QfarncU HmuBrattg library Dtljaca, ^tto ^orb CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WFLLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 Cornell University Library Z 3106.L35 American scholarship in Chinese histor 3 1924 023 970 654 Xi 'i^ %. Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023970654 AMERICAH SCHOLAR SHIP IN CHINESE H ISTO H T ■'J.' A PAPER READ AT THE AHNUAL MEETING OP THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION December, 1917, unpublished By Eeimeth Scott Latourette PREPARED AND BOUND FOR THE LIBRARY OE CHARLES W. WASONi ESQ. CLEVELAKD:1918 L3S l\'^l KENNETH SCOTT LATOURETTE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY DENISON UNIVERSITY GRANVH-LE, OHIO January 22, 1918. Mr. Arthur H. Clark, Caxton Bldg. , Cleveland, Ohio. My dear Mr. Clark; I arc glad to have your letter of January 18th .and as you request^ I am enclosing a copy of my paper on "Atterican Scholarship in Chinese History". This , as you know, happens to be now the only copy in my posession and I will be glad if you will return it to me after you have had a copy made of it. I am glad that it can be of service to you. Very trul» 3^rs, ery trui» yojdrs. AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP AND CHINESE HISTORY It ought hardly to be necessary in these days to point out the interest and inportance of the history of China as a field for the scholarship of the West. No other existing nation has a continuous history reaching back to so remote a period. Few nations have in- flxienced by their culture a larger section of mankind, and to few has it been given to dominate for so aoany centuries so large a pro- portion of the population or so fertile a part of the globe* No great people of today, not even the Russians, presents a more in- teresting exaojple of transition, and it is doubtful whether the futtire of any other nation is more uncertain or more fraught with possibilities of peril or of happiness for the entire world. In no other, taking its centiories as a whole, is historical material more abundant or more worthy of the study of the painstaking student. Jn sharp contrast to the neighboring peoples of India, the Chinese have almost from the beginning had the historical sense and have left to posterity a mass of material, much of it carefully and critically collected, which is at once the Joy and the despair of the Occidental scholar. European students have for some two centuries been gradually awakening to the possibilities of the field. In a really voluminous 1 literature, which, it anist be said, is by no means well apportioned among the various dynasties and epochs, they have made a good be- ginning at interpreting Chinese development to the world. France, from the time of the early Jesuits missionaries i has not lacked sinologues of note. Uearly a hundred and fifty years separate i Father de Ma.illa*e translation of the T*ung Zang Chien Ma into the thirteen handsome but not entirely flawless volumes of his Hlatoire Senerale de la Chine , and Chavannee still -uncoajpleted, aasterly, and painstaking translation of Ssu Ma Ch*ien. The interval has been filled with many names that are household words to students of things Chinese, and the files of periodicals in French, such as the Journal Asiatique and T*oving Pao are substantial evidence of the continuous output of work of a high order. During the last Century ^gland has produced nvunbers of scholaurs who have added vastly to the West's -understanding of Chinese history* Such men as Legge, Wylie, Fexker, Giles, and Putnam Weale, to mention only a few of the more outstand- ing figures, will long be remembered as noteworthy contributors to the world's knowledge of the remote and the more recent history of the Middle Kingdom. Each year the jounaals of the Hoyal Asiatic Society, and of the North China Branch of the Hoyal Asiatic Society make useful additions to our stock of information* Crerman scholarship, although rather more recently applied to China than has been that of England and France, or even that of the t^ited States, has made the world its debtor. To indicate how noteworthy has been the Teutonic contribu** tions, one need only point out that America's two most eminent living 2 stTadents of China's earlier history, Erofeseor Hirth and Dr. Laufer, are both of German hirth and training. One might, from the standpoint of America's part in Ear Eastern affairs, expect from Amer ieazi»bom scholars, especially those of the present generation, a contribution to the world's knowledge of Chinese history which, if not as noteworthy as that of our European cousins, would at least not lag far behind in vol-ume and griality. The chief sources of European sinologues have been the consular and diplomatic service, the foreign contingent of the Chinese customs staff, and the missionary body. Uow, the personnel of the ibierican consular establishment in China has not, xintil very recently been worthy of coo^arison In training and scholarship with that of England, nor has the customs staff contained as many Americans as it has Englishmen and Continentals* American missionaries, on the other hand, are today more numerous than those from any other single coxmtry. They have excelled particularly in educational work and on the whole are of a high average of training and ability* When one remembers the men whom the English missionary body has furnished to Chinese historical scholarship, Legge, Wylie, Mac&owan, Soothill, and Edkins, for example, one expects to find names of at least eg,ual note in the ranks of the American churchmen. It must be confessed, however, that on the whole a careful s-urvey of the field of American historical scholarship in things Chinese begets in one a feeling of disappointment* Only two or three of our diplomats and consuls have made literary contributions of note, and 3 most misBlonaries have seemingly been too mach engrossed in theJir immediate problems of organization, administration, and propagan- dism to devote much time to a scholarly st-ody of the land in which they work. In America itself our colleges and universities, in spite of the fact that their hospitable curricula have made room for nearly every field of human Imowledge, have paid but scant at- tention to China. In perhaps thirty institutions the subject is touched on in some way, but usually only in a semester survey course of the Far East* In only three can there be had anything approach- ing an ade<).uate preparation for a thorough study of the Chinese language, institutions sind history. So great has been the dearth of American sinologues that two of these three institutions have had to go to Europe for scholars to fill their chairs of Chinese. The Jotirnal of the American Oriental Society although, it has maintained a high standard of scholarship and has published in its pages a few valuable articles on Chinese historical subjects, has notadaleved the size nor the circulation of the trans-Atlantic periodicals of similar aim. The early years of American Chinese scholarship seemed to augur well for the future. Dr. S. Wells Williams, one of the first to represent the American church in China, was a master of the language and literature^ and through a loi^g life as missionary, diplomat, azid finally as professor at Tale, made notable contributions to the foreigners' knowledge of his adopted country. His dictionary is still 1 (in use and his Middle Kingdom is probably even now the best well- , ro-unded stirvey of China and Chinese civilization as they were forty years ago. The historical chapters of the Middle Kingdom furnished in their day an excellent and well proportioned conjjendi-um of Chinese history as the latter was then known to the best foreign scholars. Most of the many articles that appeared from Dr, Williame* pen were, however, not on strictly historical subjects. It is a pleasure to add that the work of the father has been ably st^plemented by that of hie son, Professor Frederick Welle Williams of Yale, whom we are honored to have with us today. By his assietance in the revision of the Middle Kingdom , by his lives of his father and of Anson Surlitigame, by his many published articles, his more than two decades of teaching, and the years when, as an axlvocate of a more careful study by Americans of the history and current problems of the Far East, his was almost a solitary voice crying in the wilderness. Professor Williams has made greatly his debtor all American students of the historyand the problems of China, The elder Williams £ind the Hev, E* C* Bridgman, another of the early missionaries of the American Board, were chielly responsible for the Chinese Bepository* This publication was started by Bridge man in 1833 and had as its chief purpose the spreading among for* signers of inforination concerning China, It continued until 1851 and within Its pages are to be fovind numerous articles of a strictly 1 The first edition appeared in 1848 and the last revision in 1883* 5 .historical nature and covering a wide range of subjects. Few, if aiiy, of these papers can be called full or final contributions to our knowledge of Chinese history: they were not meant to be that. The publication served a useful purpose in its day, however, and gave brighter promise for the future of American scholarship than has yet been fulfilled. The only other missionary whose historical contributions approxi- mate in vol-ume those of Dr. Williams or Mr. Bridgznan has been Dr. W, A, P, Martin. Dr. Martin really belongs to the older school of missionaries! although death has only recently brought to an end his more than a half-century in China. His Hanlin Papers . which appeared in 1880, is of his many publications the one of most interest to historians. It is really a collection of studies, some of which had previously appeared in print and of which the most widely known, a description of international law in ancient China, is an out-growth of Dr» Martin's interest in the education of Chinese Diplomats. He has a good volume on The Awakening of China (New York No. 7), and another on The Silk in Peking (published in 1900). Dr. Martin was, however, only incidentally an historian and his permanent contribu- tions to China were chiefly made in other lines of service. The sEuue must rather regretfully be said of virtxially all the American missionaries of the present generation. Few have published enough to be worthy of remembrance as historians. President F. L. H. Pott, of St. Johns University, Shanghai, has given us an excellent and 6 2 widely used, but very brief suflmary of Chineaa History . The Eev. Frank H. Chalfant made a noteworthy collection of speciuient of sarly Chinese writing and has left a valuable bat short treatise on the 3 subject, and a still shorter paper on the weights and measures of 4 the Ch'in Dynasty. The Rev, Dr. Arthur E. Smith has given us an account of the Boxer uprising, valuable for what he knew through 5 personal observation. His studies of Chinese life in his Chinese 6 7 Character istlea and Village Life in China my be of value to the future student of conditions that are fast passing. It is worth while noting, as well, an interesting paper by Dr. John C, Ferguson 8 on the great radical of the Sung Dynasty, Wang An. Shi2i« Even on the philosophers and the religious history of China where theologically trained men would be naturally most interested, American missionarie* have published but little that is now of value. Dr« F. dm Henke has recently given mb a capitel translation of Wang Tang Ming, whose thought had. so much influence in the Japan of Tokugawa times. That is about the only work that we need notice, however. It has been left to Paul Carus, through his Open Court Publishing Coiopany, which brought out 'Dr« Henke*6 work, to provide an American translation of the Tao Teh Ching and essays on Chinese 10 thought and Chinese philosophy. 2 Latest edition, Shanghai, 1915. 3 In Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum, Vol. 4, No* 1, Sept* 190&« 4 Journ. N.C.S.H. As. Soc» Vol. 35. (1903«'1904) pp. 21»35. 5 China in Convubion* 6 Shanghai, 1890. 7 F. H. Revell, 1899. 8 Journ. N.C.B. Eoy« As* Soc*, Vol. 35, pp. 65-75. 9 Lao T2e*» Tao Teh Ching. Chicago, 1898. 10 Chicago, 1898. , Our diploaaats euad conBuls have seemingly "been eren about as little historically inclined as have our missionaries. There are only three names on our list that are v/orthy of note. These three, however, by the excellence of their work have done mach to atone for the negligence of the rest of their colleague8« Dr, E. T. Williams, whose scholarly paper at our meeting last year placed us all in his debt, has given us two or three other studies which make 11 us wish that he might have more leisure for such things* The work of the late William Woodville Hockhill by its erudition and pains- taking thoroughness places him in the front ranksof sinologues. He has given us along with other shorter studies, The Life of Buddha and the Ila.rly History of his Order derived from Tibetan Works . - — - followed by Notices of the Early History of Thibet and Khotea (London, 1884); Diplomatic Missions to the Covrt of China , published in the 12 second volume of the Review of this association) Treaties and Con- ventions with or Concerning China and Korea. 1894"19Q4. together with 13 variou< State Papers and Documents Affecting Foreign Interests ; Korea 14 and its Relations with China ; and China* s Intercourse with Korea 15 from the Fifteenth Century to 1895 » Together with Professor Hirth he has given us a translation of Chau Ju»Kua*8 work on Chinese and Arab 11 Hung-Wa and his Capital, in Jour. N.C.B.R. As. Soc, Vol. 26, No. 2, 1891-2, -pp. 42-174, and Witchcraft in the Chinese Penal Code. Ibid-7ol. 28 (pp. 61-96) 1901. 12 Am. Historical Review, Vol, 2, pp. 427-442, 627-643, 13 Washington, 1904* 14 Joaim, of the American Oriental Society, Vol, 13 (1888), 15 London, 1905. 16 trade in the twelfth and thirteenth centta-iea.... Minister Pavd S, feeinach, while still a member of the faculty of the I&iiverBity of ' Wisconsin, gave us his well Jmown Intellectual and Political 17 Currents in the Far Eaat ^ go valuable to students of recent Oriental history. One must acknowledge with shame that American historians have contributed but little to the story of European diplomacy in the Far Eastt We do not even have an adeq\iate account of our own relation* with China. Professor Stanley K, Hombeck has recently given us an 18 excellent study, Contenyorary Politics in the Far East . There is an interesting but rather sketchy account of American relations in the 19 Pacific and the Far East by Jainea M* Callahan. The vol-ume, American 20 Diplomacy in the Orient , by the late John W, Foster, is really our beat book in the field, but even that ia too brief. Perhapa the apeaker will not be considered too presuaptuotis if he mentions his own study, The History of Early Eelations Between the United States 21 and China. 1784-1844 < which may at least boast the virtue of being the only conjilete survey of the years that it covers. There are a few biographies of noteworthy American missionariesy but there is no sideguate history of American missions as a whole or, one may add, of the general missionary movement in China. Mr* Frank E* Hinckley has a 22 fairly good-sized account of American consular jurisdiction in the Orient* 16 St. Petersburg, 1912. 17 Houghton Mifflin, 1911. 18 New York- 1916. 19 American Relations in the Pacific and the Far East ,1784-1900, Baltimore 1901. go Houghton Mifflin, 1904. 21 Transactions of the Cortnecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1917. 22 American Consular Jurisdiction in the Orient* Washington, 1906« 9 There is qiiite a naass of oonten^oraneouB mterial, largely of a con- troversial nature, on Chinese imnigration and the exclusion acts, but no one has yet given us an unbiased, full, and scholarly treatment of that iiqportant phase of o\ir relations with Asia, In sharp contrast with French and German Scholarship, no American- born student who has not been directly or indirectly connected with the missionary or diplouaatic bodies, has ever given himself to Chinese history as his major field. A few have, however, produced works which are of valua to the historical student. Thus we have an account of the international law and diplomacy of the Bus so- Japanese War by Jfr. 23 Amos S. Hersheyj an admirable and syiqpathetic historical account of 24 art in China and Japan by the late E. F, Fenollosa; a history of the 25 Boxer uprising by Dr. Paul H, Clementsj and a narrative of the Revolu- tion of 1911 in a rather sketchy newspaper style by an eye witness, 26 Edward J. Dingle* Dr, Ellsworth Huntington*s suggestive studies on the geography and climate of Central Asia cannot be ignored by stud- ents of the older periods of China's history. Fortunately for the Ifeited States, the all too scanty list of notable American sinologaes has had added to it three men of foreign training, Professor Friedrich Hirth of Columbia, Professor A, Forke of the University of California, and Dr, Berthold Laufer of the Field Museum of Natural History. All of these are of German birth and 23 The International Law and Diplomacy of the Bus so-* Japanese War . Macmillan, 1906 24 Epooha of Chinese and Jatsanese Art . London. 25 The Boxer Rebellion, apolitical and Diplomatic Haview. New York . (Columbia University) 26 China's Eevolution . Shanghai, 1912, 10 education and. have had extended residence and travel in China. Profeaaor Hirth, especially, has given to the world, both before and after comijjig to this coiontry, a very large maiaber of important articles and books, the mere en-umeration of which would lengthen this paper beyond its proper limits. He has written on a wide variety of subjects, but his principal contributions have been made on early Chinese intercourse with the West. 27 His China an d the Romag Orient has long been the standard authority in its field, and we look forward eagerly to the revision which he is prom- ising to give us. We have already noticed his translation of Chao-Ju-Sua made jointly with Mr. Eockhill, This same subject has called forth several articles from his pen, and his interest in it have led him into studies of various phases of Chinese commerce with the nearer East and of Chinese geographic knowledge during the time of our middle ages. His Ancient History of China , while at times tantalizing in its brevity, is probably the best coaprehens ive account of the period to be found in any Western language. Professor Forke has concerned himself primarily with the philosophers of China, and his translation of the rather voluminous Lun Heng of the heterodox philosopher Wang Ch'uiig of the first century B, C. is an enviable exaiqple of painstaking scholarship and wide erudition. Dr. Laufer has contributed principally to our laiowledge of Chinese archaeology. A list of his pub licati otic, like that of Professor Hirth's, would carry us far beyond the alloted time* Merely as examples of what his prolific pen has given us, may be mentioned Jade. A, Study in Chinese 28 Archaeology and Religion ; Chinese Grave Scnillapturee of the Han 27 Shanghai, 1885 28 Chicago, Field Miiseaa 29 EeEie*; Chiaese Clay Yi^oxrea* Part 1. Frolegomeaa on the History 30 iQf-Defensive Armovir} AxaTaic and Ghiaeae Trade in Walrus and Norwhal / 31 IvoTjj;; and The Begiiinlnge of Porselain in China . Fortunately for us, Dr, Laufer is really just at the beginning of his work and csm raasonahly look forward to many years of productive scholarship. In enumerating the students of other nations who by coming to us have made us their debtors » we must not forget Professor Asakawa, of Yale> While his work has been almost exclusively in Japanese history, his field has occasionally touched on Chiim, especially in his account 33 of the Eus so-Japanese War, and we cannot "but wish for our own selfish interest that he might more frequently give us books and articles on the history of Chino- Japanese relations. One final form of the Aznerican contribution to the study of Chinese history Is in a sense an indirect one, the training of Chinese in American institutions in the United States and the Orient* Several thousand of these students are to be found in the schools and colleges maintained by American missions in China and some fifteen hvindred are now in the l&iited States* It is reasonable to suppose that the majority of these mast come to some extent under the influence of the ideals and methods of Acierioan historical scholarship and that at least a few will be stimolated to apply themselves to the study of the history of their native land. Already there are indications that this is to be 29 London, 1911. 30 Chicago, 19 14, 31 Chicago, 1917. 32 The Eusso-Japanese Conflict, Its Causes and Issues, Westminister, 1904* 12 the case* Doctoral dissertations by Chinese on historical subjects jhave appeared from time to tiooe, particularly in the Col-umbia University StuAies in History, Economics and Public I&w, As yet these have done little more than give promise of a useful future for their authors, but it is to be hoped that this promise will in many cases be fulfilled and that Chinese scholars, trained in the canons of Western historical criticism, will before many years be reinterpreting the past of their native land for the benefit of their own people and the peoples of the Occident. One cannot leave the subject of this paper without expressing a regret that American historical scholarship has paid so scant at>^ tention to China. Were there signs of improvement one might take hope, but our best work by native Americans is mostly in the past and there is but little indication that recruits are arising from our graduate schools to take the places of those who have gone. Very, very few of our doctoral dissertations are on Chinese subjects, the publications from our present missionary and diplomatic bodies give us small encouragement. A discussion of the possible remedies for the situation lies outside the scope of this paper, but the speaker will perhaps be pardoned if he ea^iresses his conviction that the remedies must be found and his hope that they will be sought for and applied by the members of this Association. Kenneth Scott Latourette, Professor of History, Denison University, Granville, Ohio January, 1918.