NHD 2017-2018 Annotated Bibliography

FROM A HOPELESS CONFLICT TO A HOPEFUL COMPROMISE: 

SINO AMERICAN DIPLOMACY AFTER 
THE BOXER REBELLION 
Primary Sources

​ ​Documents 

“Boxer Protocol, 1901.” ​US-China Institute​, china.usc.edu/boxer-protocol-1901.

The Boxer Protocol was the treaty that ended the Eight Nation Alliance invasion of China

after the Boxer Rebellion. The major aspect of the protocol relevant to my research was

the inclusion of the indemnity that China must pay in order to compensate the foreigners

for the damage within the legation district, missionaries, lives, and private property. This

indemnity amounted to 450 million taels of silver with an interest rate of 4%, with the

entirety of this money to be paid in 39 years, as stated within the protocol itself.

This protocol was extremely significant in my project in that it was essentially the direct

result of the conflict at question and the direct catalyst for the subsequent Sino-American

diplomatic conducts and compromises. The indemnity posed a huge financial burden for

the Qing administration and even led to Cixi’s New Policies (which included

comprehensive tax reforms to raise funds for the indemnities). Thus, the Chinese, as a

result desired a remission to alleviate its government of this burden to some degree.

Department of State. ​Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States: with the

annual message of the President transmitted to Congress, December 3, 1907: in two parts​.

Government Printing Office, 1910.

This source is an organized compilation of documents, primarily exchanges between

diplomatic figures in the form of letters, provided by the Office of the Historian of the

Department of State. U.S-China negotiations on Boxer Indemnity remissions within this

 source include a formal letter from the Secretary of State Elihu Root to Liang Cheng

regarding the American decision to return a portion of the payment.

These papers provide a first hand look into the proceedings of the negotiations, and they

are highly informative on specific events as well as the chronology of the compromise.

Thus, this source, essentially free of secondary analysis and historical bias, significantly

enhanced my understanding of the actual way the compromise played out while allowing

me to reach original conclusions on the implications of this event.

Department of State. ​Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, with the

annual message of the President transmitted to Congress December 8, 1908​. U.S.

Government Printing Office, 1912.

1908 was a significant year for this compromise as by the end of the year, both sides had

finalized much of their agreements on the details of the remissions, and thus several

documents within this source contain crucial information on the proceedings of this

compromise. Firstly, this source includes correspondence between the Secretary of State

and W.W. Rockhill after the passage of a joint resolution in Congress authorizing

President Roosevelt to modify the indemnity amount as well as correspondence between

the Secretary of State and the Chinese legation on this same subject. Similar

correspondences occurred after December 28 when Roosevelt signed the executive order

for remissions. This source further includes a crucial diplomatic note drafted by Waiwu Pu

and approved by Rockhill. It outlines a detailed method concerning how the scholarship

program should be operated, including the selection of students, the establishment of a

preparatory school, subjects required for the students, testing procedures, etc.
 This source, like the ​Papers Relating to Foreign Relations​ from previous years, was a

significant primary source that gave me insights into the detailed proceedings of the

compromise. However, this source also demonstrated the American initiative in creating

the scholarship program, and it also showed the integral role of Minister Rockhill within

the negotiations as he was essentially a primary architect of the entire compromise,

conceiving most parts and details of the negotiations while participating in almost all of

the key stages.

James, Edmund J. “The Sending of an Educational Commission to China.” ​The School

Journal​, LXXII, 1906, pp. 314–315. ​Google Books​.

This primary source is a document (memorandum to Roosevelt) by the President of the

University of Illinois, Edmund James, that put forth the suggestion of bringing Chinese

scholars to study in America. Within the article, James contended that Chinese students

studying abroad are forgoing the United States and choosing Japan and Western Europe as

their locations of study. He further asserted that it is within American interests to bring in

Chinese students as a means to reap economic and diplomatic benefits through intellectual

influence of its scholars. He also predicted that there is an impending Chinese revolution

and that foreign nations can find valuable opportunities from Chinese domestic upheavals.

This document was extremely significant to my research as it is valuable evidence on

American motives in remitting the Boxer Indemnity and devoting the funds to educational

purposes - that is, to pursue the long term interest of achieving a global influence

(including a presence in the Far East), an aspiration that characterizes the broader
 ideological trend prevalent within the U.S. at that period in time, which includes a strain of

imperialist thought under the Roosevelt administration.

Office for the Research of Tsinghua University History, editor. ​Selected Documents Relating

to the History of Tsinghua University​. Vol. 1, Tsinghua University Press, 2007.

Qianlong. “Emperor Qianlong's Letter to King George.” ​Wellesley University​,

academics.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/China/208/READINGS/qianlong.html.

Emperor Qianlong wrote a letter to King George refusing many British requests for free

trade and increased diplomatic ties. The letter was written as a result of the failure of the

MaCartney Mission. Within the letter, Qianlong conformed to classic Confucian ideology,

viewing China as the Middle Kingdom and the rest of the world as barbaric states desiring

to be vassal states of China.

This is a highly relevant primary source that provides context for the western

transformation of China, and it describes in detail a Confucian worldview that was

shattered by a series of events that opened China to western powers.

Rockhill, W W, and Theodore Roosevelt. “Remission of a Portion of the Chinese Indemnity.”

Journal of the American Asiatic Association​, IX, Feb. 1909, pp. 7–11.

This source is a collection of some crucial documents that were highly relevant to the

compromise for the scholarship program. It contains correspondence between Minister

Rockhill and Prince Ch’ing, a diplomatic note by Waiwu Pu containing a plan of sending

students to America (both of which are found in the 1908 ​Papers Relating to the Foreign

Relations of the United States​), the joint resolution passed by Congress authorizing the

president to remit a portion of the Boxer Indemnity to China, Roosevelt’s executive order
 on the same subject, which includes a plan detailing the amount of funds that should be

given back to China each year, as well a selection of Roosevelt’s address to Congress in

which the President sought to persuade Congress to consent to the remission of the Boxer

Indemnity.

This source is important because it allowed me to visit all the significant documents from

the American side of the negotiations in one place. Furthermore, it allowed me to gain a

better perspective on the American initiative in this compromise because Roosevelt’s

address to Congress especially showed that The United States saw the scholarship

opportunity as beneficial to both Chinese and American interests.

Shih, Hu, and Zhiping Zhou. ​English Writings of Hu Shih: Literature and Society​. Vol. 1,

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2013.

This is a collection of Hu Shih’s writings in English that advocated for literary reform in

which Hu Shih introduced the ongoing literary revolution in China (which he founded and

championed), detailing its origins and its diffusion while giving a justification on why

certain literary reforms must be adapted as China enters into a new, modern era and why

traditional Chinese language is inherently flawed and reflects the characteristics of an

inefficient and outdated society. Furthermore, Hu Shih discusses an elaborate history on

the evolution on Chinese language, including, at various points, his own analysis. He

mentioned philosophical and classical works (e.x.​ The Analects​) and Chinese poetry while

discussing in detail the coming of the Chinese novel (e.x. ​Dream of the Red Chamber,

Journey to the West​) and its significance.

 The collection of works by Hu Shih was significant to my research because of its capacity

to reflect an emerging strain of ideology within a China immediately after the fall of the

Qing Dynasty that was championed by reformers like Hu Shih himself, along with

scholars such as Chen Duxiu. Hu Shih’s literary reform was greatly important in the

course of modern Chinese history because it was an embodiment of modernization ands

departure from prevailing, conservative, isolationist Confucian ideologies that dominated

dynastic China. Hu Shih’s rejection of traditional Chinese prose, associated with

traditional Confucian principles, in favor of the vernacular (Paihua) essentially represented

a fundamental intellectual shift within China. This is an indirect testification of the

importance of the scholarship program since Hu Shih was a Boxer Indemnity Scholar who

was educated in both Cornell and Columbia. This suggests that his experiences and

learnings abroad could have influenced him to some degree to spearhead significant

reform movements when he returned to China. Extending this conclusion to other scholars,

this could mean that the scholarship program influenced a group of people who

collectively made a considerable impact on the transformation of modern China.

Smith, Arthur H. ​Chinese Characteristics​. 5th ed., Fleming H. Revell Company, 1894.

Chinese Characteristics ​is a book detailing the author’s views and interpretations of

Chinese culture at the close of the 19th century. Almost all of the book serves as a

thorough discussion on Chinese culture as well as its present state. However, within the

last chapter, the author reaches a series of conclusions, including speculations on the

potential sources of problems that the Chinese faces in rapidly changing times.
 The author, Arthur Henderson Smith, could be considered an authoritative figure in the

studies of Chinese culture and conditions as he lived in China for decades as a missionary.

This primary source was relevant to my research as it helps set a necessary context for my

research of the actual compromise on the Boxer Indemnity remissions as this source can

be considered a good representation of western perception of China during the historical

time period in which my topic was set.

Smith, Arthur H. ​China and America today​. Laymens Missionary Movement, 1907.

Hathitrust Digital Library​.

I referenced a short passage within this book in which author Arthur H. Smith proposed a

scheme of sending Chinese students to American for educational purposes using funds

from Boxer Indemnity remissions. Smith claims that the original purpose of the indemnity

was to ensure that conflicts such as the Boxer Rebellion never occurred again, and that

educating Chinese students is a effective means of preventing future conflicts. Smith

further cites Edmund James’s proposal of a similar course of actions.

This source is extremely significant to my research because along with Edmund James’s

article, it is one of the two most significant primary sources that argued for the

establishment of some kind of scholarship program. Similar to James, Smith contends that

funding such an educational scheme is within American interests. This is further evidence

of the American initiative within the compromise.

“Transcript of Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905).” ​Our

Documents.Gov​, www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=56&page=transcript.
“Treaty of Nanjing.” ​Documents Archive | Empire in Asia​, National University of Singapore,

www.fas.nus.edu.sg/hist/eia/documents_archive/nanking-treaty%20v2.php.

“Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1895.” ​US-China Institute​, china.usc.edu/treaty-shimonoseki-1895.

“Treaty of Tientsin.” ​China's external relations - a history​,

www.chinaforeignrelations.net/node/144.

Waiwu Pu. “Memorandum for Accepting the Boxer Indemnity Remissions and Sending

Students to America.” ​Historical Documents of Youmei Xuewu Chu​, 1997. ​First Chinese

Historical Archives​.

This document is a memorandum from Waiwu Pu (equivalent to a Ministry of Foreign

Affairs) to Youme Xuehu Chu, an agency created for organizing the scholarship program

and for selecting the students. This source gives a detailed overview on the process for

selection, the exact criteria for the potential scholars, the idea of establishing a preparatory

school for the program, as well as the distribution of funds based on each province.

This source was relevant to my research in that it was a useful document that offered

first-hand insight into the exact proceedings of the establishment of the scholarship

program and specific ways in which the dispatch of Chinese students to the United States

was carried out. This information is not found in any accessible secondary sources, and

thus I had to rely on memoranda (as well as a diplomatic note from Waiwu Pu to W.W.

Rockhill) to complete the “Scholarship Program” part of the website.

Youmei Xuewu Chu. “Methods for examinations and provincial selection of students .”

Received by Waiwu Pu, ​Historical Documents of Youmei Xuewu Chu​, 1997. ​First Chinese

Historical Archives​.
 This letter/memorandum was a document that served a similar purpose as the previous one

and the diplomatic note by Waiwu Pu. However, I saw this source as more detailed as it

provided an introduction on the method for selecting students from provinces as well as

Zhili (the region containing the capital), along with an outline on how the funds from the

remission should be used. Then, the source is divided into multiple sections, with each

focusing on a different part of the organization of the program, including the number of

students that should be taken based on age and province, the subjects for examinations,

rules for enrollment in the preparatory school, qualitative criteria for selection, and

regulations during testing.

Similar to the previous source, this document provided me with first-hand insight into the

details of the organization and running of the scholarship program. However, I was also

able to reach another conclusion based on the information provided by this source -

because this memorandum was valuable evidence that demonstrated a significant cultural

shift within China during the late Qing Dynasty reflected by a precedent of educational

reform. The scholarship program, at this time, focused largely on western sciences and

humanities while embracing a western style education to mirror the type of classroom

setting the scholars will receive if they travel to the United States.

Secondary Sources

Cui, Zhihai. “Issues Relating to America's First Boxer Indemnity Remissions.” ​Institute of

Modern History​, Chinese Institute of Social Sciences, 2005,

jds.cass.cn/xrfc/xrsb/201605/t20160506_3327737.shtml.
This source was a scholarly paper primarily focusing upon an analysis of the underlying

motives of the compromise between the U.S. and China after the Boxer Rebellion

regarding remissions. The author first gave an introduction on the general results of the

event - that America remitted a portion of the indemnity China was required to pay based

on the terms of the Boxer Protocol. Then, the author claimed that the commonly accepted

historical view prevalent among Chinese scholars, that Liang Cheng’s brilliance and push

for the remissions successfully brought about the compromise, is incorrect. The author’s

explanation of American initiation and W.W. Rockhill’s significance in bilateral

negotiations involved a detailed chronology of events, along with many references to

significant primary sources. Finally, Cui discussed the potential motives for America. His

general assertion was that although American diplomacy with China was conducted on a

basis of fulfilling national interests, America was also motivated to remit parts of the

indemnity because it saw itself acting for the good of China, as America had recognized

China’s need for reform.

This paper was definitely the most significant secondary source for my research, as it

provided a clear course of events during the negotiations for me to reference along with

my primary source so that I could create a concise timeline for my project. Furthermore,

this paper was crucial for me when I formed my own conclusions on the compromise as

Cui’s assertion that Rockhill was a primary architect of the scholarship program and his

claim that America pushed for the remissions as well as the education scheme were ideas

that shaped my analysis of this historical event.

Cui, Zhihai. “History of Tsinghua University and America.” ​Twenty-First Century Monthly

Journal​, no. 94, Apr. 2006, pp. 125–130.

Deng, Shujie, et al. ​Xin Chao Yong Dong (1910-1919)​. Qing Ping Guo Data Center.

This book is a work detailing the historical events that occured in early Republican China

(1910-1919). I specifically referenced the part of the book that concerned the indemnity

remissions and the establishment of the scholarship program. This secondary source

focused on the creation of the program and the preparatory school (which later became

Tsinghua), especially a conflict between Waiwu Pu (responsible for foreign affairs) and

Xue Pu (responsible for education). On department favored the selection of older students

as their Chinese backgrounds have already been shaped while another department focused

on younger students due to their capacity to learn.

This source was relevant to my research in that it not only offered great, detailed insight

into the process for the creation of the scholarship program, it also testified to an existent

concern that America could potentially exert an intellectual influence on Chinese scholars

through this educational program.

Fang, Huijian, and Sijing Zhang. ​Annals of Tinghua University​. Tsinghua University Press.

Kissinger, Henry. ​On China​. Penguin Books Ltd., 2012.

This book is highly informative, tracing in detail the history and evolution of Chinese

diplomacy. In the first two chapters, Kissinger especially discussed the impact of Chinese

culture on Chinese worldview and Chinese diplomacy, as well as the impact of western

imperialism on multiple aspects of the Chinese society. In later chapters, Kissinger wrote
 about the rise of Mao, his personal experiences in opening Sino-American diplomatic ties,

and beyond.

Kissinger is perhaps the most authoritative figure in this field of study, as he was largely

responsible for resuming formal Sino-American diplomatic relations after decades of

hostility. His ideas within the book are highly insightful, incorporating extensive research,

personal accounts, and his own analysis. This book is highly relevant to my research

because it stresses the absolute importance of cooperation in U.S.-China relations, which

formed the basis for my analysis on the modern implications of the Boxer Indemnity

remissions. For example, Kissinger mentioned the idea of a “strategic cooperation” that

should be prevalent in bilateral relations. I was able to connect this part of the book to my

topic for research.

Litten, Joshua A. “American-Educated Chinese students and their impact on U.S.-China

relations.” ​W&M Publish​, ​College of William and Mary​, W&M Publish, 2009.

Zhang, Jing. “Analysis on American Boxer "Remissions" and "Education" in China.”

Learning Site for Chinese Bureaucrats​, CCLN.gov, 13 Oct. 2015,

study.ccln.gov.cn/fenke/lishixue/lszgdsj/235218-2.shtml.