xiii PREFACE It may obviate misunderstanding and forestall criticism if the bald title of this book serves to indicate that the task essayed is not to foist upon the public yet another retelling of China's foreign relations, although for a clear understanding of the theme,these relations cannot be ignored.Neither is the book an attempt to present a biography in the usual sense of the term seeing that Hart's private and family affairs have been but lightly touched upon;nor yet does it claim to be a complete and detailed history of the Chinese Customs Service,in the development and activities of which Hart was for so long the moving spirit. .The book,in fact,is a blend of all three elements.Chinese Customs existed for centuries before Hart ever appeared in China,but it was the impact of his personality on the early treaty-engendered Foreign Inspectorate of Customs that made the Chinese Customs Service one of the administrative marvels of the world.Out of the seventy-six years of his allotted span of life he devoted fifty-two to the advancement of China's welfare in and through the Customs Service.That Service for half a century from 1861 was essentially Hart,Others,many of them men of unusual ability and force of character,gave their lives to it, to China's lasting gain;but Hart was the moving and controlling genius, the glowing central core from which life and energy radiated throughout the whole body. To that Service Hart dedicated himself,toiling for it as devotedly as any pioneer missionary,forgoing holidays and furloughsonly twice in fifty-four years did he revisit his homeland-defending its interests even at the cost of friendships,declining for the sake of those interests the glittering prize of appointment as British Minister at Peking,taking risks on behalf of China and the Service which would have appalled any mere safety-playing bureaucrat,loyally preferring to remain in Peking after the Boxer cataclysm in order to stand by China in disgrace, and in the end holding on to his post in spite of ill health and of heavy outside pressure because he was convinced that yielding to that pressure would have impaired China's sovereignty.From 1861 to 1911 the Service so absorbed all his energies,so dominated his waking and his sleeping thoughts,that he came to be not simply its Inspector General ("I.G.")but its very personification.The story of the Chinese Customs Service during his working lifetime is essentially the biography of Hart. Today,we British have good reason to congratulate ourselves that during those fateful years when China was being bullied and exploited, the foreigner chosen by the Chinese to be the head of their Foreign Inspectorate of Customs was a far-seeing warm-hearted Ulsterman who exemplified the best in British character and traditions.He was not blind to China's faults and weaknesses,to the shortsightedness of her isolationism to the canker of corruption in high places,to her vacillation. to her shirking of responsibility,and to the woeful lack of widespreadxiii PREFACE It may obviate misunderstanding and forestall criticism if the bald title of this book serves to indicate that the task essayed is not to foist upon the public yet another retelling of China's foreign relations, although for a clear understanding of the theme, these relations cannot be ignored. Neither is the book an attempt to present a biography in the usual sense of the term seeing that Hart's private and family affairs have been but lightly touched upon; nor yet does it claim to be a complete and detailed history of the Chinese Customs Service, in the development and activities of which Hart was for so long the moving spirit. The book, in fact, is a blend of all three elements. Chinese Customs existed for centuries before Hart ever appeared in China, but it was the impact of his personality on the early treaty-engendered Foreign Inspectorate of Customs that made the Chinese Customs Service one of the administrative marvels of the world. Out of the seventy-six years of his allotted span of life he d~voted fifty-two to the advancement of China's welfare in and through the Customs Service. That Service for half a century from 1861 was essentially Hart, Others, many of them men of unusual ability and force of character, gave their lives to it, to China's lasting gain; but Hart W<:iS the moving and controlling genius, the glowing central core from which life and energy radiated throughout the whole body. To that Service Hart dedicated himself, toiling for it as devotedly a~ any pioneer missionary, forgoing holidays and furloughs-,only twice in fifty-four years did he revisit his homeland-defending its interests even at the cost of friendships, declining for the sake of those interests the glittering prize of appointment as British Minister at Peking, taking risks on behalf of China and the Service which would have appalled any mere safety-playing bureaucrat, loyally preferring to remain in Peking after the Boxer cataclysm in order to stand by China in disgrace, and in the end holding on to his post in spite of ill health and of hea\"y outside pressure because he was convinced that yielding to that pressure would have impaired China's sovereignty. From 1861 to 1911 the Service so absorbed all his energies, so dominated his waking and his sleeping thoughts, that he came to be not simply its Inspector General ("I.G.") but its very personification. The story 6f the Chinese Customs Service during his working lifetime is essentially the biography of Hart. - Today, we British have good reason to congratulate ourselves that during those fateful years when China was being bullied and exploited, the foreigner chosen by the Chinese to be the head of their Foreign Inspectorate of Customs was a far-seeing warm-hearted Ulsterman who exemplified the best in British character and traditions. He was not blind to China's faults and weaknesses, to the shortsightedness of her isolationism to the canker of corruption in high places, to her vacillation, to her shirking of responsibility, and to the woeful lack of widespread