Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series General Editors: Megan Vaughan, Kings College, Cambridge and Richard Drayton, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge This informative series covers the broad span of modern imperial history while also exploring the recent developments in former colonial states where residues of empire can still be found. The books provide in-depth examinations of empires as competing and complementary power structures encouraging the reader to reconsider their understanding of international and world history during recent centuries. Titles include Sunil S. Amrith DECOLONIZING INTERNATIONAL HEALTH India and Southeast Asia, 1930 65 Tony Ballantyne ORIENTALISM AND RACE Aryanism in the British Empire Robert J. Blyth THE EMPIRE OF THE RAJ Eastern Africa and the Middle East, 1858 1947 Roy Bridges (editor) IMPERIALISM, DECOLONIZATION AND AFRICA Studies Presented to John Hargreaves L. J. Butler COPPER EMPIRE Mining and the Colonial State in Northern Rhodesia, c.1930 64 Hilary M. Carey (editor) EMPIRES OF RELIGION T. J. Cribb (editor) IMAGINED COMMONWEALTH Cambridge Essays on Commonwealth and International Literature in English Michael S. Dodson ORIENTALISM, EMPIRE AND NATIONAL CULTURE India, 1770 1880 Ulrike Hillemann ASIAN EMPIRE AND BRITISH KNOWLEDGE China and the Networks of British Imperial Expansion B. D. Hopkins THE MAKING OF MODERN AFGHANISTAN Ronald Hyam BRITAIN S IMPERIAL CENTURY, 1815 1914 A Study of Empire and Expansion, 3rd edn
Robin Jeffrey POLITICS, WOMEN AND WELL-BEING How Kerala Became a Model Gerold Krozewski MONEY AND THE END OF EMPIRE British International Economic Policy and the Colonies, 1947 58 Sloan Mahone and Megan Vaughan (editors) PSYCHIATRY AND EMPIRE Javed Majeed AUTOBIOGRAPHY, TRAVEL AND POST-NATIONAL IDENTITY Francine McKenzie REDEFINING THE BONDS OF COMMONWEALTH 1939 1948 The Politics of Preference Gabriel Paquette ENLIGHTENMENT, GOVERNANCE AND REFORM IN SPAIN AND ITS EMPIRE 1759 1808 Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre IRISH AND INDIAN The Cosmopolitan Politics of Alfred Webb John Singleton and Paul Robertson ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND AUSTRALASIA 1945 1970 Kim A. Wagner (editor) THUGGEE Banditry and the British in Early Nineteenth-Century India Jon E. Wilson THE DOMINATION OF STRANGERS Modern Governance in Eastern India, 1780 1835 Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series Series Standing Order ISBN 978 0 333 91908 8 (Hardback) 978 0 333 91909 5 (Paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Asian Empire and British Knowledge China and the Networks of British Imperial Expansion Ulrike Hillemann Imperial College, London
Ulrike Hillemann-Delaney 2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-20046-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29921-8 ISBN 978-0-230-24675-1 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230246751 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
For my parents and Richard
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Contents Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations viii x 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Britain and China an overview 3 1.2 Methodological considerations 8 2 The Decline of Mythical China 16 2.1 The origin of language 17 2.2 Chinese style and British taste 21 2.3 A Chinese court at Brighton 27 3 At the China Coast 34 3.1 A diplomatic expedition 34 3.2 Chinese law and British rights 45 3.3 The unreliable interpreter 56 3.4 A barren land 64 3.5 Diplomacy and local knowledge 75 3.6 Trade and identity 81 3.7 British honour and opium 91 4 South and Southeast Asian Encounters 106 4.1 China s neighbour 107 4.2 Chinese subjects for the empire 120 4.3 Co-operator and corruptor 130 4.4 British rule, Chinese societies 135 4.5 Educating the Chinese diaspora 141 5 Asian Networks and the British Isles 150 5.1 British Sinology 152 5.2 Saving China 168 5.3 Forces of free trade 171 6 Epilogue 188 Notes 193 Bibliography 236 Index 254 vii
Acknowledgements I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Cambridge European Trust, who made this work possible with their financial support. The History Faculty Trust and the St. Edmund s College Tutorial award contributed to financing the travels to archives in London. I would also like to thank the staff at the Cambridge University Library, the British Library, the SOAS Archive, the Public Record Office and the Archive of the Baptist missionary society at the Angus Library Oxford who were always helpful and friendly. I am also grateful to the Bavarian State Library for granting permission for use of the cover illustration. This book is the result of a journey, which took me from Munich to Edinburgh and then to Cambridge. While I was an undergraduate at Munich, Eckhart Hellmuth introduced me to the fascinating world of 18th century British history. This interest was deepened by the teaching of Harry Dickinson and Nicholas Phillipson in Edinburgh. Cambridge opened new perspectives, especially on the history of the Extra-European world. The person who most influenced the shape of this work and the development of my understanding of history over the last years was, of course, my supervisor, Richard Drayton and I thank him for his patient guidance and unwavering support. Several people helped me by sharing their knowledge and advice: Chris Bayly, as well as Tim Harper, Peter Kornicki and Hans Van de Veen. Michael Dodson provided many useful ideas in the early stages of this work. Sunil Amrith, Felix Böcking, Christina Granroth, Emma Hunter, Florian Schui and Tobias Wolfhart read parts of the text and pointed out the inconsistencies. Matthias Georgi and Georg Vogeler have listened and discussed this study from its very beginning and even took the pains of reading through the entire work at the end. Ruth Cassidy also helped me to avoid some of the traps of the English language. Needless to say the blame for all the remaining errors lies with me. My greatest thanks go to my parents, who, without questioning, helped to finance this work. In addition, my father provided tireless computer support, which was truly invaluable, particularly in the last viii
Acknowledgements ix months. My greatest debt is to my husband Richard Delaney. Not only did he still pretend to find the topic interesting after all these years, he also read all the drafts to prevent the worst grammatical mistakes. Without his constant loving support and encouragement I could not have finished this work.
List of Abbreviations BFBS BL BMS CFR CWM EIC LMS Mss APAC PRO SOAS VOC British and Foreign Bible Society British Library, London Archive of the Baptist Missionary Society, Angus Library, Oxford Canton Factory Records, APAC, BL Christian World Mission, SOAS East India Company London Missionary Society Manuscript Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London Public Record Office, London School of Oriental and Asian Studies, London Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie x