Foreigners in Borders

China‟s geographical environment, surrounded on all four sides by natural barriers, its original territory integrated into a single geographical unit, hindered contact and communication with much of the outside world. This had the accumulative effect on most Chinese of their seeing the entire world from within the

31 Quoted from Francis Soo‟s study. For more information please refer to China & Modernization - Past & Present, Studies in East European Thought, Springer Netherlands Volume 38, Number 1, July 1989, Mr. Soo is a professor at Boston College in Department of Philosophy.

32 Chaos research group‟s web site, The Chaos Group at Maryland since the mid-1970s, has done extensive research in various areas of chaotic dynamics ranging from the theory of dimensions, fractal basin boundaries, chaotic scattering, controlling chaos are making researches on many topics. For more information please visit the web site of Chaos: http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/modern.html

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narrow confines of China‟s topography. They perceived China as being surrounded by four seas, bordered by peripheral kingdoms with an interior composed of various feudal kingdoms. These natural barriers were considered worldview of most Chinese people. “Heaven above; Earth below; The Middle Kingdom at the center of the universe.”³³

The author of this study agrees with the historians that all the changes that have occurred in modern Chinese society are in response to Western challenges.

Fairbank and Su Yu Teng elaborate:

“As China is the largest unitary mass of humanity with the oldest continuous history, its being trampled upon by the West during the past century was bound to create a continuing and violent intellectual revolution, the end of which we have not yet seen. A century plagued with unequal treaties brought the ancient society of China into ever closer contact with the dominant and expanding societies of Western Europe and America. This Western contact, lent impetus by the industrial revolution, had a disastrous effect upon the old Chinese society. China‟s old order was challenged, attacked, undermined and overwhelmed within every social sphere by a complex series of processes – political, economic, social, ideological and cultural that had

33 Quoted from Zhang, Xiao Min and Xu, Chun Feng, The Late Qing Dynasty Diplomatic Transformation: Analysis from an Ideational Perspective, Oxford: Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 1, 2007, pp. 405–445.

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been activated by encroachment of an alien, more powerful society”³⁴.

This model has been of very big influence on many Chinese scholars and is regarded as a main point of reference within historical research on late Qing diplomacy. The Qing government, prior to 1861, was strongly influenced by traditional ideas in every aspect of its foreign relations. One traditional idea that was the basic tenet of Qing diplomacy was that whereby the Qing court did not perceive other countries as equal political entities. From the Chinese perspective, East Asia was the entire world. When China engaged with other nations, it was in the context of its ever-expanding world, at whose centre was the Chinese emperor. The Qing government broadly grouped the countries it dealt with into “Tributary states” and

“Mutual trading states”³⁵.

Many Europeans had contact with China over the centuries. When Marco Polo (馬可·波羅) traveled to China in the 13th century, he found European artisans already at the court of the Great Khan (成吉思汗). In the 16th and 17th centuries, priests such as the Italian Matteo Ricci (利瑪竇)³⁶ journeyed to China, learned Chinese, and tried to make their religion more acceptable to the Chinese people. These contacts were made usually by individual entrepreneurs or solitary missionaries. Although some Western science, art, and architecture were welcomed by the Qing court, attempts to convert Chinese to Christianity were by and large unsuccessful. More importantly,

34 Cited from the study of John Fairbank and Ssu-Yu Teng, China’s Response to the West, New York:

Atheneum, 1963, p. 1

35 Zhang, Xiao Min and Xu, Chun Feng, The Late Qing Dynasty Diplomatic Transformation: Analysis from an Ideational Perspective, Oxford: Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 1, 2007, p.416.

36 For more information about Matteo Ricci please visit “Ricci Institute Library Online Catalog”

http://riccilibrary.usfca.edu/

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the Chinese state did not lend its support to creating a significant number of specialists in Western thinking³⁷.

Direct oceanic trade between China and Europe began during the 16th century.

At first it was dominated by the Portuguese and the Spanish, who brought silver from the Americas to exchange for Chinese silks. Later they were joined by the British and the Dutch. Initially trading took place at several ports along the Chinese coast, but gradually the state limited Western trade to the southern port of Canton (Guangzhou).

Here there were rich Chinese merchants who had been given monopoly privileges by the emperor to trade with foreigners. Merchant guilds trading with foreigners were known as “Hongs” The original merchant associations had been organized by streets.

The merchants of the selected hongs were also among the only Chinese merchants with enough money to purchase large amounts of goods produced inland and have them ready for the foreign traders when they came once a year to make their purchases. ³⁸

The Chinese court also favored trading at one port because it could more easily collect taxes on the goods traded if all trade was carried on in one place under the supervision of an official appointed by the emperor. Such kind of a system would make it easier to control the activities of the foreigners as well. So in the 1750s trade was restricted to Canton, and foreigners coming to China in their sail-powered ships were allowed to reside only on the island of Macao as they awaited favorable winds to return home³⁹.

37 Columbia University, An Initiative of the East Asian Curricilum Project and the Project on Asia in the Core Curriculum: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/modern/tch_mcem.htm

38 Quoted from Frederic Wakeman, The Fall of Imperial China, New York: The Free Press, 1975, p.

101.

39 Frederic Wakeman,, The Fall of Imperial China, New York: The Free Press, 1975, p. 101.

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As the author has pointed out in the first chapter of this study, in the former periods of Chinese history, Chinese people mostly thought of themselves as far superior to Westerners. Because of this image against to West, China did not want to learn their society and historical events. China was already closed herself to West and their negative or positive influence. However, with the journey of missionaries, Chinese people still have had connections with them but such a little connection would not enough to understand the world of Westerners.

During the Jesuit (耶蘇會) period ⁴⁰, European knowledge trickled to China mostly through the handiwork and services of the missionaries themselves. The Chinese people were yet to be fully convinced that there was a need to Westernize for modernity. This was begun to change after China‟s historical defeat in the Opium War with the rise of the supporters of Western science and technology. After this war and defeat for the first time, the floodgate of European knowledge was opened up and kept open. To the internal decline of the Qing dynasty was added the external

40 The Jesuit Period of China: The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China in the early modern era stands as one of the most notable events in the early history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in introducing Western knowledge, science, and culture to China. Their work laid much of the foundation for much of Christian culture in Chinese society today. Members of the Jesuit delegation to China were perhaps the most influential Christian missionaries in that country between the earliest period of the religion up until the 19th century, when significant numbers of Catholic and Protestant missions developed. After their efforts in converting Chinese people, they created a Chinese-Christian society in China. The thoughts of west were learned by Chinese people. The missionaries have a very important effect in China. Jesuits and Chinese people have many conflicts in later periods too. For more information you may read: Stephen K. Batalden, Kathleen Cann, John Dean, Sowing the word: the cultural impact of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1804–2004, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2004, Thomas Woods, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, Washington, DC: Regenery, 2005. On 19th century and rural life of China please refer to; Hsiao Kung-ch'uan, Rural China; Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century, USA: Seattle University of Washington Press, 1960.

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intrusion of Western powers. For, at the turn of the 19th century, Western powers, urged on by their ever-expanding colonial successes, began to demand the opening of China‟s doors to trade.⁴¹

On the other hand, as a self-sufficient country for centuries, China had no need for trade with others. In addition, convinced of her cultural superiority, China‟s relations with non-Chinese countries were based on the tribute system, an unequal system in which China treated China before the First Opium War would not recognize any other state as equal to herself. Foreign relations were considered as part of a hierarchical order consisting of the “Middle Kingdom” and the barbarians on the periphery. Barbarian countries were all regarded as tributary states only⁴².

As elsewhere in Asia, in China the Portuguese were the pioneers, establishing a foothold at Macao, from which they monopolized foreign trade at the Chinese port of Guangzhou. Soon the Spanish arrived, followed by the British and the French.

Trade between China and the West was carried on in the guise of tribute: foreigners were obliged to follow the elaborate, centuries-old ritual imposed on envoys from China‟s tributary states. There was no conception at the imperial court that the Europeans would expect or deserve to be treated as cultural or political equals. The sole exception was Russia, the most powerful inland neighbor. The Manchus were sensitive to the need for security along the northern land frontier and therefore were prepared to be realistic in dealing with Russia. The Treaty of Nerchinsk (尼布楚條約) (1689) with the Russians, drafted to bring to an end a series of border conflicts and to

41 Quoted from Kent Deng, Movers and Shakers of Knowledge in China during the Ming-Qing Period, pp. 30–31. Internet resource of Kent Deng. Please refer to web site of London School of Economics and Political Science:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/GEHN/GEHNPDF/GEHN9Deng.pdf

42 This passage was quoted from History web base “Corner of the World”, more information can be found at: http://www.thecorner.org/hist/essays/china/canton-system.htm

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establish a border between Siberia and Manchuria (northeast China) along the Heilong Jiang, this was China‟s first bilateral agreement with a European power.⁴³

In 1727 the Treaty of Kiakhta (布連斯奇條約) delimited the remainder of the eastern portion of the Sino-Russian border. Western diplomatic efforts to expand trade on equal terms were rebuffed, the official Chinese assumption being that the empire was not in need of foreign and thus inferior products. Despite this attitude, trade flourished, even though after 1760 all foreign trade was confined to Guangzhou, where the foreign traders had to limit their dealings to a dozen officially licensed Chinese merchant firms.⁴⁴

Trade was not the only basis of contact with the Westerners. Since the 13th century, Roman Catholic missionaries had been trying to establish their church in China. Although by 1800 only a few hundred thousand Chinese had been converted, the missionaries (mostly Jesuits) contributed greatly to Chinese knowledge in such fields as cannon casting, calendar making, geography, mathematics, cartography, music, art, and architecture. The Jesuits were especially adept at fitting Christianity into a Chinese framework and were condemned by a papal decision in 1704 for having tolerated the continuance of Confucian ancestor rites among Christian converts.

The papal decision quickly weakened the Christian movement, which it proscribed as heterodox and disloyal.⁴⁵

43 Quoted from China Assistor. This is a news internet web site for China and her Politics. The author quoted the part from this web site, for more information and see the whole article please refer to http://chinapedia.chinaassistor.com/2007/1026/1193375398_4522.html

44 Chaos research group‟s web site. The Chaos Group at Maryland since the mid-1970s, has done extensive research in various areas of chaotic dynamics ranging from the theory of dimensions, fractal basin boundaries, chaotic scattering, controlling chaos are making researches on many topics. For more information please visit the web site of Chaos: http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/modern.html

45 Country Studies, This website contains the on-line versions of books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress as part of the Country Studies Area

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Not after being defeated in the war China saw many invaders in her borders but she had to deal with them by one by. Northern and southern part was totally divided different kind of interests by foreign powers. China was having trade relations with West for more than couple of hundred years. Till the Imperialism gained importance in the west during the Industrial Revolution in Britain, Western countries turned their face to the East. At that time in the East there was Ottoman Empire which was called “The Sick Man”⁴⁶ Once one of the strongest empires of the world and at that time was suffering internal and external problems. With the force of seeking new territories westerners were moving to south and east.

In the east other prays were India and sure weak China with vast territory and rich natural resources. From the start of the thought “Search for weak land and colonize them” Western interests grew gradually on China. For China 19th century was the meeting time with the evil face of Imperialism.

The Manchus continued to treat Europeans as just another type of barbarian, although the advances by Europeans in science and industry made them dangerous rivals to the empire. Confrontation occurred over the importation of opium from India into China. The British had lacked commodities, apart from silver, to exchange for Chinese goods. Opium reversed the trade balance in their favor, but the Chinese saw the trade as a threat to their economy and social order. Silver left the country and

Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army between 1986 and 1998. Each study offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the country or region's historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system, and foreign policy. About the China‟s general information you may read Robert L. Worden, Andrea Matles Savada and Ronald E. Dolan, China: A Country Study.

Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987 Please refer to:

http://countrystudies.us/china/14.htm

46 The “Sick man” paradox: history, rhetoric and the “European character of Turkey,” London:

Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, vol. 8, no. 3, December 2006, pp. 299–311.

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opium addiction became rampant. Government efforts to check the problem failed until the 1830s, when an important official, Lin Ze Xu, came to end the trade at Canton and nearby.⁴⁷

After the British Opium trade in Canton region China has started to face the negative effects of opium trade on her society. Till that time West was not dangerous for China. In the Chinese history, Chinese people always think that danger comes from near the borders not from far places. However, the West‟s imperialism ideology changed the plans. Western countries launched a massive attack to East part of the world. In 19th century invasion and colonization period began on East Asia.

After Chinese people saw and learned what West want from her, they started to deal with foreigners. The author wants to emphasize that they had to learn how to deal with the West.

China had not enough skills on dealing with the West and this is the biggest handicap of Chinese society. Because till Qing Dynasty, China has saved her own ideology and solved the matters with her own way. After they saw the Western treat, they started to learn the Western thought and dealt with the foreigners with adopting Western logic. In this period many scholars and students went abroad and came home with many different thoughts of West. This led China to new future through her history.

47Civilizations in Crisis: The Ottoman Empire, The Islamic Heartland, and Qing China, please refer to:

http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/stearns_awl/medialib/IM/ch32.pdf This web site provides the readers a limited e-book. The book name is World Civilizations. The primary goal of World Civilizations is to present a truly global history. For more information please visit their web site;

http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/stearns_awl/

29 2.1.2 First Challenge Against to West

After the beginning of 19th century Westerners have started to have more and one sided relations with China. The rising Imperialism of Europe and their demand for new resources changed their direction to China. As a result if that Western powers have started to bear more interests on China and her rich resources. With the new and powerful weapons it would be easy to control China and her resources. After the First Opium War, Britain has forced China to accept their demands. They knew that China could not fight with them and this was the time for deeper invasion.

China has already lived some conflicts with foreigners in her borders but these conflicts were small scale problems especially was trade problems between the merchants and Chinese. These problems never became international fights like Opium Wars, they remained just local comflicts. China‟s first big conflict with the West appeared in 19th century with the First Opium War⁴⁸.

Although Japan has started its modernization with the Meiji Restoration (明治 維新) (1868 – 1912) a couple of years later than China, Japan has gained more effective results in a very short time. In a very short time Japan has already managed to surpass China in technology and military power. Western interest grew gradually on China and became the most dangerous event for China during the 19th century.

Even in the ancient China, Mogol attacks did not harm China as West and Japanese did in 19 and 20th century. This period saw the hardships and changes in Chinese society. New thoughts from West came in the country and the new China has started

48 Quoted from Wakeman, Frederic Jr., The Fall of Imperial China, New York: The Free Press, 1975, p. 128.

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to rise. For Chinese people it would take more than 100 years to fight with West and the Japanese and in this long time Chinese have learned their experiences.⁴⁹

to rise. For Chinese people it would take more than 100 years to fight with West and the Japanese and in this long time Chinese have learned their experiences.⁴⁹