COAS
Center for Open Access in Science (COAS)
OPEN JOURNAL FOR STUDIES IN HISTORY (OJSH)

ISSN (Online) 2620-066X * ojsh@centerprode.com

OJSH Home

2023 - Volume 6 - Number 2


The Change of Diplomatic Ideas in the Late Qing Dynasty (1840-1914): A Literature Review

Yang Li * ORCID: 0000-0002-2068-7888
Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent, BELGIUM

Open Journal for Studies in History, 2023, 6(2), 57-68 * https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojsh.0602.04069l
Received: 11 October 2023 ▪ Revised: 29 November 2023 ▪ Accepted: 5 December 2023

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)


ABSTRACT:
This study delves into the evolution of diplomatic ideas during the late Qing dynasty (1840-1914), offering a comprehensive review of existing literature on this transformative period. It critically examines the established timeline, justifying the selection of 1840 as the starting point and 1914 as the endpoint for this research. The review further investigates the changing landscape of ancient Chinese diplomatic concepts, tracing their evolution during the late Qing Dynasty and their interactions with the emerging notions of sovereignty and national consciousness within modern China. Additionally, it constructs a chronological narrative from the extensive body of Chinese studies on the metamorphosis of diplomatic ideas in modern Chinese history. This literature review concludes by identifying crucial research lacunae and formulating three pertinent research questions, paving the way for a more nuanced understanding of this significant historical transformation.

KEY WORDS: Qing China, diplomatic factors, Chinese history.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Yang Li, Ghent University, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent, BELGIUM.


REFERENCES:

Andornino, G. The Nature and Linkages of China’s Tributary System Under the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Department of Economic History, London School of Economics and Political Science, (2006).

Anne, K. & Edmund, W. Westphalia, Treaty of (1648). A Dictionary of World History. Oxford University Press, (2015).

Beauclair, I. Liang Chia-pin, Kuangtung Shihsan Hang K'ao (The Thirteen Hongs of Canton) (Book Review). Pacific Affairs, 13(1), p.102. (1940).

Cai, W. Z. lun ma guan tiao yue 、xin chou tiao yue dui hai guan zhi du de ying xiang 论马关条约和辛丑条约对海关制度的影响 [on the influence of Shimonoseki treaty and Xinchou Treaty on customs system]. International Business: Journal of the University of International Business and Economics. (3), 1989. 45 -- 49.

Charles H. Hedtke. The Szechwanese Railroad Protection Movement: Themes of Change and Conflict. 近代史研究所集刊, no. 6 (1977).

Chen Yibao 陈义报. cong ‘man han ’dao ‘zhong xi’:min chu qing yi min shi ye zhong de hua yi zhi bian 从‘满汉’到‘中西’:民初清遗民视野中的‘华夷之辨 [From 'Manchu and Han' to 'Chinese and Western' : The Differentiation of 'Chinese and Foreigners' in the Vision of the Remnant of qing Dynasty in the Early Republic of China] Ningbo da Xue Xue Bao. Ren Wen Ke Xue Ban 32, No. 4 (2019): 87-94.

Chen, Shengli. 陈胜粦. Dui Xi Fang Tiao Zhan De Shou Ci Hui Ying: Ya Pian Zhan Zheng 对西方挑战的首次回应:鸦片战争 [The first response to the Western challenge: the Opium Wars]. Heritage Publishing House, 1990.

Chen, Shengli. 陈胜粦. Ya Pian Zhan Zheng Qian Hou Zhong Guo Ren Mian Dui Fang Shuang Chong Tiao Zhan De Hui Ying 鸦片战争前后中国人面对西方双重挑战的回应 [The Chinese response to the Twin Challenges of the West before and after the Opium War]. Journal of Sun Yat-sen University. Philosophy and Social Sciences, no. 1 (1991): 8-21.

Cheuk, Ka-Kin. Yellow Perils: China Narratives in the Contemporary World. Edited by Franck Billé and Sören Urbansky. Pacific Affairs, 93, no. 2 (2020): 415-417.

Cohen, P. A. and Swisher, E. China and Christianity: The Missionary Movement and the Growth of Chinese Antiforeignism, 1860-1870. The American Historical Review. The Macmillan Company (1964).

Cohen, P. A. Discovering History in China: American Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese Past. New York: Columbia University Press, (1984).

Cui, S. P. Supranational and Vassal Systems: The functioning and characteristics of the International Order in Ancient East Asia. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 37(2), (2017). 35-42.

Deng Zihan 邓梓晗. Qian tan yang wu yun dong de xing zhi 浅谈洋务运动的性质 [On the nature of westernization Movement]. Youth, No. 31 (2017): 9-16.

Esherick, Joseph, Hasan Kayalı, and Eric Van Young. Empire to Nation: Historical Perspectives on the Making of the Modern World. Lanham, Maryland; Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006.

Eszterhai, V. Searching for an Alternative Global Order: The Qing Tributary System and the Mechanism of Guanxi. Fudan Journal of The Humanities and Social Sciences. [Online] 11 (4), (2017). 499-513.

Fairbank, J. K, and S. Y. Teng. On The Ch’ing Tributary System. Harvard journal of Asiatic studies, 6, no. 2 (1941): 135-246.

Fairbank, J. K. The Chinese World Order: Traditional China’s Foreign Fairbank Relations, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968.
Fang Weigui 方维规. “yi ”“yang ""xi ”"wai "ji qi xiang guan gai nian -lun 19shi ji han yu she wai ci hui he gai nian de yan bian “夷”“洋""西”"外"及其相关概念-论19世纪汉语涉外词汇和概念的演变 ["Yi", "Foreign", "Western", "Foreign" and their Related Concepts -- On the evolution of Chinese foreign-related Vocabulary and Concepts in the 19th Century], Journal of Beijing Normal University (Social Science Edition), no. 4, 2013, pp. 60-61.

Han, D. Y. (2020) The Rise and Fall of the Hua-Yi System in East Asia. Journal of Chinese Humanities (Leiden). [Online] 2019 (2), 200-214.
He Guichun 何桂春.  shang hai zhong wai hui fang ju ji qi fan ge ming huo dong 上海中外会防局及其反革命活动 [The Defense Bureau of the Chinese and foreign Association in Shanghai and its counter-revolutionary activities]. Fujian Shi Fan da Xue Bao. Zhe Xue she Hui Ke Xue Ban, No.3 (1978): 76 -- 82.

Hevia, James Louis. Cherishing Men from Afar: Qing Guest Ritual and the Macartney Embassy of 1793. Durham, N.C.; Duke University Press, 1995.

Hevia, James Louis. English Lessons: The Pedagogy of Imperialism in Nineteenth-Century China. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003.
Jeyakumar, Uthra. Chinese Tributary System - the Way of Maintaining Order and Stability. Academia Letters, n.d. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL2886

Jian, J. B. 简军波. 中华朝贡体系: 观念结构与功能zhong hua chao gong ti xi : guan nian jie gou yu gong neng [Chinese Tributary System: Conceptual Structure and Function]. International Political Studies. (1), 132-143 (2009).

Jian, J. X. Qian tan chao gong ti xi 浅谈朝贡体系 [On tribute system]. (24), 41-42 (2016).

Kayaoglu, T. Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory. International Studies Review, 12, no. 2 (2010): 193-217.

Keller, Wolfgang, Ben. Li, and Carol H. Shiue. China’s Foreign Trade Perspectives from the Past 150 Years. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010.

Kerr, A. & Wright, E. (2015). Shimonoseki, Treaty of (17 April 1895). A Dictionary of World History.

Kitson, P. J. The Last War of the Romantics: De Quincey, Macaulay, the First Chinese Opium War. The Wordsworth Circle, 49, no. 3 (2018): 148-158.

Kuhn, Philip A. Rebellion and Its Enemies in Late Imperial China Militarization and Social Structure, 1796-1864. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, (1980).

Leung, E. 梁伯華. jin dai zhong guo wai jiao de ju bian wai jiao zhi du yu zhong wai guan xi bian hua de yan jiu 近代中国外交的巨变外交制度与中外关系变化的研究 [The great changes of Modern Chinese diplomacy: a study of diplomatic system and the change of Sino-foreign relations], Hong Kong Commercial Press, (1990).

Levenson, J. R. Confucian China and its modern fate: a trilogy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (1958).

Levenson, Joseph Richmond. Confucian China and Its Modern Fate a Trilogy. 1st combined ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
Li Yumin 李育民. Zhong Guo Fei Yue Shi 中国废约史 [The History of Treaty Abolition in China]. Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju, 2005
Li, H. (2010) from revolution to modernization: the paradigmatic transition in Chinese historiography in the reform era. History and Theory [Online], 49 (3), 336-360.

Li, J.  From 'Yi Xia' to 'Zhonghua ':cong yi xia ’dao' zhong hua’; 'zhong hua min zu ’guan nian xing cheng shi qi de si xiang zhuan hua 从 ‘夷夏’到 ‘中华’: ‘中华民族’观念形成时期的思想转化 [From 'Yi Xia' to 'Zhonghua’: The Ideological transformation during the Formation of the Concept of 'Chinese nation]". Xi Nan Min zu Da Xue Xue Bao. Ren Wen She Ke Ban 39, No. 1 (2018): 22-27.

Li, Yumin. 李育民. Lun qing zheng fu de xin shou tiao yue fang sheng ji qi bian hua 论清政府的信守条约方针及其变化 [On the policy of honoring treaties of Qing Government and its changes]. Jin Dai Shi Yan Jiu, No. 2 (2004): 45-90.

Liu, Lydia He. The Clash of Empires: The Invention of China in Modern World Making. Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard University Press, 2004.
Lovell, Julia. The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China. London: Picador, 2012.

Ma, Y. jia wu zhan zheng yu min zu guo jia gou jian 甲午战争与民族国家构建 [The Sino-Japanese War and nation-state Construction]. National Human History, No. 14 (2014): 78-82.

Mao H. J. 茅海建 (Translated by Lawson J, ed). Tian Chao De Ben Kui 天朝的崩溃 [The Qing Empire and the Opium War: Collapse of the Heavenly Dynasty]. Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Mao, Ze. Dong. 毛泽东 (1949). Zai Jin Sui Jie Fang Qu Gan Bu Hui Yi Shang De Jiang Hua在晋绥解放区干部会议上的讲话 [Speech at a conference of cadres in Shansi-Suiyuan liberated area], https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-4/mswv4_35.html (1 April 1948).

Mao, Zedong 毛泽东. Mao Ze Dong Xuan Ji Di Wu Juan 毛泽东选集第五卷 [Selected Works of Mao Zedong volume 5]. People’s Publishing House. 1977, 490.

Marx, K. & Engels, F. The communist manifesto. Auckland, New Zealand: The Floating Press. 1888.

Mazower, M. The End of Eurocentrism. Critical Inquiry, 40, no. 4 (2014): 298-313.

Michael, G. Chinese Intellectuals and the Revolution of 1911: The Birth of Modern Chinese Radicalism (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1969), 248.

Motegi, Toshio. Yan, Li, Foreign Policy in Regard to Japan and Consciousness of the Japanese Language in the Late-Qing: Caught between Tribute and Treaty. Study of Economic History (Keizaishi Kenkyu) 14 (2011): 233-243.

Naraoka, S. Chapter 3 Japan’s Twenty-One Demands and Anglo-Japanese relations. Taylor & Francis. (2017).

Paine, S. C. M. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Patton, S. The Peace of Westphalia and it Effects on International Relations, Diplomacy and Foreign Policy. The Histories: Vol. 10: Is. 1, Article 5 (2019).

Peck, J. The roots of rhetoric: the professional ideology of America's China watchers. Bull. of Concerned Asian Scholars (October). (1969). Philosophy and Social Sciences, no. 1 (1991): 8-21.

Rinke, S. Eurocentrism. Encyclopaedia of Early Modern History Online. Leiden, Koninklijke Brill NV, (2015).

Rupert, M. & Hazelle, A. (2016). Historical materialism and globalization. London, [England]; Routledge.

Said, E. W. (Edward William), and Eric Mottram. Orientalism. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, (1979).

Schuyler, George Samuel. The Yellow Peril. [First electronic edition]. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press, 2004.

Shepherd, R. Human Rights, Modernization Theory, and China. Critical Asian Studies, 50, no. 3 (2018): 484-492.

Smith, R. J. Foreign-Training and China’s Self-Strengthening: The Case of Feng-huang-shan, 1864-1873. Modern Asian Studies. [Online] 10 (2), (1976). 195-223.

Su Shuangbi 苏双碧. bi guan zi shou he di zhu jie ji di kang pai de jue qi 闭关自守和地主阶级抵抗派的崛起 [Isolation and the rise of resistance of the landlord class].  Tianjin Shehui Kexue, No. 3 (1986): 57-62.

Teng, Ssü-yü, and John King Fairbank. Research Guide for China’s Response to the West: A Documentary Survey 1839-1923. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954.

Tsiang Tingfu 蒋廷黻. Jin dai zhong guo wai jiao shi zi liao ji yao 近代中国外交史资料辑要 [A summary of modern Chinese diplomatic history] Tai bei; Shang wu yin shu guan Taipei 台北:  商务印书馆 The Commercial Press, 1958.

Tsiang Tingfu 蒋廷黻. Zhong Guo Jin Dai Shi Da Gang 中国近代史 [The Outline of Modern Chinese History]. Taiwan Qiming Book Company, 1949.

Wallerstein, I. M. Historical Capitalism: with Capitalist Civilization. Eleventh impression. London: Verso, (2003).

Wallerstein, I. M. The Modern World System. New York; Academic Press, (1974).

Wang Rixuan. Gu yanwu de tian xia guan ji qi xian dai xing zhuan hua顾炎武的‘天下观’及其现代性转化 [Gu Yanwu's view of the world and its transformation of modernity] Journal of Chaohu University 22, No. 1 (2020): 17-24.

Wang Xiuling 王秀玲. qing dai guo jia ji si ji qi zheng zhi yu yi 清代国家祭祀及其政治寓意 [State sacrifice in qing Dynasty and its political implication]. Frontiers, No. 6 (2016): 103-107.

Wang Zhixian王之宪.  jie chu de min zu ying xiong lin ze xu ——ji nian ya pian zhan zheng 150 zhou nian 杰出的民族英雄林则徐——纪念鸦片战争150周年 Lin Zexu, an outstanding national hero -- commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Opium War. Dongbei Lin Ye Da Xue Xue Bao, No. S1 (1990): 48-50.

Wang, H. tan xi ya pian zhan zheng dui zhong guo she hui fa zhan de ying xiang 探析鸦片战争对中国社会发展的影响 [Explored the influence of opium War on China's social development]. Modern Educational Science: Middle school Teachers, (6), 144-144 (2012).

Wang, J. Unequal treaties and China (2-volume set). Vol. 1. Honolulu, HI: Enrich Professional Publishing. (2015).

Wei, Yuan 魏源 (1852): Hai Guo Tu Zhi 海图国志 [Atlas of the Sea and the Kingdom], vol. 19. Chen Hua et al. Annotation, Yuelu Publishing house, 1998.

Wijesinghe, Sarah N.R, Paolo Mura, and Harold John Culala. Eurocentrism, Capitalism and Tourism Knowledge. Tourism Management (1982) 70 (2019): 178-187.

William C. K. Traditions of Centrality, Authority, and Management in Modern China’s Foreign Relations, in Thomas W. Robinson and David L. Shambaugh. eds. Chinese Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice (Oxford University Press, 1994), 17.

Wu Tong. Li hong zhang wai jiao si xiang tan xi李鸿章外交思想探析Analysis of Li Hongzhang’s diplomatic thought. Time Report, no. 16 (2017, 96).
Xu, Guoqi. China and the Great War: China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Yan Tang 汤岩, gu dai zhong guo zhu dao de guo ji fa: li nian yu zhi du 古代中国主导的国际法:理念与制度 [International Law dominated by Ancient China: Ideas and Institutions]. Journal of Central South University (Social Science) 21, No. 5 (2015): 99-104.

Yi, S. Y. zhong ri zai chao xian de jing zheng yu jin dai dong ya chao gong ti xi de bian qian 中日在朝鲜的竞争与近代东亚朝贡体系的变迁 (1876-1910) [Competition between China and Japan in Korea and the Evolution of tributary System in Modern East Asia (1876-1910)]. Xiangtan University, (2018).

Yu, L & Xia, Y. yang wu yun dong zhong li hong zhang dui wai zhu zhang zhi de shi yan jiu 洋务运动中李鸿章对外主张之得失研究 [Study on the gain and loss of Li Hongzhang's foreign propositions in the Westernization Movement]. Liaoning Shi da Xue Bao. Liaoning Shida Xuebao. She Hui Ke Xue Ban 34, No. 6 (2011): 134-137.

 Yue Huankuan. Qian tan kong zi de min zu guan 浅谈孔子的民族观 [A Brief discussion on Confucius’ national view]. Heilongjiang shi zhi, no. 23 (2010).

Zhang Hua 张桦. chuan tong wen hua yu jing xia de wan qing xian zheng yu fu qiang zhi lu 传统文化语境下的晚清宪政与富强之路 [Constitutionalism and prosperity in the Late Qing Dynasty in the Context of Traditional Culture]. Southwest University of Political Science and Law, 2012.

Zhang, J. 张季.  cong zong li ya men dao wai wu bu ——Qing ji bu yuan yong ren ti zhi gai ge chu tan从总理衙门到外务部——清季部院用人体制改革初探 [From the Prime Minister’s Yamen to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: A preliminary study on the Reform of the Staffing system in the Qing Dynasty]. Li Shi Dang An, No. 2 (2014): 91-96.

Zhang, S. M. A Historical and Jurisprudential Analysis of Suzerain–Vassal State Relationships in the Qing Dynasty. Frontiers of history in China. [Online] 1(1), 124-157. (2006).

Zhao Keyao 赵克尧, Liu Jingcheng 刘精诚. Lun qing guande ben zhi he zuo yong 论清官的本质与作用 [On the essence and function of honest and upright officials]. Xueshu Yuekan, No. 12 (1965): 24-30.

Zhao, E. X. 赵尔巽. Qing Shi Gao, Juan Jiu Shi Yi 清史稿 卷九十一 [Manuscript of the Qing Dynasty: The 91th Chronicle]. China: Historical Museum of the Republic of China. 1914.

Zhao, N. 赵宁. Qian xi jin dai kai yan kan shi jie de bi ran xing 浅析近代开眼看世界的必然性 [On the necessity of seeing the world in modern times]. Education, No. 1 (2016): 133-133.

Zhao, P. fen xi qing chao de bi guan suo guo zheng ce de bu li ying xiang 分析清朝的闭关锁国政策的不利影响 [Analysis of the adverse effects of the closed policy of the Qing Dynasty]. Journal of Nanchang Institute of Education, No. 6 (2013): 58-59.

Zhao, Y. T. 赵云田. Qing chao de li fan yuan 清朝的理藩院 [The Board of Vassal states in Qing Dynasty]. Beijing Observation, No. 5 (2013): 72-75.

Zhou, X周翔. cong Qing chao wai jiao ji gou de bian hua tan zhong guo wai jiao jin dai hua从清朝外交机构的变化谈中国外交近代化 [On the modernization of Chinese diplomacy from the Change of Diplomatic Institutions in Qing Dynasty]. Frontiers, No. 1 (2014): 215-216.

© Center for Open Access in Science