Xue Fucheng's Vassal System Thought

Xue Fucheng(1838-1894)was a famous thinker and diplomat in the late Qing dynasty.During his life,he experienced the tianping heavenly kingdom movement,the westernization movement,the sino-french war and witnessed the great changes in China's domestic and diplomatic affairs in the late qing dynasty.In terms of his personal experience,Xue Fucheng served as the secretary of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang successively.During the sino-french war,he served as the local administrator of ningbo,shaoxing and taizhou,and took charge of defense in eastern Zhejiang province.Later,he served as minister in Britain,France,Italy and Belgium and went to Western Europe.Therefore,Xue Fucheng's three identities of chief of staff,local officials and ambassadors abroad have enriched his practical experience in handling westernization affairs and enabled him to constantly explore the new pattern of China's foreign exchanges.At the end of the Qing dynasty,there was a period of great changes and shocks.In this environment,how to deal with the relationship between the Qing government,vassal states and western powers has become an important issue.Under the circumstance that the traditional vassal system could not be maintained,and the international law of the modern west threatened China's rights and interests,how to protect national interests from being violated under the threat of force by foreign powers became the goal Xue Fucheng pursued all his life.Xue Fucheng first believed that the traditional vassal system must be changed,the Qing government must give up the dream of "Heavenly Kingdom",the trend of western modern international law and the concept of modern state territory was inevitable,and the Qing empire must enter the international family.Secondly,in the process of dealing with the relationship between the Qing government and the vassal states,Xue Fucheng gradually established the principle of "the materialization of vassal states",which put the utility first and the national interests first.Finally,after his mission to the west,Xue Fucheng further studied and applied modern international law.Although he actually abandoned the traditional vassal system,he did not exclude the use of traditional vassal relations to maintain the image andrights of the Qing court.Xue Fucheng's inheritance,reflection,breakthrough and practical application of the traditional vassal system had great theoretical and practical influence on the transformation of foreign policy in the late Qing dynasty.A group of modern diplomatic talents represented by xue fu also initiated China's modern diplomacy.