20 CHINA'S UNPREPAREDNESS CHINA'S RESPONSE TO THE WEST 21 Ch'i-ying stated that at night their vision was confused.Tao-kuang com- The interaction of dynastic decline and Western invasion.The conclusion mented:'Everyone says the same thing,it must be true.'Lo Ping-chang of the first set of treaties with Britain,France,and the United States in memorialized,saying:The said barbarians'troops and chieftains take ele- 1842-44 coincided with the end of exactly two centuries of Manchu rule phant skin [ksiang-p'i,the modern term for rubber]and copper strips and in China.Judging by evidences of decay in the Ch'ing dynasty,it is not wrap the upper part of their bodies for protection,so that the edge of a surprising that the great Taiping Rebellion began in 1851.Yet in this case sword cannot wound them;the volunteers of Canton province take long the extremely complex processes of dynastic change within the country cudgels and bend down to strike their feet,and immediately they fall had already become further complicated by the Western pressure from down.'...All this unfounded talk,of which the origin is unknown,was without.Britain's defeat of the Manchus in the war of 1840-42 was an im- actually believed by the officials and furthermore was memorialized to the portant,though as yet imponderable,political and psychological factor in court.They had no capacity to discriminate between true and false;hence the origin of the Rebellion.The opium trade which had precipitated the it was difficult to weigh what was important and what was not,find out war of 1840 was only one aspect of the growth of China's foreign com- what was profitable and what was injurious,and make exact decisions."ss merce.Like the rapidly growing exports of tea and silk,it heralded the And hence,it may be added,they were the more readily subject to panic spread of a commercial economy in South China which later had profound in the field and to a suspicious timidity in the council chamber.An edict of repercussions on the old agrarian society.The circumstance that the Taiping June 1842 commented:"The rebellious barbarians'cunning is manifested religion was a bastard offspring of Protestant evangelism was undoubtedly in a hundred ways;their ships separate,and some go north and some south a factor in the rebels'failure to win the Chinese upper class to their cause ..and their number changes constantly.Also,they take troops that have Western influences had already intruded upon the Chinese pattern. been captured on successive occasions [i.e.,prisoners]and successively But the long-term patterns of Western history as they impinged upon send them back.Although they take trade as their excuse,they do not wait China contributed to the destruction more than to the creation of any ob- for an answer but suddenly raise anchor and sail away-all sorts of craft servable rhythm in the Chinese social process.The seemingly irreversible and secrecy.One cannot get any clue to it."a trends of Western history,manifest in the growth of science and technology, This intellectual unpreparedness for Western contact,so evident in the trade and industry,nationalism and the modern state,destroyed the old folklore and thought of China in 1840,was made the more grievous by the China and created one of mankind's greatest problems-how to integrate dry sterility which had overtaken the Chinese scholarly tradition.The into a world community one-fifth of the human race whose social heritage wide-ranging intellectual vigor of seventeenth century scholars like Ku is essentially at variance with that of the West.The fact that this effort is Yen-wu had become stultified,their search for new evidence had given way currently being made under the banner of communism makes our study of to empty combing of classical texts-the "textual research"('ao-chrii) its early history all the more urgent. of literati divorced from the world around them.This fault was well demon- Unfortunately,an analysis of the old Chinese government must be a tour strated at Canton by the famous compiler Juan Yuan.He was governor- de force for the historian.Western political scientists,with very few ex- general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi for a decade (1817-26),during which ceptions,have so far succeeded in avoiding the study of the Chinese lan- he put together 366 volumes of classical commentary,compiled the pro- guage and of the Confucian state.Apparently without loss of self-respect, vincial gazetteer,and printed 4o chiian of his collected writings,5 chian they have neglected this greatest human achievement in the art of govern- of bibliographical notes,and an anthology of Kiangsu poets.Although the ment,leaving its secrets unexplored,its amazing stability and persistence highest authority in contact with the barbarian problem,he had little time unexplained in professional terms.Until "comparative government"be- to spare for it.s5 comes less parochial,the historian must clutch at what straws he can. These examples of Chinese folklore,ignorance,and confusion about the The weakness of the Chinese state in contact with the West after 1842 Western barbarians do not strike one as representing a distinct set of ideas sprang partly from its own essential nature and partly from its condition and evaluation.On the contrary,the conception of the West in early nine- at the moment.These two types of weakness,inherent and circumstantial, teenth century China seems to have had that fuzzy-minded fairy-story may be usefully distinguished.The atrophy of dynastic leadership,the quality which has characterized the Western approach to China in more demoralization of the bureaucracy,evils of landlordism,over-population, recent times-quaintness taking the place of reality.Like us a century and financial bankruptcy-these were mainly recurrent cyclical factors later,the Chinese of the 1840's were unprepared for what was to come. which by ill chance became acute as the nineteenth century wore on.They20 CHINA'S UNPREPAREDNESS Ch'i-ying stated that at night their vision was confused. Tao-kuang com￾mented: 'Everyone says the same thing, it must be true.' Lo Ping-chang memorialized, saying: 'The said barbarians' troops and chieftains take ele￾phant skin [hsiang-p'i, the modern term for rubber] and copper strips and wrap the upper part of their bodies for protection, so that the edge of a sword cannot wound them; the volunteers of Canton province take long cudgels and bend down to strike their feet, and immediately they fall down.' ... All this unfounded talk, of which the origin is unknown, was actually believed by the officials and furthermore was memorialized to the court. They had no capacity to discriminate between true and false; hence it was difficult to weigh what was important and what was not, find out what was profitable and what was injurious, and make exact decisions." 33 And hence, it may be added, they were the more readily subject to panic in the field and to a suspicious timidity in the council chamber. An edict of June 1842 commented: "The rebellious barbarians' cunning is manifested in a hundred ways; their ships separate, and some go north and some south . . . and their number changes constantly. Also, they take troops that have been captured on successive occasions [Le., prisoners] and successively send them back. Although they take trade as their excuse, they do not wait for an answer but suddenly raise anchor and sail away - all sorts of craft and secrecy. One cannot get any clue to it." 34 This intellectual unpreparedness for Western contact, so evident in the folklore and thought of China in 1840, was made the more grievous by the dry sterility which had overtaken the Chinese scholarly tradition. The wide-ranging intellectual vigor of seventeenth century scholars like Ku Yen-wu had become stultified, their search for new evidence had given way to empty combing of classical texts - the "textual research" (k'ao-chu) of literati divorced from the world around them. This fault was well demon￾strated at Canton by the famous compiler Juan Yuan. He was governor￾general of K wangtung and Kwangsi for a decade (18 17-26), during which he put together 366 volumes of classical commentary, compiled the pro￾vincial gazetteer, and printed 40 chuan of his collected writings,S chuan of bibliographical notes, and an anthology of Kiangsu poets. Although the highest authority in contact with the barbarian problem, he had little time to spare for it.35 These examples of Chinese folklore, ignorance, and confusion about the Western barbarians do not strike one as representing a distinct set of ideas and evaluation. On the contrary, the conception of the West in early nine￾teenth century China seems to have had that fuzzy-minded fairy-story quality which has characterized the Western approach to China in more recent times - quaintness taking the place of reality. Like us a century later, the Chinese of the I840'S were unprepared for what was to come. CHINA'S RESPONSE TO THE WEST 21 The interaction of dynastic decline and Western invasion. The conclusion of the first set of treaties with Britain, France, and the United States in 1842-44 coincided with the end of exactly two centuries of Manchu rule in China. Judging by evidences of decay in the Ch'ing dynasty, it is not surprising that the great Taiping Rebellion began in 1851. Yet in this case the extremely complex processes of dynastic change within the country had already become further complicated by the Western pressure from without. Britain's defeat of the Manchus in the war of 1840-42 was an im￾portant, though as yet imponderable, political and psychological factor in the origin of the Rebellion. The opium trade which had precipitated the war of 1840 was only one aspect of the growth of China's foreign com￾merce. Like the rapidly growing exports of tea and silk, it heralded the spread of a, commercial economy in South China which later had profound repercussions on the old agrarian society. The circumstance that the Taiping religion was a bastard offspring of Protestant evangelism was undoubtedly a factor in the rebels' failure to win the Chinese upper class to their cause . Western influences had already intruded upon the Chinese pattern. But the long-term patterns of Western history as they impinged upon China contributed to the destruction more than to the creation of any ob￾servable rhythm in the Chinese social process. The seemingly irreversible trends of Western history, manifest in the growth of science and technology, trade and industry, nationalism and the modern state, destroyed the old China and created one of mankind's greatest problems - how to integrate into a world community one-fifth of the human race whose social heritage is essentially at variance with that of the West. The fact that this effort is currently being made under the banner of communism makes our study of its early history all the more urgent. Unfortunately, an analysis of the old Chinese government must be a tour de force for the historian. Western political scientists, with very few ex￾ceptions, have so far succeeded in avoiding the study of the Chinese lan￾guage and of the Confucian state. Apparently without loss of self-respect, they have neglected this greatest human achievement in the art of govern￾ment, leaving its secrets unexplored, its amazing stability and persistence unexplained in professional terms. Until "comparative government" be￾comes less parochial, the historian must clutch at what straws he can. The weakness of the Chinese state in contact with the West after 1842 sprang partly from its own essential nature and partly from its condition at the moment. These two types of weakness, inherent and circumstantial, may be usefully distinguished. The atrophy of dynastic leadership, the demoralization of the bureaucracy, evils of landlordism, over-population, and financial bankruptcy - these were mainly recurrent cyclical factors which by ill chance became acute as the nineteenth century wore on. They