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H-ASIA March 4, 2011 Anti-foreign episodes in China, 1890-1900 ***************** From: Ian Welch <ian.welch@anu.edu.au> In my work on missionary affairs in China, and the importance in 19th century Chinese history of "humiliations" caused by foreign incursions, it is of considerable interest to observe that there does not seem to be a comprehensive list of (a) gunboat episodes; (b) anti-foreign episodes; (c) missionary cases; (d) popular uprisings and rebellions. It appears that the primary "humiliation" in 19C China was not foreigners, nor their incursions or gunboats, but the venality and incompetence of a ruling elite whose self-interest was predominant in every dealing with foreigners, to say nothing of their contempt for ordinary Chinese. This is not to say that foreigners were not engaged in humiliating events, but that their behaviour was in no small part reactive. Diplomats and consuls reported that considerably more than half their time was taken up with "missionary cases" of various kinds. It must be noted that "missionary cases" involved well-meaning but ignorant foreigners intruding into Chinese domestic affairs on behalf of their Chinese converts. Responsible missionaries were well aware of the problem and in the case of Fujian Province, all the Protestant missions combined to issue a statement condemning the practice. In researching the Huashan Massacre of 1 August 1895, and preparing a world data-base related to it comprising over 3,000 items covering the period 1870-1900, it is apparent that foreigners in China were unanimous that anti-foreign episodes, including anti-missionary riots (missionaries being the most accessible for attacks), demonstrated a deliberate long-term policy of the Chinese elite, from the Peking Governmen downwards, to make the residence of foreigners so difficult that they would retreat to the Treaty Ports and then driven entirely out of China, or at least limited to such affairs as the Chinese elite was prepared to tolerate. It also seems that there were regional rivalries for senior Chinese positions (Hunan v. Ngan-whei for example) and anti-foreign episodes were caught up in elite struggles for status, authority and power. Apart from welcoming discussion of the above, I would be interested to learn of any lists in regard to the four categories noted in the first paragraph. Regular readers may remember that I was equally surprised some time back to learn that there was no listing of anti-Chinese episodes in the United States. I put together an initial table on that topic that some folk have been interested to obtain and would welcome additions if anyone cares to contribute. I have not done the same for Australia, so far, but I believe that anti-Chinese riots in Australia were, as far as my knowledge currently extends, comparatively rare and were firmly dealt with by the legal system. Ian Welch, Canberra. ****************************************************************** To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to: <H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu> For holidays or short absences send post to: <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message: SET H-ASIA NOMAIL Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/
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