people in the reign of Emperor Tongzhi would be shocked; looking back to the time of Emperor Tongzhi, people today would be more shocked. The changes in people’s thinking and traditions in these several decades were deeper than those today.” The changes were the consequence of foreign erosion and impact. They penetrated both the upper and lower classes and changed people’s daily life before they knew it. People had used flint and struck it with iron plate to make fire. It had been used in every household. In the years of Yiwei and Bingshen during the reign of Emperor Guangxu, people began to use matches imported from Europe. People had used oil lamps made of clay for light at night. Wealthy families had used lamps made of porcelain and copper or tin. People had burnt candles at the occasions of weddings or funerals. After the middle reign of Emperor Guangxu, people used kerosene lamps, and the old oil lamp died out. The cloth people

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had used to wash their face and hands was made from native cloth because it was thick and durable. Afterwards, towels became popular in every household. People had used soapwort to wash clothes. After foreign soaps were imported to China, no one used soapwort anymore. A few people had used sun dials to measure the time and people seldom used foreign clocks. Since ships and trains were introduced, schedules were needed. Consequently, clocks became popular. People had used boxes made of wood. Wealthy families had used boxes made of leather. In the years of Emperors Guangxu and Xuantong foreign suitcases became popular, especially among travelers.”6 As to dress codes, “in the years of Emperor Guangxu, thin sleeves and shorter mandarin jackets became popular. They followed the fashion of Western-style suits.”7 “Electric lamps were used in foreign settlements, especially in the British settlement. The night was as light as the day. In recent years (the 33rd year of Emperor Guangxu), electric lamps have been used in the southern part of the city and the production bureau.” “Trams appeared in the 33rd year of the Emperor, and trolley buses appeared later.”8 With the change of life style, the content of production gradually changed too: “After the middle reign of Emperor Guangxu, many factories were set up and the market was expanded. Both men and women went to work in the factories. Male workers were engaged in other jobs such as garden planting, road building and other trivia. Female workers were engaged in the making of lace and hairnets, or worked as maids. They gradually took up other jobs and the number people who were engaged in farming was reducing.”9 In the time between the late Qing and the early Republic of China, in southeast Jiading, “because the neighboring region was converted into foreign settlement, more people were engaged in growing vegetables to meet the demand.” People planted potatoes in Shanghai County. “Potato was imported from Java and was used in Western cooking with meat.” 10 “People in Baoshan County planted onions” and sold them to Shanghai as a major vegetable in the Western diet.”11 Another change was that the customs, habits and public feelings were drifting away from tradition. “Women rushed to work in the Shanghai foreign settlement because they could get higher pay. Some even abandoned their family to do so. This was an unprecedented trend.” “As the foreign settlement expanded in the north, businessmen got rich in business and fell into a wasteful and extravagant life style, and women were engaged in silk reeling, and the traditional ethics were being lost.”12 The trend was widespread. “Women in the inland regions dreamt of freedom and rushed to Shanghai under the pretense of pursuing freedom in spite of the efforts of their parents and husbands to restrain them.”13

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In this process, the commodities imported from the West changed the look of Chinese society. They were not as scary as the cannons but they were more powerful. They were not so convincing as thoughts, but they spread more widely into the life of everyone. They changed people’s life and then became part of their life. The old and the new, China and the West, were not to be separated. In the coastal ports these changes reflected greater influence from the last century. Therefore the changes in Beijing, which was rich in tradition and the quintessence of Chinese culture, could more directly demonstrate the character of this century under the impact of the European and American storms. In 1909 one man under the penname of Lanling Yuhan Sheng wrote Jinghua Baier Zhuzhi Ci (Poems in Beijing ) to depict the ins and outs of Beijing as the national capital after the Xinchou Treaty . One was about girl students: Riding bicycles or walking on foot, The most modern way was to go without makeup. Plain dresses and quiet looks, These girl students are well-educated.

One was about newspaper offices:

The newspaper contributes the most To educating the public. Looking at newspaper offices in great numbers, If you cannot see ‘Zhongyang” you can always find ‘Datong’14

One was about the execution ground:

A large crowd had been allowed to gather in public market to watch the execution, But today a special site was built for that purpose. The old and the new way served a different purpose. One is to warn the public and the other is to be civilized.

One was about the bank:

It serves the national economy and livelihood of the masses, Why not follow the Western style? It is good for deposits and transportation, Bank buildings are towering high.

One was about cigarette smoking:

Both the rich and the poor smoke cigarettes, Several copper dollars are spent every day. The orchid flavor smells the best, And Wanbaoquan has been forgotten.

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One was about the basketball court:

Hanjiatan is a place of extravagance. The tower rivals those of foreign countries. Please read the ads in the newspaper. This is the first basketball court in Beijing.

One was about Shanxixiang Restaurant in Qianmen:

There are both Western and Chinese dishes and a lot of wine to choose from. The foreign-style building is one hundred meters high. The gate is lit by electrical bulbs, And people get drunk in Xianshixiang.

One was about the highway:

The road is as smooth as fine stones. It is great fun to walk on it. People will not be troubled by the noise anymore Because no worn-out carriages drawn by mules are running on it.

One was about the new-style clothes:

The new-style clothes are nice, Although some are too long and some too thin. Foreigners consider them convenient, But it is difficult to bow while wearing them.15

Beijing natives of one hundred years ago had never seen such scenes. Nor had the first generation of the Westernization faction who had advocated selfstrengthening. Such scenes appeared not only in Shanghai and Beijing after China was exposed to the European and American storms. The changes were widespread in north and south China at the time. Taking clothes as an example: on June 2, 1912 Dagongbao 16 wrote about women’s fashion in Tianjin: “Some had their hair cut and dressed in blouses and foreign-style hats. Some dressed in Western suits without wearing hats. Those who did not have their hair cut would not plait their hair. Instead they would wear it down the two sides of their faces, or pinned up and then down the back of their heads, or in numerous new styles.” On August 20 of the same year Shibao 17 published an article On the Gentry Trend in Suzhou about the dress of Suzhou natives: “Girl students wear leather shoes and hold silk umbrellas in their hands. It is a luxurious trend.” “Officers hold a horsewhip. This is an arrogant trend.” “Boy students wear straw hats and smoke cigars. This is the fashionable trend.” At that time, Shanghai had become the garment center of China. The new fashion in Paris would become

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popular here in three or four months and other places would in turn follow suit. Cities such as Nanjing, Suzhou and even Beijing would follow the fashion from Shanghai. The writer seemed pleased to write down these messages in his article. Besides being a record of the facts, it also demonstrated that people in these places had become accustomed to these scenes and did not think them strange. The word wenming (civilization) was popular in the period. It included within its fuzziness and inclusiveness all the new things outside of the old tradition; it reduced the smell of blood and the strangeness of imported things with its vagueness. Compared with the last century, the old topic of “changing China with the foreign” seemed to have faded gradually in the soul and emotion of Chinese people. Customs were related to etiquette. In a society where Confucian ethics had been valued as the basis of the country, the daily necessities of food, clothing, shelter and transportation all had special ethical and cultural connotations. Therefore, although “changing of customs” started from small details in everyday life, yet as we know from the butterfly effect that it would inevitably shake the basis of the ideas of the saints. In the years at the turn of the reign of Emperor Guangxi to that of Emperor Xuantong, the civilized way of holding wedding ceremonies was popular, which was initiated in cities and ports and then spread into inland regions. The certificate (with the names of the bride, groom, witnesses, matchmaker and officiator on it) would be read out by the witnesses in the hall. The matchmaker, witnesses and representatives of the bride and groom would all give their congratulations. Sometimes the officiator would read out instructions and the guests would sing songs about civilized wedding ceremonies.18

In the traditional wedding ceremony, the complicated formalities presented the couple with “the combination of two families so as to worship the ancestors and carry on the family line.” 19 The patriarchal and utilitarian meaning had been replaced by Western individual consciousness. The traditional Confucian meaning—“The tie between husband and wife leads to the tie between father and son which in turn leads to the tie between ruler and subject. Therefore the wedding ceremony is the basis of etiquette.”—gradually lost its basis. At the turn of the late Qing Dynasty into the Republic of China, a change of customs often led to a change of etiquette. Researchers of the history of customs and habits sighed that “both the wedding ceremony and funerals have lost their foundation.” Not all the things which emerged in the period were worth praising: “In the past, women at home used to read or write poems while the

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incense or candle was burning. Today, this is replaced by cigarette smoking. In theaters or recreational venues, we could often see frivolous women wearing heavy make-up and smoking cigarettes. The fragrance from the lips of women now became the smell of cigarettes.” 20 The new-style “smell” was absolutely not better than the old-fashioned “fragrance”. But this side of the society also recorded the decline and erosion of the traditional customs and habits under the impact of the European and American storm.

Philosophy, Films, Operas and Novels In the early 20th century, the impact of the European and American storms on Chinese people was clearly reflected in philosophy, culture and art. Philosophical thoughts were more comprehensive, and culture and art were more solid. Therefore the changes in the two sides were sufficient to demonstrate that the deep penetration of Western learning in Chinese society had exceeded any previous stage. Chinese learning usually fell into four categories: Jing (Confucian classics), Shi (history), Zi (philosophy) and Ji (literature). There had not been such an item as “philosophy” in the Western sense. When Liang Qichao was exiled to foreign countries he translated it as Zhi Xue 21 when he first came into contact with philosophy. In a few years, the younger generations were able to discuss it freely with confidence. In 1903 a man named Zhang Jixu wrote in the Preface to Hubei Xueshengjie (Students’ World in Hubei ). The learning of Western countries changed gradually from abstract to concrete. In the middle ages in Europe, the religionists fabricated groundless theories and spread them in the world. Its corruption was more serious than that in China today. The astronomy of Copernicus changed the world; Bacon’s advocacy of science changed the intellectual world; Descartes’s mathematics theory changed the intellectual world again. Science has been developing rapidly and religion has now almost died out. Real learning can be proved. Materialism became popular and idealism became weak. Natural philosophy developed into regulated science and humanities developed into real science.22

These words gave only a superficial view but they did give a general picture of the changes in modern philosophy in the West. As Western philosophy entered China, different intellectuals chose to accept different schools and ideas. Yan Fu, who was well-known for having translated the Theory of Natural Selection , focused on British empiricism and advocated inductive logic with real evidence and rationality. His contemporary Wang

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Guowei suffered from the failure to unite “believing” and love between rational philosophy and voluntarism: “Philosophically, those who can be loved cannot be believed; those who can be believed cannot be loved. I know the truth and I love the mistakes in the truth. Great metaphysics, sublime ethics and pure aesthetics are what I love the most. But, as to those to be believed, I prefer real evidence in knowledge, hedonism in ethics and empiricism in aesthetics. I know those who are to be believed cannot be loved; and those I love are not to be believed, which is the biggest annoyance in recent years.” 23 This contradictory ideology came from the ambiguity of philosophical study, but it indirectly demonstrated that most Chinese people of the time found it easier to accept the subjective side of Western philosophy. Philosophy reflects the spirit of a specific age. When the nation was suffering in profound crisis, the imported fine speculative concept was not easy to accept. So in the early 20th century, more philosophical works were translated into Chinese from their Japanese version, and more were on human life and society than on metaphysics. Xiao Yishan, who wrote Qingdai Tongshi (A History of the Qing Dynasty ), said with emotion, “The introduction of Western culture by Yan Fu had no faults of being vague and superficial. But the international students in Japan were in a frenzy of far-fetched interpretation of Western learning. It is a pity that his theory has not been communicated.”24 He regretted that the “far-fetched interpretation” overwhelmed the high-quality works. Mill’s Logic and A Brief Introduction to Logic translated by Yan Fu at the time featured rational philosophy. But they failed to cause a great impact like his Tianyanlun . However, the intellectual history was defined by social history. Compared with Ming Xue (logic), Chinese society had more demand for those philosophical thoughts which could guide the nation. The reason why rough “misinterpretation” could move people might lie in this. Thus with the motive of looking for reference, Western philosophers since the age of Renaissance were successively introduced to China. Chinese intellectuals who for thousands of years only knew the theories of Confucius, Mencius, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi began to familiarize themselves with Diderot, Labartbe, Descartes, Rousseau, Kant and Schopenhauer and their theories about human life. In 1902, sixteen year–old Liu Yazi “read Social Contract Theory written by Rousseau which advocated man’s natural rights. He admired him so much that he changed his name to Renquan 25 and Yalu 26 as his courtesy name.”27 Zou Rong wrote Gemingjun (Revolutionary Army ) and wished to use “the great theories of Western philosophers as a miraculous cure to restore the dead. The civilizations of France and the U.S. were both based on these theories. China is ill today and dying and it needs a miraculous cure to cure the disease. I would

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like to hold high the flag of Rousseau and other great philosophers in the land of China.”28 The utilitarian usage of philosophy was a characteristic of modern China. Therefore, as they changed people, Western philosophical thoughts were socialized and generalized and combined with political ideas. The transmission of these thoughts acted as a forerunner for the varied new thoughts of the May Fourth Movement. The impact of philosophical thoughts was mainly on intellectuals. The changes in culture and art directly impacted on people from all walks of life. Culture and art, for one thing, referred to films. According to Shanghai Yanjiu Xuji (Research Data of Shanghai ): “The earliest public show of the primitive films (slides) in Shanghai was from November 21 to November 23 in 1885 (October 15 to October 17 in the 11th year of Emperor Guangxu) when Yan Yongjing put on an introduction to the world in Gezhi College. But it was a onetime amateur show without much influence. In 1903 Ramos, a Spanish man, began to present film shows on a business basis which paved the way for the future development of motion picture projection. Film was an unprecedented art form. It was different from the fictitious and exaggerated form of Chinese traditional opera. It directly stimulated human senses with a sense of reality. Therefore “the newly developed arts are really loved and appreciated by the majority of people.” 29 In fact it was not easy to separate the form and the content of the art here. Before Chinese people could make films freely themselves, “love and appreciation” included the viewers’ understanding of the things and fun in foreign countries in the films. Another form was new-style plays. The first appearance of a new play on the stage in Shanghai was in the last century. It was based on a famous foreign play and acted by foreign citizens in China. Sun Baoxuan who was born to a wealthy and influential family wrote in his diary about his impression after seeing the foreign play in 1902: “In Western plays, actors and actresses acted together. Their costumes were fine and neat, the settings were extraordinarily beautiful. The singing and dancing were in harmony. People may ask what advantage it has. I would say, ‘Nothing other than its elegance. Our operas are half for refined and half for popular tastes while Western plays are purely elegant art.’”30 This admiration demonstrated the acceptance and approval of new plays by the upper class. But it was rare to see foreigners’ acting on a Chinese stage and so although it was refreshing, it had little impact. It was in the beginning of this century that they truly attracted public attention. At the time, more and more international students returned to China and they brought foreign plays

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back. After some revision, they put on the plays in the new-style colleges. This was no doubt affected by Western influence in China because Westerners perceived plays as social education which would enlighten the public. Most of the actors were well-educated college students.”31 The original purpose of the introduction of new plays to China was not art for art’s sake. But the fresh form was adopted by other operas and finally put on stage. In this period a group of intellectuals and revolutionaries who advocated educating the public with plays had for a long or short time acted in the plays themselves and they based their plays on current affairs. Thus in addition to the traditional theatrical troupes, a brand-new theatrical society appeared. They did not have the weakness of the traditional society but instead had great and lofty aspirations. From 1907 to 1911, the famous Jinhuatuan (Jinhua Society) and Chunyangshe (Chunyang Society) put on a series of plays to reflect the political sentiment of the time, such as Qiu Jin , Xu Xilin , Jiamingjiating (Revolutionary Family ), Aiguoxue (Blood of Patriots ), Dongya Fengyun (Storm in Southeast Asia ), Gonghe Wansui (Long live the Republic ) and Huanghelou (Huanghe Tower ). Compared with films, the new plays were closer to Chinese contemporary affairs.32 They were called civilized plays after the Xinhai Revolution and later called huaju (plays). In the development of new plays, new settings appeared and affected the structure of the old-style stage. Shiliupu new stage was described as follows: “The house followed the Western style. There are three floors with a seating capacity of several thousands of people. The seats embrace the semi-circular stage. Before the show begins, the curtain is drawn.”33 The vivid description showed the freshness felt by the people. Chinese people were used to the combination of teahouse and theatre and the bustle in it. They were impressed once they were seated in the new theatre. The sharp contrast was both a blow and a stimulation to the old theatres, which in turn promoted the improvement of traditional operas. Shanghai took the lead in adopting the new settings in the old operas and gradually differentiated itself from those in north China. Thus the term Haipai (Shanghai school) was created. With the appearance of films and new plays, novels also began to move off the old rails. Lu Xun said, “After the Gengzi year (1900) of Emperor Guangxu, many satirical novels were published. Since the years of Emperor Jiaqing, although suffering from a series of domestic disorders (White Lotus Society, Taiping Kingdom, Nian Rebellion and Hui Rebellion) and repeated defeats by foreign big powers (Britain, France and Japan), the ignorant masses still loved to listen to traditional stories about quelling the riots while drinking

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tea. But people of insight recognized the need for reform so as to resist foreign aggression and strengthen China with the patriotic efforts of the masses. They particularly called for building of a “strong and prosperous” China. After the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform and the riots of the Boxer Rebellion in the following two years, that is, in the Gengzi year, people realized and criticized the inability of the government in administration and self-strengthening efforts. They used novels to reveal the hidden corruption and malpractices in the government and made critical comments about current affairs and customs and habits.”34 A series of such novels were published such as Guanchang Xianxing Ji (Exposure of the Official World ), Ershinian Mudu Zhi Guaixianzhuang (Strange Events of the Last Twenty Years ), Laocan Youji (The Travels of Lao Can ) and Niehaihua (A Flower in the Sea of Sins ) with vivid descriptions of various social issues. “The school of novels has not been taken seriously for the development of a country.” 35 But they turned to focus on condemning the current society, which represented a change in the literati’s habits and the change of opinion of the age. In 1898 Liang Qichao said, “When reform first began in European countries, great scholars and responsible people would often express their opinions from their own experience in their novels. And people from all walks of life, editors, students, soldiers, merchants, craftsmen, drivers, women and children, loved to read them and talked about them. Thus the creation of a book could greatly change the public opinion in the country.” He called these novels “political novels” and called earnestly for their appearance in China.36 What he said was a little exaggerated. However, comparing the Western political novels and Chinese satirical novels, we can find the same topics in them. This can be regarded as a kind of indirect echo between the West and China. Lin Shu “read and tried to translate these novels” and he translated “12 million words of one hundred and fifty European and American novels” 37 into classical Chinese. These stories of joy and sorrow, partings and reunions, directly brought the ethics of Western families, Western customs and the everyday life of Western people to Chinese people. In a China where people resented foreigners as barbarians or worshipped them as gods, these things would undoubtedly reduce the misunderstanding. Novels started to influence people. Although Lin Shu was a semi-modern figure, the novels he translated affected most of the people who participated in the New Culture Movement. Therefore, when talking about the changes in Chinese literature over fifty years, Hu Shi called Lin Shu “the first person to introduce modern Western literature to China.”38 In addition, poetry and painting also experienced changes under the impact of the European and American storms. The changes in art forms reflected one

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Assault of the European and American Storms

side of social changes, which demonstrated from a special angle the changes in national sentiment and popular interests.

Complicated Social Sentiments The changes in Chinese society in the early 20th century included the conscious absorption of the mild wind and rain and the imposed swallowing of the violent gale and storm. “Wind and rain” was used to refer to multiple contents. Therefore Chinese people held complicated and contradictory sentiments towards the European and American storms. To analyze it, there were three points: (1) A mixed sense of urgency and worry. In the early 20th century, Qiu Jin wrote the call to battle for the Guangfu Army Uprising and earnestly talked about “the aggression of European and American storms” 39 and the pressing situation. At the same time, Chen Tianhua wrote in his Jingshizhong (An Alarm to the World ): “How powerful is imperialism, the European and American storms are sweeping China;” Gao Tianmei in Luwang Guowang Ge (The Song to a Conquered Nation ) said, “Do you know that the European and American storms have swept across the Pacific and the imperialist aggression is expanding rapidly?” 40 They all expressed the same feelings. The purpose of these words from the revolutionaries was to warn and arouse the public. They expressed a mixed sense of urgency and worry, as well as confidence in national selfstrengthening. They witnessed the aggression of the European and American storms and their purpose in revealing the facts was to pinpoint the cause of the crisis—the Manchu monarchy. “The reign the Manchu established in China was uninvited. Why would they treat us well? How can we bear the grief? They have since lived here for generations. Once the foreign countries had started to carve up China, the Manchu succumbed and surrendered our land to save themselves so that they needed not live the nomadic life again.”41 Therefore what the pressure of the European and American storms produced first was not opposition to foreigners but anti-Manchu awareness. The national conflict catalyzed national revolution. (2) Sorrow and fear. Deng Shi, editor-in-chief of the Newspaper of National Treasures and a leading figure in public opinion, stressed that “with the aggression of Europe and American in central China the doomsday of China is approaching.”42 He expressed his indignation over the collapse of the traditional China in the storms. One article from the 7th issue of Jiangsu echoed the same sentiment: “European gales blew down your houses, American storms struck

215

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

down your home. Where is your family now!” These expressions showed the deep sorrow and fear of national subjugation and genocide. They depicted the national crisis after the Xinchou Treaty and some intellectuals’ resistance to the foul wind and rain of blood included in the European and American storms. These feelings often showed a tendency towards restoring the old in their patriotism. Thus, under the attack of the European and American storms, the term Guocui (quintessence of Chinese culture) was created to refer to the basis of national spirit. Academically it came from the basis of history. Politically, the popular feelings of the public should be the fundamental source of a nation. Therefore the existence of the quintessence of Chinese culture led to the existence of a nation, and its death would lead to the death of the nation.”43 These people were not old conservatives, but they depended on the restoration of “ancient learning” to restore the nation: “Scholars! I am pursuing them in my dreams at the foot of Mount Tai, on the banks of rivers, in the south of Yangtze River and in the north of the five mountains. Will there be a few scholars who have faith in the ancient classics and worry about the future of our country? Can they maintain the treasures of our ancestors and restore the glory of our history of three thousand years? Will we see the restoration of ancient Asian learning in the 20th century as the ancient European learning was restored in the 15th century?”44 The quintessence of Chinese culture enabled people to have a strong race consciousness which made many of those people inclined to support antiManchu revolution and despise those “infatuated with Europeanization.” (3) Modern Chinese civilization was created amidst the European and American storms. Ning Diaoyuan said, “A prisoner ten years ago would also sing a song of freedom in the European storms;” 45 Tang Qunying said, “The seeds of civilization have not been not sown in China, we can only sigh with pity about the European and American storms.” What these expressions demonstrated was not fear or worry. As “a prisoner” “singing the song of freedom”46 they eulogized the ideological emancipation effect of the European and American storms; they “sigh with pity” because this civilization had not reached China, which revealed both their admiration for and regret of the coming Western influence; they were inspired by “the creation of heroes in the European and American storms,” which showed that responsible people of the age had the desire to catch up with Europe and the U.S.. All this showed that some Chinese intellectuals welcomed the modern civilization from the European and American storms. They had the same nationalistic feelings as those who clung to the quintessence of Chinese culture, but at the same time they moved closer to and responded to the world tide. The unity of the two characters made them rest their hopes of restoring the nation on the modernization of the nation.

216

Assault of the European and American Storms

These three points typically summed up the different contents included in the European and American storms and demonstrated the sentiments of that generation of patriots who were deeply concern about the future of China and its people. The three points had different purposes, but they were all sincere and earnest expressions. In terms of the irreversible historical trend, the most positive and meaningful point was the last one. The reason that ancient China was able to advance in a tortuous yet sustained way in one hundred years of the modern age was that the last sentiment was put into action. The times combined metabolism of Chinese society with the European and American storms. The vestiges left by the foul wind and rain of blood, as well as those from the mild breeze and rain, have become part of Chinese modern history.

217

Notes Preface 1. 2. 3.

“Reflections,” in Collections of Chen Xulu (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1990), 1303, 1372. “Difficulties in Historical Study,” (ibid., 1). “Reflections on the Clues of Modern Chinese History,” (ibid., 1).

Chapter 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

English translation by Samuel Moore (1888). Zhang 1960, 161, 617. The Sequel to A Complete Collection of Imperial Document , 72:17. Gu Yanwu, Record of the Days , vol. 3. The Statutes and Precedents of the Great Qing Empire , vol. 8. Sima Guang, History as A Mirror , 60:1926–27; Han Ji (Zhonghua Book Company, 1956), 52. Li Fang et al., eds., Taiping Miscellany (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 100:668. Zhang Haipeng et al., eds., Selected Materials of Anhui Merchants in the Ming and Qing Dynasty (Huangshan Publishing House, 1985), 289. “Agriculture,” in Ban 1962, vol. 24, bk. 1, chap. 4, 1132. Shen Yue, in Book of the Song Dynasty (Zhonghua Book Company, 1974), vol. 54, chap. 14, 1540. Meng Haoran, “Stopping at a friend’s farm house” (Guo gu ren zhuang ) Wang Yanan, A Study of Chinese Bureaucracy and Politics (China Social Science Press), 39. Xia Zengyou, Chinese Ancient History (Sanlian Bookstore, 1955), 183. Ge hong, Bao Pu Zi , Waipian, vol. 15; Collections of Different Schools (World Book Store, 1935), 8:127. Sima Guang, sec. “Weiji 1,” in chap. “The First year of Emperor Wen,” in History as A Mirror , 69:2178. “Wei Guan,” in Fang 1974, vol. 36, chap. 6, 1058. Ouyang Xiu et al., “Confucianism: Liu Chong,” in New Book of the Tang Dynasty , vol. 199, chap. 124, 5677. “Liu Yi,” in Fang 1974, vol. 45, chap. 15, 1274. Lü Simian, History of Chinese System (Shanghai Education Press, 1985), 731. Records of the Song Dynasty , (Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 1981), 13:150. Zhang Qixian, Prime Minister of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, was “magnanimous but poor”, once he stayed in a roadside inn and met a group of bandits. Other guests ran away in fear but Zhang greeted the bandits and said to them, “I am a poor man. Would you be so generous as to allow me to dine with you?” The bandits were happy to hear that: “You are a xiucai and willing to accompany us,

219

Notes

21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44.

how could we not allow it? We were afraid you’d laugh at us uneducated people.” They then invited him to sit down and dine with them. These stories are not rare in the historical records of different dynasties. Chen Kangqi, Records of Langqian (Zhonghua book Company, 1984), 92–93. Zhao Yi, “Living Together for Several Generations,” in Gaiyu Congkao (Commercial Press, 1957), 39:853. Qu Tongzu, Chinese Law and Chinese Society (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 26. Ibid., 244–25. Zhu Xi, Collections of the Four Confucius Books (Yuelu Bookstore, 1985), 70. Tian Rucheng, Travel Journal: Xihu (Changhai Classics Press, 1980), 25:453. Xie Zhaozhe, “Wu Za Zu,” in The Master of Jinxiage (1935), 3:87. Fu Zhufu, Series of Chinese Economic History (1985), 2:478. Ibid., 485. Huang Junzai, “Yimo” in Writings from the Golden Wine Bottle , Golden Foil, (Shanghai Saoye Shanfang, 1895), vol. 2. Sima Qian, sec. 6, in chap. “Emperor Qin Shi Huang,” in Records of the Great Historian , 6:225. “Emperor Jing,” in Ban 1962, vol. 5, chap. 5, 153. Sima Qian, sec. 8, in chap. “Pingzhun Shu,” in Records of the Great Historian , 1420. “Dong Zhongshu,” in Ban 1962, vol. 26, chap. 26, 2525. “Wuhangdui 38,” in Dong 1975, 10:379–80. “Wangdaotong 44” (ibid., 11:403). “Tiandi Yueyang 81,” (ibid., 17:600). “Jiyi 53,” (ibid., 12:434). “Weirenzhe Tian 41,” (ibid., 11:386). “Dong Zhongshu,” vol. 26, chap. 26, 2523. “Furui 16,” in Dong 1975, 6:197. Dai Zhen, On the Works of Mencius (Zhonghua Book Company, 1982), 10. Collections of Wuyu (Sichuan People’s Press, 1985), 65. Liang Qichao, “On protection of Confucianism,” New people’s Journal , 2 (1902).

Chapter 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

220

“Xishan Jing 2,” in Shan Hai Jing ; Sibu Congkan 80 (Commercial Press 1926). Fan Ye, no. 78 in chap. “Xiyu,” in Book of the Latter Han (Zhonghua Book Company, 1966), 88:2919. Wei Shou, “Xiyu,” in Book of Wei (Zhonghua Book Company, 1974), vol. 120, chap. 90, 2275–76. Liu Xu, “Yufu,” in Book of Old Tang (Zhonghua Book Company, 1975), vol. 45, chap. 25, 1957. Shen Fuwei, History of Cultural Exchange between China and the West (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1985), 161–62. Yuan Zhen, “Faqu,” in Collection of Yuan Zhen (Literature Classics Press, 1956), 358. Fang 1983, 518. Ibid., 179; English translation by John Bostock and H. T. Riley, 1855.

Notes

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Ibid., 365. Ibid., 514; English translation by Richard Hakluyt, 1885. Herbert George Wells, Outline of History (People’s Publishing house, 1982), 767, 769. Bernal 1981, 230. Gong Zhen, Annals of Western Countries (Zhonghua Book Company, 1961), 12. Bernal 1981, 227. Bernal 1981, 229. Fang 1983, 659. Chen 1980, 3:18. Marx and Engels 1972, 4:223. Morse 1957, 1:53. “Chronology,” (ibid). “Lanterns of Shangyuan” in Poems of Emperor Qianglong , vol. 26, bk. 5 (1787). Zhu Jieqin, A History of Chinese Diplomacy (Ocean Press, 1984), 216.

23.

See Zhang Weihua, A Brief History of Chinese Diplomacy (Qilu Press, 1987), 120.

24.

See Lin Renchuan, Private Sea Business in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (East China Normal

25.

See Fang 1983, 1026.

University Press, 1987), 429. 26. Ibid. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Feng Bingzheng, History of China , 11:400. See also Shen Fuwei, 385. Records of Emperor Gaozong of Qing Empire (Tokyo: Daizo Shuppansha) 516:16–17. Ibid., 550:24–25. Guo 1947, 228. Ibid., 235. Xu Dishan, Collections of Dazhong (Commercial Press, 1931) 165–67.

Chapter 3 1.

Meng 1981, 1:261.

2.

“50 Events of Emperor Chongzhen” in Chan 1980, 3:110.

3.

Xu Zi, The Era of Xiaotian , 3:2.

4.

Xiao 1976, 1:815–16.

5.

Liang Zhangju, Records of Southern Provinces , vol. 4, quoted in Chen 1980, 3:210.

6.

Quoted in Xiao 1976, 2:280–81.

7.

Quoted in Meng 1981, 2:596.

8.

Quoted in Xiao 1976, 2:274–75.

9.

Bao Shichen, Problems of Water Transport ; Sun Yuting, Elimination of Problems of Xuting , quoted in

10.

Shu Hede, “On the Imperial Examinations,” in Collection of Life-Experience Essays of the Empire ,

Meng 1981, 2:627–28. 57:13.

221

Notes

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Cao Juren, Essays on the History of Academic Thought in China (Sanlian Bookstore, 1986), 387. “Informed of the Event of Liu Zhixie,” in Collections of Dayun Shanfang , vol. 3, quoted in Chen 1980, 3:634. “Biography of Emperor Renzong,” in Xiao 1976, vol. 16, bk. 3, 603. Aeneas Anderson, A Narrative of the British Embassy to China (Commercial Press, 1963), 92. Hong Liang ji, “20 Essays of Yiyan, Zhiping, Shengji,” in Collections of Juanshige , Collected Works of Hongbeijiang, old style edition (World Book), 1:33–34. Shenbao , June 15, 1876. Guan Tong, “On the Ban of Imported Goods,” in Selected Works of the Late Qing Dynasty (Shanghai Shenghuo Bookstore, 1937), 27. Chen Hanzhang, “On the Disasters of Imported Goods,” (ibid., 21). Guan Tong, “On the Ban of Imported Goods,” (ibid., 28). “Song of Opium,” in Zhang 1960, 2:1004–5. Huang Juezi, “Proposal to Block the Loopholes,” in Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Daoguang) (Zhonghua Company, 1984), 2:32. Bao Shichen, “Four Ways to Regulate the People·Agriculture 2,” in Four Ways of Anwu , vol. 26. See note 21 above.

Chapter 4 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

222

Zhang 1960, 420. Instructions of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Empire , 276:13. Guo 1947, 41 9–29. See Wang Jingyi, “Spend the winter or the summer,” in A Study of Modern History , 4 (1980): 259. Opium Wars , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shenzhou Guoguang Press, 1954), 1:521. Ibid., 2:568–69. Ibid., 6:343. Ibid., 1:95–97. Wei Yuan, Records and Maps of the World , Chen’s edition (Chenzhou: 1867), 81:6. Yao Weiyuan, Research on the Opium Wars (People’s Publishing House, 1984), 104. Opium Wars, Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shenzhou Guoguang Press, 1954), 4:20–21. Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Daoguang ) (Zhonghua Company, 1984), 31: 1139. Xia 1988, 91. Ibid., 90. Ibid., 91. Wang 1957, 1:32. Ibid., 56, 64. Complete Works of Marx and Engels (People’s Publishing House, 1958), 4:470. [We have adopted the translation by Samuel Moore, which has been the most commonly used English text since its publication. (Marx/Engels Selected Works , (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1969), 1:98–137)].

Notes

19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

Zhang 1960, 421–22. “Chronicles of Kang Youwei,” in Wuxu Reform , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 4:115. Li Wenzhi, Historical Materials on Chinese Modern Agriculture (Sanlian Bookstore, 1957), 1:921. Tao Xu, Zuhe , reprint (1927), 23. Wang Tao, Yingruan Zazhi (1875), 1:8. Records of Ba County (September 13, 1876); see Zhang et al. 1987, 336. Collected Works of Zheng Guanying (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1982), 2:75.

Chapter 5 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18. 19.

Complete Works of Gong Zizhen (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1975), 7. Zhao 1977, vol. 349, chap. 136, 11, 251. “Song of the Taiping Kingdom,” in Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 1:239. “Original Simplicity,” (ibid., 2:572). “Imperial Edict of Heavenly Will,” (ibid., 1:64). “Imperial Edict of the Descending of the Heavenly Father,” (ibid., 1:13). “Imperial Edict of the Heavenly Will,” (ibid., 1:65). Mifanzhu ( 米飯主) were local gang leaders who would provide support for the hungry and homeless and care for the poor. “History of the Taiping Kingdom,” in Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:632. “The Book of Heavenly Truth,” (ibid., 1:360–61). “History of the Taiping Kingdom,” (ibid., 2:636–637). Ibid., 241–243. “Yang Xiuqing’s 31 Answers and 5 Edicts to the British”; see Taiping Kingdom History Museum ed., Collections of Documents of Taiping Kingdom (Zhonghua Book Company, 1979), 1:304–5. “Prince Gan Hongbao Zhi,” (ibid., 2:657). “Records of Talks of Interpreter Meadows with Leaders of the Revolution in Nanjing and Zhenjiang,” in Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 4:904. “Travels to Tianjing,” (ibid., 4:950). “Proclamation of National War against Foreigners,” (ibid., 1:161–2). “Guijia Music Conservatory of Jinling,” (ibid., 4:735). “On the Expedition against the Guangdong Rebels,” in Complete Works of Zeng Guofan Literary

Works (Chuanzhong Press, 1876), 3:1–3. 20.

“Christian Maxims of Salvation,” in Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 1:92.

21.

“Records of Disasters in Jinling,” (ibid., 4:719); “History of the Taiping Kingdom,” (ibid., 2:636).

22.

“Records of Disasters in Jinling,” (ibid., 4:719).

223

Notes

23.

Du Wenlan, Records of Pacification of the Guangdong Rebels (Shanghai Shenbao Press), appendix

24.

“Records of Zijing” in Annals of Xunzhou , 27:30.

25.

“Records of Dunbi,” in Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai

26.

“On Choosing Jinling as the Capital,” (ibid., 1:257).

27.

“Annals of the Rebels,” (ibid., 3:272).

28.

“Condemnation of the Crimes of the Sinners’ Den,” (ibid., 1:297).

29.

“Poems by the Heavenly Father 115,” (ibid., 2:449).

30.

“Poems by the Heavenly Father 378,” (ibid., 2:484).

31.

“Ode for Youth,” (ibid., 1:232).

32.

“Annals of the Rebels,” (ibid., 3:230).

33.

“Etiquette of the Taiping Kingdom,” (ibid., 1:106). Historical Materials of the Taiping Kingdom Diary of Liu Zhaoxun (Shanghai Classics Press, 1979), 98. “Guijia Music Conservatory of Jinling,” in Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 4:738. “To British Envoy Earl of Elgin,” in Collections of Documents of the Taiping Kingdom , 44. Rong Hong, “Western Learning in China,” in Series of Going to the World (Yuelu Bookstore, 1985), 98–99. Yao Xiguang, Records of Anhui Officials , Wushen edition of Emperor Guangxu, 1:29. Li Wenzhi, Historical Materials on Chinese Modern Agriculture (Sanlian Bookstore, 1957), 1:166, 169. When the Eight-Nation Alliance occupied Beijing in 1900, the imperial court fled from Beijing to Xi’an. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities in the southeastern provinces refused to recognize the Manchu government’s declaration of war. They guaranteed peace in central and south China if the foreigners would keep their troops out of these areas.— Ed. The Xiang Army was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces to contain the Taiping rebellion. The name is taken from the Hunan region where the Army was raised.—Ed.

3, 6.

People’s Publishing House, 1957), 4:367.

34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

41.

Chapter 6 1. Wang 1957, 1:56. 2. Nanjing. 3. “Lord Clarendon to Dr. Bowring”; see Morse 1957, vol. 1, appendix Q, 767–68. 4. Ibid., 463. 5. Xue Fucheng, “Ye Mingchen and Events in Guangzhou,” in Second Opium War , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1978), 1:228. 6. Ibid., 3:12–78.

224

Notes

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

Ibid., 1:52, 82. Ibid., 1:83. A successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations.—Ed. “Seven-Year National Humiliation in the Reign of Emperor Xianfeng,” in Second Opium War , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 1:243. Morse 1957, 1:465. See note 172 above. Second Opium War , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 1:229. Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Xianfeng) , 2:645. Second Opium War , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1978), 1:231. Huang Yuhe, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi Ye Mingchen (Zhonghua Book Company, 1984), 156. “Xiawai Junxie: Memorial to the Throne of Chen,” in Second Opium War , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 2:317. Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Xianfeng) , 4:1223. “Foreign Invasion in Beijing in the Tenth Year of Emperor Xianfeng,” (ibid., 2:146). “Records of Foreign Invasion in Gengshen,” (ibid., 2:13–25). Diary of Zeng Guofan on September 3, 10th year of Xianfeng, Xuantong Yuannian edition, (Shanghai: China Book Corporation) Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Xianfeng) , 8:2675. Zhao 1977, 386, chap 173, 11691. Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Xianfeng) , 3:812–13. Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:528.

Chapter 7 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

“Wenxiang,” in Cai 1937, 392. Second Opium War , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1978), 2:529. Cai 1937, 389. The Huai Army (named for the Huai River) was a military force raised and leaded by Li Hongzhang to contain the Taiping Rebellion. It succeeded the Xiang Army.—Ed. Li Jiannong, Chinese Modern Political History of 100 Years (Commercial Press, 1947), bk. 1, 129. The Grand Council or Junjichu ( 軍機處) was an important policy-making body in charge of military affairs, but gradually attained the role of a privy council.—Ed. The Ministry of Rites or Li Bu (禮部) was in charge of the imperial examinations, as well as state ceremonies, rituals, and sacrifices; it also oversaw registers for Buddhist and Daoist priesthoods and even the reception of envoys from tributary states.—Ed.

225

Notes

The Court of Colonial Affairs or Lifan Yuan (理藩院) supervised the Qing Empire’s Mongolian dependencies and oversaw the appointments of Ambans in Tibet.—Ed. 9. The Court of Diplomatic Reception or Honglu Si (鴻臚寺) was a department under the Ministry of Rites. Its duties were to welcome and receive tributary envoys and to take care of, and provide for, their stay in China.—Ed. 10. Deng Zhicheng, “Fuyiju,” in Collections of Gudong Suoji (Sanlian Bookstore, 1955), 507. 11. Yixin et al., “Six Rules,” in Preparation of Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Xianfeng) (Zhonghua Book Company, 1979), 71:2676. 12. Historical Materials of Wuxu Reform: Structural Changes and the Official System (Zhonghua Book Company, 1958), 179. 13. Collected Works of Lin Zexu: Memorials to the Throne (Zhonghua Book Company, 1965), 2:885. 14. Unpublished Correspondences of Zeng Guofan (Yuelu Bookstore, 1986), 137. 15. Mao Xianglin , “Bureau of Machinery,” in Mo Yu Lu (Shanghai Classics Press, 1985), 246. 16. See Zhong Shuhe, Going to the World (Zhonghua Book Company, 1985), 135. (Trying his utmost to obstruct it and consequently all were withdrawn in 1881.) 17. Liang Qichao, An Introduction to Academics of the Qing Dynasty (Zhonghua Book Company, 1954), 71. 18. Ibid. 19. “Metaphysics in Political Economics,” in Marx and Engels 1972, 1:113. 20. “Xiangxu of Xu Xuecen,” in Collection of Science (1877). 21. “On New Tendencies in China,” in Collection of the Life Experience Essays of the Empire , 105:7. 22. “On Overseas Study: A Proposal to Minister Li,” in Essays of Shikezhai, ed. Ma Jianzhong (Zhonghua Book Company, 1960), 31. 23. Gao Fengqian, “On the Translation of Foreign Books,” in Collection of the Life Experience Essays of the Empire , 6:7. 24. “Wenxiang,” in History of the Qing Dynasty (Zhonghua Book Company, 1977), chap. 173, 11, 691. 25. Memorials to the Throne of Zhang Jingda , 8:33. 26. Liu Xingyi, “The Brothers of Lu Muzhai and Lu Shen,” in Literature and History of Tianjin (Tianjin 8.

People’s Publishing House, 1981), 17:106–107. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.

226

“Proposals of Zhang Shengzao: Investigating Censor of Shandong Province,” in Westernization Movement , Collections of Chinese Modern History, (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1961), 2:29. Preparation of Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Tongzhi) , 48:14. Ibid., 84:35. Ibid., 86: 3–4, 7–8. Donghua Records of the Emperor Guangxu , 1:1000. Westernization Movement, Collections of Chinese Modern History, (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1961), 4:142. Ibid., 149. “Memorials to the Throne of the Zhou Derun Imperial Academy,” (ibid., 154). Ibid., 152.

Notes

36.

“To Minister Li from London” in Collected Works of Guo Songtao (Yuelu Bookstore, 1984), 11:189–90.

Chapter 8 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

“Foreign businessmen 3” in Annals of Guangdong Customs Offices , vol. 28. J. Scarth, Twelve Years in China . “Payment of Taxes,” in Memorials to the Throne of Guo Songtao (Yuelu Bookstore, 1983), 150. Li Hongzhang, “Proposal to Establish a Foreign Language Department,” in Complete Works of Li Wenzhong , 3:11. Zeng, “To Li Shaoquan,” in Complete Works of Zeng Wenzheng (Shanghai Dongfang Bookstore, 1935), 20. Zheng Guanying, “Warnings in the World of Prosperity: Business War,” in Collected Works of Zheng Guanying (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1982), vol.1, bk.1, 586. Westernization Movement , Collections of Chinese Modern History, (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1961), 8:402. “Outline of Feuerbach,” in Marx and Engels 1972, 1:18. “Restoration of Vulgar Socialism and Populism in Socialist Revolutionaries,” in Compete Works of Lenin (People’s Publishing House, 1969), 6:233. Historical Materials of Chinese Modern Agricultural Industry (Science Press, 1957), 2:925–26. Wu Chengming, Chinese Capitalism and the Domestic Market (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1985), 120. “News of victory,” June 13, 1874, Guangzhou Journals , quoted in Historical Materials of Chinese Modern Agricultural Industry , 1:959. Historical Materials of Chinese Modern Agricultural Industry, vol. 1, bk. 2, 1204. Ibid., 1212–13. Ibid., 1206. Ibid., 1218. Zhang Youyi, ed., Historical Materials of Chinese Modern Agricultural Industry (Sanlian Bookstore, 1957)1: 667. “Events of Shanghai Workers’ Societies,” in Societies of Old Shanghai (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1986), 4. Westernization Movement , Collections of Chinese Modern History, (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1961), 1:138. Cheng Chi, “Ways of Sugarcane Planting and Sugar Production,” in Policies to Strengthen China , 1:32. “To the General Office,” Letters VI, Complete Works of Zhang Wenxiang , 217:7. Returns of Trade and Trade Reports: 1871–1872 , 136. “Geography (10)” in Annals of Xiong County in the Reign of Emperor Guangxu . “Proposal to not Dissolve Shipyards,” in Memorials to the Throne of Li Suyi , 4:76. Collections of Zhitu .

227

Notes

26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.

Historical Statistics on the Chinese Modern Economy (Beijing Science Press, 1955), 74–75. Annals of Nanxun , 31:28. “On Reducing Taxes,” in Memorials to the Throne of Zeng Zhongxiang , 29:8. Marx, “Engels: Communist Manifesto,” in Marx and Engels 1972, 1:253. Ibid., 2:3. “Yiyan 36 Essays: On Preaching,” in Collected Works of Zhang Guanying , (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1982), 1:121–22. Missionary Preaching in Jiangnan (Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1983), 1:255–56. Zhang Dao, “Christian Church,” in Journal at Tianji , vol. 2. Religious Cases in Chinese Modern History , 26. Xia 1988, 21:260. Xue Fucheng, “On Handling the Bandits of the Gelao Society,” in Memorials to the Throne as an Envoy , 1:47. Zeng Guofan, “Instructions on the Mutiny of Jingyiying,” in Complete Works of Zeng Wenzheng , Instructions 3 (Shanghai Dongfang Bookstore, 1936). Collected Works of Liu Kunyi , 4:1642. Donghua Records: Emperor Tongzhi , 72:16. “To Avert the Crisis: On Piglets in Macao,” in Collected Works of Zheng Guanying (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1982), 1:6. “On Establishing Consuls in Nanyang to Protect Overseas Chinese,” in Selected Works of Xue Fucheng (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1987), 335. Ibid., 334.

Chapter 9

4.

Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Tongzhi) , 78:24. Ibid., 82:3. Ibid., 79:7. See Fan Wenlan, Chinese Modern History (People’s Publishing House, 1956), 1:220.

5.

Luo Dunrong, “Events of Sino-Japanese War,” in Hu 1985, 8; Seizaburo Shinobu, History of

1. 2. 3.

Japanese Diplomacy (Commercial Press, 1980), 1:145. 6.

See Jiang 1934, 2:171–72.

7.

Diplomatic Documents of Japan , 7:1.

8.

See Kiyoshi Kiyosawa, Diplomat Okubo Toshimichi (1942), 253.

9.

Hu 1985, 9.

10.

Late Qing Foreign Affairs (Reign of Emperor Tongzhi), 98:41.

11.

Jiang 1934, 2:364.

12.

“Zongli Yamen’s Memorial to the Throne in Korea,” in Sino-Japanese Diplomatic History of

Emperor Guangxu , 1:32. 13.

228

“Zongli Yamen’s Memorial to the Throne on Mutiny in Korea,” (ibid., 3:31).

Notes

14.

“Letters to the Translation Office,” in Complete Works of Li Wenzhong, 16:10.

15.

Luo Dunrong, “Events of Sino-Japanese War,” in Hu 1985, 12.

16.

Chen Gonglu, Chinese Modern History , 1:354.

17.

“Sino-Japanese Diplomatic History of Emperor Guangxu,” in Sino-Japanese War , Collections of

18.

Chi 1982, 320–22.

19.

Compete Works of Li Wenzhong: Memorials to the Throne , 78:61.

Chinese Modern History, 2:624.

20.

Chi 1982, 315-316.

21.

Westernization Movement , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1961), 3:141.

22.

“Memorials to the Throne on the Naval Generals ( July 29, 20th year of Emperor Guangxu),” in

Complete Works of Li Wenzhong , 78:52–53. 23.

Hu Sijing, “Harm of the Celebrities” and “Guowen Beicheng,” in Unofficial Modern History

24.

“Source of the Reform,” in Liang 1954, appendix 1, 133.

25.

A successful candidates in the provincial examinations.—Ed.

(Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1985), 1:230.

26.

“Source of the Reform,” in Liang 1954, appendix, 113–114.

27.

Juren ’s petition to the Emperor.—Trans.

28.

Complete Works of Tan Sitong (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 1:167–68.

29.

A successful candidates in the county examinations.—Ed.

30.

Bao Tianxiao, Memoirs of Chuanyinglou (Hong Kong Dahua Press, 1971), 145.

31.

Taiping Kingdom , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House,

32.

33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

1957), 2:532. It took almost ten years from collecting materials to the completion of the History of Japan . It was the first book on Japanese history that was written by a Chinese in the old style of history writing. It includes twelve annals, forty volumes and over two million words. Poems of Rujinglu (Classical Literature Press, 1957), 412. Postscript, “Analysis of Reforms in Japan,” in Preface to Research of Reforms in Japan . “Chronicles of Kang Youwei,” in Wuxu Reform , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 4:150. Liang Qichao, “On the Harm of Ignorance, the Source of Reform,” (ibid., 3:19). Ibid., 21. Huang Zunxian, Chronicles of Shenomoseki . “First Sino-Japanese War II,” in Records of Sheng Xuanhuai (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1982), 400, 414.

Chapter 10 1.

Westernization Movement , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1961), 6:351.

229

Notes

The Book of Changes: Xici Xia . “On Selecting Talents.” See Ban 1962, 2518. Liang Qichao, “Three Harms of Immutability,” in Wuxu Reform , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 3:18. 5. Analysis of Reforms in Japan . 6. Liang Qichao (See chap. 9, no. 36). 7. Analysis of Reforms in Japan . 8. “Second Letter to the Qing Emperor,” in Political Views of Kang Youwei (Zhonghua Book Company, 1991), 1:122. 9. “Fifth Letter to the Qing Emperor,” (ibid., 204). 10. “Proposal to Promote the Translation of Japanese Books and Overseas Study in Japan,” (ibid., 301). 11. “Fifth Letter to the Qing Emperor,” (ibid., 203). 12. Yan Fu, “On Reform,’ in Wuxu Reform , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 3:71. 13. “On Benevolence,” in Complete Works of Tan Sitong (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 2:290. 14. Qian Mu, Three Hundred–Year Academic History of China (Zhonghua Book Company, 1986), 2:675. 15. “Biography of Tan Sitong,” in Complete Works of Tan Sitong (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 2:546. 16. Four Petitions of Mr. Nanhai , see Tang Zhijun, History of the Wuxu Reform (People’s Publishing House, 1984), 121. 17. Complete Works of Tan Sitong (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 2:318. 18. Li Qichao, “Story of the Wuxu Reform,” in Wuxu Reform , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 1:273–74. 19. Ibid., 270–71. 20. Su Jizu, “Story of the Wuxu Coup of the Qing Dynasty,” (ibid., 277). 21. “Story of the Wuxu Reform,” (ibid., 277). 22. “Preamble I in Evolution and Ethics I,” “Changes,” in Collected Works of Yan Fu (Zhonghua Book Company, 1986), 5:1324. 23. Chaos.—Trans. 24. Peace.—Trans. 25. Peace and tranquility.—Trans. 26. Kang Youwei, On Confucius’s Reform (Zhonghua Book Company, 1958), 238, 283–84. 27. Sun Baoxuan, Diary of Wangshanlu (Shanghai Classics Press, 1983), 1:280. 28. Hu Sijing, “Proposals to the Court,” in Wuxu Reform , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 1:384. 29. Su Jizu, “Story of the Wuxu Coup of the Qing Dynasty,” (ibid., 1:346). 30. Bin Fengyang, “Letters to Ye, Minister of Personnel,” in Collection of Confucianism Protection , 6:5. 31. Liang Dingfen, “Letter to Wang Jijiu,” (ibid., 2). 32. Ye Dehui, “Criticism of Changxing Xueji” and “On Reading Western Scholarly Work,” in Collection of Confucianism Protection , 4:40–41, 64. 2. 3. 4.

230

Notes

33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45.

Zeng Lian, To My Friend . Zhu Shoupeng, Donghua Records of Emperor Guangxu (Zhonghua Book Company. 1958), 4188. Introduction to Academics in the Qing Dynasty , 58. Pi Xirui, Diary of Shifutang , a hand-written copy in Shanghai Library, 73. Protecting Confucianism.—Trans. “On Reading Western Scholarly Work,” in Collection of Confucianism Protection , 4:65. “Works of Baobingtang Students,” in Complete Works of Zhang Wenxiang , 228:27. Awakening from Delusion , vol. 4. Introduction to Academics in the Qing Dynasty , 62. Bin Fengyang, “Letter to Wang Yiwu,” in Collection of Confucianism Protection, 5:5. Ye Dehui, “Zhengjie Pian 2,” (ibid., 431). Zhang Zhidong, “On Learning,” in Three Cardinal Guides and the Five Constant Virtues. Qiu Tingliang, “On Vernacular Chinese as the Basis of Reform,” in Selected Works of Essays of the First Decade of the Xinhai Revolution (Sanlian Bookstore, 1960), 1:40, 42. Poems of Rujinglu (Classical Literature Press, 1957), 185–86.

Chapter 11 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Records of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 2:661. “Works on Donkey-Back,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:485. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Events of Gengzi (Zhonghua Book Company, 1978), 12. “Records of Zilihui,” in Du et al. 1983, 2–3. Emperor Guangxu. “Revolutionary History before the Founding of the Republic of China 1,” in Du et al. 1983, 22. “Full Story of Zilihui,” (ibid., 10). Chronicles of Sun Yat-sen , Historical Materials of Republic of China (Zhonghua Book Company, 1980), 46–47. “Full Story of Zilihui,” in Du et al. 1983, 9. Harold Zvi-Schifferin, Origin of Sun Yat-sen and Chinese Revolution (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1981), 221. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Records of the Shandong Boxers (Qilu Bookstore, 1980), 1:2. Archives Department of the Palace Museum, ed., Historical Archives of the Boxers (Zhonghua Book Company, 1959), 1:93. “Analysis of Chinese Modern Ideological Changes on an Economic Basis,” in Collected Works of Li Dazhao (People’s Publishing House, 1984), 2:180. Zheng Guanying, “Warning to the World of Prosperity,” in Collected Works of Zheng Guanying (Shanghai

231

Notes

People’s Publishing House, 1982), 1:715. 15.

“Diary of Disorder,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 1:347.

16.

“January Records of Tianjin,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s

17.

Cary Elwes, China and the Cross . See Zhang et al. 1987, 263–264.

18.

Alexander Michie, China and Christianity , trans. Yan Fu, stereotype edition of Nanyang Gongxue

Publishing House, 1957), 2:146.

Translation Office, 28. 19.

20. 21. 22.

23. 24. 25.

26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

32. 33. 34.

232

Jinan Branch of the Chinese History Committee, ed., Collection of Modern Historical Materials of

Shandong (Shandong People’s Publishing House, 1959), 60; Complete Works of Zhang Wenxiang , 117, 300. Alexander Michie, China and Christianity , trans. Yan Fu, stereotype edition of Nanyang Gongxue Translation Office, 30. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Poems of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:131. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Unofficial Records of the Qing Dynasty,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 2:637. Complete Works of Lu Xun , (People’s Literature Publishing House), 1:181. “Preface to Qiangxuehui in Beijing,” in Political Views of Kang Youwei (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), 1:165–66. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Origin of Understanding,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:232. Archives Department of the Palace Museum, ed., Historical Archives of the Boxers , 1:44-45; “Event of Kiaochow Bay,” (ibid., 280). Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “The Story of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:222. “On Militarism,” in Collected Works of Cai E (Hunan People’s Publishing House, 1988), 19. “The Meaning of the Boxer Rebellion and the Future of the Wuzhou Movement,” in Selected Works of Qu Qiubai (People’s Publishing House, 1985), 204. The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 1:259–60. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Poems of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:33; “Story of the Boxer Rebellion,” in Hu 1985, 46. A rebellious society made up of women.—Ed. Hu 1985, 34. Luo 1982, 14.

Notes

35.

51.

“Essays on the Boxers,” in Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:11. Luo 1982, 4. The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 1:324. “Affairs of Qin Lishan,” in Du et al. 1983, 241. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “On the Boxers,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:161. “On Self-Strengthening on the Basis of Enlightening of People,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 4:211. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Messages of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:207–8. “Poems of Gengzi,” (ibid., 125). “On the Boxers,” (ibid., 196). See note 25 above. “Events of the Boxer Rebellion,” in Hu 1985, 56. “Works on Donkey-Back,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:506–507. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Records of Buyuanfuzhai,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 2:646. Works of Qiu Jin (Shanghai Classics Press, 1979), 131. Donghua Records of Emperor Guangxu (Zhonghua Book Company, 1984), 4:4530. Dmitry Yanchevetsky, Report on the Eight-Power Allied Forces (Fujian: People’s Publishing House, 1983), 92. The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957),

52.

Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “On the Boxers,”

36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.

48. 49. 50.

1:149. in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:172. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Events of Gengzi (Zhonghua Book Company, 1978), 31. 54. “Works on Donkey-Back,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:489. 55. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Origin of Understanding,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:234. 56. “On the Boxers,” (ibid., 157). 57. Ibid. 58. “Works on Donkey-Back,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:490. 59. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “On the Boxers,” 53.

233

Notes

in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:158. 60. See note 45. 61. See note 59. 62. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Messages of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:219. 63. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Events of Gengzi (Zhonghua Book Company, 1978), 173. 64. “The Gengzi Event in Beijing,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:431–432. 65. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., Events of Gengzi (Zhonghua Book Company, 1978), 47. 66. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “The Story of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 1:225. Complete Works of Zhang Wenxiang , 160:12, 15. 67. 68. “Words of Alfred Graf Von Waldersee.” See Fan Wenlan, Chinese Modern History (People’s Publishing House, 1951), 506. 69. Zhang Feng et al., eds., Selected Works of Essays of the First Decade of the Xinhai Revolution (Sanlian Bookstore, 1978), 1:62. 70. Wang 1957, 1:981. 71. China. 72. Morse, International Relations of the Chinese Empire (Commercial Press, 1960), 3:383. 73. Ren Jianshu et al., Selected Works of Chun Duxiu (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1984), 1:428. Wuxu Reform , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), 3:18. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86.

234

“Memorial to the Throne of the Ministry of Personnel on September 28, 1901,” preserved in First Historical Archives of China. See Zhang et al. 1987, 606. Reign of Emperor Xuantong (Liaohai Bookstore, stone lithographic copy 1934) 11:24. Luo 1986, 1:204. Wang 1957, 1:980. Imperial Clan Court.—Trans. A rank of nobility lower than prince.—Ed. It should be Rites. It should be assistant minister. “The Boxer Rebellion in Tianjin,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 2:63–64. “Events of the Boxer Rebellion,” in Hu 1985, 66. See note 78 above. We have adopted the original English version of the treaty.—Ed. [“Boxer Protocol, Peace Agreement between the Great Powers and China” (Beijing: September 7,

Notes

87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92.

93. 94. 95. 96. 97.

98. 99.

1901). http://www.100jia.net/china1900/ereignisse/boxerprotokoll.htm] Luo 1986, 1:244. See note 86 above. Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Poems of Gengzi,” in Historical Materials of the Boxer , 1:117. See note 86 above. Luo 1986, 1:218. “Events of Gengxin,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 1:332; Modern History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed., “Diary of Pengdengge,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 2:666. De and Germany in the Chinese language have the same pronunciation.—Trans. “Diary of Pengdengge,” in Historical Materials of the Boxers (Chinese Social Science Publishing House, 1982), 2:667. “An Account of the Boxers,” in The Boxers , Collections of Chinese Modern History (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957), 1:289. Zhuo Zuoren, Memoirs of Zhitang (Hong Kong Sanyu Book Co. Ltd, 1980), 155. Liang Qichao, “Congratulations on the 100th Book and On the Responsibility and Experience of Our Newspaper,” in Zhang Feng et al., ed., Selected Works of Essays of the First Decade of the Xinhai Revolution (Sanlian Bookstore, 1978), 1:50. “Poems of Sword,” in Works of Qiu Qin , 82. “Preface to the Revolutionary History before the Founding of the Republic of China,” in Political Essays of Zhang Taiyan (Zhonghua Book Company, 1977), 2:821.

Chapter 12 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

It refers to the Boxer Rebellion. Luo 1986, 1:216. “On the Destruction of China,” in Selected Works of Essays of the First Decade of the Xinhai Revolution (Sanlian Bookstore, 1960), vol. 1, bk 1, 80. Liang Qichao, “Gratitude to Yugong in Singapore,” in Collected Works of Yinbingshi (Zhonghua Book Company, 1938), vol. 45, bk 2, 9. “Stele for the Establishment of the Newspaper Association Hall,” in Collection of Tablet Inscription Materials in Shanghai (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1980), 413. Annals of Jiading County , vol. 5, National Conditions and Social Customs , quoted in Economic History Materials of the Annals of Modern Shanghai (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1984), 343–44. Annals of Zhangyan , vol. 1, Different Districts , quoted in Economic History Materials of the Annals of Modern Shanghai (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1984), 331. “Electric Lamps,” in Annals of Shanghai Customs, chap. 146; Annals of Shanghai , vol. 3, Transportation , quoted in Economic History Materials of Annals of Modern Shanghai (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1984), 335.

235

Notes

Annals of Fahua Township , vol. 2, Customs , quoted in (ibid., 336). Annals of Zhenru , vol. 8, Customs , quoted in (ibid.); Annals of Shanghai County , vol. 8, Specialties , quoted in (ibid., 37). 11. Annals of Baoshan County , vol. 6, Industry , quoted in (ibid., 38–39). 12. Annals of Qingpu County , vol. 29, Customs , quoted in (ibid.); Annals of Pengpu Li , vol. 1, Territory 1 , Customs , quoted in (ibid., 336). 13. Diary of Shikezhai . 14. Zhongyang and Datong were newspapers of the time. 15. Lüe Gong, ed., Thirteen Types of Zhuzhici of Beijing in the Qing Dynasty (Beijing Publishing House, 1962), 166–33. 16. Name of a newspaper.—Trans. 17. Name of a newspaper.—Trans. 18. Xu Ke, ed., Records of the Qing Dynasty (Zhonghua Book Company, 1984), 5:1987. 19. “The Meaning of Marriage,” in Book of Rites , no.44. 20. Hu Puan, China Folk Customs Gazetteer 2 (Shanghai Bookstore, 1986), 3:133. 21. Intellectual learning.—Trans. 22. Zhang Jixu, “Discussion,” Students’ World in Hubei , 1 (1903). 23. Wang Guowei, “Preface 2,” in Collected Works of Jing'an . 24. Xiao 1976, bk 4, 2031. 25. Renquan has the same pronunciation as “human rights” in Chinese.—Trans. 26. Lit. “next to Rousseau.”—Trans. 27. Autobiography, Chronicle and Diary: Collected Works of Liu Yazi (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1986), 8. 28. Zou Rong, “Revolutionary Army,” in Selected Works of Essays of the First Decade of the Xinhai Revolution , vol. 1, bk. 2, 653. 29. Research Data of Shanghai (sequel) (Shanghai Bookstore, 1984), 532. 30. Sun Baoxuan, Diary of Wangshanglu (Shanghai Classics Press, 1983), 1:469. 31. Qian Huafo and Zheng Yimei, Thirty Years of Shanghai (Scholar Bookstore, 1947), 15. 32. Anecdotes of Shanghai (Shanghai Culture Press, 1982), 21–23. 33. Sun Baoxuan, Diary of Wangshanlu (Shanghai Classics Press, 1983), 2:1263. 34. “A Brief History of Chinese Novels,” in Complete Works of Lu Xun , 8:239. 35. Aying, Literary Works of the Late Qing Dynasty: Novels and Opera , 19. 36. Ibid., 14. 37. Qian Jibo, A History of Chinese Modern Literature , 189. 38. Zhou Zuoren, The Origin of Chinese New Literature (Renwen Bookstore, 1932), 101. 39. “A Call to Battle of the Guangfu Army,” in Works of Qiu Jin (Zhonghua Book Company, 1960), 21. 40. Ding Shouhe, ed., Periodicals of the Xinhai Revolution Period , 5:112. 41. See note 39 above. 42. Deng Shi, “On the Local Autonomy of China,” Political Journals , 3 (1904). 43. Xu Shouwei, “Quintessence of Chinese Culture and Westernization,” quoted in Selected Works of Essays of the First Decade of the Xinhai Revolution (Sanlian Bookstore, 1963), vol. 2, bk. 1, 52. 9. 10.

236

Notes

44. 45. 46.

Deng Shi, “Restoration of Ancient Learning,” (ibid., 60). Ning Diaoyuan, “Poem of Thoughts,” in Selected Modern Poems (People’s Literature Publishing House, 1963), 465. Tang Qunying, “Eight Jueju,” in Literature History of Hunan , vol. 15.

237

Glossary action without action adopt Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism assembly halls baron Big Sword Society Boxer Protocol Boxer Rebellion Bureau of Governmental Affairs China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company Chinese Engineering and Mining Company Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels Confucianism Convention of Kanagawa county magistrate Coup of 1898 Daoism dragon vein duke earl Eight-Nation Alliance forces Empress Dowager Cixi European and American storms First Sino-Japanese War Ganzhang Shipyard garrison commander Genghis Khan Gengzi Event God-worshipping Society governing offices governor Grand Council Grand Secretariat Guangdong Naval College guild Heaven and Earth Society

無為 中體西用 會館 男 大刀會 辛丑各國和約 義和團 督辦政務處 上海輪船招商局 / 輪船招商局 開平煤礦 《馬克思恩格斯選 集》 儒家 日美親善條約 縣令 戊戌政變 道家 龍脈 公 伯 八國聯軍 西太后 / 慈禧太后 歐風美雨 甲午戰爭 甘章船廠 總兵 成吉思汗 庚子事變 拜上帝會 公所 總督 軍機處 內閣 廣東水師學堂 行會 天地會

239

Glossary

Hongkou Shipyard Hundred Days’ Reform imperial examination Imperial Foreign Language Institute Incident of the Southeastern Peace Treaty Institute for Dialects Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity Jiangnan Translation College Junchang Shipyard Legalism Machinery College of the Jiangnan Arsenal marques Minister Coachman Minister Herald Minister of Ceremonies Minister of Finance Minister of Justice Minister of the Guards Minister of the Household Minister of the Imperial Clan Minister Steward Ministry for Justice Ministry for Personnel Ministry for Revenue Ministry for Rites Ministry for War Ministry for Works Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohism New Culture Movement Nine Ministers nine–rank system Office of Foreign Affairs peasant economy Pingying Society Plum Blossom Fist Preface to On the Political Reform of Peter the Great

240

虹口船廠 百日維新/戊戌維 新 科舉 同文館 東南互保 廣方言館 大日本國大朝鮮 國修好條規 江南翻譯館 均昌船廠 法家 江南製造局附設 機械學校 侯 太僕 大鴻臚 太常 大司農 廷尉 衛尉 光祿勳 宗正 少府 刑部 吏部 戶部 禮部 兵部 工部 總理衙門 墨家 新文化運動 九卿 九品中正制 撫夷局 小農經濟 平英團 梅花拳 《進呈俄羅斯大 彼得變政記序》

Glossary

private enterprises provincial commander-in-chief Red Fist Renjihe Insurance Company Sakyamuni Buddha secret societies Self-Reliance Society Shanghai Mechanical Textile Bureau Shanghai Telegraph College Shanghai Textile Corporation Shen Fist Shipping College of the Fuzhou Shipping Arsenal Sino-Japanese Treaty of Friendship Six Ministries Society for National Strengthening Summer Palace summon and appoint Taiping Kingdom three cardinal guides and five constant virtues Three Purities Tianjin Armaments College Tianjin Military College Tianjin Naval College Tianjin Telegraph College Travels of Marco Polo Treaty of Nanjing Treaty of Shimonoseki Treaty of Wanghia viscount Westernization reformists / faction White Lotus Society wooden walking horses xiaolian Xinchou Treaty Xingzhonghui (Revive China Society) Xinhai Revolution xiucai zixuan

民用企業 提督 紅拳 仁濟和保險公司 釋迦牟尼 會黨 自立會 上海機器織佈局 上海電報學堂 上海織佈局 神拳 福州船政局附設 船政學堂 中日修好條規 六部 保國會 圓明園 徵辟 太平天國 三綱五常 三清 天津武備學堂 天津軍工學堂 天津水師學堂 天津電報學堂 《馬可‧波羅遊 記》 《南京條約》 《馬關條約》 《望廈條約》 子 洋務派 白蓮教 木牛流馬 孝廉 《辛丑合約》 興中會 辛亥革命 秀才 貲選

241

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250

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Academic History of China) Zhongguo xiandai jingjishi tongji ziliao xuanji 中國近代經濟史統計資料選輯 (Historical Statistics on the Chinese Modern Economy) Zhongguo xiandaiwenxue shi 中國現代文學史 (A History of Chinese Modern Literature) Zhongguo xinwenxue de yuanliu 中國新文學的源流 (The Origin of Chinese New Literature) Zhongguo xueshu sixiang suibi 中國學術思想史隨筆 (Essays on the History of Academic Thought in China) Zhongguo zhidu shi 中國制度史 (History of Chinese System) Zhongguo zibenzhuyi yu guonei shichang 中國資本主義與國內市場 (Chinese Capitalism and the Domestic Market) Zhonghua diguo duiwai guanxi shi 中華帝國對外關係史 (The International Relations of the Chinese Empire) Zhonghua quanguo fengsu zhi 中華全國風俗誌 (China Folk Customs Gazetteer 2) Zhonghuamingguo shi ziliao conggao 中華民國史資料叢稿 (Historical Materials of Republic of China) Zhongwai guanxishi yicong 中外關係史譯叢 (A History of Chinese Diplomacy) Zhongwai ribao 中外日報 (Zhongwai Daily) Zhongxi wenhua jiaoliu shi 中西文化交流史 (History of Cultural Exchange between China and the West) Zhou li 周禮 (Rites of the Zhou Dynasty) Zi zheng xin pian 資政新篇 (The New Essay on Economics and Politics) Zi zi tonggan 資治通鑒 (History as A Mirror) Zouxiang shijie congshu 走向世界叢書 (Series of Going to the World) Zuo zhuan 左傳 (Zuo’s Commentary)

Personal works Ban Gu 班固. 1962. Han shu 漢書 (The Book of Han). Zhonghua Book Company. Bernal, John Desmond. 1981. Science in History. Science Press. Cai Guanluo 蔡冠洛 . 1937. Qingdai tibia mingren zhuan 清代七百名人傳 (Biographies of 700 Celebrities in the Qing Dynasty). World Book Company. Chen Dengyuan 陳登原. 1980. Vol. 3 of Guoshi jiuwen 國史舊聞 (Old Anecdotes of Chinese History). Zhonghua Book Company. Chi Zhongyou 池仲祐. 1982. Haijun shiji: shuzhanpian 海軍實紀·述戰篇 (Annals of the navy: The battles). In Qingmo haijun shiliao 清末海軍史料 (Naval History of the Late Qing Dynasty). Ocean Press.

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Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒. 1975. Chunqiu fanlu 春秋繁露 (On Spring and Autumn). Zhonghua Book Company. Du Maizhi 杜邁之 et al. 1983. Zilihui Shiliaoji 自立會史料集 (Historical Materials of Zilihui). Yuelu Bookstore. Fang Hao 方豪 . 1983. Zhongxi jiaotong shi 中西交通史 (History of Exchanges between China and the West). Chinese Culture University Press. Fang Xuanling 房玄齡. 1974. Jin shu 晉書 (The Book of the Jin Dynasty). Zhonghua Book Company. Guo Tingyi 郭廷以. 1947. Jindai zhongguo shi 近代中國史 (Chinese Modern History). Commercial Press. Hu Jichen 胡寄塵, ed. 1985. Qingji yeshi 清季野史 (Unofficial History of the Qing Dynasty). Yuelu Bookstore. Jiang Yanfu 蔣延黻, ed. 1934. Vol. 2 of Jindai zhongguo waijiao ziliao jiyao 近代 中國外交資料輯要 (Materials of Chinese Modern Diplomacy). Shanghai Commercial Press. Liang Qichao 梁啟超. 1954. Wuxu zhengbian ji 戊戌政變記 (Story of Wuxu Reform). China Book Company. Luo Dunrong 羅惇曧. 1982. Gengzi guobian ji 庚子國變記 (Gengzi Revolution). Shanghai Bookstore. Luo Huimin 駱惠敏, ed. 1986. Vol. 1 of Qingmo minchu zhengqingneimu 清末民 初政情內幕 (Inside Story of the Government in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China). Knowledge Press. Marx, K. (馬克思) and F. Engels (恩格斯). 1972. Ma Kesi En Gesi xuanji 馬克思 恩格斯選集 (Selected Works of Marx and Engels). People’s Publishing House. Meng Sen 孟森. 1981. Vol. 2 of Mingqingshi jiangyi 明清史講義 (Lecture Notes on the Ming and Qing Dynasties). Zhonghua Book Company. Morse, Hosea Ballou. 1957. International Relations of the Chinese Empire . Sanlian Bookstore. Sima Qian 司馬遷. 1959. Shi ji 史記 (Records of the Great Historian). Zhonghua Book Company. Wang Tieya 王鐵崖. 1957. Vol. 1 of Zhongwai Jiuyuezhang Huibian 中外舊約章彙 編 (Collection of Treaties between China and Foreign Countries). Sanlian Bookstore. Xiao Yishan 蕭一山. 1976. Qingdai tongshi 清代通史 (History of the Qing Dynasty). Taiwan: Commercial Press. Xia Xie 夏燮. 1988. Zhongxi jishi 中西紀事 (Records of China and the West). Yuelu Bookstore. Zhang Li 張力 et al. 1987. Zhongguojiao an shi 中國教案史 (History of Religious

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Cases in China). Sichuan Social Sciences Publishing House. Zhang Yingchang 張應昌, ed. 1960. Qing shi duo 清詩鐸 (Collections of Qing Poems). China Book Company. Zhao Erxuan 趙爾巽 . 1977. Qing shi gao 清史稿 (Draft of Qing History). Zhonghua Book Company.

253

Index adopting Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism 113-14, 116-17, 159, 171 America 25-6, 45, 91, 139 Anhui Province 137, 142 arsenals 108-9, 119 Beijing 28-9, 79, 93-5, 97, 104, 107, 11920, 124, 151, 167, 176, 184, 188, 190-6, 200, 204, 207-8 bourgeoisie 28, 129, 131, 136, 187 Boxer Rebellion 138, 176, 179-80, 182, 184, 186-91, 194, 201, 214 Boxers 176-7, 179-80, 182-93, 195, 201 Britain 28, 32, 43, 52-4, 58-9, 88-9, 91, 93, 97, 112, 124, 136, 139, 143-4, 177, 182-3, 185, 194, 213 British Army 54, 57-8 Bureau of Astronomy 30-1 capitalism 2-3, 18, 59-61, 83, 96-7, 102, 110-11, 124, 132, 135, 158, 190 capitalists 84, 130, 164, 169 Chang'an 3, 8, 21, 156 Ch i na Merc hants' Steam Nav igat i o n Company 115, 127-8 Chinese Confucianism 113-14, 116-18 Chinese feudal society 2, 6-7, 9-10, 16, 18 Chinese landlord class 96, 204 churches 23, 113, 136-7, 182-3, 191 coastal regions 28, 30-1, 59, 93-4, 114, 124, 194 Columbus 24-7 compradors 46, 62, 101, 125-30 concessions 29, 94, 97, 144, 147 Confucian classics 41, 82, 171, 210 Confucian scholars 14, 18, 30, 82-3, 169 Confucianism 14-18, 30, 34, 55, 58, 76-8, 117, 162-3, 170-2, 181, 196

Confucius 6, 15, 17, 77, 99, 163, 169, 171-3, 211 conservatives 109, 118, 121-2, 170, 172-3, 192 Da Gama and Magellan 26-7 Daqin 20-1, 24 Dong Fuxiang 192-3, 198 Earth Society 57, 66-70, 74-6, 83, 138 Eight-Nation Alliance 190-4, 200-1, 204 Emperor Daoguang 43, 46, 49, 53-4, 59, 66, 90, 106, 108, 200 Emperor Guangxu 46, 113, 143, 149, 170, 177, 186, 205-6, 212-13 Emperor Jiaqing 39, 42, 49, 66-7, 70, 125, 205, 213 Emperor Kangxi 30, 36-40 Emperor Qianlong 29, 31-2, 36, 39-45, 49, 52-3, 59, 67, 151, 184 Emperor Tongzhi 104-5, 134, 138, 143, 205 Emperor Wu 15-16 Emperor Xianfeng 60, 66, 70, 81, 89-90, 93-4, 106, 134 Emperor Yongzheng 31, 38 Emperors Jiaqing 49 Emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu 104 Empress Dowager Cixi 147-9, 167, 170, 173, 186, 188-90, 192, 197, 200 envoys 28-9, 32, 89-90, 98-9, 106, 110, 143-4, 153, 187-8, 197, 204 eunuchs 37, 42, 167 Europe 20, 23-6, 45, 182, 205, 210, 215-16 European and American storms 203-5, 207-11, 213-17 Feng Guifen 101, 113 feudal society 2-7, 9-13, 15, 17-18, 36 First Opium War 95-6, 99, 114 First Sino-Japanese War 113, 124, 129, 131, 137, 147, 149-50, 152, 156-9, 1623, 183

255

Index

foreign aggression 56, 102, 108, 138, 150, 152, 184-5, 187, 200-1, 214 foreign envoys 93-4, 106-8, 184, 188, 190, 200 foreign settlements 60-1, 99, 101, 107, 131, 152, 195, 206 France 53, 59, 88, 91, 93, 112, 124, 139, 143, 146, 182, 211, 213 gangs 43, 45-6, 69, 132, 136, 176, 179 Gapsin Coup 146-7, 150 Gelao Society 138-9, 178 Gengzi Event 121, 187, 190-1, 194, 197, 199-200 Germany 143, 154, 183-4, 199-200 God-worshipping Society 67-70, 73-4, 76 government officials 3, 8, 32-3, 40, 42, 46, 49, 57-8, 91, 107, 110, 118, 130, 138, 151, 167, 170, 184 Grand Council 55, 106-7 Guangdong 28, 30-4, 48, 57-8, 62, 68, 934, 100, 108, 126, 133-4, 151, 178, 188 Guangxi 66, 68, 78 Guangzhou 28, 31, 46-8, 53, 57-8, 60, 89, 91, 93, 99, 111, 124, 130, 177 guilds 10, 12-13, 45 Guiliang 89, 93, 96 Han 6, 11, 14, 38-40, 42, 53, 75, 106, 156 Han Dynasty 5, 8-9, 14-16, 20, 151 Heaven and Earth Society 57, 66-70, 74-6, 83, 138 Heavenly Father 71, 73-4, 80 Heavenly Father-Emperor 69, 79 Hong Kong 57, 59-61, 92, 101, 177-8 Hong Rengan 60, 83, 100-1, 153 Hong Xiuquan 7, 68, 71-4, 76-8, 80, 82, 101 Hubei 66-7, 79, 134, 178, 210 Huizhou Uprising 177-8 Hunan Province 170, 172 Hundred Days' Reform 84, 112, 155-6, 162-3, 166-7, 170, 173-4, 176-8, 183,

256

186-7, 193, 196, 214 imperial examination system 9, 38, 41-2, 112, 118, 158, 199 imperial examinations 11, 42, 57, 77, 137-8, 167, 199 indemnity 58, 150, 184, 196-7 Independent Army 176-8 Italy 24, 26, 139 Japan 29, 52, 142-50, 153-6, 164, 166, 182, 184, 188, 199, 204, 211, 213 Japanese 63, 142-6, 150, 154, 184, 200, 211 Jesus 73-4, 81, 201 Jiangnan Arsenal 111-12, 115 juren 57, 118, 151-2 Kang Youwei 71, 84, 117, 151, 155-6, 162-6, 168-70, 172, 177-8, 184, 188-9 Korea 144-7, 184 landlord class 5, 44, 82-3, 96-8, 101, 104, 187, 204 Li Hongzhang 105, 113, 120-1, 126, 147-9, 153, 158, 162, 177-8, 186, 188 Liang Qichao 111-12, 150-1, 157, 163, 166-8, 171-2, 174, 178, 188, 196, 201, 205, 210, 214 Lin Zexu 44, 48, 53-7, 90, 108, 110 Liu Caiwen 11-12 Manchu 37-8, 75-6, 82, 106, 156, 176, 215 Marx 127-8, 132, 135-6 Meiji Reform 153-4 Mencius 17, 72, 76-7, 211 Mifanzhus 45, 70 Ming Dynasty 12, 27, 29, 36-40, 45, 66, 68, 75, 95, 113, 125, 143, 151, 181 Ministry of Penalties 107-8, 189 Ministry of Personnel 36, 42, 106-7 Ministry of Works 108, 167 missionaries 29-30, 72, 112, 136, 181 modernization 102-5, 107, 109, 111, 113,

Index

115, 117, 119, 121, 125, 162, 187, 216 Nanjing 58, 67, 78-9, 98-9, 121, 124, 195, 209 national war 74, 99, 102, 180, 187, 194, 200 navy 115-16, 119, 128, 147-8, 154, 156, 158 neo-Confucianism 17, 38, 189 Nian Army 66-7, 104-5 Ningbo 31, 126, 133-4 Office of Foreign Affairs 106, 196 opium 47-9, 57, 60, 121 Opium War 18, 31, 34, 46-7, 52-3, 55-6, 58, 60, 62-3, 66, 71, 84, 90-1, 94-5, 98-9, 118, 124, 142, 181, 183, 204 poems 7, 29-30, 47, 59, 80-1, 153-4, 174, 190, 205, 207, 209 Polo, Marco 22, 24, 28 ports 58, 61, 88, 99, 124, 129, 152-3, 157, 185, 205, 209 Portugal 24, 26, 28, 30 priests 30, 62, 137, 181-2, 184, 187, 191 Qing Dynasty 29-30, 35-41, 43-7, 49, 66, 68, 74-6, 80-1, 84, 101, 106, 143, 151, 158, 165, 176, 188, 202, 211 rebellion 14, 17, 39, 67-8, 70, 72, 78, 176-7, 180, 183, 186 reform 55, 61, 63, 77, 84, 96, 112, 117, 122, 142, 150-2, 154-9, 162-7, 169-74, 176-8, 183, 186-9, 196, 214 reformists 96, 98, 100, 113-14, 116, 122, 157, 163-4, 166-73, 176, 178, 186-7, 199 religion 7, 23, 31, 62, 68, 81, 83, 117, 137, 165, 179, 182, 210 revolt 12, 14, 45, 150, 204 revolution 11, 27, 105, 131, 166, 169, 173, 176-7, 202 Rousseau 211-12 Russia 93, 97, 143, 146, 177, 182-4 Ryukyus 143-5, 147

san gang wu chang 78, 166 Sanyuanli 56-7, 150 scholar-bureaucrats 30, 36, 47, 49, 53, 95-7, 190 Second Opium War 83, 96, 98-9, 102, 105, 114, 162, 195 secret societies 179 self-strengthening 97, 104-5, 108, 115, 142, 156, 164 Shanghai 60-2, 89, 93-4, 99, 101, 107, 111, 124, 132-3, 139, 205-6, 208-9, 212-13 Sichuan 45, 66-7 Spain 24, 26, 28, 30, 53 Spring and Autumn Period 2, 8, 14, 16 Sun Yat-sen 76, 84, 153, 177-8 Suzhou 13, 152, 209 system examination 9, 41 hereditary 7, 10, 169 Taiping Kingdom 7, 65-75, 77-81, 83, 85, 100-1, 213 Taiping Rebellion 11, 75-9, 81-5, 96-7, 101, 104-5 Taiping troops 78, 82 Taiwan 39, 44, 133, 143-5, 147, 153 Tan Sitong 152, 163, 165-6 Tang Caichang 177 Tianjin 89, 93-4, 99, 104, 107, 124, 137, 186, 191-3, 208 Tianyan Lun 163, 168-9 treaties 52, 58, 88-90, 93-5, 97, 99, 104-5, 124, 128, 142-5, 185, 196-7, 199, 204 Treaty of Tianjin 93-4, 99, 124 treaty ports 124, 129 unequal treaties 58, 93, 100 Wei Changhui 73-4 Wei Yuan 55-6, 101, 115 Wenxiang 96-8, 104, 116, 144, 153 Western learning 112-18, 122, 154, 156, 169-71, 181, 210-11 Western powers 62, 120, 142-5, 148, 164, 180, 194

257

Index

Westernization 116, 118, 120-2, 127, 1579, 189 Westernization faction 113-14, 116, 153, 157-8, 168, 171-3, 177, 186-7, 194, 199, 208 Westernization Movement 55, 97, 101, 104-6, 108-14, 117-19, 121, 129, 152, 156-9, 164, 166, 172-3 Westernization reformists 96, 110, 118, 122 White Lotus Society 39, 42, 49, 57, 66-7, 69-71, 179, 213 Xiang Army 84, 101, 138 Xinchou Treaty 195-6, 204-5, 207, 216 Xinjiang 20, 124, 156, 197-8 Xu Tong 190, 192, 198 Yan Fu 112, 163, 165, 168-9, 210-11 Yang Xiuqing 72-4, 78 Yangtze River 46, 52, 62, 66, 71, 78, 89, 93, 96, 124, 139, 176, 178, 183, 194 Ye Mingchen 89-93 Yixin 97, 104, 118-19, 153, 158 yuan 13, 22, 38, 126, 132, 196 Zeng Guofan 5-6, 72, 75-6, 82-3, 92, 95-6, 101, 104, 108, 127, 138 Zheng Guanying 62, 101, 113, 115, 127-8, 137 Zheng He 25-7, 34 Zhongshu, Dong 15-16, 162 Zongli Yamen 106-8, 116, 143, 167, 196 Zongrenfu 197-8

258

SILKROAD PRESS

Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society Volume 1 Extensive and profound, speculative and deep, the series embodies decades of effort by the famous historian, Chen Xulu. This book not only examines the changes in the economic and political structure of modern society, but also explores the evolution of urban and rural grassroots organizations as well as the social changes provoked by unequal treaties. It studies the internal and external factors in social change in modern China. It discusses changes in political ideology, philosophy and literature, and analyzes the change in social attitudes under the influence of the United States and Europe.

AUTHOR

Chen Xulu (1918–1988) graduated from the Department of History and Sociology, East China Normal University and served the university as Associate Professor. After the founding of People's Republic of China, he served as Deputy Director of the History Department, Director of the Graduate Division, and Vice Provost and Professor of East China Normal University; he was a member of the Editorial Board and Division Editor of the Ci Hai Encyclopedia, and the first Vice President of the Research Society of Modern Chinese History. He published over one hundred scientific research papers and books such as 1911 Revolution and Metabolism of Modern China’s Society.

Metabolism of Modern CHINESE Society Volume 1

Tracking the Evolution of Modern Chinese Society

Metabolism of Modern ChinESE Society volume 1

Chen Xulu

Modern Chinese Studies

Chen Xulu SILKROAD PRESS

SILKROAD P R E S S