Robert Hart and China's Early Modernization: His Journals, 1863-1866

607 Pages·1991·107.859 MB·English

by  Parks M. Coble, John King Fairbank

ROBERT HART
AND CHINNS EARLY MODERNIZATION
His Journals, 1863-1866
HARVARD EAST ASIAN MONOGRAPHS, 155
The preparation of this volume
was made possibl,e in part by a grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities,
an independent agency.
Front endpapers:
Rooftops of Foochow in 1870, from the colkction of The Museum of the China
Trade, Sakm, Massachusetts.
Robert Hart and
China's Early Modernization
HIS JOURNALS, 1863-1866
edited and with narratives by
J.
RICHARD SMITH
JOHN K. FAIRBANK
KATHERINE F. BRUNER
Published by the Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University
and distributed by the Harvard University Press
Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London 1991
©Copyright 1991 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
Print,ed in the Unit,ed States of America
Index by Katherine R Bruner
The Council on East Asian Studies at Harvard University publishes a mmwgraph series and, througl
the Fairbank Cent,er for East Asian &search and the Reischauer Institut,e ofJ apanese Studies, admin·
ist,ers research prqjects designed to farther scholarly understanding of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam,
Inner Asia, and aqjacent areas.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hart, Robert, Sir, 1835-1911.
Robert Hart and China's early modernization : his journals,
1863-1866 I edited and with narratives by Richard J. Smith, John K.
Fairbank, Katherine F. Bruner.
P.· cm. - (Harvard East Asian monographs ; 155)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-674-77530-9
1. Hart, Robert, Sir, 1835-1911-Diaries. 2. Customs
administration-China-Officials and employees-Diaries. 3. Customs
administration-China-History-Sources. 4. China. Hai kuan tsung
shui wu ssu shu -History. I. Smith, Richard J. (Richard Joseph),
1944- II. Fairbank, John King, 1907- III. Bruner,
Katherine Frost, 1907- IV. Title. V. Series.
HJ7071.A3H373 1991
354.510072'46'092-dc20
[BJ 91-10378
CIP
This volume
is dedicat,ed to
WEN-HSIANG
5t.il
1818-1876
The Manchu high official Wen-hsiang was a major figure in the
Ch'ing leadership that made peace with the Anglo-French invaders of
Peking in 1860 and brought the Ch'ing Restoration into power in 1861.
As the principal official under Prince Kung in the Grand Council
and its foreign affairs subcommittee, the Tsungli Yamen, Wen-hsiang
was the most influential Manchu that Robert Hart dealt with while
building up the Maritime Customs Servic~. He sought Hart's advice,
valued his reporting, and influenced Hart in turn.
Together, the two worked to maintain the Anglo-Ch'ing entente
that in the 1860s included foreign support of the Manchu dynasty
against rebels and its acquiescence in the growth of foreign contact
and trade.
In his day Wen-hsiang was a modernizer, in ways that historians
may debate. His background seems to have been rather conventional.
He was both a classical scholar and a military commander. One of his
outstanding qualifications to be an insider at Peking was his intense
loyalty to the Ch'ing cause.
Wen-hsiang was born in Liaoyang, Southern Manchuria, into a
family of the Manchu Plain Red Banner. He passed the provincial
examination at Peking in 1840 and became a metropolitan graduate
(chin-shih) in 1845. Serving in various posts at the capital, he attained
the third rank in 1855 and became a Grand Councillor in 1858 at age
40. He was an incorrupt and conscientious official of unusual objec
tivity and intelligence. We esteem him especially for his skill in deal
ing with Robert Hart. The balance between them is still to be
determined.

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Preface xiii
1 Robert Hart in China's History
HART MEETS THE PROPER TIME 5
SHANGHAI 1864: THE ANGLO-CH'ING
PARTNERSHIP 23
2 Journals: 6 DECEMBER 1863-15 MAY 1864 47
3 Peking 1864: Esta,blishing the I.G. 's Sta,tus 97
THE I.G. UNDER THE TSUNGLI YAMEN 98
THE I.G. OVER THE MARITIME CUSTOMS
SERVICE 113
4 Journals: 1 JUNE 1864-25 OC1DBER 1864 131
5 Hart at l¾rk: Facets if Administration 200
FINANCING THE GROWTH OF THE SERVICE 200
1DURING THE SOUTHERN PORTS 208
ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS AT SHANGHAI 216
THE YANGTZE PORTS AND HART'S RETURN 10
PEKING 221
6 Journals: 26 OC1DBER 1864-18 JUNE 1865 228
7 Anglo-Ch'ing Reform Measures 268
THE RES1DRATION REFORM PROGRAM 270
HART'S "BYSTANDER'S VIEW" AND THE CHINESE
RESPONSE 282
8 Journals: 2 JULY 1865-2 MARCH 1866 294
9 Travels to Europe, 1866 347
THE PIN-CH'UN MISSION 348
HART'S MARRIAGE 361
10 Journals: 7 MARCH 1866-7 AUGUST 1866 368
vii
CONTENTS
11 Perspectives and Hypotheses 397
HART AS INTERMEDIARY 397
CHINA'S DOMESTIC TRANSFORMATION 399
THE PROVENANCE OF REFORM PROPOSALS 402
HART'S INFLUENCE-THE ALCOCK CONVENTION
OF 1869 405
THE CUS'IDMS AND IMPERIALISM 411
Appendixes 413
A: FOREIGNERS' POSITIONS IN THE IMPERIAL
MARITIME CUS'IDMS 413
B: LETTERS FROM HART 'ID E. C. BOWRA 415
C: LETTERS FROM HART 'ID HESTER JANE
BREDON 419
Notes
431
Bibliography 533
Glossary/Index 547
viii
Illustrations
MAPS
1. Partial Plan of Shanghai, 1855 24
2. Area of Li Hung-chang's and Gordon's Operations,
1863-1864 35
3. Plan of Peking 102-103
4. Eventual Growth of the Treaty Port System 114
5. Routes from Tientsin to Peking, 1860s 192-193
6. Cities Visisted by Hart during His Tour of the Treaty
Ports, 1864-1865 201
TABLES
1. Ch'ing Personnel in Office, 1863-1864 104
2. Form for Reporting Quarterly Returns 204
3. Foreigners' Positions in the Maritime Customs
(Appendix A) 415
PHOIDGRAPHS
Rooftops of Foochow front endpapers
Russell & Company 10
Li Hung-chang 37
The Russell & Company Steamship Huquong 65
Wen-hsiang 106
General Gordon in Chinese Dress 189
A Peking Cart 193
Wellington Street, Hong Kong 209
The Front Gate of the City Walls of the Tartar City of Peking 269
A Peking hu-t'ung 272
Prince Kung, Peking, 4 November 1860 276
The Pin-ch'un Mission at Stockholm, 1866 358
Hester Jane Hart, Lady Hart, and Robert Hart 362
IX