ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In my senior year at Harvard,in 1929,(Sir)Charles Kingsley Webster suggested that the study of modern China,using the voluminous Chinese documentation which was then becoming available,could shed much light on the ominous problems of East Asia.Subsequently at Oxford I took up this suggestion,and in the Public Record Office in London began research on British relations with China.At this time I made the acquaintance of a fellow-alumnus of Harvard,the late Dr.H.B.Morse,to whom this volume is dedicated.After the Rhodes Trust had kindly let me transfer to Peiping in 1932,I studied Chinese there and began to use Chinese documents under the guidance of Dr.T.F.Tsiang,then head of the History Department at Tsing Hua University. Twenty years ago I thus entered upon two approaches to the study of modern China-through Far Eastern languages and Sino-Western rela- tions.Their confluence has at length produced this book,yet it seems a shallow product,compared with the problems and materials with which it deals and the mountainous load of obligation which I have accumulated. I am obliged to many scores of friends and strangers-teachers of Chinese in the old Peking Legation Quarter,consular and Customs officers and taipans in the treaty ports of a bygone era,students and colleagues in the Departments of History and of Far Eastern Languages and in the Regional Studies Program at Harvard.This list of persons,to whom I feel most indebted in large ways or small,is incomplete but may serve at least as a bare acknowledgment:the late Sir Stephen Gaselee,the Foreign Office, and British diplomatic personnel at Peiping,Tientsin,Shanghai,Ningpo, Foochow,Amoy and Canton(for access to the British consular archives in China);former Ambassador Nelson T.Johnson,the Department of State, and American consular officers (for access to American records);the late Dr.John C.Ferguson and authorities of the Palace Museum,Peiping,and Dr.T.F.Tsiang (for access to unpublished documents from the Ch'ing archives);Sir Frederick Maze,sometime Inspector General of Chinese Maritime Customs,Stanley F.Wright,L.K.Little,Everitt Groff-Smith and others of the Customs Service,and members of the pioneer British firm of Jardine,Matheson and Company. This research has received generous support successively from the Rhodes Trust,the General Education Board,the Harvard-Radcliffe Bureau of International Research,and the Rockefeller Foundation.For scholarly aid and encouragement in diverse ways,I am particularly indebted toI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In my senior year at Harvard, in 1929, (Sir) Charles Kingsley Webster suggested that the study of modern China, using the voluminous Chinese documentation which was then becoming available, could shed much light on the ominous problems of East Asia. Subsequently at Oxford I took up this suggestion, and in the Public Record Office in London began research on British relations with China. At this time I made the acquaintance of a fellow-alumnus of Harvard, the late Dr. H. B. Morse, to whom this volume is dedicated. After the Rhodes Trust had kindly let me transfer to Peiping in 1932, I studied Chinese there and began to use Chinese documents under the guidance of Dr. T. F. Tsiang, then head of the History Department at Tsing Hua University. Twenty years ago I thus entered upon two approaches to the study of modern China - through Far Eastern languages and Sino-Western rela￾tions. Their confluence has at length produced this book, yet it seems a shallow product, compared with the problems and materials with which it deals and the mountainous load of obligation which I have accumulated. I am obliged to many scores of friends and strangers - teachers of Chinese in the old Peking Legation Quarter, consular and Customs officers and taipans in the treaty ports of a bygone era, students and colleagues in the Departments of History and of Far Eastern Languages and in the Regional Studies Program at Harvard. This list of personsJ to whom I feel most indebted in large ways or small, is incomplete but may serve at least as a bare acknowledgment: the late Sir Stephen Gaselee, the Foreign Office, and British diplomatic personnel at Peiping, Tientsin, Shanghai, Ningpo, Foochow, Amoy and Canton (for access to the British consular archives in China); former Ambassador Nelson T. Johnson, the Department of State, and American consular officers (for access to American records); the late Dr. John C. Ferguson and authorities of the Palace Museum, Peiping, and Dr. T. F. Tsiang (for access to unpublished documents from the Ch'ing archives); Sir Frederick Maze, sometime Inspector General of Chinese Maritime Customs, Stanley F.Wright, L. K. Little, Everitt Groff-Smith and others of the Customs Service, and members of the pioneer British firm of Jardine, Matheson and Company. This research has received generous support successively from the Rhodes Trust, the General Education Board, the Harvard-Radcliffe Bureau of International Research, and the Rockefeller Foundation. For scholarly aid and encouragement in diverse ways, I am particularly indebted to