The Inner Opium WarBRILL, 2020 M05 11 - 416 pages Why did defeat in the Opium War not lead Ch'ing China to a more realistic appreciation of Western might and Chinese weakness? James Polachek's revisionist analysis exposes the behind-the-scenes political struggles that not only shaped foreign-policy decisions in the 1830s and 1840s but have continued to affect the history of Chinese nationalism in modern times. Polachek looks closely at the networks of literati and officials, self-consciously reminiscent of the late Ming era that sought and gained the ear of the emperor. Challenging the conventional view that Lin Tse-hsu and his supporters were selfless patriots who acted in China's best interests, Polachek agrues that, for reasons having more to do with their own domestic political agenda, these men advocated a futile policy of militant resistance to the West. Linking political intrigue, scholarly debates, and foreign affairs, local notables in Canton and literati lobbyists in Perking this book sets the Opium War for the first times in its "inner," domestic political context. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
1 THE LITERATI REASCENDANT | 17 |
2 THE RISE OF THE SPRING PURIFICATION CIRCLE | 63 |
3 THE POLITICS OF OPIUM SUPPRESSION | 101 |
4 THE MYTH OF VICTORY IN KWANGTUNG | 137 |
5 THE DEBATE OVER THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR | 177 |
6 THE KU YENWU SHRINE ASSOCIATION | 205 |
7 THE END OF MANCHU DIPLOMACY | 237 |
8 EPILOGUE | 273 |
Notes | 289 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 365 |
385 | |
401 | |
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Common terms and phrases
academy action British bureaucratic campaign Canton Cantonese capital censor CFTCC Ch'en Ch'i Kung Ch'i-shan Ch'i-ying Ch'i-ying's Ch'ien-lung Ch'ing Ch'ing political Chang Chi-liang Chekiang Chia-ch'ing China Chinese Chu Ch'i Chu Kuei chüan clique Confucian court defense diplomacy diplomatic early ECCP edict emperor examination example force foreign Fukien governor grand councillor Han Chinese Han-lin HPSW Hsien-feng Hsuan-nan Club Huang Chueh-tzu Hunan imperial influence IWSM-TK Juan Yuan Kai-lan Kiangsu ku-wen Kwangsi Kwangtung late leaders Liang Chang-chü Lin Tse-hsu Lin's literati literati political Manchu maritime Mei Tseng-liang ment military Ming moral Mu-chang-a Nanking Neo-Confucian nien-p'u opium Opium War P'an Shih-en patronage Peking poetry provincial officials role San-yuan-li scholar-official scholarly scholars seems shih Shrine Association SL-TK SLTK Southern City Spring Purification circle Spring Purificationists Taipei Taiwan Tao-kuang Teng Tientsin tion trade treaty Ts'ao Tseng Wang Wei Yuan wen-chi Weng Fang-kang Yangtze Yao Ying Yao's YPCC