Negotiated power in late Imperial China : the Zongli Yamen and the politics of reform / Jennifer Rudolph.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rudolph, Jennifer M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China--Politics and government--19th century.

China.

China--History--1861-1912.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 228 p. :) ill. ;

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York : Cornell University East Asia Program, [2008]

Summary:

Negotiated Power in Late Imperial China: The Zongli Yamen and the Politics of Reform explores the nature and functioning of reform during the nineteenth century of China's Qing dynasty (1644–1911). By analyzing the bureaucratic modes of management that developed around the creation and evolution of the Zongli Yamen or Foreign Office (1861–1901), the book demonstrates the vitality of not only the Chinese State, but also the institutional traditions of its Manchu rulers. Drawing on precedent and the flexibility of the administrative system in their efforts to manage the conduct of foreign affairs, high Qing ministers transformed opportunities for institutional dynamism into the reality of a functioning central Zongli Yamen with a foreign affairs field administration supporting it in the provinces. In the process, they altered the governmental hierarchy and changed the definition of institutional power in the multi-faceted area of foreign affairs and, more generally, for the Qing bureaucracy. As the most significant example of institutional development in China's critical period of the nineteenth century, the Zongli Yamen's experience serves as valuable background for understanding reform efforts in late imperial China and beyond.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES

REIGN TITLES OF THE QING EMPERORS (1644–1911)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1 THE ZONGLI YAMEN IN TIME AND PLACE

2 BUILDING CHANGE, ONE MAN AT A TIME

3 FORGING CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

4 MAKING CHANGE WORK— INSTITUTIONAL NEGOTIATIONS

5 BRIDGING THE BUREAUCRACY— LINKING COMMUNICATION AND POWER

6 NEGOTIATED SOLUTIONS— MULTILEVEL RESOLUTIONS

7 NEGOTIATED POWER AND INSTITUTIONAL PLACE

APPENDIX A: MEMORIAL PROPOSING THE ZONGLI YAMEN, AUTHORED BY WENXIANG, PRINCE GONG, AND GUILIANG

APPENDIX B: AN EDICT TO THE GRAND SECRETARIAT FROM THE XIANFENG EMPEROR

GLOSSARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781942242376

1942242379

OCLC:

682073532