This course studies the formation and transformation of late imperial Chinese diplomatic system.  It examines how China established and maintained the tributary system, or the so-called Pax Sinica in East Asia from the 14^th to the 19^th century.  It analyzes the complex process, starting in mid-19^th century, in which China gradually accepted a new international order based on the assumption of nation-state and governed by Western international law.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will:

• Have enhanced awareness and curiosity of the complex issue of cultural difference, political change, and international relationship in early modern East Asia;
• Have enhanced sensitivity towards discourse, narratives, values and hidden agenda in historical records;
• Have enhanced ability to practice the science and art of historical research;
• Have enhanced reading, writing, and oral expression skills.

TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

For your reference, these is the syllabus for Second Semester, Year 2014-15 (January-April 2015)

Lecture 01 Introduction

Lecture 02        Reading the North China Herald, January 11th, 1895

*   How did newspaper travel and how much did it cost to send a telegraph? See the announcement of arrival dates of overseas newspapers to Shanghai, p. 6.

*    Observation on Japanese press and patriotism: “The Japanese Press”, pp. 25-26; “Japanese Fanaticism”, pp. 31-32.

Lecture 03        Reading the North China Herald, January 18th, 1895:

*     The stock and debt market 120 years ago: p. 100

*     On Japan’s war against China: “Japan’s Work”, p. 72.

Lecture 04        Reading the North China Herald, January 18th, 1895:

*     Advertisement: The Milkmaid Brand Condensed Milk, p. 136.

*     Foh Kung-zau on Chinese patriotism in St. John’s Echo, p. 106

*     Observation on Chinese political sentiment: “China’s Apathy”, pp. 109-110

Lecture 05        Reading the North China Herald, February 1st, 1895:

*     Advertisement: the North China Herald, pp. 160-161.

*     Stock market booming, p. 144.

*     Some kind words for Chinese soldiers and a rebuttal to Japanese media, p. 145.

*     Compared with The Times (1895.02.02)’s coverage of the War http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/cuhk?db=TTDA

*     “The laws of the civilized world”? A clip from 1957 movie A Bridge over the River Kwai directed by David Lean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3pQubiUXD0

Lecture 06        Reading the North China Herald, February 8th, 1895:

*     Advertisement: The German mineral water Apollinaris and its mysterious agent Carlowitz & Co.

*     The Shanghai Land Investment Co and the real estate boom, p. 212.

*     Xu Run’s ordeal glorious resurrection in the financial crisis in 1883: Xu Run 徐润( 1838-1911), Xu Yuzhai zixu nianpu 徐愚斋自叙年谱 [Self-compiled chronology of Xu Yuzhai] (1927 edition), rpt. Xuxiu siku quanshu (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1995), Shi, Vol. 558, p. 100

Lecture 07        Reading the North China Herald, February 15th, 1895:

*     Daily life of the Shanghailanders: Ms Elsie Adair’s performance in the Lyceum Theatre, p. 218; Minutes of the Municipal Council’s meeting, pp. 234-235; the Shanghai Public School, p. 242.

*     Currency of Shanghai: Charles Ewart Darwent, Shanghai: a Handbook for Travellers and Residents to the Chief Objects of Interest in and around the Foreign Settlements and Native City (Shanghai; Hongkong: Kelly and Walsh, [n.d.]), pp. v-viii; G. Lanning and S. Couling, The History of Shanghai (Shanghai; Hongkong: Kelly and Walsh, 1921), pp. 393-399; Andrea Lee McElderry, Shanghai Old-style Banks (chʻien-chuang), 1800-1935: a Traditional Institution in a Changing Society (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1976), pp. 7-8; John Calvin Ferguson, “Notes on Chinese banking system in Shanghai”, Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society”. Vol. 37 (1906), pp. 55-82.

Lecture 08        Cancelled thanks to Chinese New Year!

Lecture 09        Reading the North China Herald, March 2nd, 1895:

*     Names of steamer passengers, p. 253.

*     A proposal for a lucrative business: “The Oyster Industry”: pp. 253-254; compared with Charles Dickens, (1812-1870), The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1972), p. 307.

*     Sad news about the war and Admiral Ting, p. 255.

*     News about Japanese war loan, p. 255.

*     “Education in Japan”, p. 300.

*     “The Capture of Weihaiwei”, p. 321.

Lecture 10        Reading the North China Herald, March 8th, 1895:

*     “The situation”, pp. 333-334

*     Advertisement: Dr. J. Collis Browne’s Chlorodyne; “Medical News”, Association Medical Journal, Vol. 4, No. 168 (Mar. 22, 1856), p. 244; Leonard W. Sedgwick, “Treatment of Tetanus by Aconite”, The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1. No. 161 (Jan. 28, 1860), pp, 68-69; “Medical News”, British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 159 (Jan 16, 1864), p. 83; also compared with the history of the Seirogan (the pill that conquered Russia)

*     J. G. Ballard’s description of Shanghai in : J. G. Ballard, Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton, an Autobiography ()

Lecture 11        Reading the North China Herald, March 15th, 1895:

*     News of Oscar Wilde: “A Sensational Case”, p. 375

*     “Terms of Peace”, p. 374.

*     Lam Hok-chung (Lin Xuezhong), Cong wanguo gongfa dao gongfa waijiao: wanqing guojifa de chuanru, quanshi yu yingyong从万国公法到公法外交：晚清国际法的传入、诠释与应用[From international law to international law diplomacy: the introduction, interpretation and application of international law in late Qing] (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2009).

Lecture 12        Reading the North China Herald, March 22nd, 1895:

*     “Miscellaneous Articles: Monetary reform”, p. 427.

*     “The Revival of Oriental Power”, pp. 427-428.

Lecture 13        Reading the North China Herald, March 29th, 1895:

*     The attack on Li Hung-chang; and a comparison with Shenbao and The Times.

Lecture 14        Cancelled (public holiday)

Lecture 15        Reading the North China Herald, April 13th, 1895:

*     “Ought the Japanese press to be acknowledged?”, pp. 573-574

*     “The creation of public opinion”, pp. 582-583.

Semester Paper

Topic:

Chinese Economy and Foreign Trade in 1896: a Study of two British Consular Reports

Major archives

          (1) Nicholas J. Hannen (British Consul at Shanghai), “Report for the Year 1896 on the Trade of Shanghai”, May 27, 1897, presented to both Houses of Parliament, June 1897, in Foreign Office 1897 Annual Series, No. 1951, Diplomatic and Consular Reports on Trade and Finance, in Robert L. Jarman ed., Shanghai Political & Economic Reports: British Government Records from the International City (Slough: Archive Editions, 2008), Vol. 10, pp. 261-289.

          (2) Byron Brenan (British Consul at Tianjin?) , “Report on the State of Trade at the Treaty Ports of China”, October 15, 1896, presented to both Houses of Parliament, May 1897, in Foreign Office 1897 Annual Series, No. 1909, Diplomatic and Consular Reports on Trade and Finance, in Robert L. Jarman ed., Shanghai Political & Economic Reports: British Government Records from the International City (Slough: Archive Editions, 2008), Vol. 10, pp. 293-364.

Length:

          No less than 5,000 English words, including footnotes, excluding bibliography, must conform to generally accepted format of academic paper.

Date of Submission:

*April 25^th2016 (one week after the last lecture)

*The paper should be uploaded to the Veriguide System, no print copy needed.

*Late submission of one day will lead to deduction of half grade, for instance, from A to A-, and so forth.

*Academic honesty is to be honored. Cheating or plagiarism will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty will lead to (1) zero grade in the course, (2) disciplinary action that may result in stopping studies in this university. Please refer to the following website about university regulations against cheating/plagiarism (or excessive copying):http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty

Past semester paper topics:

Second Semester 2014-15 (January to April 2015):

Topic:

The making of the Sino-Japanese War on paper: a study of the news coverage of the war by the North China Herald

Major archives for the topic:

The North China Herald of 120 years ago (January to April 1895). The version used is the Brill Online North China Herald database http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5390690~S15

Second Semester 2013-14 (January to April 2014):

Topic:

The Sino-Japanese dispute over Taiwan (1874-1875) as revealed in British Foreign Office Confidential Print (FOCP)

Major archives for the topic:

Ian Nish ed., British Documents on Foreign Affairs–Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print Part I From the mid-nineteenth century to the First World War Series E Asia, 1860-1914 (Bethesda, MD: ProQuest, 2012), Vol. 21, Treaty Revision and Sino-Japanese Dispute over Taiwan 1868-1876, pp. 226-255.

Second Semester 2012-13 (January to April 2013):

Topic:

Journey to the West: a study of Qing China’s Burlingame Mission (1867-1870)

Major archives for the topic:

Frederick Wells Williams, Anson Burlingame and the First Chinese Mission to Foreign Powers (Lexington, KY: Cornell University Library, 2012, reprinted edition of: New York: Scribner’s Sons, 1912).

Second Semester 2011-12 (January to April 2012):

Topic:

A study of the Alcock Convention (1869-1870).

Major archives for the topic:

“Correspondence respecting the revision of the Treaty of Tientsin 1867-73”, in Irish University Press Area Studies Series: British Parliamentary Papers: China (Shannon: Irish University Press, 1971), Vol. 35, pp. 53-168.

Second Semester 2010-11 (January to April 2011):

Topic:

A study of Qing embassy to Britain Guo Songtao’s journal (1876-1878).

Major archives for the topic:

John David Frodsham trans. and annot., The First Chinese Embassy to the West: the Journals of Kuo Sung-t’ao, Liu His-hung and Chang Te-yi (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974).

Tutorial venue: YIA LT7

Tutorial date and time: Monday 8:30pm-9:15pm

Tutorial

—Every student shall attend four tutorials and conduct an oral presentation of about 15 minutes in one of the tutorials. The presentation should be based on assigned tutorial document which will also be the major archives for the semester paper.

—No need to prepare ppt, print notes, etc, for the oral presentation, the important point is to show your understanding of the tutorial material.

—No need to write a separate tutorial report. As your tutorial material happens to be the major archives for your semester paper, you will make the most of the tutorial material when writing your semester paper, will you not?

—Tutorial documents:

(1) Nicholas J. Hannen (British Consul at Shanghai), “Report for the Year 1896 on the Trade of Shanghai”, May 27, 1897, presented to both Houses of Parliament, June 1897, in Foreign Office 1897 Annual Series, No. 1951, Diplomatic and Consular Reports on Trade and Finance, in Robert L. Jarman ed., Shanghai Political & Economic Reports: British Government Records from the International City (Slough: Archive Editions, 2008), Vol. 10, pp. 261-289.

(2) Byron Brenan (British Consul at Tianjin?) , “Report on the State of Trade at the Treaty Ports of China”, October 15, 1896, presented to both Houses of Parliament, May 1897, in Foreign Office 1897 Annual Series, No. 1909, Diplomatic and Consular Reports on Trade and Finance, in Robert L. Jarman ed., Shanghai Political & Economic Reports: British Government Records from the International City (Slough: Archive Editions, 2008), Vol. 10, pp. 293-364. [pdf file available in Blackboard, print copies distributed in class]

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