David Scott 
China and the International System, 1840-1949 
Power, Presence, and Perceptions in a Century of Humiliation

As China continues its rapid ascent within the international system, questions of where it came from have particular relevance. Combining history with international relations theory, David Scott considers China’s first substantive modern period of encounter with the West from 1840 through 1949, a period characterized as the Century of Humiliation. During this time China fell from Middle Kingdom preeminence to a position in the international system that remained an enigmatic and challenging one: too strong to be taken over as a colony, yet not strong enough to shape its own destiny. At the heart of Scott’s study is encounter, and, with it, questions of power, presence, and perceptions. He examines the images, hopes, and fears that were evoked during China’s century-long subservience to external powers, including opposing views of China as a threat or China as the ‘sick man of Asia’ and the West as evil or the West as savior. China and the Chinese are explored in terms of their interaction with the international system, with a particular focus on America and Australia.

قائمة المحتويات

Preface

The “Century of Humiliation” as a Retrospective Icon

Transliteration and Word Order



1. International Relations, History, and “Images”



The International System and China: A Challenge of Topic and Disciplinarity

Culture and Identity

Race

Images

Sources



2. Humiliations Established in the First and Second Opium Wars



Colliding Images

The First Opium War (1840–1842)

Humiliation and the Unequal Treaties System

Chinese Responses to Defeat

Chinese Emigration Becomes an International Issue

The Second Opium War (1857–1860)

Geocultural Politics and the Burning of the Summer Palace

Russia’s Drive to the Amur Basin and Vladivostok



3. Humiliations Maintained



Effects and Aftermath of the Second Opium War

“Self-strengthening” Advocates in China

Chinese Immigration Issues in the United States and the “Heathen Chinee”

The “Chinese Threat” in Australasia

Ongoing and New Threats to China in Asia

Political Restrictions in California

Chinese Diplomacy in the West



4. China’s Attempted “Awakening”



China’s Military Revival

Australasian Invasion Scares and Political Debates

American Social Darwinism and Anti-Immigration Politics

Russian Responses to China

An Anglo-Chinese Alliance?

The “March of the Mongol” and “The Chinese Question”

Chinese Voices on “China’s Awakening”



5. China’s Further Humiliations



The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895

Eastern Perspectives on the Sino-Japanese War

Western Perspectives on the Sino-Japanese War

Reformist Analysis and Imperial Leadership

“Sliced Like a Water-melon”

The Boxer Revolt

Autumnal Perspectives on the Boxer Revolt

Chinese Perspectives

Reemergence of a China Threat Perception

Russian Geopolitics

Xinzheng Reforms and Chinese Nationalism

The Russo-Japanese War and a Sino-Japanese Axis

Immigration and Trade Furors across the Pacific

Fall of the Qing



6. China Adrift in a Brave New World



Images of a New Republic, a New China

Yellow Peril Incarnations (Fu Manchu and Others)

China and “World” War I

Diplomatic Betrayals and the May Fourth Movement

Race and Culture, Pan-Asianism, and Chinese Nationalism

The Soviet Factor

Unequal Treaties Revision and Nationalist Agitation-Renewal

National Reunification and Uncertainties



7. Wartime Humiliations from Japan and the West



The Manchurian Affair and Aftermath

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

Yellow-Red Perils?

Immigration and Extraterritoriality, Strategic Revisions

Perceptions of China’s Status as a Great Power and Military Ally

Western Comments on China’s Postwar Role

Race, Population, and Immigration Resurface

Across the Pacific

Whose China?



8. Legacies



Bibliography

Index

عن المؤلف

David Scott is Lecturer in History and Politics at Brunel University in the United Kingdom and author of
China Stands Up: The PRC and the International System.