American Studies in China Vol.2, 1996 AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AND THE TREND OF ¡°OPENING EYES TO OBSERVE THE WORLD¡± IN CHINA AFTER THE OPIUM WAR WANG Lixin In the decade that followed the Opium War, while most Chinese muddleª²headed, conceited literati were still indulging blindly in the myth that China was ¡°the supreme empire¡± and knew little of what was going on in the rest of the world, a new trend began to appear among some Chinese thinkers. Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan, Xu Jishe, Liang Tingnan and several other intellectuals wishing to study the art of government in order to help rule the country started to take an interest in the situation abroad. They set to compile a number of foreign historical and geographical books with the intention of ¡°opposing the barbarian states,¡± i.e., resisting Western aggression, through getting to know the outside world first. This ideological inclination, entirely different from the blind opposition to everything foreign and closing China¬ðs doors to the rest of the world, was the tendency of the times and generally referred to as the trend of ¡°opening eyes to observe the world.¡± A Gazetteer of Four Continents (Siª²Zhouª²Zhi), a colle cti on of translations organized by Lin Zexu, the Illustrated Treatise on th e Countries Overseas (Haiª²Guoª²Tuª²Zhi) compiled by Wei Yuan, A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit (Yingª²Huanª²Zhiª²Lue) compiled by Xu Jishe and Four Treatises on the Countries Overseas (Haiª²Guoª²Si ª²Shuo) compiled by Liang Tingnan, to mention just the four main works, reflect this tendency. ¡°Opening Eyes to Observe the World¡± in China American Studies in China The thinkers of ¡°opening eyes to observe the world,¡± under the condition that China had all along closed its doors to other countries and was ignorant of the world situation, turned their eyes from China to countries overseas, enlightened their countrymen with fairly systematic accounts of world powers and helped them to see a widely different civilization and considerably change their outlook on the world. This marked the beginning of the Chinese people¬ðs knowing, and going to, the world and the Chinese thinkers¬ð shaking off the tradition and embracing modernity. Its influence lasted for half a century. A question arises: Where did the material for these books come from? In other words, through what channels did Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan, Xu Jishe and Liang Tingnan obtain the latest knowledge of the outside world? Researches show that they got them, directly or indirectly, mainly from Protestant missionaries in Guangzhou, Macao and four trading ports which opened later. While banning opiumª²smoking and opium trade in Guangzhou, Lin Zexu called together some people to translate articles from foreign newspapers published in Guangzhou, Macao and the South Sea islands and compiled with them A Gazetteer of Four Continents. These newspapers were mostly run by foreign missionaries. The Illustrat ed Treatise on the Countries Overseas used, apart from some material in A Gazetteer of Four Continents, mainly the writings of European and American missionaries as well. A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit borrowed heavily from the interviews with the American missionaries David Abeel (Yaª²Piª²Li) and W. H. Gummings (Ganª²Ming) and the British consul in Xiamen. This article will analyze the function of the American missionaries in the formation of the thought of ¡°opening eyes to observe the world¡± through studying their activities in China around the Opium War. I. American Missionaries¬ðª² Efforts to Run Cultural Undertakings and Publish Newspapers and Books in China Before the Second Opium War China, knowing nothing about the West before the Opium War, held itself as ¡°the supreme empire¡± in the world and regarded the Western countries as barbarian states. This, foreign missionaries thought, was the fundamental cause of China¬ðs closing its doors to the rest of the world. Therefore, soon after they began to flow into China since 1807, they set to promote cultural undertakings with the aim to throw open China¬ðs doors. They proclaimed that they would introduce ¡°the richest fruits of modern inventions and discoveries¡± and other Western knowledge to the Chinese people and force open China¬ðs tightly closed doors with the ¡°intellectual artillery.¡± On November 29, 1834, the foreign merchants, missionaries and consuls in Guangzhou organized the ¡°Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China (Zaiª²Huaª²Shiª² Yongª²Zhiª²Shiª²Chuanª²Boª²Hui),¡± declaring that it would publish such books as might enlighten the minds of the Chinese and communicate to them the arts and sciences of the West,1 for this was an excellent way to show that they were indeed no barbarians.2 To give their own civilization its due, this more or less accounts for the true objective of their setting up the society. E. C. Bridgman (Piª²Zhiª² Wen), the first missionary ever sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (Gongª²Liª²Hui) to China to spread Christianity, became its Chinese secretary responsible for handling daily affairs. Later, he was joined by another missionary from the board, Peter Parker (Boª²Jia). The society¬ðs main work was publishing A General Monthly Record Examining Foreign Countries of the East and West (Dongª²Xiª²Yangª²Kaoª²Meiª²Yueª²Tongª²Jiª²Chuan) and Bridgman¬ðs book A Brief Account of America (Meiª²Liª²Geª²Guoª²Zhiª²Lue). A General Monthly Record Examining Foreign Countries of the East and West started publication in July 1833 in Guangzhou and put out its last issue in 1837, with altogether 4 volumes to its credit. It was the first foreign magazine in Chinese printed on the territory of China. A Prussian missionary named D. F. A. Gutzlaff (Guoª²Shiª²La) was the originator of the magazine. With the founding of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China, the magazine was put in its charge and run jointly by Gutzlaff and Bridgman, with the latter being the main contributing editor. To force open China¬ðs doors with the ¡°intellectual artillery,¡± the monthly carried a great number of articles to impart the geographical knowledge of many countries, especially Western colonies in South and Southeast Asia, such as Sumatra, Singapore, Java, Siam and India. The contributors tried to prove that it was inevitable that these areas should be turned into the colonies of such European countries as Prussia, Portugal, France, Holland, Britain and Russia. In his Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas, Wei Yuan quoted heavily from this magazine. A Brief Account of America was written by Gao Liwen (the Chinese pen name of Bridgman). It was first published in Singapore in 1838. Well received in Guangzhou and other trading ports after the Opium War, Bridgman made some revisions and published a second edition of it in Hong Kong in 1844 under the new title A Brief Illustrated Treatise on the United States of America (Yaª²Meiª²Liª²Geª²Heª²Shengª²Guo ª²Tuª²Zhiª²Lue). As Wei Yuan and Xu Jishe frequently quoted and made reference to the book in their Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas and A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit respective ly, its influence grew day by day. Bridgman published a third edition of the book in Shanghai in 1861 under the title A Brief Account of the United States of America (Lianª²Bangª²Zhiª²Lue). This new edition contained a lot of revisions and included many maps and statistical charts. Bridgman said he wrote the book for the purpose of propagating American civilization and culture to remedy China¬ðs ignorance. This was a translation of the words he used in the ¡°Introduction¡± of the book: ¡°I was born in Massachusetts of the United States.... I met some Chinese in Malacca and Singapore and studied the Chinese language for 7 to 8 years. I found that Chinese do not like traveling far, have seen or heard nothing of the splendor and magnitude of the Western countries and know not the existence of the 9 continents beyond the seas or the cause of God. I was stricken with the idea of spreading these knowledge and teachings to them so as to unite people in the 4 seas into one family. Shallow though I am, I have made the global and American maps with names in Chinese and presented an account of the events and customs of these countries. I wonder how those deigning to read it will react when it finally finds its way into China years later: Whether they will beat time with their hands to show their appreciation, or tear it into pieces and burn it, considering it badly organized! But judging by the readers I see here, I might not be laughed at for the book¬ðs dealing with only one country.¡±3 The book consists of four parts: Part One, consisting of the 1st paragraph, tells how America was discovered. Part Two, made up of the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs, relates the geographical position of America, its neighboring countries, the colonialist activities of Britain, France and Holland in North America, the Britishª²French war for seizing colonies, Britain¬ðs plunder of its North American colonies, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention called in Philadelphia and the terms of office of US presidents from George Washington to Martin Van Buren. Part Three describes how the 18 states joining the confederation came into being, their geographical position, climate, main cities, population, products, commerce and bureaucratic establishments, and the life and customs of the Indians in western America. Part Four narrates America¬ðs population growth, mountains, rivers, climate, products, machinery, foreign trade, political and judicial systems, charitable institutions, education, military affairs, marriage system, dressing and ornaments, customs and food. A Brief Account of the United States of America is a historical and geographical book. But Bridgman went out of his way to describe in great detail the excellence of America¬ðs political system, the goodness of its rites, music, education and social customs and the briskness of its commercial activities. His purpose was clearly to prove that America, by no means a country in the outer fringes of civilization that can be excluded from consideration, is a prosperous and powerful state growing up under the influence of the advanced Western Christian civilization. The book introduced to China for the first time the Western democratic system and enlightened in many ways the Chinese intellectuals seeking ways to enable China to stand on its own feet and resist foreign aggression. With regard to America¬ðs political system, Bridgman wrote that all leading personnel in the political organs from the bottom to the top are elected. In the local political power, ¡°each state has a governor, viceª²governor and an indefinite number of members of the state assembly. Over 10 or scores of people are elected to sit on the state assembly. Each state has a capitol, where the governor, viceª² governor and assembly members discuss local affairs. All questions, big and small, must be deliberated by them and carried out after agreement has been reached, by at least 60 per cent of them if not unanimously. The officials of each state are chosen by the people of that state.¡± In the central government, there is a president and a viceª² president, who are also elected. ¡°The president collects taxes from the states each year as the revenue of the country. He is given an official annual salary of 22,000 US dollars and in no position to use the public funds at will. No one less than 35 years of age or born outside America can be elected to this post. His term of office is four years. Upon its expiration, an election will be held to choose a new president. He may be elected for a second term, if no suitable man can be found to replace him. In case he passes away or resigns before the term lapses, the viceª²president will take over his office.¡± Then comes the organization of the US Congress. The book deals in detail the election of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, their terms of office, limits of authority and work. ¡°Each state elects 2 persons to the capital to form the Senate and several persons to form the House of Representatives. On the first monday of December each year, the Congress meets in the Capitol. The Senate, with 2 members from each state, has 52 members, while the House of Representatives has 243. The term of office for senators is 6 years, and oneª²third of the senators are reª²elected every 2 years. Persons less than 30 years of age are not eligible to be members. The minimum age for members of the House of Representatives is 25, and their term of office is 2 years. An election will be held upon the expiration of their office. The members gather on the first monday of December each year to deliberate such state affairs as agriculture, employment, conscription, trade, awards and punishments, appointing and accepting envoys and infrastructure building.¡± About the US judicial system, the book defines the function of the judiciary as ¡°finding out why people are not abided by law.¡± It gives a brief account of the organization of the supreme court, appellate court, circuit court and district court as well as the jury system. The book touches upon the ¡°Separation of Power¡±, saying that ¡°a judge can not serve as a legislator, and a legislator can not be concurrently a judge either,¡± and that ¡°if a judge tries a case unfairly, the president can put him right.¡±4 The book also relates the authority of the Congress, the federal system and the system of separation of power. Bridgman represented the United States as a democratic society governed by law. His purpose was to extol and propagate its political and social system. Though it was hardly possible that China of that time would copy this system, his description easily struck a responsive chord in the hearts of Chinese intellectuals, as the Western democratic spirit has something in common with the Confucian concept of people being of fundamental importance in a country, the autocracy in the late Qing Dynasty was beset with serious problems and the officialdom was corrupt to the extreme. Wei Yuan¬ðs affirmation of the ¡°election,¡± Xu Jishe¬ðs admiration of George Washington for his ¡°not overstepping his authority and not passing on the presidency to his descendants¡± and Liang Tingnan¬ðs esteem for America because ¡°its law does not change with the change of leaders¡± all show that Bridgman¬ðs work had great influence on the Chinese intellectuals of the time. Bridgman spared no efforts to stress the role of technological knowledge and mechanized production in economic development: ¡°Work can not proceed well if there is sufficient man power but no materials, or if there is sufficient man power and materials but no knowledge. Only when all of the three are present, can products be turned out.¡± By knowledge, he meant science and technology and the industrial art. Bridgman discussed the relationship of the 3 factors with the intention of persuading China to employ Westerners to solve the question of lacking ¡°knowledge¡± and to do foreign trade to get ¡°materials.¡± He maintained that China was ¡°unable to carry on¡± ¡°without knowledge, though it has man power.¡± The United States, he said, ¡°is different; it invites foreign intellectuals to help if it has the materials but no knowledge, or import materials from abroad if it has the knowledge but not the materials. When it has the knowledge and materials but no man power, it borrows the strength of materials to generate thermal and hydraulic power and utilize draught animals.¡± He then used the ginning, spinning and weaving machines to illustrate the benefits of machine production. He also wrote that the United States ¡°has a thriving trade with other countries¡± and that it ¡°has only a few taxes, exacting not much from either import or export,¡± so its trade ¡°is getting brisker and brisker.¡±5 Bridgman, in fact, pointed out in this book the role of learning from foreign countries, foreign trade and largeª²scale machine production in developing modern economy. These ideas, though stubbornly opposed by the Qing government, enlightened Wei Yuan, Xu Jishe and others and later became the main content of the new policy for selfª²survival of the Westernization group. From Bridgman¬ðs narration, we can roughly detect the policy towards foreign powers advocated by Wei Yuan in his Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas: ¡°Learning the superior technologies of the barbarian states¡± and developing foreign trade. Some commentators held that Bridgman offered the Chinese readers a simple and practical guideline for developing the modern economy.6 Under the pen of Bridgman, the United States is a country with not only a glorious history, perfect system and abundant products, but also good rites, music, education and social customs. Its ¡°prohibiting begging,¡± ¡°procuring teachers to run schools,¡± ¡°training the dumb and deaf,¡± ¡°practicing leniency in prisons,¡± ¡°forbidding excessive drinking,¡±7 good wedding custom and livelihood all show that America is a highly civilized nation. Chinese intellectuals thought highly of A Brief Account of America. Wang Tao said the book ¡°covers the events of the country since its founding and records all of its systems. Its method should be adopted in compiling Chinese history books.¡±8 Liang Qichao included it in his Bibliography of Western Learning (Xiª²Xueª²Shuª²Muª²Biao), alleging that one must read it if he wanted to acquaint himself with the Western history and geography. Over long, long years, Chinese people¬ðs knowledge of, and interests in, the West had been concentrated on the ethnological differences between the Easterners and Westerners and the latter¬ðs strange customs; all else were beneath their notice. They took delight in talking about the Westerners¬ð ¡°catª²like eyes, eagle beak of a mouth, red hair, white face and great stature,¡± regarding them savages and coming to form a deepª²rooted selfª²conceit. However, the United States revealed to them by Bridgman was a rich and developed country with a great civilization. A Brief Account of America shows that Chi na is not the only rational existence on earth. Independent of it, there is another world no worse than China in civilization and social customs. In fact, Bridgman challenged the idea of ¡°the supreme empire,¡± which had been in slumber for thousands of years. Once the myth about this perfect ¡°supreme empire¡± was blown up, doubts and even opposition to the feudal system would probably ensue. After 1842, preaching Christianity in the trading ports became legal, and, in addition to Guangzhou, 5 other port cities¡ªHong Kong, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai¡ªwere also made trading ports. European and American missionaries left the South Sea islands and Macao one after another and poured into these ports to open churches, run cultural undertakings and publish newspapers and books. Among these ports, Ningbo had the largest amount of American missionary educational and publishing institutions. Many publications of the American Southern Presbyterian Union (Changª²Laoª²Hui) and the Chinese and American Holy Class Book Establishment (Huaª²Huaª²Shengª² Jingª²Shuª²Fang) were very popular with Chinese intellectuals at the time. The Chinese and American Holy Class Book Establishment was established in Macao on February 23, 1844 and moved to Ningbo on July 19, 1845. It published many books before 1860, as can be seen from the following table9: Year18441845184618471848184918501851 Copies Pages39500 7000 63540052734 1819092 164893 399435875850 172470066400 3000000 Year18521853185418551856185718581859 Copies Pages82000 280000084700 4012800112018 4602018 110800 4505600 6175460 7398560 Most of these publications were tracts and sermons, and some were books of astronomy, geograph y, almanac, meteorology, languages and customs. In the Illustrated Treatis e on t he Countries Overseas, Wei Yuan cited a lot of material from these books, especi ally from World Geography with Illustrations (Diª²Qiuª²Tuª²Shuo), A Peaceful Alma nac (Pingª²Anª²Tongª²Shu) and Astronomy: Questions and Answers (Tianª²Wenª²Wenª² Da). A. World Geography with Illustrations: The author of thi s book was Richard Quanterman Way. He was in charge of the Chinese and American Holy Class Book Establishment for some time and founded a missionary school in Ningbo, the forerunner of the Zhijiang University in Hangzhou. The first edition was published in 1848, and the second, 1856, under the new title of A Concise World Geography (Diª²Qiuª²Shu oª²Lue). The original copy of World Geography with Illustrations is not available, but its text can be found in the 12th folder of the Geographical Collection of the Xiaofanghu Study (Xiaoª²Fangª²Huª²Zha iª²Yuª²Diª²Congª²Chao). It is a concise world geography giving a general account of the 5 continents, and the geographical position, population, products, culture, customs and religions of the main countries and areas. Detailed discussions are given to Britain, France, the United States and other European powers. The book reads smoothly and contains a lot of illustrations. About the United States, it says, ¡°The country has many schools, and all its boys and girls, rich and poor, are admitted. It therefore has more students than any other country. It has several printing presses, which print thousands of copies of newspapers everyday and publish many books.¡±10 Richard Quanterman Way was, in fact, criticizing the Qing court for prohibiting girls from going to school and paying little attention to develop newspapers. The book describes the American presidential government: ¡°The country has no king; its president, with a term of office of 4 years, performs the duty of ruling the people. The laws are made by the elite of various states at meetings in the capital and not dictated by any sovereign. The presidency can not be inherited. No qualifications are set for candidates, and any virtuous personage can run for the position. When the term of office of the president expires, several representatives elected by each state will gather in the capital and write down the name of the person they have chosen on a piece of paper and put it in a box. The box is opened later, and the one gets most of the votes will succeed the outgoing president as the new president.¡±11 Brief as it was, the introduction sounded like a fantastic tale to Chinese long cut off from the rest of the world and was a strange talk even to Wei Yuan and others looking at the world with wide open eyes. Way did not forget his mission of spreading Christianity while writing this book. He reprimanded Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in China ¡°for being guilty of erecting idols and worshipping them on bent knees and spreading the fallacy of transmigration to mislead the benighted people.¡±12 B. A Peaceful Almanac: This book was written by Davie Bethune McCartee (Maiª²Jiaª²Di), a doctor of medicine and missionary and physician of the American Southern Presbyterian Union. He came to China in 1844 and wrote the book in 1850 through 1853 while spreading Christianity in Ningbo, finishing one volume of it each year, and completing 4 volumes altogether. Published by the Chinese and American Holy Class Book Establishment of the American Southern Presbyterian Union, the book deals mainly with the astrological and meteorological knowledge, such as the earth, eclipses of the sun and the moon, divisions of the solar year, Western almanac and tidal waves. It contains plenty of illustrations. C. Astronomy: Questions and Answers: Authored by Andrew Patton Happer, this book deals with topography; the global map; the basis for the assertion that the earth is round; the shapes of the sun and moon; eclipses; the formation of rainbow; rain, thunder, wind and other natural phenomena; planets and stars; and solar, earth and universal gravitation. It also includes some geographical and physical knowledge. This is the first book in Chinese giving a systematic account of the modern astrology. Before the second Opium War, the American missionaries¬ð works in Chinese (written on the South Sea islands and in Macao and the 5 trading ports) revealed an entirely new world to Chinese intellectuals, enabling them to see a civilization totally different from the traditional Chinese civilization. Once this new knowledge was accepted by Chinese intellectuals, in other words, once they stopped looking at the world and the various countries in it from the ¡°height¡± of ¡°the supreme empire,¡± a revolutionary change would occur. The significance lies not so much in the fact that they had increased the geographical and scientific knowledge and widened their horizon, as in the fact that they acknowledged that civilizations other than China¬ðs own did exist. As a matter of fact, the works of Xu Jishe and other Chinese writers exhibited more or less a vague cultural polyphyletism, and the sprout of this polyphyletism marks exactly the beginning of China¬ðs walking out of the Middle Ages and marching into the modern epoch. II. American Missionaries and the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas The Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas was completed in 1842 and had altogether 50 volumes. It was expanded to 60 volumes in 1847 and 100 volumes in 1852. Wei Yuan wrote about the sources of the material cited in his book: ¡°One of the sources is A Gazetteer of Four Continents, which is a collection of translations organized by Lin Zexu, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces. The other is the annals of various dynasties, the histories of the islands since the Ming Dynasty, and foreign charts, pictures and books by foreigners in recent years. The material was brought together, sorted out, edited and turned into a systematic account.¡±13 The ¡°books by foreigners¡± coming to China around the Opium War, in particular, helped make the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas an excellent cartographic writing. These books included mainly A Brief Account of America by Bridgman, World Geography with Illustrations by Richard Quanterman Way, A Peaceful Almanac by Davie Bethune McCartee, A General Monthly Record Examining Foreign Countries of the East and West run jointly by Bridgman and the Prussian missionary D. F. A. Gutzlaff, A Geographical Reference Book (Diª²Liª²Beiª²Kao) by the Portuguese Maches (Maª²Jiª²Si) and A Concise History of Foreign Countries (Waiª²Guoª²Shiª²Lue) by the British missionary Robert Morrison ( Maª²Liª²Xun). Wei Yuan, in fact, put ¡°the reason why the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas differs from other foreign historical and geographical books¡± clearly in ¡°The Original Introduction¡± of the book. ¡°The other books are all comments on foreign countries by Chinese,¡± he wrote, ¡°while this one is made up of comments on Western countries by Westerners.¡±14 A Gazetteer of Four Continents is a collection of translations and also belongs to ¡°books by foreigners¡± strictly speaking. In the numerous ¡°comments on Western countries by Westerners,¡± Wei Yuan thought most highly of A Geographical Reference Book and A Brief Account of America apa rt from A Gazetteer of Four Continents, saying in ¡°The Introduction at the End of the Book¡± that the two books were ¡°painstaking works of men of letters in that country, and, as they have taken hold of the key link, everything else has fallen into its proper place.¡±15 In fact, Wei Yuan cited mostly from the writings of missionaries and other Westerners in introducing foreign countries, especially the Western nations. Bridgman¬ðs A Brief Account of America is the most important source of material with regard to the part of the United States in The Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas. In citing the material about other countries, Wei Yuan generally put that from A Gazetteer of Four Continents first and added the words ¡°written by a European, translated by Lin Zexu and recompiled by Wei Yuan¡± below. In introducing the United States, however, he put the material from A Brief Account of America foremost under the heading ¡°A General Acco unt of America, Part A (Miª²Liª²Jianª²Guoª²Zongª²Jiª²Shang),¡± which was follo wed by material from A Gazetteer of Four Continents under ¡°A General Account of America, Part B (Miª²Liª²Jianª²Guoª²Jiª²Yuª²Naiª²Shiª²Dieª²Guo ª²Zong ª²Jiª²Zhong),¡± and put last of all the material from World Geography with Illustrations, A Geographical Reference Book, A Concise History of Foreign Countries and A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit u nder ¡°A General Account of America, Part C (Miª²Liª²Jianª²Guoª²Zongª²Jiª²Xia).¡± W ei Yuan explained, ¡°According to the set order, original writings should precede the material compiled. I put material from A Brief Account of America first here because it was written by an American and concentrated on the main points.¡±16 Some scholar pointed out that Wei Yuan included most of A Brief Account of America in his Illustrated Treatise on the Countrie s Overseas.17 I compared the text in the 100ª²volume Illustrat ed Tre atise on the Countries Overseas with that in the Geographical Collec tion of the Xiaofanghu Study and found that Wei Yuan included the entire t ext, not ¡°most of¡± it, in the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas, with just a few omissions or cancellations: Part One of A Brief Account of America has been changed into ¡°A General Account of the Development of the Continent of America ( Moª²Liª²Jiaª²Zhouª²Yanª²Geª²Zongª²Shuo)¡± in the 59th volume of the Illust rated Treatise on the Countries Overseas. Part Two and Part Four of the bo ok have become ¡°A General Account of America, Part A¡± in the same volume. Part Three have been divided into two sections: ¡°The 20 Eastern American States (Miª²Liª²Jianª²Guoª²Dongª²Luª²Erª²Shiª²Bu)¡± in Vol. 59 an d ¡°The 11 Western American States (Miª²Liª²Jianª²Guoª²Xiª²Buª²Shiª²Yi ª²Bu)¡± in Vol. 63. Besides, ¡°Miscellaneous Notes on Western Utensils and Arts (Xiª²Yangª²Qiª²Yiª²Zhaª²Zhi)¡± in Vol. 94 of the Illustrated Treatise on t he Countries Overseas has 2 paragraphs about books, newspapers, almanacs and languages of Western countries. Wei Yuan said they were copied from A Brief Account of America. But it can not be found in the Geographical Collection of the Xiaofanghu Study, which includes the entire text of the book. I suspect they were from A Brief Illustrated Treatise on the United States of America, which is the second edition of A Brief Account of America. The first paragraph talks about the forms, numbers of copies printed, content, varieties and prices of Western newspapers and journals and notices that the Western almanacs ¡°have no particular days of good or ill luck and no particular things suitable or not suitable for doing on certain days.¡± The second paragraph makes a comparison of the languages of various countries and comments on the merits of the 26ª²letter English alphabet, saying that ¡°they can make up any amount of words and be used to write huge volumes of books, and even small children can learn these letters.¡±18 That is the earliest remark about the English language recorded in books by Chinese scholars. Wei Yuan made practically no comments in citing A Brief Account of America, but from the entire Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas, one can detect the enlightenments A Brief Accoun t of America gave him. Wei Yuan took a great interest in the United States¬ð defeating Britain in the American War of Independence. He wrote his book right after the end of the Opium War and was feeling keenly the humiliation of China¬ðs defeat. To him, America¬ðs victory was undoubtedly commendable. He wrote with feeling that ¡°America had no monarch of great ability but only 27 loose states and hundreds of thousands of people. Indignant at the wolfish conducts of Britain, they rose with a common hatred for the enemy and fought the British like one person. They fortified the defense works, left nothing usable to the oppressors as they retreated, cut the enemy¬ðs routes of supply and finally defeated the powerful Britain. They were very brave indeed!¡± The strategy the Americans used started Wei Yuan¬ðs idea of ¡°playing one barbarian state against another.¡± He likened it to the stratum of ¡°associating with the distant countries and attacking the near ones¡± used in China¬ðs Spring and Autumn period (770ª²476 BC) and Warring States period (475-221 BC) and called it a ¡°wise¡± decision. ¡°France pioneered North America; the barbarian state Britain seized it; and America drove out Britain in indignation with the help of France. America and France are, therefore, hostile to Britain, and Britain does not dare to retaliate. Befriending the distant country while attacking the enemy near home¡ªit is truly a wise decision!¡±19 From the above, Wei Yuan realized that Britain, France and America have different interests. The ideological value of the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas lies in Wei Yuan¬ðs approval of America¬ðs democratic system. He remarked when he first read A Brief Account of America, ¡°North America has state leaders but no sovereign, and its faultless constitution will benefit generations to come,¡± noting that it was something ¡°never heard of throughout the history.¡±20 He also admired George Washington for ¡°not passing the presidency to his descendants and not holding on to his post indefinitely, but having a person of virtue chosen by the public to replace him.¡±21 ¡°The country has 27 states in eastern and western America,¡± Wei Yuan wrote, ¡°and elects a president to exercise leadership. The president can not pass his position to his descendants and is replaced after 4 years of office. This arrangement has changed the set system in ancient and modern times, and people live a stable and harmonious life as a result. It is a fair and just practice indeed! In discussing public affairs, hearing cases and electing officials, the opinions of the people are heeded. Whatever the people say goes, and whatever they disapprove of is ruled out. All things are decided by the likes and dislikes of the people. If twoª²thirds of the people agree to a thing, the rest give up and join others in carrying out the decision. Even delegates at local levels are elected by the public. It is truly a wellª²thoughtª²out system!¡±22 Since the ancient times, it had been a matter of course that the throne should be inherited, and the appointment of officials by the monarch is likewise a timeª²honored practice. Wei Yuan¬ðs view that America¬ðs smashing the hereditary system of the monarch ¡°has changed the set system in ancient and modern times¡± and was ¡°a fair and just practice¡± and that the election of officials from below to above ¡°is truly a wellª²thoughtª²out system¡± fully showed his appreciation of the American democratic system. The descriptions of the American political system in A Gazetteer of Four Continents and the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas were cited from works by Europeans. Wei Yuan¬ðs reflections must have been formed after reading A Brief Account of America, which is in much greater detail. What is more, Wei Yuan regarded the United States a ¡°friendly¡± country not ¡°brutalizing China¡± and ¡°doing no harm but good¡± to China. ¡°America gives Guangdong 400,000 a year through trade, while Europe is draining China of its money with opium. The United States, therefore, is doing no harm but good to China, whereas the barbarian nation of Britain is doing no good but harm to our country.¡±23 The United States ¡°is a rich nation spending more than a million in China each year to replenish our treasury. Rich and powerful as it is, it does not bully small nations and brutalize China and will voluntarily take up cudgels for us if something rousing popular indignation happens. It is really a friendly country!¡±24 This, though revealing Wei Yuan¬ðs limitation in cognizance, reflected from one angle the profound influence Bridgman¬ðs works had on him. Apart from A Brief Account of America, the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas has citations from World Geography with Illustrations (30 paragraphs), A General Monthly Record Examining Foreign Countries of the East and West (19 paragraphs) and A Peaceful Almanac. ¡°On the Earth and Astronomy, V (Diª²Qiuª²Tianª²Wenª²Heª²Lunª²Wu)¡± in the 100ª²volume edition has been cited entirely from A Peaceful Almanac. Wei Yuan said that ¡°this book studies heaven and earth and has been written by McCartee of America.¡± He cited 12 paragraphs and included in his book 10 astronomical charts25 but made no comments. III. Bridgman and On the United States by Liang Tingnan On the United States (Heª²Shengª²Guoª²Shuo) is one of the 4 constituent parts of Liang Tingnan¬ðs Four Treatises on the Countries Overseas printed in 1844-1846. The Treatise on the Inaccessibility o f Protestantism to China (Yeª²Suª²Jiaoª²Nanª²Ruª²Zhongª²Guoª²Shuo), which refutes the doctrine of Protestantism from the angle of the Chinese culture and deals on the conflict between Protestantism and the Chinese society, The Treatise on the Tributary States Doing Tr ade in Guangdong (Yueª²Daoª²Gongª²Guoª²Shuo) and The Treatise on London (Lanª²Lunª²Ouª²Shuo) form the other 3 parts. On the United States is the first book relating the history and geography of America written by a Chinese author. It is based on A Brief Illustrated Treatise on the United States of America, the 2nd edition of Bridgman¬ðs A Brief Account of America. Liang Tingnan was a famous scholar in eastern Guangdong and had served under several governors of the province. He came across A Brief Illustrated Treatise on the United States of America published in Hong Kong while collecting material for the History of the Custom¬ð House in Guangdong (Yueª²Haiª²Guanª²Zhi) he was compiling in 1844 and got the idea of writing On the United States. He said in the preface of this book, ¡°In compiling the History of the Custom¬ð House in Guangdong in accordance with the imperial order, I found I had not much material about America, which had been founded not so long ago, and therefore no records had been made of the country by Chinese scholars. The verbal accounts by some foreign interpreters and merchants reaching me sometimes were mixed, disorderly and hardly consistent. I lived in anxiety for 2 years and finally got A Brief Illustrated Treatise on the United States of America written by a national of that country. The author has just learned his Chinese and is not quite familiar with the way of Chinese writings. I edited it together with the material collected before, added the stories of 5 countries and has turned it into the present history book in greater detail than the original.¡±26 On the United States consists of 3 volumes. Volume One gives the names of the states and their geographical locations, accounts the discovery of the New Land by Christopher Columbus, how this land was named, its exploitation by Britain, France, Holland and Spain, the formation of the 13 colonies and finally the war between Britain and France for controlling these colonies. Volume Two describes the setting up of trading companies by Britain, the increase of British troops in the New Land, the outbreak of the American War of Independence, the merging of the former colonies into the United States at the Continental Congress, the war between Britain and America, George Washington elected president, adoption of the constitution of the United States of America, implementing the system of the presidential government, running schools and poorhouses, developing trade with foreign countries, and the longitudinal and latitudinal position, mountains and rivers of the country. Volume Three tells of the religious belief of the country¡ª Protestantism; the language it uses¡ªEnglish; its newspapers and journals, people¬ðs love of books and free marriage; the complexion, character and customs of the Indians; and charitable organizations, stopª²drinking societies, daily etiquette, customs, food, housing, music, painting, machinery, textile, animals, plants and minerals. An account of its trade and climate is given towards the end of the volume. In the arrangement of content, the book resembles in the main A Brief Account of America. Liang Tingnan showed great admiration of the American system. He wrote in the ¡°Preface,¡± ¡°From the system of the United States of America, which has been followed for years without being changed, I have come to realize that the saying ª²The people is not to be fearedª² is indeed no absurdity. Since its founding, this country has determined its rewards and punishments and prohibitions and orders according to the decision of the people and then chosen officials to carry them out. The laws of the country, which reflect the wish of the people, had been made before there was a president. The president is changed at regular intervals, similar to the appointment of officials in China. Though there have been good ones qualified to go on holding the office, the laws have never been changed because of them. The president is so positioned that he can neither hold the office indefinitely nor appoint someone to replace himself, the matter resting entirely in the hands of the people. People support the president as he is elected from the grassª²roots ... and in no position to play the tyrant and hold the office too long. The intangible and immaterial ª²public opinionª² has thus assumed a tangible form and proved to be feasible and practical. The one chosen to be the president, knowing that it will not do to set up a clique for his own selfish interests, endeavors to abide by the laws and do his best to perform his duty in the 4 fleeting years, seeking to win people¬ðs good opinion on leaving his office. No president will ever squander recklessly and ride roughshod over the people for a position he can not keep long and hold indefinitely at the risk of being cursed by the people!¡±27 As Liang Tingnan saw it, the intangible and immaterial ¡°public opinion¡± has proved effective in the United States, and the American system has embodied almost perfectly the Confucian concept that the people are of fundamental importance in a country. The equating of this Chinese concept with the civil liberties of the modern times, though blurring out the essential differences between the two, fully manifests Liang Tingnan¬ðs admiration of the American system. IV. David Abeel and A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit by Xu Jishe A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit by Xu Jishe, 10 volumes in all, was first published in 1848. Earlier, in 1844, A Brief Research of the Maritime Circuit (Yingª²Huanª²Kaoª²Lue) in 2 volumes had been written but not printed. A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit, after A Gazetteer of Four Continents and The Illustrated Tre atise on the Countries Overseas, is another influential cartographic writi ng. If A Gazetteer of Four Continents consists of articles translate d entirely from journals run, and books written by, Westerners, and The Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas is mainly a collection of material of the history and geography of Western countries (Wei Yuan added some comments but made no textual research), A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit can be said to be a book written and compiled by a Chinese which systematically introduces world history and geography, with an achievement surpassing the other 2 books. The material of this book has been mostly cited from works of Westerners, especially from that of the American missionary David Abeel. Xu Jishe related the purpose of writing this book and the sources of the material used in it: ¡°In the 23rd year of Emperor Daoguang ¡²1844¡³, while I lived in Xiamen performing my official duty, I met David Abeel, a Fujianeseª² speaking noted American. He carried a meticulouslyª²drawn and printed atlas with him, but I was dismayed to find that I was unable to read the characters on the maps. I had more than 10 maps copied and asked Abeel to translate the names for me. Thus, I managed to know roughly the names of various countries. But as it was done in a hurry, we could not go into details. When I went there again the following year, Department Director Huo Rongsheng bought me two atlases, the bigger one being 2 feet high, and the smaller one, over 1 foot. They were even more exquisitely done than the one Abeel carried with him. I also managed to get a few books in Chinese written by Westerners, which were too slangy for refined taste. I, however, gathered whatever material I could lay my hands on, consulted Westerners about their content when I had chance and gradually formed an overall picture of the topography and general situation of the countries overseas. Then, basing on these maps, I chose more reliable accounts from various books and wrote articles of my own. With the passing of time, they multiplied and grew into volumes.¡±28 From the above it can be seen that Xu Jishe cited from two sources: 1. The American Abeel and some other Westerners; and 2. The atlases and books in Chinese published by Westerners. Xu Jishe said as much in his book: ¡°The areas, general situation, histories, products and current events of the Western countries have all been taken from printed and handª²copied books and scores of monthlies and newspapers of the Westerners. These writings are mostly ungrammatical and slangy, but the facts are reliable. Sometimes different sources differ on some points, and I follow the more dependable ones. Some parts have been written on the basis of the verbal accounts of the Westerners I met with.¡±29 The Abeel mentioned by Xu Jishe was an American missionary. Dispatched by American Seaman¬ðs Friend Society (Haiª²Yuanª²Zhiª²Youª²She), he came to Guangzhou together with Bridgman in February 1830 in the first batch of American missionaries to China. He preached among British and American sailors in Guangzhou at first and then went to the South Sea islands in 1831. He joined the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission later and arrived on February 7, 1842 at Gulangyu opposite Xiamen across the sea. He preached in Xiamen for years. In January 1844, acting as the interpreter of Henry Gribble (Jiª²Liª²Bu), British Consul in Xiamen, he met Xu Jishe, then serving as a commissioner in Fujian, for the first time. Xu made no mention of this meeting in his book, but Abeel described in detail his several meetings with him in his diary, providing us with the firstª²hand material for our research of this segment of history. Abeel wrote on January 27, 1844: ¡°For some time past, we have had an imperial commissioner at Amoy ¡²Xiamen¡³, who was sent principally to fix the limits which are to circumscribe the wanderings of foreigners. Chineseª²like, his first proposal was to restrict us to a few of the more public streets of Amoy. As a counterpart the British consul mentioned a day¬ðs journey in the interior as a very proper limit. The commissioner gradually opened his eyes, and enlarged his views, but was afraid to sweep so wide a circle as the consul proposed. After exchanging a paper or two, and as many visits, he left the question about as open as it was before. We saw his excellency several times. He is next in office to the lieut.ª²governor, and bids fair to be the governorª²general of this and the neighboring province. He is the most inquisitive Chinese of a high rank I have yet met. After asking many questions about foreign countries, we proposed bringing an atlas and showing him the position and extent of the places which were most interesting to him. To this he gladly assented, and we have given him as much general information as we could compress into part of an afternoon. We promised to send him Christian books, and yesterday I made up a package for him containing the New Testament and other books.¡±30 Xu also perused Abeel¬ðs atlas and was deeply impressed with the geographical and Christian books Abeel gave him. His interests in world history and geography grew immensely. On February 29 of the same year, Xu Jishe came to Xiamen again. Abeel wrote in his diary: ¡°Knowing that his excellency had returned, we called upon him, and had a peculiarly gratifying visit. He said he had been reading the Christian books, and begged to make a number of inquiries, which related principally to the characters and places he had met with. He had evidently read the New Testament with attention, and gave me an opportunity of explaining many most important truths, which I pray God may be impressed upon his heart.¡±31 Xu Jishe¬ðs meetings with Abeel enabled him ¡°to know roughly the names of various countries¡± and acquire a great amount of material of world history and geography and augmented his determination to write a geographical book. In his later contacts with Abeel, he put the questions he encountered in writing the book directly to Abeel and discussed them with him. Abeel¬ðs diary recorded a meeting between them in May 1844: Xu Jishe was unrestrained and friendly and deported himself properl y. Evidently he had acquired considerable knowledge. His wish to understand countries in the world was far more ardent than listening to the truths of the Heaven. His maps were not precise enough. He not only checked the longitudinal and latitudinal degrees to mark the exact geographical positions, but also concentrated on amassing material about the areas of countries, their important political events and commercial relations, especially the commercial relations with China. His study of Britain, America and France went deeper than of other countries.32 Xu Jishe was not the only one having personal contacts with Abeel and other foreigners. Abeel¬ðs diary of February 20, 1844, for instance, mentioned a subª²prefect. ¡°After spending the morning in conversing with those who called, we resumed our unfinished visits and called on the subª²prefect. He said that the commissioner was much engaged in reading the Christian books. We sat a long time with him, and gave him a full and free discourse on the important truths of natural and revealed religion. It is a great privilege, to have such opportunities for religious conversation with men of this class. Who that reads this will not put up a fervent prayer that he and the commissioner and the admiral, and all to whom books have been given, may be made to see their need of an interest in that redemption, the knowledge of which has been brought to their minds?¡±33 The real motive of Abeel was of course spreading Christianity. To further his cause, he deemed it necessary to change the Chinese people¬ðs view on the West and make China open its door to Western civilization. But he failed to achieve his aim. His diary shows that Xu Jishe¬ðs interest was not in religion, but in the political and economic situation of Britain, America, France and other powers. Xu¬ðs purpose of knowing the foreign countries was obviously ¡°playing one barbarian state against another.¡± Though the objectives of the two differed, Abeel¬ðs help led to the birth of the first book of modern world geography written by a Chinese. In July 1844, half a year after Xu Jishe had his first contact with Abeel, Xu finished his 2 volumes of A Brief Research of the Maritime Circuit. He frankly admitted that ¡°I got the facts mostly from Abeel and consulted also Heard and Seen in Maritime Countries (Haiª²Guoª²Wenª²Jianª²Lu) by Chen Ziqi, Heard and Seen in the West Region (Xiª²Yuª²Wenª²Jianª²Lu) published by the Garden of the Seven Chinese Toons (Qiª²Chunª²Yuan), the Lost Gazetteer of the Island in the Sea (H aiª² Daoª²Yiª²Zhi) by Wang Liurong and some books by Westerners.¡±34 A Br ief Research of the Maritime Circuit was not printed then, and Xu wrote A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit in 10 volumes on this basis. Apart from Abeel, Xu also sought advice from such Westerners in China as the American missionary W. H. Gummings, and George Tradescant Lay (Liª² Taiª²Guo) and Rutherford Alcock (Aª²Liª²Guo), who had served as the British consul in Fuzhou successively. Besides, he consulted A Brief Account of America by Bridgman. As no explanation had been made by Xu in his book, we can not trace which material had come from Abeel. However, Abeel¬ðs name appeared 7 times in the book, and from these passages we can have a glimpse of his role and influence in Xu¬ðs writing of the book: 1. He corrected a number of wrong ideas of world geography in Chinese annals. The official annals and geographical accounts written by some scholars, for instance, all maintained that the more one goes southward, the hotter he finds the climate, and the South Pole is extremely hot. People continued to stick to this view even when they had seen the maps drawn by Westerners. Xu Jishe gave up this idea after reading Abeel¬ðs scientific explanation. He wrote in ¡°The Earth¡± of his book, ¡°Everybody knows the Arctic Ocean, but no one has ever heard of the Antarctica before. I perused a world map drawn by a Westerner and found the Chinese equivalent of the Antarctica below the South Pole. I suspected it was a mistake due to improper use of Chinese and asked the American Abeel, who said it was correct without a doubt.¡± Abeel made a specific explanation to him. Xu remarked in his book, ¡°From his explanation, it can be seen that the South Pole is indeed a sea of ice. Chinese ships used to sail just as far as the sea off Fujian and Guangdong and mistook the equator for the South Pole. That is why doubts arise on seeing the new account.¡±35 2. Abeel corrected mistakes in the geographical writings published in Western countries with the latest findings of the West. Xu Jishe said he had assumed that ¡°Only islands exist south of the southern zodiac; further beyond, there is only water, and not a single piece of land can be seen as far as the South Pole;¡± and ¡°It was only natural that the earth should stay above and the water, below.¡± But Abeel put him right with the information that ¡°Two years ago, France, Britain, America and Spain sent 4 boats to explore the South Pole and have found land there, though its size is not yet clear.¡±36 3. Abeel watched the changes in the world political domains with a developmental view and helped Xu Jishe resolve difficulties encountered in writing the book. In modern times, wars and maneuvers of the Western colonial powers were constantly changing the political maps, while reflecting the true picture of the world situation yesterday might become outdated today due to the change of the suzerain of a colony. Inconsistencies are often found among geographical books and maps published in the West at different periods. To bring things up to date, it was necessary to keep a watchful eye on the ever changing world situation. But this could not be accomplished in China, as it had long closed its doors to other countries and knew little of the world. When collecting the material about India, Xu Jishe found that the British and American maps of India had different names for the same places and states. Not knowing which to follow, he asked Abeel what to do. ¡°Abeel replied that this one ¡²the American map¡³ used the old names of the Five Indias. Since Britain seized the country, some new divisions and new changes have been made. This gives rise to the variances.¡± Xu thought that ¡°since India now belongs to Britain, the British map should be used,¡± and introduced the general situation of India according to the British map. But he attached the American map to the book ¡°for reference.¡±37 W. H. Gummings, a doctor of medicine and missionary of the American Southern Presbyterian Union, also provided material for Xu Jishe. He came to China in 1842, moved around in Macao and Hong Kong at first and in Xiamen later and finally landed on Gulangyu on June 7, 1842. He set up a clinic in Abeel¬ðs residence and formally opened a hospital in Xiamen in January 1844. In 1847 he went back to the United States because of poor health. Much of the material about Switzerland in A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit was provided by him. No account of Xu Jishe¬ðs contact with him is available. We can only find a passage in the chapter ¡°Switzerland¡± of Xu¬ðs book, saying that ¡°An American by the name of Gummings once visited that country. He spoke highly of its beautiful scenery and unsophisticated customs and said it was a pity that the country was so far away and can not be civilized with rites and books.¡±38 Based on the material offered by Gummings, Xu made an explicit description of the country¬ðs geographic position, area, mountains, rivers, lakes, its conquest by Napoleon and 12 districts. From Gummings¬ð narration, he came to the conclusion that Switzerland was a ¡°Land of Peach Blossoms in the West.¡± The account of the American political system and the praise of George Washington form the best part of A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit. ¡°After winning the victory,¡± the book says, ¡°Washington turned over the military command and moved to retire. The people, bearing not to let him go, elected him head of the nation. He said to the people that it was selfish of one to pass the supreme position to his descendants and the duty of ruling the country should be given to a person of virtue. The former colonies have thus been organized into states, and each state has a president to lead it and a viceª²president (or viceª²presidents) to help him. The term of office for the president is 4 years (1 to 2 years in some cases). After the expiration of the term, people gather to evaluate his performance. If it is agreed that he did well, he can serve another term (but must step down after serving for 8 years). If he is considered not good enough, the viceª² president will be chosen to replace him. If the viceª²president is considered improper too, a person from the grassª²roots will be chosen. Voters shall put the name of the one they select to be the president on a piece of paper and put it in a box. When the voteª²casting has ended, all the boxes will be opened to count the votes, and the one gets most of the votes will be chosen, be him an official or a private citizen, as the new president. The outgone president will become a common citizen again, no different from other people. A general president is chosen from among the presidents of these states to lead them and decide on questions of war and to conduct warfare, and all states should obey him. The method of choosing the general president is the same as choosing the presidents of various states, and his term of office is, likewise, 4 years, or 8 years if he is elected for a second term. From Washington¬ðs time (he died in the 3rd year of Emperor Daoguang ¡²1844¡³) to the present, 9 presidents have been chosen in the 60ª²odd years of American history.¡±39 Xu Jishe¬ðs description of the American political system was not as detailed as in the Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas. But the treatise is just a transplant of A Brief Account o f America, while Xu added in his book his understanding of, and view on, the system. The praise he administered Washington in one of the notes, especially, reflected the progressive intellectuals¬ð understanding of the Western democratic system. ¡°Washington was an outstanding person indeed! He was braver than Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in the uprising, and his cause surpassed those of Cao Cao and Liu Bei in achievements. Having won victory through armed struggle, he sought no personal fame and passed not his position to his descendants. He started the election of the president, and the whole country has lived almost like one family, resembling the piping times of peace during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties in ancient China. Unlike in other nations, he relied on good customs, not force of arms, to rule the country. I saw a portrait of him; noble, valiant and resolute in demeanor, he was truly a distinguished personality.¡±40 Xu Jishe wrote further, ¡°South and North America stretch thousands of kilometers, and the United States of America is the very best of all countries there. Its climate is as good as in China, and its soil is just as fertile. Britain sailed thousands of miles to dominate the territory, where it propagated and accumulated material force for over 200 years, and the colonies became very rich. However, it set to attack and seize the territory, and its relations with the colonies broke and was never restored to the former state.... The United States of America is a federal country. It has no princes and dukes and does not follow the hereditary system, and its public affairs are all decided by the public. The country has created a system unheard of past and present! It is only natural that Washington has been respected as the greatest person in the West.¡±41 According to the study of the Hong Kong scholar Li Zhigang, this view is not borrowed from any writing, but is derived from his discussions with Abeel.42 The good government during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties in ancient China was the highest political ideal and a perfect sociopolitical mode in the minds of Chinese Confucian scholars. In likening the American society to it, Xu Jishe was expressing a view that shocked his compatriots. Xu Jishe was the only intellectual of the time who praised the American democratic system and admired Washington¬ðs personal qualities, and his views represented the highest evaluation of the American society by the Chinese literati at that period. Therefore, ¡°as soon as the book was in print, an abusive censure followed.¡±43 But it evoked no small response from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The American government, with the urge of Abeel, its envoy in China, presented Xu with a portrait of Washington. This was one of the important measur es Abeel took to further his ¡°policy of cooperation¡± in China and a reflection at the same time of the vast influence this book created. The Chinese trend of ¡°opening eyes to observe the world¡± at the beginning of the modern times appeared suddenly against the background that China suffered humiliation as a result of the defeat in the Opium War. It was neither preceded by a long period of deliberation, nor prepared by sufficient ideological material. The thinkers of ¡°opening eyes to observe the world¡± could only rely on the limited amount of books, journals and newspapers written or run by missionaries and other foreigners in China. About this, Liang Qichao commented later, ¡°After the Opium War, nobleª²minded patriots wrung their wrists in sorrow, regarding the defeat a crying shame and a lesson China could use to clean its cumulated filth. The view of studying the art of government to help rule the country spread fast and wide. What is more, with the lift of the ban on intercourse with foreign countries, the soª²called ¡®Western learning,¡¯ meaning foreign technologies at first and foreign political systems later, gradually found their way into China. The Chinese scholars, who had lived, so to speak, all along in pitchª²dark chambers, did not know anything that existed outside. The opening of a window on the wall of their chambers enabled them to glare at things they never saw before. Looking round, they saw nothing but darkness and the cumulated filth inside the room. Their eagerness to know things outside and disgust of the filth inside thus grew with each passing day.¡± As a result, ¡°those with a smattering knowledge of the Western learning joined hands with the advocators of ¡®studying the art of government to help rule the country¡¯ in the period of enlightenment during the Qing Dynasty and hoisted a banner of confrontation to oppose the orthodox party.¡±44 It was the American missionaries who pierced the ¡°wall¡± of the Chinese thinkers of ¡°opening eyes to observe the world,¡± and their writings furnished as the ¡°window¡± for the Chinese intellectuals to observe and understand the world outside. This segment of history indicates that the missionaries, as the main carriers of ¡°the Western learning introduced to the East¡± in modern times, would have a lasting influence in the development of the modern ideological trend and China¬ðs cause of modernization in late Qing period. (Translated by Wang Huaiting) NOTES 1Cf. Chinese Repository, Vol. 3, p. 382 (December 1834). 2Cf. Barnett and Fairbank, Christianity in China: Early Protestant Missionary Writing (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1985), pp. 95-96. 3The Chinese and Japanese Library of the Harvard Univer sity, so far as I know, has an original copy of A Brief Account of America . It w as included in the 11th volume of the Geographical Collection of the Xiaof anghu Study, but no ¡°Introduction¡± has been found in it. The passage here has been ci ted from an end note in ¡°A General Account of America, Part A¡±, in Vol. 59 of t he 100ª²volume Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas publis hed in 1852. 4A Brief Account of America, ibid., pp. 12-13. 5Ibid., pp. 11-12. 6Cf. Fred W. Drake, ¡°Protestant Geography in China: E. C. Bridgman¬ðs Portrayal of the West,¡± cited from Barnett and Fairbank, ed., Christianity in China: Early Protestant Missionary Writings, op . cit., p. 105. 7See Note 4, pp. 15-16. 8Wang Tao, Miscellaneous Notes on Foreign Countries (Yingª² Ruanª²Zhaª²Zhi, Yuelu Publishing House, 1988), p. 120. 9Cf. Gilbert McIntosh, The Mission Press in China, American Presbyterian Mission Press (Shanghai, 1895), pp. 13-20. 10Richard Quanterman Way, A Concise World Geography, p. 29 , cited from the Geographical Collection of the Xiaofanghu Study. 11Ibid., p. 29. 12Ibid., p. 1. 13Wei Yuan, ¡°The Original Introduction,¡± Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas, the 100ª²volume edition, Vol. 1. 14Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 43. 15¡°The Introduction at the End of the Book,¡± ibid., Vol. 100. 16Ibid., the 1844 50ª²volume edition, Vol. 38, p. 1. 17Cf. Wu Ze and Huang Liyong, ¡°A Study of Wei Yuan¬ðs Illustrated Treatise on the Countries Overseas,¡± in Yang Shenzhi and Huang Liyong ed., Research of Wei Yuan¬ðs Thinking (Weiª²Yuanª²Siª²X iangª²Yanª²Jiu, Hunan People¬ðs Publishing House, 1987), p. 301. 18See Note 13, Vol. 94, p. 3. 19¡°General Preface to the American Continent in the Outer Atlantic Ocean (Waiª²Daª²Xiª²Yangª²Muª²Liª²Jiaª²Zhouª²Zongª²Xu),¡± ibid., Vol. 59. 20¡°The Introduction at the End of the Book,¡± ibid., Vol. 100. 21See Note 4, p. 3. 22See Note 19. 23Ibid., Vol. 74. 24See Note 19. 25Ibid., Vol. 100. 26Liang Tingnan, ¡°Preface,¡± On the United States, cited from Four Treatises on the Countries Overseas, the 1846 blockª²printed edition. 27Ibid. 28Xu Jishe, ¡°Author¬ðs Note,¡± A Brief Survey of the Maritime Circuit, the 1866 revised edition, p. 8. 29¡°Guide to the Use of This Book,¡± ibid., p. 3. 30See Note 1, Vol. 13, p. 236 (May 1844). 31Ibid., p. 237. 32Cf. Note 1. Vol. 20, pp. 169-170 (April 1851). 33Ibid., Vol. 13, p. 237 (May 1844). 34A Brief Research of the Maritime Circuit, cited from Data of the Chinese Modern History (Zhongª²Guoª²Jinª²Daiª²Shiª²Ziª²Liaoª²Congª² Bian), Vol. 79. 35¡°The Earth,¡± See Note 28, Vol. 1, p. 5. 36Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 7. 37¡°Five Indias,¡± ibid., Vol. 3, p. 7. 38¡°Switzerland,¡± ibid., Vol. 5, p. 32. 39Ibid., Vol. 9, pp. 15-6. 40Ibid., Vol. 9, p. 16. 41Ibid., Vol. 9, p. 35. 42Cf. Ren Fuxing ed., Xu Jishe and the Intellectual Communication Between the East and West (Xuª²Jiª²Sheª²Yuª²Dongª²Xiª²Fangª² Wenª²Huaª²Jiaoª²Liu, China Social Science Publishing House, 1993), p. 242. 43Xu Jishe, ¡°A Letter in Reply to My Dear Friend Wu Sicheng,¡± Complete Papers of Xu Jishe (Songª²Kanª²Xianª²Shengª²Quanª²Ji ), Vol . 3. 44Liang Qichao, ¡°Intellectual Trends in the Qing Period,¡± Collected Works and Essays from the Iceª²Drinkersª² Studio (Yinª²Bin gª²Shiª²Heª²Ji), Vol. 32, p. 52.