戴 逸, Qianlong di jiqi shidai 乾 隆 帝 及其 时 代 [The Emperor Qianlong and his time] (Beijing: People’s University Press, 1992), pp. 412–413.
4 Xiao Zhizhi 萧致治, Yapian zhanzheng shi 鸦片战争史 [History of the Opium War] (Fuzhou: Fujian People’s Publishing House, 1996), vol. 1, p. 131.
5 Yan Zhongping 严中平, Xu Yisheng 徐义生, Yao Xianhao 姚贤镐, Sun Yutang 孙毓棠, Wang Jingyu 汪敬虞, Nie Baozhang 聂宝璋, Li Wenzhi 李文治, Zhang Youyi 章有义, and Luo Ergang 罗尔纲, eds., Zhongguo jindai jingjishi tongji ziliao xuanji 中国近代经济史统计资料选辑 [Selected statistics in regard to the history of modern Chinese economy] (Beijing: Science Press, 1955), p. 13.
6 Yan Zhongping 严中平, et al., eds., Zhongguo jindai jingjishi 中国近代经济史 [History of modern Chinese economy, 1840–1894] (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1990), vol. 1, p. 18.
7 Institute of History (CASS), vol. 1 of Zhongguo jindaishi gao 中国近代史稿 [A draft history of modern China], in vol. 5 of Zhang Haipeng 张 海 鹏, et al., eds., Liu Danian quanji 刘 大 年 全 集 [Complete works of Liu Danian] (Wuhan: Hubei People’s Publishing House, 2016), p. 16.
8 (1)Karl Marx, “Free Trade and Monopoly,” New York Daily Tribune, September 25, 1858. Source: Marxists Internet Archive. Accessed at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1858/09/25.htm.
9 For Lu Kun’s 卢 坤 memorandum, see: The First Historical Archives of China, Yapian zhan-zheng dang’an shiliao 鸦片战争档案史料 [Archives in regard to the Opium War] (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1987), vol. 1, p. 166.
10 For Xu Naiji’s 许乃济 memorandum, see: ibid., p. 202, p. 203.
11 See: vol. 1 of Yapian zhanzheng dang’an shiliao, p. 206.
12 See: vol. 1 of Xiao Zhizhi, Yapian zhanzheng shi, pp. 174–178.
13 For Huang Juezi’s 黄 爵 滋 memorandum to the throne, see: vol. 1 of Yapian zhanzheng dang’an shiliao, pp. 256–257.
14 Mao Haijian 茅海建, Tianchao de bengkui—Yapian zhanzheng zai yanjiu 天朝的崩溃—鸦片战争再研究 [The collapse of Celestial Dynasty: Reinvestigating the Opium War] (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1995), pp. 90–91.
15 For Lin Zexu’s 林则徐 (1785–1850) memorandum to the throne, see: vol. 1 of Yapian zhan-zheng dang’an shiliao, p. 361.
16 Lin Zexu, Lin Zexu quanji 林则徐全集 [Complete works of Lin Zexu] (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1959), p. 59.
17 Fan Wenlan 范文澜, Zhongguo jindaishi 中国近代史 [The history of modern China] (Shanghai: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1949; reprint, Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 1989), vol. 1, p. 19.
18 Lin Zexu’s letter to Yao Chunmu 姚春木 and Wang Dongshou 王冬寿, in Dao Xian Tong Guang mingren shouzha 道咸同光名人手札 [A collection of personal letters of renowned people in the reigns of Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu (1821–1908)] (Taibei [Taipei]: Wen Hai Press Company, 1966), p. 14.
19 Liang Qichao 梁启超, Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshushi 中国近三百年学术史 [Chinese scholarship: A tricentennial history] (Wuhan: Chongwen Publishing Company, 2015), p. 273.
20 Wei Yuan 魏源 (1794–1857), “Yuanxu 原叙” (Author’s preface), in vol. 1 of Haiguo tuzhi 海国图志 [Illustrated treatise on maritime kingdoms] (Changsha: Yuelu Press, 2005), p. 1.
21 Ibid., pp. 1–15.
22 Ibid., pp. 29–31.
23 Ibid., p. 31.
24 Ibid., p. 13, p. 18.
25 Frederick Engels, “A New English Expedition to China”, in vol. 15 of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Collected Works (New York, NY: International Publishers, 1986), p. 243.
26 Correspondence Relative to the Earl of Elgin’s Special Missions to China and Japan, 1857–1859 (London: Harrison and Sons, 1859), p. 56.
27 Hosea Ballou Morse, The International Relations of the Chinese Empire (New York, NY: Paragon Book Gallery, 1910), vol. 1, p. 556.
28 The Association of Chinese Historians and Qi Sihe 齐 思 和, eds., Yapian zhanzheng 鸦 片 战 争 [Collected primary sources: The Opium War] (Shanghai: Shenzhou guoguangshe, 1954), vol. 3, pp. 469–470.
29 Yang Song 杨松, Deng Liqun 邓力群 and Rong Mengyuan 荣孟源, eds., Zhongguo jindaishi ziliao xuanji 中国近代史资料选辑 [Selected primary sources about the modern Chinese history] (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1954), pp. 115–116.
2. The Qing Government in Despair
The Taiping Rebellion and Its Socio-Political Experiments
The Taiping rebellion occurred at a time when Qing was facing an upsurge of peasant rebellions. The leader of the Taiping Rebellion was Hong Xiuquan 洪秀全 (1814–1864). Born into an ordinary family in Hua County, Guangdong, he devoted himself to studying the Confucian classics in the hope that he would pass the Imperial Examination and become a candidate for office. However, he did not perform well on the Imperial Examination and this made Hong bitter and resentful. He tried again in 1843 but failed again. He began to read the Christian book Good Words Exhorting the World (劝世良言), which spoke of monotheism and suggested people not worship any supernatural
