A Research On The Diplomacy Of The Local Governments Of The Late Qingdynasty

The local diplomacy plays a great important and irreplaceable role in the diplomacy of the late Qing government.This is one of the main distinguishing features of the diplomacy of the late Qingdynasty, Also,it is one peculiar phenomenon in the modern Chinese diplomcay history.The local diplomacy after the first Opium War has set up a complete administrative system,which is composed of the Nanyang and Beiyang minister sub-administrative systems and the provincial ones. All the ingredients gather together by kinds of relations,and take on the arduous task of coping with tremendous foreign-related-affairs.The local diplomacy of the late Qingdynasty is the toppest development stage in the Chinese local diplomacy history.Its prosperity is closely connected with the environment at that times.The artical below will depict roughly its whole profile,analyse the factors which give rise to this phenomenon, probe the major matters that it reflects and reveal its status and influences.The artical comprises ten parts, including the "preface" and the"end".The preface introduces the significance of this artical, the present situation of study on this topic and the research method and strategy. The innovations and shortages will also be narrated in this part. In order to make it clear, the meaning of the "local diplomacy" is explained generally.The main body of this artical is composed of eight chapters. Chaper 1 probes the developing course of the local diplomatic authority, the situation after the first Opium War is stressed. In the period between the 40s of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century,the diplomatic power of the local governors'expanded greatly. From the start of the 20th century,the central government took many measures to control and limit this power, but did not achieved much. The second chapter studies the local diplomatic administrtive system and the relations among its elements.In the third chapter, the power limitation,the responsibility, the fund, or some other aspects of the chief diplomatic agencies,such as the governor's Yamen,Guandao, Yang Wuju, will be investigated in detail. In additon, the diplomatic duty of the counties will be introduced briefly. The forth chapter elaborates and analyses the drilling selecting and management of the local diplomatic officials. By way of quantitative research,this chapter probes the comprehensive qualities of the chief diplomatic officals of some provinces. The collecting and paying ways and amounts of the funds for the local diplomacy of some provinces will be introduced in the fifth chapter.Chapter 6 expounds the main contents of the local diplomatic ceremonies ruled by the treaties.The setting of the ceremonies is one of the main marks of the developing of the local diplomacy and the tendency to modernization of the diplomacy of the late Qingdynasty.In a period after the second Opium War,because the Qing government did not issue the treaties in time,the local officials did not know the rules about the ceremonies,some of them did not use properly. With the deeping of their diplomatic knowledge and the issue of the treaties,the local officials payed more and more attention to the ceremonies.There are great disparities of the diplomacy among different areas.The main causes are the geographic factors,economic development an conventions.The outer performances caused by these three factors will be discussed in the seventh chapter.The numbers of the local foreign affairs are immense,but they can be classified nine kinds,they are affairs about the trade,the religion,the rescue,the justice,etc.The last chapter will do this job.In the end,the artical analyses the status in and the impact on the diplomacies of the late Qingdynasty and the modern Chinese history.By this research on the diplomacy of the late Qingdynasty,we get some lessons,such as the central government and the local governments should resolve appropriately the allocation of the diplomatic authority,and so on.