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Qing Envoys and Ministers in Europe, 1866-1893 a Dissertation Submit UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Internalizing the West: Qing Envoys and Ministers in Europe, 1866-1893 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirments for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Zhengzheng Huangfu Committee in charge: Professor Joseph Esherick, Co-Chair Professor Paul Pickowicz, Co-Chair Professor Weijing Lu Professor Richard Madsen Professor Sarah Schneewind Professor Cynthia Truant 2012 Copyright Zhengzheng Huangfu, 2012 All rights reserved. Signature page The Dissertation of Zhengzheng Huangfu is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Co-Chair Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2012 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature page .................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... viii Abstract of the Dissertation ............................................................................................... ix Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 I. Envoy on a Raft Binchun‘s: Mission to Europe, 1866 .................................................. 19 The Ex-Magistrate and His Mission ................................................................. 23 The Industrial Cities ......................................................................................... 32 Women and High Society .................................................................................. 39 Poetry and Cultural Diplomacy ........................................................................ 45 Back to the Celestial Kingdom .......................................................................... 53 Reception........................................................................................................... 58 II. Burlingame‘s Co-Envoy Zhigang‘s: Rationalization of the West, 1868-1871 ............ 66 A Confucian Explorer of Natural Laws ............................................................ 71 Religion and Human Nature ............................................................................. 81 Their Ways of Governing .................................................................................. 87 Envoy between Two Worlds .............................................................................. 92 Return .............................................................................................................. 103 III. Curiosities from Ocean Voyages: Zhang Deyi‘s Early Journeys, 1866-1872 .......... 114 The Collector of Curios .................................................................................. 117 Material West .................................................................................................. 120 Cities, Governments and Rulers ..................................................................... 126 Looking at the Other ....................................................................................... 131 China and Confucianism................................................................................. 137 Imperialism and the non-West ........................................................................ 144 Early Return, New Departure ......................................................................... 149 IV. ―The Three Dynasties Have Reemerged!‖: Guo Songtao and the Way of the West, 1877-1879 ....................................................................................................................... 162 iv Intellectual Profile and Career Before the Mission ........................................ 164 The Ryukyu Crisis and Margary Affair ........................................................... 175 Voyage to London ........................................................................................... 181 State and Society ............................................................................................. 186 Substantive Learning and How to Pursue it ................................................... 197 The Grand Patterns of History ....................................................................... 202 V. The Empire‘s Far-Reaching Strategist: Xue Fucheng‘s Native Synthesis of the West, 1890-1893 ....................................................................................................................... 216 The Guo and Xue Diaries ............................................................................... 221 Chinese Origins for Western Learning ........................................................... 230 Locating the West in China’s Past .................................................................. 241 Racial Consciousness and Geographical Determinism .................................. 252 Towards a Far-reaching Strategy ................................................................... 259 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 274 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 277 From the Envoy-Traveler to the Diplomat...................................................... 277 Three Modes of Narrating the West, 1860s-1890s ......................................... 279 Native Syntheses of the West ........................................................................... 291 Notes ............................................................................................................................... 298 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 338 v LIST OF TABLES Table I. Selected passages cut from Chushi taixi ji; page numbers are from Chushi taixi jiyao. ........................................................................................................................112 vi VITA 2007 University of Washington, Seattle, Washington Major: Asian Studies 2009-2011 Teaching Assitant, University of California, San Diego 2012 Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Modern Chinese History Minor Fields: Pre-Modern Chinese History Modern Japanese History Modern European History vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My advisors, Professor Esherick and Professor Pickowicz, gave me the warmest support throughout my graduate training. They led me to discover where I truly want to be, and gently guided me through my first – and perhaps most uncertain – part of the journey. Professor Schneewind commented on my entire manuscript extensively, and challenged me to think with more precision and breadth. Professors Weijing Lu, Richard Madsen, and Cynthia Truant read my entire manuscript and gave me invaluable comments. I would also like to thank all my graduate cohort and senior graduate students when I entered the program – especially Jeremy Brown, David Chang, Maggie Greene, Dahpon Ho, Matthew Johnson, Judd Kinzley, and Amy O‘Keefe – for giving me such a supportive community. Finally, I thank my husband, Joshua, who sparked my curiosity and inspired me to study Chinese history, and who gave much of his life to get me here. viii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Internalizing the West: Qing Envoys and Ministers in Europe, 1866-1893 by Zhengzheng Huangfu Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, San Diego, 2012 Professor Joseph Esherick, Co-Chair Professor Paul Pickowicz, Co-Chair This dissertation examines five missions sent by the Qing court to investigate Europe and engage in diplomacy between the Opium Wars and the Sino-Japanese War. How did the attitudes of Chinese officials towards the West change, and how did they conceptualize and internalize what they saw there? To address these questions, this study looks at the meeting of cultures from the Chinese point of view and revises the defunct ix ―Western impact, Chinese response‖ school of history by understanding the subaltern perspective. Diplomats were instructed to remit journals regularly to the court. Each chapter takes one diplomat‘s submissions as its subject. Chapter one focuses on Binchun‘s travels in 1866. He deployed a wide range of literary techniques to tame, feminize, and domesticate the West, treating it as an object of fantasy. Chapter two focuses on Zhigang‘s mission from 1868 to 1871. He concluded that the scientific and political achievements of the West were due to a superior application of Neo-Confucian principles. Chapter three focuses on Zhang Deyi‘s travels from 1866 to 1872. He was open to Western categories and ways of thinking, exhibiting a proto-nationalist consciousness. Chapter four focuses on Guo Songtao‘s mission from 1877 to 1879. He concluded that the West was in possession of the Mandate of Heaven. Chapter five focuses on Xue Fucheng‘s mission from 1890 to 1893 and the professionalization of Chinese diplomacy. This dissertation identifies
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