29 armies,collect more taxes,and create more effective administrative structures.But in reality,as the preceding discussion suggests,Qing political leaders dealt with a variety of constraints including the foreign imperialist presence,the complex relationship between the central government and provincial officials,ideological resistance to reform,and problems with the political system.The impact of each on state making processes must be considered.But to do this,it is necessary to focus on the role of the central government in Beijing. The Zongli Yamen This study attempts seeks to fill a major gap in the existing scholarship on self strengthening era by examining the activities of the central government in Beijing.The overwhelming focus of existing scholarship has been on the activities of the provincial officials.Consequently,it has been assumed incorrectly that the central government was largely stagnant,while provincial leaders experimented with reforms.To date no work on this period has examined the role of the political center in the self-strengthening effort. I have chosen to focus on one institution,the new bureau of foreign affairs called the Zongli geguo shiwu yamen (literally office for the management of affairs with the various countries)created in 1861.This is an obvious choice:the Zongli Yamen was at the center of all of the major debates over self-strengthening of the day and made many major proposals of its own.Not coincidentally,it served as a power base for Prince Gong and Wenxiang,two of the most influential officials of the time,and the major advocates of self-strengthening and the adoption of western methods in the metropolitan bureaucracy
29 armies, collect more taxes, and create more effective administrative structures. But in reality, as the preceding discussion suggests, Qing political leaders dealt with a variety of constraints including the foreign imperialist presence, the complex relationship between the central government and provincial officials, ideological resistance to reform, and problems with the political system. The impact of each on state making processes must be considered. But to do this, it is necessary to focus on the role of the central government in Beijing. The Zongli Yamen This study attempts seeks to fill a major gap in the existing scholarship on selfstrengthening era by examining the activities of the central government in Beijing. The overwhelming focus of existing scholarship has been on the activities of the provincial officials. Consequently, it has been assumed incorrectly that the central government was largely stagnant, while provincial leaders experimented with reforms. To date no work on this period has examined the role of the political center in the self-strengthening effort. I have chosen to focus on one institution, the new bureau of foreign affairs called the Zongli geguo shiwu yamen (literally office for the management of affairs with the various countries) created in 1861. This is an obvious choice: the Zongli Yamen was at the center of all of the major debates over self-strengthening of the day and made many major proposals of its own. Not coincidentally, it served as a power base for Prince Gong and Wenxiang, two of the most influential officials of the time, and the major advocates of self-strengthening and the adoption of western methods in the metropolitan bureaucracy
30 At the same time as an institution,the Yamen was a major innovation in Qing government organization.Originally created as a temporary agency to deal with the foreign emissaries resident in the capital in the aftermath of the disastrous end of the Arrow War.The range of the Zongli Yamen's activities was extraordinary,stretching from diplomatic negotiations to customs revenue administration,from overseeing Chinese participation in international exhibitions to military modernization The Zongli Yamen and its leadership have received surprisingly little scholarly attention.Masataka Banno wrote an important study of the Yamen's origins,but it only briefly discusses the Yamen's development after 1861.The standard work in English, by S.M.Meng was originally written in the 1940s without the benefit of the access to the Zongli Yamen's archives.Meng's work,while still valuable,is too brief to deal with many issues in detail.Works in Chinese by Liu Guanghua,Wu Fuhuan and others are useful,but tend to be focused on its organization and the range of its activities rather than the policies it advocated,or its role in the politics of the day.Moreover,they try to cover the Yamen's activities until it was transformed into the ministry of Foreign Affairs after the Boxer uprising in 1901;consequently sacrificing depth of analysis for breadth of coverage.Only Chen Wenjin's pioneering work,published in the 1930s,on the Zongli Yamen's finances takes advantage of unpublished archival materials.3 5Masataka Banno,China and the West,1858-1861:The Origins of the Tsungli Yamen, (Cambridge,Mass.:Harvard University Press,1964). S.M.Meng,The Tsungli Yamen:Its Organization and Functions,(Cambridge,Mass.East Asian Research Center,1962). Chen Wenjin"Qingdai zhi zongli yamen ji qijingfei,"Zhongguo jindai jingji shi yanjiu jikan, 1.1(1932):49-69;Liu Guanghua,"Qingji zongli yamen de zhizhang"in Zhongguo jindai xiandai shilun ji
30 At the same time as an institution, the Yamen was a major innovation in Qing government organization. Originally created as a temporary agency to deal with the foreign emissaries resident in the capital in the aftermath of the disastrous end of the Arrow War. The range of the ZongIi Yamen's activities was extraordinary, stretching from diplomatic negotiations to customs revenue administration, from overseeing Chinese participation in international exhibitions to military modernization. The Zongli Yamen and its leadership have received surprisingly little scholarly attention. Masataka Banno wrote an important study of the Yamen's origins, but it only briefly discusses the Yamen's development after 1861.51 The standard work in English, by S.M. Meng was originally written in the 1940s without the benefit of the access to the ZongIi Yamen's archives. Meng's work, while still valuable, is too brief to deal with many issues in detail.52 Works in Chinese by Liu Guanghua, Wu Fuhuan and others are useful, but tend to be focused on its organization and the range of its activities rather than the policies it advocated, or its role in the politics of the day. Moreover, they try to cover the Yamen's activities until it was transformed into the ministry of Foreign Affairs after the Boxer uprising in 1901; consequently sacrificing depth of analysis for breadth of coverage. Only Chen Wenjin's pioneering work, published in the 1930s, on the Zongli Yamen's finances takes advantage of unpublished archival materials.53 51 Masataka Banno, China and the West. 1858-1861: The Origins of the Tsung/i Yamen. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964). 52 S.M. Meng, The Tsungli Yamen: Its Organization and Functions, (Cambridge, Mass.: East Asian Research Center. 1962). 53 Chen Wenjin "Qingdai ziti zongli yarnen ji qi jingfei," Zhongguo jindai jingji shi yanjiu jilum. 1.1 (1932): 49-69; Liu Guanghua, "Qingji zongli yarnen de zhizhang" in Zhongguo jindai xiandai shilunji
31 Moving beyond the existing scholarship,this study seeks to recast the Zongli Yamen's activities in the light of the state making approach discussed above.This study seeks to answer the following questions:first,what involvement did the Zongli Yamen have in state making activities and how effective was this effort?Second,what political, organizational,financial and even ideological constraints did state making confront? Third,how politically influential was the Zongli Yamen vis-a-vis other political actors in Beijing and prominent provincial officials,and how did this change over time?Fourth, how did the self-strengthening effort reshape the Qing bureaucracy;and how did the bureaucracy affect the shape of self-strengthening? To answer these questions,careful analysis of case studies is essential.I have studied in detail the Zongli Yamen activities related to state making in three areas military modernization,financial management,and administrative development.I have chosen to focus on the Zongli Yamen's first two decades,the period in which it was most active. Military modernization refers to efforts to improve the Qing military-- particularly by adapting western weaponry and training.The Zongli Yamen was deeply concerned with efforts to strengthen the Qing military to deal with internal and external threats.Particularly important was the effort to reform the Banner armies responsible for defending Beijing by creating a new organization,known as the Firearms Division(shenji vol.7 (Taipei:Shangwu shudian,1985);Wu Fuhuan,Qingji zongli yamen yanjiu,(Taipei:Wenjin chubanshe,1995)
31 Moving beyond the existing scholarship, this study seeks to recast the Zongli Yamen's activities in the light of the state making approach discussed above. This study seeks to answer the following questions: first, what involvement did the Zongli Yamen have in state making activities and how effective was this effort? Second, what political, organizational, financial and even ideological constraints did state making confront? Third, how politically influential was the Zongli Yamen vis-a-vis other political actors in Beijing and prominent provincial officials, and how did this change over time? Fourth, how did the self-strengthening effort reshape the Qing bureaucracy; and how did the bureaucracy affect the shape of self-strengthening? To answer these questions, careful analysis of case studies is essential. r have studied in detail the Zongli Yamen activities related to state making in three areas military modernization, financial management, and administrative development r have chosen to focus on the Zongli Yamen' s first two decades, the period in which it was most active. Military modernization refers to efforts to improve the Qing military - particularly by adapting western weaponry and training. The Zongli Yamen was deeply concerned with efforts to strengthen the Qing military to deal with internal and external threats. Particularly important was the effort to reform. the Banner armies responsible for defending Beijing by creating a new organization, known as the Firearms Division (shenji vol. 7 (Taipei: Shangwu shudian, 1985); Wu Fuhuan, Qingji zongli yamen yanjiu, (Taipei: Wcnjin chubanshc, 1995)
32 ying)equipped with foreign weapons,and trained by British instructors in a special training program. Financial management refers to policies for extracting and distributing revenue. The Zongli Yamen became involved in this area because it was responsible for overseeing the foreign officered Imperial Maritime Customs service.Because tax rates were fixed by treaties with the foreign powers,the Yamen's main concern was in the distribution of funds and the raising of foreign loans guaranteed against customs revenues.These funds were of crucial importance to the Qing state's self-strengthening efforts. Administrative development refers to efforts to develop within the Qing bureaucracy the knowledge,administrative skills and operations to handle the various challenges engendered by the Qing empire's integration into the European dominated state system.Notable among them was the creation by the Zongli Yamen of a special Interpreters School (tongwen guan)in Beijing to train officials in Western languages and later sciences,and the establishment a special archival office to insure the adequate maintenance of records of diplomatic and other interactions.The Yamen also actively sought to expand knowledge of the foreign countries,and promoted the publication of books on foreign countries and translation of western works on important subjects like international law. The body of this study consists of six chapters.Chapter One sets the scene, describing the Zongli Yamen's origins in the Anglo-French invasion of north China in 1860,and the rise to power of the peace commission group lead by Prince Gong and
ying) equipped with foreign weapons, and trained by British instructors in a special training program. Financial management refers to policies for extracting and distributing revenue. 32 The Zongli Yamen became involved in this area because it was responsible for overseeing the foreign officered Imperial Maritime Customs service. Because tax rates were fixed by treaties with the foreign powers, the Yamen's main concern was in the distribution of funds and the raising of foreign loans guaranteed against customs revenues. These funds were of crucial importance to the Qing state's self-strengthening efforts. Administrative development refers to efforts to develop within the Qing bureaucracy the knowledge, administrative skills and operations to handle the various challenges engendered by the Qing empire's integration into the European dominated state system. Notable among them was the creation by the Zongli Yamen of a special Interpreters School (tongwen guan) in Beijing to train officials in Western languages and later sciences, and the establishment a special archival office to insure the adequate maintenance of records of diplomatic and other interactions. The Yamen also actively sought to expand knowledge of the foreign countries, and promoted the publication of books on foreign countries and translation of western works on important subjects like intemationallaw. The body of this study consists of six chapters. Chapter One sets the scene, describing the Zongli Yamen's origins in the Anglo-French invasion of north China in 1860, and the rise to power of the peace commission group lead by Prince Gong and
33 Wenxiang who would dominate the Yamen for two decades.Chapter Two analyzes the Zongli Yamen's bureaucratic and political context.The next three chapters present the three case studies.Chapter Three examines military modernization.Chapter Four turns to the Zongli Yamen's financial role.Chapter Five examines the Zongli Yamen's efforts at bureaucratic development.Chapter Six focuses on the political crisis of the mid-1870s. Following the embarrassing resolution of the Taiwan crisis with Japan,the Zongli Yamen called for far reaching reforms in the military and financial organization of the state.A massive debate followed involving senior officials in Beijing and the provinces.The final resolution produced only very modest reforms,and constituted a major political defeat for the Zongli Yamen,particularly its dying leader Wenxiang
33 Wenxiang who would dominate the Yamen for two decades. Chapter Two analyzes the Zongli Yamen' s bureaucratic and political context. The next three chapters present the three case studies. Chapter Three examines military modernization. Chapter Four turns to the Zongli Yamen's financial role. Chapter Five examines the Zongli Yamen's efforts at bureaucratic development. Chapter Six focuses on the political crisis of the mid- 1870s. Following the embarrassing resolution of the Taiwan crisis with Japan, the Zongli Yamen called for far reaching reforms in the military and financial organization of the state. A massive debate followed involving senior officials in Beijing and the provinces. The final resolution produced only very modest reforms, and constituted a major political defeat for the Zongli Yamen, particularly its dying leader Wenxiang