Table Of ContentS c h
ourceS in hineSe iStory
Sources in Chinese History, now in its second edition, has been updated to include re-translations of over
a third of the documents. It also incorporates nearly 40 new sources that work to familiarize readers
with the key events, personages, and themes of modern China.
Organized thematically, the volume examines China’s complex history from the rise of the Qing
dynasty in the mid-seventeenth century through the formation of the People’s Republic of China up to
the present. Each chapter begins with an annotated visual source followed by a chapter introduction and
analysis of textual sources, allowing students to explore different types of sources and topics. Sources
in Chinese History contextualizes the issues, trends, and challenges of each particular period. Special
attention has been made to incorporate a variety of viewpoints which challenge standard accounts.
Non-traditional documents, such as movie dialogues, are also included which aim to encourage
students to reconsider historical events and trends in Chinese history.
This volume includes a variety of sources, such as maps, posters, film scripts, memorials, and
political cartoons and advertisements, that make this book the perfect introductory aid for students of
Chinese history, politics, and culture, as well as Chinese studies after 1600.
David G. Atwill teaches Asian History at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of two
monographs, The Chinese Sultanate (2005) and Islamic Shangri-la (2018), and has been the recipient of
several fellowships, including two Fulbright fellowships and an Andrew W. Mellon New Directions
Fellowship.
Yurong Y. Atwill is the Asian Studies Librarian at Pennsylvania State University and received her PhD
from Yunnan University. She is the author of Yunnan Knowledge and Outsiders’ Impressions: Culture,
Transportation and Botantical Resources (in Chinese) and has published numerous articles on Chinese
librarianship.
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Second Edi tion
S c h
ourceS in hineSe iStory
DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES FROM 1644
TO THE PRESENT
David G. Atwill and Yurong Y. Atwill
Second edition published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of David G. Atwill and Yurong Y. Atwill to be identified as authors of
this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Pearson 2009
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Atwill, David G., editor. | Atwill, Yurong Y., editor.
Title: Sources in Chinese history : diverse perspectives from 1644 to the present / David G. Atwill, and
Yurong Y. Atwill.
Description: Second edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references
and index. | Contents: Rise of the Qing (1644–1799) — The Opium War — Nineteenth-Century Society,
Rebellions and Reform — The Deepening Crisis of Imperialism in China (1856–1890) — Seeking to Solve
China’s Ills — Revolution, Warlordism, & Intellectual Transformation — China in the Twenties: The
Struggle for Unity — Fractured Visions: Manchuria, Nanjing, and Yan’an in the 1930s — China at War
(1937–1949) — New China - Finding a New Way — China in the 60s — Making Revolution in the Modern
World (1980s, 1990s & 2000s) — China in the 21st Century.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020040525 | ISBN 9780367210939 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367210922 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780429265327 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: China—History—Sources.
Classification: LCC DS703 .S68 2021 | DDC 951—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040525
ISBN: 978-0-367-21092-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-21093-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-26532-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Palatino
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For Peter 杨维康 and Kate 杨维馨 whose love of China enhanced our own
and whose willingness to maintain their ties with China gives us hope for the future.
CONTENTS
CONTENTSCONTENTS
Preface xv
A Note on Romanization, Names, and Dates xvii
Acknowledgments xix
PART I
Late Imperial China (1644–1911) 1
Chapter 1 Early to Mid-Qing 2
Rise of Qing: Conquest, Consolidation, and Preservation
1.1 Shunzhi’s Head-Shaving Decree (1645) 5
1.2 Sacred Edict of the Kangxi Emperor (1670) 6
1.3 Kangxi’s Edict Regarding Wu Sangui (1674) 7
1.4 Qing Rulers Promoting and Preserving Manchu Identity (1635–1850) 8
1.5 Qing’s 29 Regulations for Reorganizing Tibet (1792) 9
Qing China and Relations With Europe
1.6 Kangxi’s Edict of Toleration (March 20, 1692) 12
1.7 Open Letter From Kangxi to Pope Clement XI (October 31, 1716) 12
1.8 Letter From King George III to the Emperor of China (1792) 13
1.9 Journal Entries of Lord Macartney During His Journey to China
(1793–1794) 15
1.10 Qianlong’s Edict to King George III of England (September 23, 1793) 18
Education, Examinations, and Literature
1.11 Pu Songling’s “Three Genii” (c. 1679) 20
1.12 Eight-Legged Essay Civil Service Examination (1818) 21
1.13 Description of the Provincial Examination (c. 1845) 23
1.14 Lan Dingyuan on Female Education (1712) 26
Chapter 2 The Opium War 28
Trade in Early Nineteenth-Century Guangzhou
2.1 Description of European Factories in Guangzhou (1825–1844) 31
2.2 Deqing’s Memorial on the Responsibilities of the Gonghang
(March 23, 1813) 33
2.3 Rules Regulating Foreign Trading in Guangzhou (1832–1835) 34
Opium in Early Nineteenth-Century Guangzhou
2.4 Opium and Tea Trade With China 36
2.5 Huang Juezi on the Evil of Opium (June 2, 1838) 38
2.6 The Opium Question Among Westerners in China (1836–1837) 40
Commissioner Lin Zexu and the Opium War
2.7 Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu’s Pronouncement to the Foreigners
(March 18, 1839) 43
2.8 Charles Elliot’s Public Notice to British Subjects (March 27, 1839) 45
viii Contents
2.9 Letter From Lin Zexu to His Wife (1839) 46
2.10 Letter From Lin Zexu to Queen Victoria (July 19, 1839) 47
Popular Responses and Diplomatic Resolutions to the Opium War
2.11 Guangdong Residents’ Denunciation of the British (1841) 50
2.12 British Parliamentary Discussion of the Resolution on the
“Suppression of the Opium Trade” (April 4, 1843) 52
2.13 Treaty of Nanjing (1842) 53
Chapter 3 Mid-Nineteenth-Century Rebellions and Qing Responses 56
Taiping Rebellion
3.1 Taiping Anti-Manchu Proclamation (1852) 59
3.2 Brief Record of the Taiping’s Arrival in Nanjing (March 1853) 61
3.3 Taiping Ten Commandments (1852) 63
3.4 Taiping Plan for Reorganizing Chinese Society (1853) 67
3.5 Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty (1853) 68
Muslim Rebellions
3.6 Panthay Rebellion Summons to Arms (1868) 70
3.7 Rumors of a Tungan Massacre (1864) 71
3.8 Robert Shaw’s Visit to Yarkand and Kashgar (March 3, 1870) 73
Self-Strengthening Movement
3.9 Feng Guifen on the Adoption of Western Learning (1860) 75
3.10 Zeng Guofan on Founding the Shanghai Arsenal (1868) 76
3.11 Li Hongzhang’s Memorial Advocating Foreign Language Training
(March 11, 1863) 77
3.12 Woren’s Memorial Objecting to Western Learning (1867) 79
Chapter 4 The Deepening Crisis of Imperialism in China (1856–1890) 82
The Second Opium War, the Treaty of Tianjin, and the Burning of Yuanming Yuan
4.1 Harry Parkes’ Letter to Commissioner Ye Mingchen (October 8, 1856) 85
4.2 Reflections of Lord Elgin on the Treaty of Tianjin (June 29, 1858) 87
4.3 Treaty of Tianjin (June 26, 1858) 88
4.4 A Narrative on the Looting and Prize Money at the Yuanming Yuan
(October 7, 1860) 92
Sino-Japanese War
4.5 China’s Declaration of War (1894) 94
4.6 Japan’s Declaration of War (1894) 95
4.7 Treaty of Shimonoseki (April 17, 1895) 96
4.8 Li Hongzhang, “Afterthoughts of the Japanese War” (June 30, 1895) 99
4.9 John Hay’s Open Door Note (September 6, 1899) 101
4.10 Description of Chinese Family Life (1883) 102
4.11 Legal Case Study: Fraudulent Sale of Land (1889) 104
4.12 Legal Case Study: Marriage (1882) 106
Contents ix
Chapter 5 Seeking to Solve China’s Ills 108
100 Days Reform Movement
5.1 Kang Youwei’s Memorial on Institutional Reform (January 29, 1898) 111
5.2 China Mail Interview With Kang Youwei (October 7, 1898) 114
5.3 Guangxu’s Three Secret Decrees (1898) 115
5.4 Cixi and the Trial of the Reformers (1898) 116
Boxer Uprising
5.5 Malan Boxer Proclamations (1900) 118
5.6 Spirit Boxer Possession (1900) 119
5.7 Imperial Edict to “Declare War” (June 21, 1900) 120
5.8 Boxer Protocol (September 7, 1901) 121
Post-Boxer Reform and the Push for Revolution
5.9 Qing Officials’ Joint Proposals for Post-Boxer Reform (1901) 125
5.10 Qiu Jin’s Address to 200 Million Fellow Countrywomen (1904) 126
5.11 Abolition of the Competitive Examinations in China (1905) 128
PART 2
Republican China (1911–1949) 133
Chapter 6 Revolution, Warlordism, and Intellectual Transformation 134
1911 Revolution
6.1 Three People’s Principles and the Future of the Chinese
People (1906) 138
6.2 Demands of the National Assembly, Submitted in a Memorial
to the Throne (November 3, 1911) 141
6.3 First Provisional President’s Inaugural Address
(January 2, 1912) 142
6.4 Last Emperor’s Abdication Edict (February 12, 1912) 144
6.5 Sun Yat-sen’s Reply to Yuan Shikai and Resignation
(February 12, 1912) 145
May Fourth Movement
6.6 Japan’s 21 Demands (January 18, 1915) 146
6.7 May Fourth Manifesto (May 4, 1919) 149
6.8 Chen Duxiu’s “New Youth” Manifesto (December 1, 1919) 150
6.9 Hu Shi’s Literary Revolution and Renaissance in China (1926) 151
Warlord Era
6.10 Zhang Xun’s Reasons for Restoring the Monarchy (1917) 153
6.11 Warlord Politics: The Game of Playing One Against the
Other (1925) 154
6.12 Remembering the Brutal and Corrupt Warlord Zhang
Zongchang (1936) 156
Chapter 7 China’s Struggle for Unity 160
Ideologies and Realities of a Fractured Republic
7.1 Three Principles of the People (March 6, 1921) 164
7.2 Manifesto on the Northern Expedition (September 18, 1924) 166
