Search

In the light of 19th-century attempts to universalize history and international law, the purpose of this article is to show how the theory of an Ancient Chinese international law matured and disseminated within one politics of history and helped generate another at the end of the Qing Dynasty. On the one hand, the middleman William Alexander Parsons Martin, who as part of his Christian mission and in order to make international law more acceptable to the Chinese, translated systematically international law into Chinese and attempted to universalize it by finding a proto-international law in Ancient China. On the other hand, Chinese scholars and officials sought to use Martin's theory to universalize Confucianism and rectify international law according to what they believed to be their own superior morality and history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Qianlong period (ca. 1776-1795) has mostly been seen as the time when the Qing empire went from its pinnacle into its decline as the bureaucracy became bogged down in corruption. Heshen has come to epitomize late Qing venality and mismanagement. This article argues that, in reality, the Qianlong emperor employed Heshen and his associates in order to overcome the political crisis that marred the middle years of his reign. A balance of power was established whereby the cliques respectively represented by Akedun and Liu Tongxun and by Heshen held each other in check. It is also shown that the wealth that Heshen is alleged to have accumulated through his corrupt activities was far less than commonly believed, and that Heshen could not significantly abuse his political authority until about the time of Qianlong's abdication, four years before his own demise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the main lines of relations between the Qing and two neighbors, Đai Việt (Vietnam) and Siam (Thailand), ca. 1700-1820. It argues that the tribute system was not a "fossil" of Qing pretensions and meaningless ceremonies but a functional matrix for adjustment to changing realities. It cites archival sources in Beijing and Taipei that will repay further detailed study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers an essay on provincial government written by the Yongzheng Emperor of China shortly after his ascension to the throne in 1723. The essay treats provincial governors' role in personnel, financial and military matters and the problems of China's southwest. It reflects the emperor's dissatisfaction with policies in each of these areas, which were all to be the focus of reforming efforts during his reign. But perhaps more important, it expresses the Emperor's new concern with the value of administrative efficacy. The essay argues that this was a fundamental innovation in the political theology of the Chinese state. Although practical ideas for reform often came from governors themselves, who were closer to the problems than the Emperor and more familiar with the details of solution, imperial leadership created a climate in which reform ideas would be welcomed and implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]