CHINA AND THE MODERN WORLD: Imperial China and the West Part I, 1815–1881
British Foreign Office correspondence from China on commercial, political, diplomatic, military and legal matters in nineteenth century Anglo-Chinese relations
In this, the first of two parts of British Foreign Office correspondence from China, scholars will find material relating to the internal politics of China and Britain, their relationship, and the relationships between other Western powers keen to benefit from the growing trading ports of the Far East.
From Lord Amherst’s mission at the start of the nineteenth century, through the trading monopoly of the Canton System, and the Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-60, Britain and other foreign powers gradually gained commercial, legal and territorial rights in China. These files provide correspondence from the Factories of Canton (modern Guangzhou) and from the missionaries and interpreters who entered China in the early nineteenth century, as well as from the later Consulates and Legation and from the envoys and missions sent to China from Britain.
After 1842 when the Treaty of Nanking was signed, the precedence of Canton declined as the treaty ports of Shanghai, Ningpo (Ningbo), Foochow (Fuzhou) and Amoy (Xiamen) were established. These were later joined by more trading posts, with British merchants and Consuls established at Swatow (Shantou), Chefoo (Yantai), Formosa (Taiwan) and more.
As well as matters of trade and commerce, the correspondence in this archive covers local uprisings including anti-foreign riots and the Tientsin Massacre of 1870, piracy, judicial and legal matters, and the activities of Russia, the US, France and other Western powers in the region. It also covers British interests and ambition in Japan, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Malaya (Malaysia) and Korea (particularly Seoul).
These hand-written documents have been opened up to scholars with the use of Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) technology, as well as item-level information drawn from the Foreign Office Indexes in series FO 605.
英国外交部涉及十九世纪中英关系的商贸、政治、外交、军事和法律事务对华通信往来
在两部英国外交部对华通信往来档案的第一部分中，学者们将会找到丰富的文献资料，涉及中国和英国内部政治、中英关系，以及迫切想要在远东贸易港的发展中获益的西方列强之间的关系。从十九世纪初阿美士德（Lord Amherst）使华，到广州十三行贸易垄断，以及1839-1842年和1856-1860年的鸦片战争，英国和其他列强逐渐在中国获得了贸易、法律和领土权。这些文件收录的信件来自广州商行、十九世纪初进入中国的传教士和传译人员，以及后来的领事馆和公使馆、从英国派往中国的公使和使团。
1842年签署《南京条约》后，随着上海、宁波、福州和厦门五处通商口岸的开放，广州的优势逐渐失去。随后英国商人和领事又在更多的地方建立了商埠，包括汕头、烟台、台湾等地。
除了商业和贸易事务，该档案库中的通信往来也涉及地方奇异，包括反外国人暴乱和1870年的天津教案、走私、审判和法律事务，以及俄国、美国、发过和其他西方列强在这一地区的活动。其中也收录了英国在日本、泰国、缅甸、马来亚和朝鲜半岛的利益和野心。
通过手写文本识别（HTR）技术以及从FO 605系列文件的外交部索引中提取的文件级别的信息，这些手稿文献完全向学者们敞开。
China and the Modern World: Imperial China and the West Part II, 1865-1905
The second half of the nineteenth century through the political, commercial and military papers of British diplomats, plenipotentiaries and merchants in China.
Covering the second half of the nineteenth century, Part II of China and the Modern World: Imperial China and the West completes the Foreign Office series of general correspondence relating to China (FO 17) and offers an unparalleled level of insight into Anglo-Chinese relations, the roles of China, Britain and other Western Powers in the wider Asian context, and the beginning of the end of China’s final Imperial dynasty, the Qing.
As the Western Powers competed to extend their influence in China, building railways and mines, providing ships and weapons and granting loans to the Chinese government while conducting hugely profitable trade from the busy ports of Canton, Shanghai, Amoy, Ningpo, Chefoo and more, the Qing dynasty faced challenges, both internal and external, to their position as a great Power in Asia.
The Foreign Office correspondence within Part II illustrates the wide range of issues that concerned the British in China, as well as major events in the region, covering the Chinese role against the French in Tonkin (northern Vietnam), disputes over Korea and Taiwan, the development of the First Sino-Japanese war and the Treaty of Shimonoseki, as well as the Boxer Rebellion and the siege of the international Legations in Beijing. The British representatives throughout the region provide valuable reports and opinions, and of particular interest are the volumes of correspondence to and from the British representatives at Seoul. Alongside the hundreds of volumes (FO 17/873–1768) of correspondence in FO 17, Part II also contains several volumes of Law Officers’ reports to the Foreign Office focused on China, held separately in series FO 83.
These hand-written documents have been opened up to scholars with the use of Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) technology, as well as item-level information drawn from the Foreign Office Indexes in series FO 605 or newly created for Imperial China and the West. Researchers will also find Foreign Office indexing from series FO 566, FO 804 and FO 738.
Major historical events and topics are covered in the archive, including;
The Sino-Soviet Ili crisis and the Treaty of St Petersburg (1881)
The training of Chinese naval officers in the UK
The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)
King Gojong of Korea takes refuge in Russian Legation
The Boxer Rebellion and the signing of the Peking Protocol (1900)
Railway Development and international competition
Piracies in the China Seas
The Panthay Rebellion
Chinese emigration
英国外交官、全权大使和商人的政治、商贸和军事文件中十九世纪下半叶的中国
“中国与现代世界：中华帝国与西方”第二部分涵盖十九世纪下半叶，完善了该档案对英国外交部FO 17系列与中国相关一般公函的收录，提供了独一无二的深入观察，涉及中英关系、中国的历史角色、更宽广亚洲背景下的英国和其他西方列强，以及中国最后一个封建王朝——清朝衰落的开端。
当西方列强争相扩大在中国的势力范围、修建铁路和矿山、向中国政府出售船只和武器并提供贷款，同时在广州、上海、厦门、宁波、烟台等口岸大肆开展巨额贸易的时候，清政府面临着国内和国外的双重挑战，亚洲大国的地位岌岌可危。
第二部分中的英国外交部公函呈现出英国在华的各种问题以及这一地区的重大历史事件，包括中国在东京（越南北部地区）抵抗法国中的作用，有关朝鲜半岛和台湾岛的争端，中日甲午战争的爆发和《马关条约》，以及义和团起义和北京外国公使馆被围。遍布这一地区的英国代表们提供了宝贵的报告和观点，特别是英国驻汉城（今韩国首尔）代表的往来公函。除了FO 17系列中数百卷（FO 17/873-1768）的公函，第二部分也收录了多卷英国检察官就中国问题提交外交部的报告，单独保存在FO 83系列中。
手写文本识别（HTR）技术的使用，以及提取自FO 605系列的外交部索引或最新为“中华帝国与西方”创建的索引，为学者们打开了这些手写文献资料。研究者也将能够找到来自FO 566、FO 804和FO 738系列的外交部索引。
该档案库涵盖的主要历史事件和主题包括：
- 中俄伊犁危机和《中俄伊犁条约》（1881年）
- 中国海军军官在英国受训
- 中日甲午战争（1894-1895年）
- 朝鲜王朝高宗“俄馆播迁”
- 义和团起义和《北京条约》的签订（1900年）
- 铁路的发展和国际竞争
- 中国海上的海盗
- 杜文秀起义
- 华人移民