1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research on the Perception of the West in China in 1860s and the Pin Chun Mission <final title of project : The Western Experiences and the Change of World View of the First Chinese Embassy to England (1877-79)>
| Project/Area Number |
08610016
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Chinese philosophy
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| Research Institution | Fukushima University |
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Principal Investigator |
TESHIROGI Yuji Faculty of Economics, Fukushima University Associate Professor, 経済学部, 助教授 (20207468)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1998
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| Keywords | Traditional world view / Western experience / Change in world view / View of civilization / View of world order / Guo Song-tao / Liu Xi-hong / Zhang De-yi |
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| Research Abstract |
The original aim of this research was to reveal changes in the traditional Chinese world view at the end of the Qing dynasty by analyzing the views of Zhang De-yi (1854-1921), a diplomat who visited the West eight times on various tours and assignments following the Pin Chun mission of 1866. As the research progressed, however, its scope was broadened under the new title The Western Experiences and the Change in World View of the First Chinese Embassy to England. It now includes an analysis of Guo Song-tao (1818-1891), the first Chinese Minister to England, and Liu Xi-hong (dates unknown), the first Chinese Vice Minister. Their stay in England coincided with that of Zhang De-yi, who was stationed in England as the first Chinese Ambassador to that country between 1877 and 1879.
My analysis focused on how their traditional world views developed as a result of their experience in the West. I considered changes in two views typically held by the Chinese at the time : first, that Chinese civ
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ilization was the one and only universal civilization, and second the assumption of a traditional world order in which China was the center of the world.
Liu Xi-hong, who was an intellectual of the old school and displayed little enthusiasm for Westernization, showed little change in his world view as a result of his experiences. However, his evaluation of the West did change dramatically. He no longer conceived of the West as simply comprising uncivilized and barbarous countries. Guo Song-tao, who was also an old-school intellectual but was enthusiastic about Westernization, did show a change in his view of the world order. He absorbed a new world view which centered on the West, but managed to retain his traditional view of Chinese civilization. Zhang De-yi, on the other hand, embraced the Western- centered world order. He appears to have attempted to seek out the originality in both Chinese and Western civilizations, rather than taking the traditional view that Chinese civilization was the one and only universal civilization.
Although this research has yet to be completed, I believe it is an innovative approach which complements other research on the question of' how the world view of Chinese intellectuals evolved toward the end of the Qing dynasty. Less
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