TheZongli Yamen(Chinese:Tổng lý nha môn), short for Office for the General Management of Affairs Concerning the Various Countries[1](Tổng lý các quốc sự vụ nha môn), also known as Prime Minister's Office,[2]Office of General Management,[3]was the government body in charge offoreign policyinimperial Chinaduring the lateQing dynasty.It was established byPrince Gongon 11 March 1861[4]after theConvention of Beijing.It was abolished by theQing governmentin 1901[5]and replaced with aForeign Officeof ministry rank.
| Zongli Yamen | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | Tổng lý nha môn | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | Tổng lý nha môn | ||||||||
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| Office for the General Management of Affairs Concerning the Various Countries | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | Tổng lý các quốc sự vụ nha môn | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | Tổng lý các quốc sự vụ nha môn | ||||||||
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The former site of theZongli Yamenis now located in Dongtangzi Hutong,Dongcheng District,Beijing.Nearly all the buildings are preserved in good condition.
Meaning of name
editZongli Yamenis a traditional abbreviation of the official name (Tổng lý các quốc sự vụ nha môn;Tổng lý các quốc sự vụ nha môn;Zǒnglǐ Gèguó Shìwù Yámén), literally meaning "Office in Charge of Affairs Concerning All Nations".The corresponding name inManchu,the other official language of the Qing Empire, wasGeren gurun i baita be uherileme icihiyara yamun.(
) A common misconception is that the Zongli Yamen's name means the "Premier's Office ". This arose because the termzongli( tổng lý ) is now used in Chinese to refer to the Premier or Prime Minister of a country. In fact, the nameZongli Yamenis an abbreviation of its full name, which makes it thebona fideoffice of foreign affairs. In contemporary English sources, it was also called the "Board of Ministers for Foreign Affairs".[6]
Function in the Qing government
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Prior to the creation of the Zongli Yamen, Qing foreign relations were conducted by several different agencies, such as theMinistry of Ritesand theLifan Yuan.The Zongli Yamen was the first significant institutional innovation in the central Beijing bureaucracy that the Qing government had made since theYongzheng Emperorcreated the nucleus of theGrand Councilin 1729. The Zongli Yamen was supervised by a controlling board of five senior officials (initially all Manchus), among whomPrince Gongwas thede factoleader. In their discussions on establishing the new agency, Qing officials reiterated that it was only to be a temporary institution, maintained until the current foreign and domestic crisis had passed. The Zongli Yamen had a relatively low formal status in the Qing administrative hierarchy and its members served concurrently in other government agencies, which further weakened its position. Furthermore, the Zongli Yamen was not the sole policy making body in foreign affairs, a prerogative which still rested in the hands of the emperor. While the Zongli Yamen remained an important body for a few decades after its foundation, its influence was soon overshadowed by influential officials such asZeng GuofanandLi Hongzhang.Nevertheless, it became the means of communication between the Qing government and the foreign ministers to China inBeijing's legation quarter.
The successor to theBureau of Translators,theTongwen Guanwas set up by the Qing dynasty for translating western languages and subordinated to the Zongli Yamen instead of the Hanlin.
In 1873, the Zongli Yamen got into a quarrel with the foreign ministers to China over the protocol that was to be followed at their audience with theTongzhi Emperor,as the foreign ministers not surprisingly refused to perform the ritualkowtowto the emperor, with an impasse eventually being solved thanks in part to the Japanese ambassador to China,Soejima Taneomi.Similar protocol would be followed in 1891 with the ministers' audience with theGuangxu Emperor.
In 1875, the Zongli Yamen began establishingconsulatesandlegationsin foreign countries staffed by Qing diplomats and assisted by both foreign staff and Qing interpreters trained at theTongwen Guan.Through thesepermanent diplomatic missions,the Zongli Yamen gained a degree of autonomy in its self-representation and the ability to dispute the views of foreign diplomats in their home countries.[7]
Following theBoxer Rebellion,the Qing government was forced to change its foreign service. According to Article XII in theBoxer Protocol1901, the Zongli Yamen was replaced with a Foreign Office, known at the time as theWaiwubu(Ngoại vụ bộ;Wàiwùbù;'External Affairs Department'), which ranked above the othersix boards in the government;"as the course of subsequent events made clear, the Waiwubu was as ineffective in the establishment of good relations between China and the outside world as the Zongli Yamen had been."[8]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^Mark Borthwick (20 April 2018).Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia.Taylor & Francis. pp. 124–.ISBN978-0-429-97452-6.
- ^Zhongling Ye (2001).Wong Nai Siong and the Nanyang Chinese: An Anthology.Singapore Society of Asian Studies.ISBN978-9971-9903-9-8.
- ^Bill Hayton (13 October 2020).The Invention of China.Yale University Press. pp. 49–.ISBN978-0-300-25606-2.
- ^Zhu Weizheng (23 April 2015).Rereading Modern Chinese History.BRILL. pp. 305–.ISBN978-90-04-29331-1.
- ^Dorothy Perkins (19 November 2013).Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture.Routledge. pp. 631–.ISBN978-1-135-93562-7.
- ^See, e.g.Hart v Van Gumpach (China and Japan) [1873] UKPC 9 (28 January 1873)
- ^Day, Jenny Huangfu (2021)."Mediating Sovereignty: The Qing legation in London and its diplomatic representation of China, 1876–1901".Modern Asian Studies.55(4): 1151–1184.doi:10.1017/S0026749X2000030X.ISSN0026-749X.S2CID225314710.
- ^S. M. Meng,The Tsungli Yamen: Its Organization And Functions,p. 81.
References
edit- Immanuel C. Y. Hsü.China's Entrance into the Family of Nations: The Diplomatic Phase, 1858 -1880.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1960.
- Banno, Masataka( bản dã chính caoBanno Masataka).China and the West, 1858–1861: The Origins of the Tsungli Yamen.Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Press,1964.
- Meng, S. M.The Tsungli Yamen: Its Organization and Functions.Cambridge, Massachusetts: East Asian Research Center, 1962.
- H B Morse.International Relations of the Chinese Empire.3 volumes. London and New York: by Longman and Green, 1910–18.
- Spence, Jonathan D.The Search for Modern China.New York and London:W.W. Norton & Company,1990.
- Maria BugrovaTsungli Yamenon Bumali Project