China Opened; Or, a Display

Gutzlaff, Karl Friedrich August; Reed, Andrew

doi:10.1017/cbo9781316018293.002

Cited by 2 publications

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“…This was because China, once at least on a par with Europe, had fallen far behind in the meantime, whereas the Europeans' 'spirit of improvement' had made them 'umpires of the world'. 35 Within this context, Gützlaff construed a special mission for Britain, which can be seen as an expression of allegiance to the British cause:…”

Section: Gützlaff's Travels and Advocacy Of Free Tradementioning

confidence: 99%

“…40 However, in China Opened, published in 1838 and very much the sum of his voyages and studies on Chinese geography, politics, society and culture, he expresses his hope that sooner or later, an amicable and very extensive intercourse, founded upon mutual advantage, will be established; so that man may converse with his fellow-man, without being stigmatized, and called by opprobrious epithets, and denied admission because he is a foreigner. 41 Imparting 'Western' knowledge will be a solution leading out of the impasse and helping realise China's potential for 'becoming one of the first nations in the world'. 42 To this end, Gützlaff took an active part in the 'information war' in which missionaries and merchants collaborated (again) to the break the barriers allegedly erected by the Qing and enlighten the Chinese public directly about the outside world.…”

Section: Gützlaff's Travels and Advocacy Of Free Tradementioning

confidence: 99%

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Biography and the Making of Transnational Imperialism: Karl Gützlaff on the China Coast, 1831–1851

Klein

2018

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

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This essay challenges the 'methodological territorialism' and 'methodological nationalism' prevalent in recent studies of imperial biographies, examining the role of the German Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (1801-1851) in establishing a transnational form of free-trade imperialism in China. A native of Prussia and a missionary by training, Gützlaff was first posted in the Netherlands East Indies before associating himself with British interests on the China coast. However, his loyalty was not limited to one imperialist power. In the 1840s, Gützlaff promoted German trade with China, and at certain points of time he also supported American as well as Scandinavian interests. In addition to making a name for himself as a cultural broker and promoter of free trade and diplomatic representation, he also became involved with various forms of imperialism, from the more fluid commercial variant to the more formalised power structures of territorial rule. The case of Gützlaff therefore lends itself to a reflection about the permeable and shifting boundaries of empires. Moreover, it calls for a reassessment of German imperialism in the period before 1871, showing how Germany's involvement with 'Western' global expansion was palpable and not merely confined to the realm of colonial fantasy.

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Section: Gützlaff's Travels and Advocacy Of Free Tradementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gützlaff's Travels and Advocacy Of Free Tradementioning

confidence: 99%

Biography and the Making of Transnational Imperialism: Karl Gützlaff on the China Coast, 1831–1851

Klein

2018

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

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“…As described by Gutzlaff, the 'opening' of China by the West incorporated the diffusion of ideas about free trade and Christian theology into China as well the extraction of information and resources from China. 76 Emigration was not excluded from this, as Gutzlaff also wrote about existing systems of Chinese migration in Southeast Asia as evidence of entrepreneurial Chinese subjects circumventing the state's despotic isolationism. 77 The recruitment of Chinese tea cultivators and the acquisition of guarded knowledge was part of a broader process of opening, which would ultimately, from the perspective of missionaries like Gutzlaff, lead to the spread of Christianity in China.…”

Section: George Gordon and Charles Gutzlaff On The China Coastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opium and Migration: Jardine Matheson's imperial connections and the recruitment of Chinese labour for Assam, 1834–39

Neal¹

2017

Mod. Asian Stud.

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This article examines the role of the private merchant firm Jardine Matheson in procuring Chinese tea cultivators for the East India Company's experimental tea plantations in Assam in the 1830s. Where existing literature has detailed the establishment of a Tea Committee by the East India Company to oversee these tea plantations, the focus of this article is on the way that the illicit opium distribution network of Jardine Matheson was used to extract labour, tea specimens and knowledge from China. The colonial state's experimental tea plantations were directly connected to the devastation of the opium trade. The multiple uses of Jardine Matheson's drug distribution networks and skilled employees becomes evident upon examination of their role in facilitating Chinese migration. The recruitment of tea cultivators from China in the 1830s also impacted on colonial concepts of racial hierarchy and the perceived contrast between savagery and civilization. Ultimately, Jardine Matheson's extraction of skilled labour from the China coast informs our understanding of the evolving private networks that became crucial to British imperialism in Asia, and through which labour, capital, people, information and ideas could be exchanged.

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China Opened; Or, a Display

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Biography and the Making of Transnational Imperialism: Karl Gützlaff on the China Coast, 1831–1851

Biography and the Making of Transnational Imperialism: Karl Gützlaff on the China Coast, 1831–1851

Opium and Migration: Jardine Matheson's imperial connections and the recruitment of Chinese labour for Assam, 1834–39

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