Literature Review
Chinese Law in Imperial Eyes: Sovereignty, Justice, and Transcultural Politics
Author: Li Chen
Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2016
In this book, Li Chen provides new insights on Western tendencies toward China in the 19th century. Instead of using military or political domination, as was often the case, Western empires intervened in China by using a legal framework for the protection of life, treaty rights, and property to name a few. Over the course of five chapters, Li Chen explains the normative assumptions of the British cultural hierarchy, along with their limited scope of Chinese law, limited their framework of working with the Chinese legal regime, which was often comparable to Western standards. Nonetheless, Western racialization of law and its application was conducted unevenly when used for sporadic events as East and West clashed. Indeed, as Chen often notes, British legal reforms in the nineteenth century were often proportionate to the Qing Code regarding with punishment (p. 69). Yet, the West’s response was to cast and recast its legitimacy in China by undermining and often comparing the Qing Code as something akin to barbarism. Using new sources, Chen provides compelling evidence on the discourse that developed between East and West and offers a perspective on modern Beijing’s reluctance to adopt or relent to the wants and needs of Western governments out of its own security concerns based on historical precedent and centuries-old anxiety.
The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators between Qing China and the British Empire
Author: Henrierra Harrison
Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2021
In The Perils of Interpreting, Harrison provides new insights on Sino-British relations through two interpreters who played an important role in the McCartney Embassy, which previously has not been explored. Previous literature on the topic of the McCartney mission has been focused on primary sources about the exchanges of Ambassador McCartney and the Qianlong emperor. The new approach by Harrison explores the early lives of the two interpreters Li Zibiao (1760-1828) and George Thomas Staunton (1781-1859) and their involvement in the mission. Harrison’s analysis tries to uncover how it was that the two interpreters played such an instrumental role. Li was a native Chinese and he used his experience to shield Europeans, particularly Ambassador McCartney, from any offensive expressions by Chinese articulating their views about the British. It was only possible through Li to mediate conflicts between the Sino-British relations. Previous literature often looks at the McCartney mission as a failed venture, but through new research by Harrison and others, we can see a more complex relationship between both parties. Indeed, when we fast forward to the Amherst Embassy, twenty-three years later, we can clearly see a breakdown of communication due to lack of knowledge of interpretation. Both Li and Staunton learned Mandarin at a young age, giving them a better understanding of softened Chinese expressions when translating into European languages, something that was missed from others who learned Mandarin at a later age. The Amherst mission, unlike the McCartney mission, failed to even reach the emperor. Harrison illustrates the importance of these two interpreters in shaping early Sino-British relations and how uncovers the important role of these translation skills in minimizing misunderstandings between China and the West. Harrison does an excellent job of providing new insights not previous explored, but I also wonder about the significance of Chinese students other than Li. Li was not the only Chinese student living in Europe, which raises the question how other Chinese contributed to bridging Sino-Western relationships.
The Last Embassy: The Dutch Mission of 1795 and the Forgotten History of Western Encounters with China
Author: Tonio Andrade
Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2021
The Last Embassy takes readers to a largely forgotten part of history, the Dutch East Indies Company’s (DEIC) last mission to China. At that time, the DEIC can be thought of as a once powerful entity that existed for nearly 200 hundred years, but was now in a state of decline by 1795 and used the mission as a hope of spurring new trade relations. The DEIC, much like the British EIC, seized territories by using force and waging war by land and sea. Unlike the British EIC, the DEIC also had an impressive record of diplomatic relations in Asia. This differentiating characteristics offers new insights that allow us to move away from the normative narrative of the culture-clash thesis between Sino-Western interactions. Andrade’s main argument is that, when you compare the Dutch Mission to that of the McCartney Mission, the Dutch were largely successful, due to their deep understanding of ideals and practices of Asian diplomacy. Unlike the British, the Dutch were willing to “play by the rules” of the Qing Empire (p. 5), which provides a counterexample to British diplomacy. The first few chapters of the book discuss the purpose of the mission and their ultimate goals. The Qianlong emperor is celebrating his 60th birthday, and given the limited time there is to reach him for his celebratory birthday, the Dutch are forced to travel by land. They were thus on a much different track than the McCartney Mission, who was able to take a route that was more forgiving. To make it to the emperor in time, the route chosen for the Dutch was quite inhospitable and often grueling. Using new primary sources, Andrade provides more details about the route, what it was like, and the things they saw on their long journey to meet the Qianlong emperor. When the Dutch finally reach their destination, they are tired, exhausted, and not very favorable to the Chinese. This attitude changes as they become more engaged during the celebratory process. Unlike previous European missions, the Dutch are given exclusive access to private areas never before seen and only permitted for those closest in the tributary system. Andrade leaves the reader wondering. “We’ll never know if the mission would have helped improve trading conditions in the long run, because there was no long run.” The DEIC was in decline (p. 298) so we can only speculate what the long-term effects of the mission could have been. The book offers a fresh new account of a forgotten mission, and raises important new questions.