[ { "id": 206508, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 56, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "50\n\nJ. L. CRANMER-BYNG\n\nYour servants have studied what he said in his memorial and find that this really has been the situation. In future the superintendent of trade at Tientsin, the imperial commissioner at Shanghai and the provincial authorities should all be instructed regularly to send copies to each other of their memorials and the imperial edicts which they receive on these matters, quite apart from the reports which they submit to the Tsungli Yamen. When an official is relieved of his post he must specially hand over the files to his successor, so that the new appointee can examine them and the situation will not be entirely obscure to him. However, it is right that such affairs be secret. We should continue to instruct the provinces to depute trustworthy men to copy and know these documents but not allow them to pass through the hands of clerks in order to take special precautions to prevent a leakage of information.\n\n5. Your servants request that instructions be sent to Canton and Shanghai each to send two persons who understand written and spoken foreign languages to come to the capital on official service to be ready for consulting. It should be noted that in matters arising out of relations with foreign countries one must first know their natures. At present as we do not understand their spoken and written languages so there is a complete lack of understanding. How can we expect things to be managed properly? Previously as regards the Russian language a school was established for the study of the language; this was of significance. Now, after a long time, it is regarded as a mere formality and no one can understand Russian. It seems that we ought to offer some encouragement in order to stimulate them. We have heard that there are merchants in Canton and Shanghai who have specialized in learning the English, French and American languages. We request that instructions be sent to the governors-general and the governors of those provinces to select two honest and reliable men to be sent from each province, a total of four, to come to the capital bringing with them books of those countries. Let four or five boys of good natural ability under thirteen or fourteen years old be selected from each of the Eight Banners in order to study under them. The men sent [from Canton and Shanghai] should be given an adequate salary following the precedent of the Russian bureau. After two years the hard working should be distinguished from the idle ones.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206510, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 58, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "52 \n\nJ. L. CRANMER-BYNG \n\ngeneral and governors to send monthly to the Tsungli Yamen foreign newspapers, both those printed in Chinese and in foreign languages, so that we can have at our finger-tips knowledge of the situation between China and foreign countries, and so that we can become more fully acquainted with the way to reform abuses and put right our failings. \n\nA memorial from Prince Hui and others in reply was received at the travelling headquarters on 20 January 1861, and an edict was issued on the same day. As no English version of this edict appears to have been made, a translation of it follows.17 \n\nToday we have received a memorial from Prince Hui and others to the effect that they have deliberated on the memorial of I-hsin Prince Kung, and others on restoring normal conditions and on regulations for trade. According to what they said all the items recommended by Prince Kung and others have a close bearing on the circumstances and that this really is the situation. They request that we should act according to the original proposals. \n\nWe have already issued an edict appointing Prince Kung, Grand Secretary Kuei-liang, and Senior Vice-President of the Board of Revenue Wen-hsiang to be in general charge of trade with the various countries. We have also appointed Ch'ung-hou to be superintendent of trade for the three ports [Tientsin; Newchang; Chefoo]. Let Hsueh Huan continue to control trading arrangements at the five old ports as well as at the newly added ones. In their memorandum Prince Kung and others recommend that Canton and Shanghai should each send two men who understand spoken and written foreign languages to come to the capital on official service. Also that the superintendents of trade as well as the Manchu garrison commanders, the governors-general and governors, and the prefect of Peking ought to report monthly on native and foreign trade conditions at those ports and send the foreign newspapers of the various countries and should communicate [this information and newspapers] to the Board of Rites which will transmit it to the Tsungli Yamen. Let the princes and ministers instruct the Board of Rites to this effect and let the Board communicate these instructions. We also authorize young men to be selected from the Eight Banners to study foreign spoken and written languages; instruct the Russian language school's to draw up appropriate regulations and zealously supervise their lessons. Whenever anyone is able to", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206731, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1973", "page_number": 8, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "Publications\n\nOur publications are now known throughout the world of Far Eastern scholarship. Currently we have exchange arrangements with twenty-four other societies and institutions to which we send a copy of each volume of our Journal when published. At present we have standing orders for a further eighty-two copies of the Journal, nearly all of which go overseas. It is also interesting to note that many orders are now for complete sets of the Journal, or several of the earlier volumes purchasers require to complete their sets.\n\nIt might be worth comparing figures for purchases of publications other than on exchange or by standing order, over the past two years. In 1971 we sold forty-three copies of the Journal compared with 131 in 1972. In 1971 we sold 108 copies of symposia brochures compared with eighty-two in 1972. The high figure for 1971, however, was due to our sale of the 1969 symposium brochure The Changing Face of Hong Kong, edited by Professor D. Dwyer of the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Hong Kong, who organised the symposium itself. After publication in 1971 there were immediate heavy sales—eighty-five through local book-shops—and the value of this brochure for students has been recognised by many educational institutions in the Colony. During 1971 we sold sixty-four reprints of articles, and the figure for 1972 sales was sixty-eight.\n\nMembership\n\nLike many societies in Hong Kong, we have our fluctuations in membership arising from the mobility of residents. It was recently suggested to me that in addition to the many societies named after saints in the Colony, there should be a St. Pancras Society! At the last Annual General Meeting our membership stood at 525. During the financial year we have had our inevitable losses from departures. Altogether we lost thirty-eight members, only one through death. However, six members left without any forwarding address, and nine did not respond to the notice about membership renewal, and I might take this opportunity of pointing out the benefits of bankers' orders in handling membership both to yourselves and to our busy Honorary Treasurer. Life membership, of course, would give you the benefit of not having to think about renewing at all.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208322, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1978", "page_number": 46, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "30\n\nRICHARD J. SMITH\n\nthey are fierce and they can fight. But Chinese women have bound feet, and are too weak even to bear the weight of their own clothes.98\n\n99\n\nNowhere was the burst of patriotic sentiment and the impulse to reform more obvious than in military affairs. In the years from 1895 to 1898, a spate of memorials on the question of military change reached Peking. Many dealt with the problem of military education. Chang Chih-tung, in particular, became an ardent advocate of military schools as a means of improving the Chinese army. Chang and others also put forward additional reform proposals touching on a wide range of pressing military problems. A number of officials agitated for the elimination of corruption, incompetence, and nepotism in Chinese military forces. Others suggested revisions in the traditional military examinations. Still others proposed drastic cuts in the Green Standard army and the reinvigoration of the degenerate Eight Banners. Not all of these proposals bore immediate fruit, but together they indicated a heightened awareness on the part of many of the need for basic military reform.100 The Sino-Japanese War had begun to teach its lessons.\n\nIn the post-war era, the Chinese navy no longer occupied a position of prominence. Limited and largely uncoordinated efforts were still made by various provincial officials to acquire modern vessels and other types of naval material, but only about half of the naval academies established in China prior to 1895 survived past the first decade of the twentieth century. By contrast, Chinese military schools and academies grew rapidly during the late 1890's and especially the early 1900's.101 This demonstrated interest in military education suggests a new attitude toward the profession of arms, inspired by rising Chinese nationalism. To be sure, ingrained prejudices did not disappear overnight—especially since the civil service examinations continued to offer an almost irresistibly attractive alternative to military service. When Li Hung-chang established his long-term officers' training program at the Tientsin Military Academy in 1887, he was fortunate to find enough capable applicants to fill the allotted forty positions; whereas by 1896 Chang Chih-tung's announcement of the first entrance examinations for his newly-founded Hupei Military Academy attracted 4,000 applicants for only 120 positions.102\n\nChinese military academies, including Li's pioneering Tientsin establishment, eventually came to exert a profound influence on", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208326, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1978", "page_number": 50, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "34\n\nRICHARD J. SMITH\n\n1 Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, informed Western observers repeatedly pointed to the lack of a modern, Western-trained officer corps as the key deficiency of the Chinese army. See, for example, Mary Wright, The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism (New York, 1967), 201; Major A. E. J. Cavendish, \"The Armed Strength of China,” Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, 42.244 (June, 1898), 720-722; NCH, July 6, 1880; Chinese Times, December 3, 1887; etc. For an interesting and informative discussion of officer education in the West, consult Correlli Barnett, \"The Education of Military Elites,\" Journal of Contemporary History, 2.3 (July, 1967).\n\n2 Cited in Chang Chung-li, The Chinese Gentry (Seattle, 1955), 174.\n\n3 Helmutt Wilhelm, \"Chinese Confucianism on the Eve of the Great Encounter,\" in Marius Jansen, ed., Changing Japanese Attitudes Toward Modernization (Princeton, 1965), 288-289.\n\n4 Etienne Zi, Pratique des examens militaires en Chine (Shanghai, 1896), 111-112. For other critiques of the traditional military examinations, see Chang Chung-li, 181, 187-190; William Ayers, Chang Chih-tung and Educational Reform in China (Cambridge, Mass., 1971), 178-182; Ichisada Miyazaki, China's Examination Hell (New York and Tokyo, 1976), chapter 8.\n\n5 Richard J. Smith, \"Chinese Military Institutions in the Mid-Nineteenth Century, 1850-1860,\" Journal of Asian History, 8.2 (1974), 128.\n\n6 Hsieh Pao Chao, The Government of China, 1644-1911 (Baltimore, 1925), 311-312; Chang Chung-li, 187.\n\n7 Cited in Chang Chung-li, 181.\n\n8 Miyazaki, 106. See also Robert Marsh, The Mandarins, (New York, 1961), 149-151.\n\n9 Smith, \"Chinese Military Institutions,\" 135.\n\n10 Wu Wei-p'ing, \"The Development and Decline of the Eight Banners\" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania), 1969), 84-88.\n\n11 Lo Erh-kang, Li-ying ping-chih (Chungking, 1945), 199-200.\n\n12 Cited in ibid., 53.\n\n13 Lei Hai-tsung, Chung-kuo wen-hua yi Chung-kuo ti ping (Changsha, 1940).\n\n14 W. T. deBary, et. al., eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition (New York and London, 1960), 2: 9-10.\n\n15 IWSM, Hsien-feng, 28: 46b-47.\n\n16 Ibid., 28: 47a-b.\n\n17 Ibid., 28: 47b-49.\n\n18 Zi, 112.\n\n19 Chang Chung-li, 181 and note 69. See also Chang Pe'i-lun's reform proposals in 1889, YWYT, 3: 527-530, and Chang Chih-tung's in 1898, Ayers, 178-182.\n\n20 Ralph Powell, The Rise of Chinese Military Power 1895-1912 (Princeton, 1955), 93.\n\n21 Smith, \"Chinese Military Institutions,\" 150-156; see also Wang Erh-min, Huai-chün chik (Taipei, 1967) 191-193, 207-208.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212781, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1992", "page_number": 90, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "75\n\nof the Szechuan Force under the C-in-C had been badly defeated and had left him in the lurch without support. However, the other half of the fourteen battalions remained in Ch'ing-p'ing Hsien and stood firm, and even recovered much of the abandoned equipment. This was not reported to Kuei-yang and Ch'engtu in Szechuan in time to benefit the C-in-C of the Szechuan Force, the story put about by the commander of the seven battalions who had evacuated Ch'ing-p'ing Hsien being believed and acted upon. The C-in-C, T’ang, was therefore degraded and posted to Szechuan,\n\nThe story, according to Mesny's narrative, ended with the demobilisation of several units of the Szechuan Force, the C-in-C's guards and the Ko-i Brigade in particular, and with Mesny settling into life as an adviser to the new supreme commander of all the Imperial forces in Kueichou, Chou Ta-wu; leaving us in anticipation of the next and successful campaign to suppress the rebel Miao, beginning later the same year, 1871, to be published by Mesny. Regrettably it never seems to have got beyond either Mesny's pencil jottings or good intentions.\n\nThe Organisation of the Szechuan Force\n\nIn his Notes on Chinese Military Services Mesny explained that there were several branches of the Army, the Manchu Banner Corps, the Mongol Banner Corps and the Chinese Banner Corps, each with eight banners. There were also the Chinese militia called Chih-ping; volunteer troops raised during the Taiping Rebellion and on many other occasions of emergency, called Yung-ying or simply Yung i.e. braves [known to Mesny as the Mobile Volunteer Force], and the local train bands\", Tuan-lien [known to Mesny as the Sedentary Volunteer Force]; armed peasants trained in the use of weapons for the defence of their homes in both town and country.\n\nMesny appears to have used notes written during the early 1870s to compile his descriptions of the Chinese Imperial forces and seems not to have taken much advantage of the benefit of hindsight to amend them prior to going to press in 1895. It had proved difficult to differentiate between Mesny's personal knowledge and his accuracy in recording detail, and information he acquired from other non-Chinese sources. Many of his notes on the Manchu Army and the Green Standard Regiments have been taken from Mayers'\n\nPage 90\n\nPage 91", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213324, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1994", "page_number": 146, "title": "RAS-1994", "content_text": "127\n\n1\n\n# NOTES\n\nThe Manchus established the Ch'ing dynasty in AD 1644, having overthrown the native Chinese Ming rulers. The Manchus were related to the central Asian group speaking a language akin to Mongol who settled in Manchuria many centuries earlier. They were usually referred to by Europeans as Tatars.\n\n2. Lach garrison town, including Chapu, contained a Tatar walled city separate from the Chinese city.\n\nIn 1840 HMS bug Algerine paid a flying visit to Chapu and was fired upon from some batteries near the town. During the attack on Chapu in 1842, these batteries were quickly put out of action by the Royal Navy.\n\n4. Under command of Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker.\n\n*The Westmorland Regiment was granted the China Dragon superscribed “China” for service during the China War of 1840-42.\n\n*The Nemesis was the first iron steamer to round the Cape of Good Hope. She was never commissioned as one of HM's vessels of war, yet was generally commanded by Royal Navy officers. She was of the greatest use throughout the First China War and after the Treaty of Nanking returned to Bombay.\n\nA joss-house is the Victorian name for a Chinese temple or shrine, the house where the joss (god, from the Portuguese \"Deos\") was situated. From contemporary sketches and descriptions, the joss house in question would appear to have been a medium-sized Buddhist establishment, and although there were no references to priests, monks, or nuns, it had residential accommodation in addition to the usual altar halls.\n\nLung Fu was a company commander, Iso-ling (grade 4a), of one of the Eight Manchu Banners.\n\n*Parker, L. II. Chinese Account of the Opium War.\n\nA Tao-tai was an imperial Circuit Intendant, a member of the hierarchy controlling several prefectures.\n\nI-li-pu (1770-1847) was a member of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner and an Imperial Clansman. He was banished for disobedience in 1841 but recalled and appointed acting assistant military lieutenant-governor at Chapu in early 1842, his predecessor having died of wounds during the British attack. Chapu was still occupied by the British, and I-li-pu had to remain in Hangchou, where he received orders to move to Soochou as it was understood that he was respected by the British, and the Court wished him to be on hand to carry out negotiations.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1994.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g", "rank": 0 } ]