The West and China since 1500 John S. Gregory The West and China since 1500 This page intentionally left blank The West and China since 1500 John S. Gregory ã John S. Gregory 2002 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 978-0-333-99744-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLCand of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillanâ is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-4039-0280-1 ISBN 978-0-230-28688-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230286887 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gregory, J.S. (John Stradbroke), 1923± The West and China since 1500 / John S. Gregory. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. ChinaÐRelationsÐForeign countries. I. Title. DS740.4 .G74 2002 327.51018201009Ðdc21 2002072338 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 To Nancy This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface viii Map xi Introduction 1 1 A Wide World Apart, with Differing Views of Heaven and Earth 4 2 Coming Together, Rather Slowly and on China's Terms (1500±1800) 29 The Traders 30 The Missionaries 36 China and the Jesuits Help Enlighten Europe 42 The Diplomats 51 3 Closer Encounters, on the West's Terms (1800±1900) 72 The OpiumTrade 76 The Treaty System 87 The Missionary Confrontation 103 The West Changes its Image of China 116 4 Hither and Thither, in Search of Comfortable Common Ground (1900±2001) 129 China Begins to Scramble to its Feet, and the Treaty Systemto Unscramble (1900±28) 131 Together on the Road to Pearl Harbor, and Beyond (1928±49) 153 Backwards and Forwards with Mao and his Successors (1949±2001) 176 Conclusion: Peering ahead, Uncertainly 204 Notes 206 Bibliography 218 Index 226 vii Preface This survey of Western civilization's relationship to the once very distant civilization of China has been prompted by my talking, after my retire- ment from university teaching, to other retirees attending University of the Third Age (U3A) classes. Encouraged by the evident eagerness of these mature age students to know more about China, including the history of its relations with the West, I set about writing what was intended to be a relatively brief account of the fluctuating relationship of these two great but very different cultural traditions for the kind of intelligent, general interest rather than specialist audience which makes up U3A classes. Chapter I reflects that approach and intent. However, as the writing proceeded more detail crept in, so that the later chapters, especially the third and fourth, thickened. Without forgetting or, I hope, altogether losing my University of the Third Age audience, I moved gradually towards writing for the student of modern Chinese history and politics pursuing more formal courses of study, offering them some details and interpretations ± on the opium trade, the treaty system, the missionary movement, the status of Taiwan, for example ± which may stimulate debate in the classroom. This is not a history of China, of which there are many, but simply a survey of the West's approach to that country since the time when regular contact with it was established. My title is The West and China, putting `the West' first to emphasize that, although something of what was happening in China during these five centuries of contact must necessarily be included, the essential focus is upon Western culture ± how it has approached and sought to understand China; how it has reacted to it; what it has gained fromit, what demanded fromit; how it has treated it; how it has adjusted to the great changes which have taken place within modern China, changes prompted in large part by the West's very presence. There are some authoritative studies entitled China and the West, notably by Wolfgang Franke and Jerome Chen, and my bibliography lists many other relevant and specialized studies, while any general history of China will refer to many of the issues raised in this study. Thus the serious student may read much else to set against what is recounted here. Though necessarily sweeping rapidly over five centuries, I have endea- voured to maintain a balance between the very general and the fairly viii Preface ix specific, a balance which I hope will satisfy both the kind of reader who attends, or may one day attend, U3A classes, and the younger student attending other kinds of classes. Having been 15 years in retirement I am no longer as close to the cutting edge of scholarship on modern Chinese history as I endeavoured to be when a university lecturer, but in preparing for my U3A classes, and in setting out to write this survey text, I have made considerable efforts to catch up with at least some of the relevant scholarly literature. However, the subject is vast, so the indulgence of the reader is sought for any serious oversight of recent scholarship. I have set out to write a reflection, a summing up of my nearly half a century of studying and teaching about China, with the object of encouraging further reflection by my fellow Westerners, old and young, about their relationship to a great alternative tradition. The pinyin system of romanization is used, save for some geographic names well known in older forms (Canton, Hong Kong, Kowloon), and for Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, whom I suspect many readers would not readily recognize in their pinyin personas of Sun Zhongshan and Jiang Jieshi. One piece of pedantry I have persisted in is to refer to Chinese emperors as `the such-and-such emperor', since the `names' by which they are usually identified are in fact reign titles, their personal names being taboo. It is rather as if in English history we referred to Elizabeth I only as `the Virgin Queen', never presuming to refer to her by her actual name. I am indebted to the U3A organization of my home city, Melbourne, for providing me with the audiences which stimulated me to set about writing down something of what I was saying to them. I am grateful to my academic colleagues, Dr Tom Fisher and Dr Paul Rule, for their comments on sections of the manuscript, especially to Paul Rule for his help on aspects of the missionary presence. My son Martin and daughter Janet have between them made up for my lack of computer skills and have provided constant love and support, as has my dear wife Mary who prepared the map and has made many constructive com- ments on the text. Most of all I am indebted to my friend Dr Nancy Renfree, but for whose unfailing interest, encouragement, and practical skills, I doubt these ideas would have been turned into words on the printed page. J.S. Gregory Melbourne, February 2002