Conceptualizing the Blue Frontier: the Great Qing and the Maritime World

Conceptualizing the Blue Frontier: The Great Qing and the Maritime World in the Long Eighteenth Century Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultüt der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Vorgelegt von Chung-yam PO Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Harald Fuess Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Joachim Kurtz Datum: 28 June 2013 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgments 3 Emperors of the Qing Dynasty 5 Map of China Coast 6 Introduction 7 Chapter 1 Setting the Scene 43 Chapter 2 Modeling the Sea Space 62 Chapter 3 The Dragon Navy 109 Chapter 4 Maritime Customs Office 160 Chapter 5 Writing the Waves 210 Conclusion 247 Glossary 255 Bibliography 257 1 Abstract Most previous scholarship has asserted that the Qing Empire neglected the sea and underestimated the worldwide rise of Western powers in the long eighteenth century. By the time the British crushed the Chinese navy in the so-called Opium Wars, the country and its government were in a state of shock and incapable of quickly catching-up with Western Europe. In contrast with such a narrative, this dissertation shows that the Great Qing was in fact far more aware of global trends than has been commonly assumed. Against the backdrop of the long eighteenth century, the author explores the fundamental historical notions of the Chinese maritime world as a conceptual divide between an inner and an outer sea, whereby administrators, merchants, and intellectuals paid close and intense attention to coastal seawaters. Drawing on archival sources from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and the West, the author argues that the connection between the Great Qing and the maritime world was complex and sophisticated. The evidence reveals beyond doubt that the Manchu administration indeed never lost sight of the harsh strategic and logistical realities of managing, if not ruling, a vast maritime landscape. In summary, this dissertation provides new insights into the East Asian maritime world, China’s regional links on the eve of the modern age, and the area’s deepening role in the development of an increasingly global history. It also has an obvious topical relevance, with the People’s Republic of China’s increasing efforts to extend its control over natural resources and seaways in the Western Pacific. It might be seen as the largely overlooked maritime counterpart to that covered by Peter Perdue’s impressive volume: China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia, which looks at the history of imperial China’s western landward expansion in the late seventeenth and the eighteenth century. 2 Acknowledgements Over the course of my doctoral study I have benefited from numerous formal interactions and causal conversations with my supervisors, mentors, colleagues, and friends. As a result, I’ve accumulated a host of debts to them while receiving financial aid from various academic parties and institutions. Without their guidance, support, and encouragements I could never finish this doctoral project on time. For helping me on the long road to completing this dissertation, I thank first my supervisor, Professor Harald Fuess, who always took time to answer my questions and to give perspective in a challenging yet encouraging way. I especially appreciate his guidance to help me move beyond merely the story of China to a wider global circle and to think broadly about the history of the sea. My co-supervisor, Professor Joachim Kurtz, is equally supportive, continuing to read my chapters over and over again and to offer valuable insights and helpful suggestions throughout my graduate career. He is one of my trusted mentors who is never without a word of encouragement. It is absolutely my great pleasure and delight to have a chance to conduct my doctoral project under their supervision in Heidelberg, the most beautiful city I have ever visited so far. I am grateful to Professor Rudolf Wagner, Professor Mark Elvin, and Professor Jane Kate Leonard for their careful readings and discerning suggestions on my doctoral project, and above all, for their substantial encouragements over the past few years. Professor Clara Wing-chung Ho and Professor Ricardo King-sang Mak also deserve special thanks for having not only provided intellectual stimulation, but their unflagging and selfless support since my undergraduate training in Hong Kong. My debt of gratitude to them all is immeasurable. While at Heidelberg, my studies were made possible by a scholarship sponsored by the “Cluster of Excellence, Asia and Europe in a Global Context” at the Ruprecht-Karls- Universität Heidelberg. Apart from the Heidelberg scholarship, I was very fortunate to receive other funding and travel grants from the Erasmus Program and the Baden- Württemberg Stipendium Council. Because of their generous support, I had the chance to visit the University of Cambridge and Kyoto University, where I benefited greatly from the expertise of a number of research archivists, museum curators, and librarians. In the spring time of 2013, I had the privilege of spending a quarter as a junior visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago. During my stay in the US, I benefited from lively discussions over lunches, dinners, coffees, and beers with Professor Kenneth Pomeranz, Professor Larisa Jasarevic, Dr. Hai Zhou, Lorri Cornett, Clara Gibbons, Victoria Binford, Elisabeth Meier, Dexter O’Connell, and Alexander Hoare. All of you have made my time in America the most jovial and fruitful one that I shall always treasure. Some part of the material that makes up this dissertation was presented at conferences and invited talks in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, and Hong Kong. Those who heard these presentations and made helpful suggestions are too numerous 3 to list here. But I am especially grateful to Professor Hans van de Ven, Professor Andrea Janku, Professor Barak Kushner, Professor Robert Antony, Professor Chi-kong Lai, Professor Robert Hellyer, Professor Der-wai Wang, Professor Ma Youyuan, Professor Kam-keung Lee, Dr. Martin Dusinberre, Dr. Leon Antonio Rocha, Dr. Martin Hoffmann, Dr. David Mervart, Dr. Jacqueline Hylkema, Dr. Tony Brooks, and Dr. John H. Feng. In addition, I valued being part of a strong community of graduate students at Heidelberg University: Ann-Sophie Schoepfel, Isabel Ching, Xiao Ai, Mariachiara Gasparini, Eva Ambos, Zara Barlas, Mareike Ohlberg, Kaja-Muller Wang, Ersin Mihci, Martijn de Rooij, Alexander Graf, Rudolf Ng, and Yujie Zhu. I would like to offer special thanks to Liying Sun, I-wei Wu, Ying-wai Yeung, and Chun Xu: Your friendship and support, which included constantly taking time to listen to my rambling ideas and encouraged me not to give up along the way, were instrumental in helping me complete this dissertation. Finally, I thank my parents, Tat-yin and Yuet-loi, and my beautiful sister, Yan- ping, for their unbending patience and loving zhichi over the many long years. I remain indebted to all those mentioned above but take full responsibility for any mistakes in this thesis. 4 Emperors of the Qing Dynasty Years of Reign Personal Name Reign Title 1636-1643 Hong Taiji Chongde 1643-1661 Fulin Shunzhi 1661-1722 Xuanye Kangxi 1722-1735 Yinzhen Yongzheng 1735-1796 Hongli Qianlong 1796-1820 Yongyan Jiaqing 1820-1850 Minning Daoguang 1850-1861 Yizhu Xianfeng 1861-1875 Zaichun Tongzhi 1875-1908 Zaitian Guangxu 1908-1912 Puyi Xuantong 5 6 Introduction On March 19, 1840, exactly a year after the outbreak of the First Opium War, the Qing navy was introduced to the London public in a local daily newspaper The Standard, The following details of the army and navy of China are extracted from the work on that country, by M. Gützlaff, a missionary, who resided in it many years: The total number of Chinese troops, including those of the navy, but not the militia nor the Mongul auxiliaries, amounts to 785,222. China has two fleets, one for the river, and the other for the sea. The first comprises 1036 ships, the second 918. The river fleet has crews to the amount of 9500 men, and that for the sea 98,421, making an aggregate of 107,921 sailors…The officers and men are equally ignorant of navigation. Many sailors of their merchant vessels belong to the navy. Their war junks differ in nothing from those employed in trade; the largest do not exceed 300 tons in burden.1 The above commentary was written by Father Karl Gützlaff (1803-1851), the German missionary who traveled and worked in China and Asia for altogether twenty-five years. Between 1838 and 1842, he served as an interpreter for the Jardine & Matheson Company and later the British diplomatic mission in China. He was one of the first Protestant missionaries to record in detail the Chinese naval forces at that time. His above short piece 1 “Multiple Commerce Items: China,” in The Standard (London, England), issue 4913, Thursday, March 19, 1840. 7 excerpted in The Standard was soon reprinted and circulated widely in other newspapers across England such as the Blackburn Standard,2 the Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette,3 The Newcastle Courant,4 and the Salisbury and Winchester Journal.5 As observed by Father Gützlaff, the Qing navy, despite the sizable number of its soldiers, was undertrained and disorganized; while the officers were equally ignorant of navigation in the 1840s. True or not, it was well known that the Royal navy eventually defeated the Qing forces after the occupation of Shanghai in August 1842, followed by a peace settlement held aboard the HMS Cornwallis, a British third-rate battleship.6 2 “News: China,” Blackburn Standard (Blackbrn, England), issue 271, Wednesday, March 25, 1840. 3 “News: China,” Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette (Devizes, England), issue 1263, Thursday, March 26, 1840. 4 “London March 25: China,” The Newcastle Courant (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England), issue 8627, Friday, March 27, 1840.

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