[
    {
        "id": 207643,
        "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-1976",
        "page_number": 31,
        "title": "RAS-1976",
        "content_text": "16\n\nRICHARD J. SMITH\n\npolicies, the Meiji government managed to avoid most of the difficulties that had plagued the Chinese effort to use foreign assistance efficiently.\n\nBuilding on the foundation of pre-Meiji experience, Western-trained and Western-oriented leadership,24 and strong central government direction and support, Japan made rapid strides in the modernization of her military after 1868. A leading figure in this effort was Yamagata Aritomo, who became Vice Minister of Military Affairs upon his return to Japan after a year-long tour of Europe in 1869-1870.25 With French advice and assistance, the Meiji government created an Imperial Guard in 1871, which not only made possible the abolition of the feudal han in the same year, but also set the stage for the introduction of conscription in 1872. By 1875, the Japanese had established a centralized military academy at Tokyo, with branch schools in veterinary medicine and other subjects.26 At the same time, numerous officers were sent abroad for further military education.27 By 1893, Japan had a total of sixteen military schools instructing over 2,600 students per year.28 Overseas-educated officers returned in a steady stream to assist in teaching these individuals.\n\nIn 1878, following the Satsuma Rebellion (1877), the Japanese established an independent General Staff on the German model. This marked the eclipse of the French in Japanese military affairs and the rise of Germany. Presseisen attaches profound significance to this development: \"So long as French influence prevailed, Japan's army remained under unified civilian control, her law code owed much to French legal opinions, and her government might have evolved toward a liberal, parliamentary system. After Germany's triumph the command structure, the constitution, and the Imperial Court followed the German ideological style.”\n\n19\n\nThe outstanding contributions of Jacob Meckel's German military mission to Japan in 1885 have been described in detail by Presseisen,30 The salient point is that by the early 1890's, Japan had built a modern, centralized army and had eliminated the need for further foreign military assistance. China, meanwhile, had done neither. The Sino-Japanese War underscored the stark contrast between the Chinese and Japanese reform efforts.31\n\nArmies, like individuals, can both reflect and effect change in society. Sir Lewis Namier has offered the opinion that \"the social",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 208316,
        "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": 40,
        "title": "RAS-1978",
        "content_text": "24\n\nRICHARD J. SMITH\n\nphasized that it would “not be necessary to teach many commanders\":\n\n52 but he did encourage Li to establish a \"public office\" (kung-so) as soon as possible to provide systematic instruction for Chinese soldiers under German supervision.53 The immediate incentive was three-fold: the military demands of Sino-French conflict, the support of other Anhwei Army commanders, and the presence of a core group of capable German instructors,54\n\nLi's initial proposal for a military academy (Wu-pei hsüeh-t'ang) at Tientsin was quite modest. In part because of financial limitations, but also because of military exigency (and perhaps in deference to Chou), Li decided to train about one hundred petty officers and troops (pien-ping) selected from the Anhwei Army and lien-chün units, as well as some civil personnel (wen-yuan) who were \"willing to learn about military affairs.\" The simplified curriculum, taught by German officers with the aid of Chinese interpreters, consisted of astronomy, geography, science, surveying, drafting, mathematics, fortifications, and military drill and operations. Li expected the students to complete their education in one year (it actually took two), after which time they would return to their original units to transmit the newly-acquired information to their comrades.55 In all, about 1,500 \"cadets\" were probably trained in this fashion from 1885 to 1900. Most served only as instructors, however; few became ranking officers. On the whole they were neither given authority nor esteemed by their older colleagues and superiors.56\n\nIn the spring of 1887, Li added a five-year program to the Tientsin Military Academy. In contrast to the short course, this program aimed at producing officers. Stringent requirements were imposed on the applicants, who ranged in age from thirteen to sixteen.57 Forty students were accepted at first. Each had to guarantee to study for five full years without asking for leave, taking the civil service examinations, or getting married. The five-year course of study was comparatively demanding. During the first three years, the students took a foreign language (German or English), arithmetic, algebra, geometry, mechanics, astronomy, natural science, geography, map-making, and, of course, Chinese history and the Classics. During the last two years, they studied gunnery, military drill, fortifications, and other technical subjects. Periodic examinations determined class standing, and provided the",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 208317,
        "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": 41,
        "title": "RAS-1978",
        "content_text": "MILITARY EDUCATION IN CHINA, 1842-1895\n\n25\n\nbasis for progress reports to the throne.58 In 1890, a specialized program of instruction in railroad engineering was introduced, although no information exists on the total number of students involved.59\n\nPeriodically, students from the Tientsin Military Academy were sent to Port Arthur and Shan-hai-kuan for practical training in infantry, cavalry, and artillery units.60 In addition, cadets at the school occasionally gained actual battle experience, notably in 1891 against rebel forces at Jehol and elsewhere. According to Li Hung-chang, the experiment was quite successful.61 Only one group of Tientsin academy cadets went abroad: In 1889, Li sent Tuan Ch'i-jui, Wu Ting-yüan, Shang Te-ch'üan, Kung Ch'ing-t'ang, and T'eng Yü-tsao to Germany for advanced study. After a year of military academy instruction in Berlin combined with advanced training at the Krupp gunworks in Essen, the students returned to China.62\n\nLike the Tientsin Naval Academy, established by Li in 1880, the Tientsin Military Academy was financed by the shrinking Pei-yang maritime defense account.63 In all, the money was reasonably well-spent, but, as Wang Chia-chien has indicated, the academy suffered from a variety of administrative, financial, and other problems (including difficulties with foreign employees), many of which also plagued the few other military and naval training facilities of the period.64\n\nNonetheless, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, China appeared to have built a respectable military and naval organization. In fact, when conflict between China and Japan seemed likely, most Westerners gave the strategic edge to China.65 But the illusion of China's superiority on land and sea was quickly shattered by Japan's rapid drive into Korea, Manchuria, and China Proper. Judiciously combining land and sea operations, the Japanese completely overwhelmed the diverse Chinese military forces sent to resist them.66 Throughout the war, reports from British, French, and other foreign observers repeatedly praised the Japanese for their able strategy and tactics, effective training, tight discipline, valor, esprit de corps, and the excellence of their support facilities. No such praise was forthcoming for China.67\n\nThe Sino-Japanese War illustrated with striking clarity the bankruptcy of China's \"self-strengthening\" movement. In almost every respect, Japan's strengths during the conflict were China's",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 212261,
        "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-1990",
        "page_number": 203,
        "title": "RAS-1990",
        "content_text": "180\n\nCLUES TO THE LIFE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS NINETEENTH CENTURY EUROPEAN SINOLOGISTS – JAMES LEGGE (AD 1815-1897)\n\nLAUREN F. PFISTER*\n\nJames Legge (1815-1897) was perhaps the most important intellectual, among both foreigners and Chinese, in 19th century Hong Kong. His eight-volume set of translations of the Chinese Classics, written in Hong Kong, has passed through at least nine reprintings (the most recent being in 1985). Numerous independent copies have been made of the second edition of the Four Books, which Legge himself re-edited (1893-1895) before he died in 1897. The complete set of translations, commentaries, and critical notes earned Legge much international recognition.\n\nThe international acclaim arrived as a result of correspondence which passed between Legge and the brilliant sinologist of the French Academy, Stanislas Julien, during the 1860s. When the latter died in 1872, an international prize for Chinese Literature was established under his name; Legge was its first recipient in 1875. This led a group of English businessmen and friends to promote the creation of a chair in Chinese for the retired missionary. Funds were raised, and Legge was accepted on rather unusual terms at Oxford University in Corpus Christi College as the First Professor of Chinese Language and Literature (1876-1897).\n\nDuring Legge's tenure at Oxford, he was an active member of the Royal Asiatic Society, completed six further volumes of Confucian and Taoist translations for F. Max Müller's series, The Sacred Books of The East, while writing and lecturing to students and the general public in Oxford on a broad range of issues including Chinese language and literature, Taoism, Buddhism, Chinese History, Indian and Syrian influences in early Chinese History, as well as topics in Chinese philosophy and political thought.\n\n#\n\n* This article is edited from a longer manuscript with the consent of the author [Editor]\n\n \n7",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299",
        "rank": 0
    }
]