China's Response to the West

A Documentary Survey, 1839-1923

Ssu-yu Têng

John King Fairbank

    Reigns of the Ch'ing (Manchu) Dynasty

    PART 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

    1. Introduction

    2. Some Elements in the Chinese Intellectual Tradition

    Some Early Ch'ing "Nationalist" Thinkers

    The Early Jesuit Influence in China

    The Attitude of the Ch'ing Court toward the Westerners

    PART 2: RECOGNITION OF CHINA'S NEED TO KNOW THE WEST, 1839-1860

    3. Commissioner Lin's Program for Meeting British Aggression

    Doc. 1. Lin Tse-hsu's Moral Advice to Queen Victoria, 1839

    Doc. 2. A Letter of Lin Tse-hsu Recognizing Western Military Superiority, 1842

    Doc. 3. Wei Yuan's Statement of a Policy for Maritime Defense, 1842

    Doc. 4. Cantonese Denunciation of the British, 1841

    4. The Policy of Conciliation

    Doc. 5. Ch'i-ying's Method for Handling the Barbarians, 1844

    Doc. 6. Hsü Chi-yu's Acceptance of Western Geography, 1848

    5. The Emergence of the Theory of Self-Strengthening

    Prince Kung and the Tsungli Yamen

    Doc. 7. The New Foreign Policy of January 1861

    Feng Kuei-fen and his Essays

    Doc. 8. On the Adoption of Western Knowledge

    Doc. 9. On the Manufacture of Foreign Weapons

    Doc. 10. On the Better Control of the Barbarians

    The Taiping Rebels' Interest in Modernization

    Doc. 11. Hung Jen-kan's Proposals, 1859

    PART 3: THE DESIRE FOR WESTERN TECHNOLOGY, 1861-1870

    6. Tseng Kuo-fan's Attitude toward Westerners and their Machinery

    Doc. 12. Excerpts from Tseng's Letters, 1862

    Doc. 13. Founding the Shanghai Arsenal

    Doc. 14. Tseng's Views on Treaty Revision, 1867

    7. Li Hung-chang and the Use of Western Arms

    Doc. 15. Li's Letter to Tseng Kuo-fan on the Ever-Victorious Army, February 1863

    Doc. 16. Li's Recommendation of Western Military Methods, June 1863
    ,br> Doc. 17. The Tsungli Yamen Memorial of June 1863 on China's Defensive Strategy

    8. Institutions for Linguistic and Scientific Studies (The T'ung-wen Kuan)

    Doc. 18. Li i-Hung-chang's Support of Western Studies, 1863

    Doc. 19. Wo-jen's Objection to Western Learning, 1867

    Doc. 20. The Tsungli Yamen's Rebuttal, 1867

    9. Tso Tsung-t'ang and the Faochow Shipyard

    Doc. 21. Tso's Plans of 1866

    PART 4: EFFORTS AT SELF-STRENGTHENING, 1871-1896

    10. The Problem of Leadership: Personalities and Institutions

    Li Hung-chang and his Subordinates

    The Empress Dowager's Influence
    ,br> Doc. 22. Wen-hsiang's Warning of Disaster, 1874

    11. Training Students Abroad

    The Educational Mission to the United States

    Doc. 23. The Proposal of Tseng and Li in 1871

    Doc. 24. Letters of Li Hung-chang concerning the End of the Mission, 1880-1881

    Students in Europe

    Doc. 25. Ma Chien-chung's Report on his Studies in France, 1877

    12. Diplomatic Missions Abroad

    Doc. 26. Prince Kong's Discovery of International Law, 1864

    Doc. 27. A Letter of Kuo Sung-tao from London, 1877

    Doc. 28. Tseng Chi-tse's Account of his Audience with the Empress Dowager, 1878

    13. Problems of the Industrialization Effort

    Doe. 29. Li Hung-chang's Defense of Building Steamships, 1872

    The Principle of "Government-supervision and Merchant-operation"

    Doc. 30. The Criticisms of Cheng Kuan-ying, c. 1892

    The Debate over Railroads

    Doc. 31. Shen Pao-chen's Purchase of the Shanghai-Wusung Railway, 1876

    Doc. 32. Hsueh Fu-ch'eng's Support of Railroad Building, 1878

    14. The Attempt at a Positive Foreign Policy

    Doc. 33. Kuo Sung-tao on the Futility of a War Policy, 1884

    Building a Modern Navy

    Doc. 34. Chang P'ei-lun's Proposal of 1884

    The Failure at Self-Strengthening

    Doc. 35. Li Hung-chang's Conversation with ItO Hirobumi, 1895

    The Alliance with Russia

    Doc. 36. Liu K'un-i's Secret Proposal, July 1895

    Doc. 37. Chang Chih-tung's Memorial of August 1895

    Doc. 38. Text of the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty of 1896

    PART 5: THE REFORM MOVEMENT THROUGH 1900

    15. Promoters of Institutional Change

    The Missionary Influence

    Early Chinese Advocates of Reform

    Doc. 39. Writings of Wang T'ao

    Doc. 40. Essays of Hsueh Fu-ch'eng

    16. K'ang Yu-wei and Some of his Associates

    Doc. 41. K'ang Yu-wei's Statement for the "Society for the Study of

    Self-strengthening," 1895

    Doc. 42. Liang Ch'i-ch'ao on Reform, 1896

    Doc. 43. T'an Ssu-t'ung on the Need for Complete Westernization

    Doc. 44. Wang K'ang-nien on Democracy

    17. The Reform Program of Chang Chih-tung

    Doc. 45. Selections from Chang's "Exhortation to Study," 1898

    18. The Failure of 1898

    The Court and the Emperor

    Doc. 46. K'ang Yu-wei's Conversation with the Emperor, June 1898

    Doc. 47. ItO's Conversation with the Emperor, September 1898

    The Conservative Opposition

    19. The Boxer Uprising

    Doc. 48. Proclamations of the Boxers

    Doc. 49. Memorials of Anti-Boxer Martyrs, 1900

    PART 6. REFORM AND REVOLUTION, 1901-1912

    20. The Conservative Reform Movement

    The Post-Borer Program

    Doc. 50. The Joint Proposals of Liu K'un-i and Chang Chih-tung, 1901

    Educational Reform

    Doc. 51. A Memorial of Chang Chih-tung and Yuan Shih-k'ai Urging Abolition of the Old Examinations, 1903

    Constitutionalisin

    Doc. 52. A Report on Constitutional Governments Abroad, 1906

    Yuan Shih-k'ai and the Modern Army

    21. Economic Development

    Doc. 53. Sheng 1-Hsuan-huai's Argument for 1896

    Doc. 54. Economic Views of Chang Chien

    22. Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and Nationalism

    Doc, 55. "The Renovation of the People" by Liang Ch'ich'ao, 1902

    23. Sun Yat-sen's Early Revolutionary Program

    Doc. 56. The Manifesto of the T'ung-meng.hui, 1905

    PART 7: IDEOLOGICAL FERMENT AND THE MAY FOURTH MOVEMENT, 1912-1923

    24. The Search for New Principles

    The Variety of the New Thought

    Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei and Freedom in Education

    Doc. 57. Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei's Views on the Aims of Education, 1912

    Doc. 58. Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei's Policy for Peking University, 1919

    25. Early Converts to Marxism

    Doc. 59. Ch'en Tu-hsiu's "Call to Youth," 1915

    Doc. 60. Li Ta-chao, "The Victory of Bolshevism," November 15, 1918

    Doc. 61. Ch'en Tu-hsiu's Argument for Historical Materialism, 1923

    26. Hu Shih and Pragmatism in China

    Doc. 62. Hu Shih, "The Significance of the New Thought," 1919

    Doc. 63. Hu Shih, "On the Literary Revolution," 1922

    27. Sun Yat-sen's Reorientation of the Revolution

    Doc. 64. Sun Yat-sen's Theory of Knowledge and Action, 1919

    Doc. 65. Sun Yat-sen's Adoption of the Russian Party System, 1923

    28. Liang Ch'i-ch'ao's Review of China's Progress, 1873-1922

    Postface. A Further Approach to the Problem

    Index

  • Cover: China's Response to the West

John King Fairbank was Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and Director of the East Asian Research Center at Harvard University.