English Lessons: The Pedagogy of Imperialism in Nineteenth-Century China / Edition 1

by James L Hevia

Overview

Inserting China into the history of nineteenth-century colonialism, English Lessons explores the ways that Euroamerican imperial powers humiliated the Qing monarchy and disciplined the Qing polity in the wake of multipower invasions of China in 1860 and 1900. Focusing on the processes by which Great Britain enacted a pedagogical project that was itself a form of colonization, James L. Hevia demonstrates how British actors instructed the Manchu-Chinese elite on “proper” behavior in a world dominated by multiple imperial powers. Their aim was to “bring China low” and make it a willing participant in British strategic goals in Asia. These lessons not only transformed the Qing dynasty but ultimately contributed to its destruction.

Hevia analyzes British Foreign Office documents, diplomatic memoirs, auction house and museum records, nineteenth-century scholarly analyses of Chinese history and culture, campaign records, and photographs. He shows how Britain refigured its imperial project in
China as a cultural endeavor through examinations of the circulation of military loot in Europe, the creation of an art history of “things Chinese,” the construction of a field of knowledge about China, and the Great Game rivalry between Britain, Russia, and the Qing empire in Central Asia. In so doing, he illuminates the impact of these elements on the colonial project and the creation of a national consciousness in China.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822331889
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	387
Product dimensions:	6.18(w) x 9.16(h) x 0.97(d)

About the Author

James L. Hevia is Chair of the Curriculum in International and Area Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His book Cherishing Men from Afar: Qing Guest Ritual and the Macartney Embassy of 1793 (published by Duke UniversityPress) won the Joseph Levenson Prize from the Association for Asian Studies.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Abbreviations xvii

I. Introduction: Imperialism, Colonialism, and China 1

Part I: Opium Wars and Treaties of Peace, Friendship, and Commerce 29

2. The Arrow War, 1856-1860 31

3. Violence and the Rule of Law in China, 1856-1858 49

4. Beijing 1860: Loot, Prize, and a Solemn Act of Retribution 74

Part II: Reterritorializing China, 1861-1900 119

5. Constructing a New Order 123

6. The Qing Empire in the Era of European Global Hegemony 156

Part III: Making China Perfectly Equal 185

7. A Reign of Terror: Punishment and Retribution in Beijing and Its Environs 195

8. Desacralizing Qing Sovereignty, 1900-1901 241

9. Mnemonic Devices: Memorializing the West as Victim and Hero 282

10. The Return of the Repressed, Recirculations, and Chinese Patriotism 315

Postscript 346

Bibliography 351

Index 375

Editorial Reviews

I am very positive about this book because James L. Hevia’s efforts to move beyond a ‘China-centered approach’ are fresh and innovative. His chapters on the Boxers and their aftermath are the best part of the book. By reconstructing the polychromatic, global imperialist context circa 1900, Hevia thus builds on more recent views that have been drawn mainly from Chinese sources. Rather than essentialize ‘Western imperialism’ and ‘China's victimization’ in black and white, Hevia presents a more penetrating account of Euro-America's ‘civilizing mission’ before and after 1900.”—Benjamin A. Elman, Professor of East Asian Studies and History, Princeton University


“James L. Hevia takes the notion of imperial discipline and pedagogy beyond metaphor to precise illustration and explanation. With the help of a wonderfully selected set of prints and the mastery of an unusual set of archives, English Lessons manages to make of the familiar story of British imperialism in China something new and startling.”—Marilyn B. Young, Professor of History, New York University

From the Publisher