[ { "id": 205429, "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-1967", "page_number": 191, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "184\n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\nlung, who was concurrently a Grand Councillor and a Grand Secretary.\n\nThis inadequate chapter on the Macartney mission demonstrates the basic weakness of the whole book, namely the author's failure to use the best primary sources both Chinese and Western. The story of the abortive Macartney mission is a fascinating one because it marks the first cultural confrontation between China and a major Western power, and as such has historical overtones which are relevant to a full understanding of the confrontation which we are witnessing today. But Mr. Coates has failed to bring out this significance mainly, I suspect, because of his unfamiliarity with the primary English and Chinese sources. For instance, there is no indication from his account that he has read Lord Macartney's own journal of his embassy which was published in full in 1962. From the bibliography it appears that this chapter was based almost entirely on the official account of the embassy written by Sir George Leonard Staunton which is dull and florid in comparison with Macartney's own private journal.\n\nIt is only fair to say, however, that the last 50 pages of the book are devoted to the events following the death of Lord Napier in 1834 and leading up to the formal cession of Hong Kong in 1843, and that here the author appears to be on more familiar ground. For instance, he brings out clearly the difficulties which faced Captain Charles Elliot as British Superintendent of Trade and he guides the reader towards a fair and balanced judgment of Elliot as a statesman. It is time that the reputation of Charles Elliot, created mainly by the strictures of Queen Victoria and Palmerston, be reassessed.\n\nIn conclusion, Prelude to Hong Kong is not in any way an original work of scholarship and contains almost nothing which cannot be read more reliably elsewhere. It may be of some value to those who have recently become aware of Hong Kong's existence and want to read up, in brief summary, the train of events which resulted in its founding. But for those who already know something of the history of Macao and the development of foreign trade at Canton, this modest little book will be a disappointment since the author has failed to draw sufficiently on the richness of the archives of the period and thus the reader is compelled to view the story through the eyes of the author rather than through", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206502, "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": 50, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "44 \n\nJ. L. CRANMER-BYNG \n\nYour servants will now discuss the situation today. The cross-fire of the \"long-haired\" and the Nien rebels is like a disease of the heart or of the stomach [i.e., the vitals]. Russia, with her territory adjacent to ours, aims to eat away our land like a silkworm and may be likened to a danger to our elbows and arms [i.e., a close danger]. England's aim is trade, but she acts violently without regard for human principles. If we do not impose a limit on her then we shall be unable to stand on our own [i.e., lose our independence of action]. This would be like an affliction of the limbs. Therefore, first we should destroy the \"long-haired\" and Nien rebels, next get Russia under control, and then control England. All we can do is to try unobtrusively to blunt the impact of their ruthless onslaught, and not try suddenly to overawe by punishing them. If Heaven relents at our calamity and the rebels abate then through Your Majesty's sacred wisdom and your servants exerting their simple efforts there must be some improvement in the situation. \n\nIf we follow our present plan and act in accordance with the terms of the treaties and do not let the barbarians exceed them in the slightest, if on the surface we show sincerity and friendship while secretly carrying out a \"loose rein\" policy, then, in a few years, even if they make random demands still they will not suddenly cause us any great harm. After very careful deliberation on the whole situation we have proposed six regulations, which are respectfully submitted for the imperial glance. We request that instructions be sent to the princes and great officials at the travelling headquarters (hsing ying) for their joint deliberation. If it receives the imperial approbation your servants will act in obedience to it. As to the remaining trivial matters some of which may require adjustments, at the appropriate time your servants will again memorialize. \n\nVermillion endorsement: \n\nLet Prince Hui, the prince-ministers in charge of the travelling headquarters, ministers of the imperial presence and grand councillors, make proper deliberations without delay and memorialize. The memorandum is attached. \n\n1. \n\n[Here follows the Six-Point Memorandum]. \n\nWe request that an office for the general management of the affairs of the various countries be established at the capital with sole responsibility for these matters. We note that previously matters", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206503, "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": 51, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TSUNGLI YAMEN\n\n45\n\nconcerning foreign countries were reported by the governors-general and governors of provinces and were collected in the Grand Council. In recent years reports on the military situation in various areas have been continuous. Foreign affairs involve many subjects. After foreign envoys start residing at the capital if there is no one in sole charge of these matters giving their full attention to handling them then their management will be dilatory, and it will be impossible to co-ordinate policy. We request that a tsung-li ke-kuo shih-wu ya-men [office for the general management of the affairs of the various countries] be established with a minister of princely rank in charge of it. Since the Grand Councillors are responsible for drafting imperial edicts we fear that if they are not concurrently in charge of its affairs there will be discrepancies. We request that they all serve concurrently as officials [of the Tsungli Yamen]. Also we request that an office be provided in order to facilitate the transaction of business, and at the same time for receiving envoys of the various countries. As regards the staff to be established we suggest that eight men should be selected from the Manchu and eight from the Chinese who are presently serving as secretaries of the Grand Secretariat, the Six Boards, the Court of Colonial Affairs and the Grand Council. They should serve in rotation. All matters should be dealt with by the same procedure as in the Grand Council in order to specify responsibilities. As soon as military operations come to an end and affairs concerning the various countries become more simple it will be abolished, and its functions will revert to the Grand Council as before so as to tally with the old system.\n\n2. It is requested that posts for great officials be separately established at the southern and northern ports in order to facilitate the dispatch of business. We note that when trade began during the reign of Tao-kuang there were only the five ports of Canton, Foochow, Amoy, Ningpo, and Shanghai, for which an imperial commissioner was created. Now, according to the newly established treaties, in the north there are Newchwang in Fengtien province, Tientsin in Chihli, Tengchow in Shantung; in the south there are Canton, Ch'aochow and Ch'iungchow in Kwangtung, Foochow, Amoy, Taiwanfu, and Tamsui in Fukien as well as Chenkiang, Kiukiang, and Hankow on the Yangtze river.\n\nThe area [covered by all these ports] is vast stretching from south to north for seven or eight thousand li. If all these ports", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206512, "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": 60, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "54\n\nJ. L. CRANMER-BYNG\n\nCouncillors at Jehol at this time: Mu-yin; K'uang-yüan; Tu Han; Chiao Yu-ying. Information on all these officials can be found in Hummel, Eminent Chinese, especially in the biography of Su-shun. Their power relationships are discussed in Banno, China and the West, passim, but especially 55-56. The term \"minister of the imperial presence\" (yü-ch'ien ta-ch'en) is rendered by Brunnert and Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization, p. 28, no. 101, as adjutant-general.\n\nII Tengchow is on the northern side of the Shantung promontory. In fact it was not opened to foreign trade which was carried on at Yen-tai near Chefoo. S. Wells Williams, The Chinese Commercial Guide, 211-212. Ch'aochow was the old name for Swatow; Ch'iungchow is in Hainan. Taiwan City and Tamsui were ports on the island of Taiwan which came under the administration of Fukien province.\n\n12 Ch'ung-hou was appointed to this post by an edict of 20 January with the designation superintendent of trade for the Three Ports, with his headquarters at Tientsin. Hsueh Huan, governor of Kiangsu and acting imperial commissioner at Shanghai, was made responsible for the newly opened ports along the Yangtze and the coast to the south of it, by the same edict. As far back as 1844 the imperial commissioner at Canton was currently designated imperial commissioner for the Five Ports. With the addition of new ports it was made a concurrent post of the governor of Kiangsu in 1861, until 1868 when it was made a concurrent post of the governor-general of Liang Kiang residing at Nanking. In 1870 the post of superintendent of trade for the Three Ports was raised to an imperial commissionership and held concurrently by the governor-general of Chihli. It is not clear when the commonly used designations for these two posts viz: superintendent of trade for the southern ports and superintendent of trade for the northern ports were first used. Meng, The Tsungli Yamen, 40-41; Banno, China and the West, 233-5.\n\n13 Article 3 of the Convention of Peking between Britain and China refers. See W. F. Mayers, Treaties Between the Empire of China and Foreign Powers, 8. The phrase to avoid complications arising is a euphemism for 'to avoid peculation'.\n\n14 Tentatively we have translated the Chinese phrase hui-tan as counter-foil. Note 19 also refers.\n\n15 The term is fuyin. See Brunnert and Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization of China, 793.\n\n16 See Frank H. H. King, A Research Guide to China Coast Newspapers, 1822-1911.\n\n17 Translated in collaboration with Mr. Vei-Tsen Yang. Chinese text in Ch'ow-pan wu shih-mo, Hsien-feng, 72: 2-3. A second edict was issued on the same day, and on the same subject, to the Grand Secretariat. This edict was translated by T. F. Wade along with the six-point memorandum. Note 2 above refers.\n\n18 Not to be confused with the Russian Hostel nor with the language school for the Russians in Peking, both of which were often referred to in Chinese documents as O-lo ssu-kuan, thus making confusion likely with the Russian language school referred to here. See Meng, The Tsungli Yamen, 111, note 48.\n\n19 Lit. 'draw up a joint document'. Glossed by T. F. Wade as a paper signed by both parties showing that the amount deducted is in due proportion to the collection'. Translation of Peking Gazette in F.O. 17/352 p. 42.\n\n20 Presumably referring to Robert Hart, the Inspector General of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, and the westerners serving under him. On the general subject of foreigners taking part in the administration of China after the middle of the nineteenth century see Fairbank, The Chinese World Order, 273-5; also Fairbank \"Synarchy under the Treaties\" in Fairbank (ed.) Chinese Thought and Institutions, 204-231.\n\nPage 60\n\nPage 61", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211990, "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-1989", "page_number": 405, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "380\n\na. Hart to Geo. McAnliffe Esqre, 7 Aug 1880\n\nb. Hart to Association of Ulster-men-in-London, 22 Jan 1909 (draft)\n\nc. Hart to Nellie (?), 18 April 1897\n\nd. Hart to (?) [only postscript]\n\nReceipt of £146 3s. 9d. bequeathed to Hester Jane Bredon (Hart)\n\nDocuments to Bond and Stockholders, National Consolidated Wire and\n\nCable Co.\n\nLetters, Evy to Mabel (7)\n\nSheets of paper with Evy's German? School exercise\n\n1 photograph\n\nCongratulations on birth of child, 8 July 1873\n\nBOX 6\n\nBundles of telegrams to Hart and Lady Hart\n\nBundle of Lady Hart's papers re her investments, esp. National Steel\n\nand Wire\n\nLetters to Lady Hart from various institutions and persons, mainly\n\ncondolences for Hart's death\n\nLetters to Bruce Hart, condolences for his father's death\n\nBOX 7\n\nChinese despatch, Hart to Prince Ch'ing, Kuang-hsu 26.8.22 (15 Sept\n\n1900)\n\nChinese despatch from the Grand Councillor to Hart (received, 1 Sept\n\n1900)\n\nBundle of 24 Chinese documents (folded scrolls) marked \"Various proposals of mine 1900 1908, R. Hart\", on mint, currency, reforms, land tax, gold tariff and other subjects\n\nBundle of 11 Chinese documents, unmarked, but similar to above, 1904\n\n- 1906.\n\nBOX 8\n\nRobert's (Robin) letters, mostly to his mother. This is a very large\n\ncollection.\n\nPage 405\n\nPage 406", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212399, "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": 341, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "318\n\nThe origins of the Grand Council, which served as the highest executive body under the Emperor in the Qing government from the first quarter of the eighteenth century, are clarified for the first time. It was not created one day through act of parliament. Nor was it the accidental survivor of a military planning group as its Chinese name might suggest. Bartlett shows the transformation from direct imperial personal rule (Yongzheng's ad hoc arrangements of the Military Finance Section, the High Officials in Charge of Military Strategy, and the palace memorial system) to joint monarchical conciliar administration (Qianlong's regularization of the Grand Council). The development of an inner court to offset the rigidity and limitations of the outer court is traced, and we are shown how the Qianlong Emperor adapted to the increasingly complex demands of ruling China. The Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) was brilliant, but could rely on raw Manchu force to rule; Yongzheng and Qianlong had to use more \"Confucian\" means, at the same time surviving the factionalism of the imperial family.\n\nBartlett has not simply used the Qing archives to sketch political events, or to mark the stages of development of the Grand Council. She has used provenance to enlighten us on process, and has gained an understanding of the whole range of communication that passed between Emperor, grand councillors and provincial officials. This system has been researched before, but no one has gone into such detail on the forms of communication and the act of decision making. The grand councillors knew that control of information flow led to control of decisions. As the palace memorial system expanded from a secret, personal channel between the Emperor and a few officials to a broader, prioritized but more impersonal avenue, the councillors and their clerks injected themselves into the process. Before long they perused memorials, drafted summaries and proposed imperial replies (see, for example, pp 98-101).\n\nThe tension between Emperor and officials, and among officials, was conceptualized by Joseph Levenson in his trilogy Confucian China and its Modern Fate. Bartlett brings Levenson's provocative concept down to earth, and shows the conflict and cooperation between emperor and councillor, and inner and outer court officials. On the dichotomy of an all-powerful Emperor and officials with independent legitimacy, we are told that the outer court ran according to an administrative code. Although the monarch could probably", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212400, "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": 342, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "319\n\nchange these arrangements at will (and indeed in a few instances did so), for most matters imperial respect for established statutes prevailed and advice on the wisdom of proposed changes was sought and followed.' (p.6). This was not the case with the inner court in the eighteenth century. It was the creation of the Emperor. But Bartlett argues that by the end of the century the Grand Council straddled the roles of pawn and directorate. The result was a greatly expanded inner-court dominance, but one where both ministers and monarchs could be strong. While the framework for autocracy continued in place, the expansion of inner-court work and the ministerial skill and labor essential to accomplishing it weakened the monarchs' ability fully to oversee and direct the government.\" (p 7).\n\nHere I might take issue with the statement that the Grand Council weakened the monarch's ability to direct government; rather, it permitted him to do more than he could alone. It is at this point within the system that the individual comes into play, and the balance between monarchical power and conciliar power was less a question of institution, and rather varied on the basis of the personal qualities of the incumbent emperor, as well as the qualities of certain officials such as Heshen.\n\nThere is the risk in working with thousands of documents of losing sight of the wood for the trees. The reader is forewarned by the author that Part One covering the Yongzheng reign is very detailed. This reflects the evolution of the Grand Council as the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors experimented with the Inner Court before it was enshrined in statute. In Part Two Bartlett soars above the foliage to give us an overview of the mechanism of government.\n\nMonarchs and Ministers is a seminal work, and opens up many avenues of research. We must study the officials who held concurrent titles in both the Inner and Outer Court, and determine if their authority derived from their positions as Grand Councillors or from their incumbency as presidents of various boards (much as we ponder the power of government officials that derive from their party membership in modern China). This book also looks outward from the Inner Court, and we would do well to look inward from the Outer Court. We should not underestimate the value of Bartlett's analysis of the types of documents existing in the archives. There was no guide to the materials; who drafted them, who read them.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 } ]