The Qing Empire Before Its Collapse: Notes on China by the Second Governor of Hong Kong
About This Novel
The failure of the Opium War led to the collapse of the Chinese Empire. Before the collapse, how did the British, as colonizers, view this ancient Eastern Empire? This book was first published in 1836 and was reprinted four years later in the same year when the Opium War broke out. This book is obviously an important reference for British readers to understand China before the war, and even to some extent, it is an action guide for middle- and lower-level officers who went to China. Now, with the help of the records of the later Governor of Hong Kong, we can also understand China on the eve of the Opium War from another perspective. The author uses scientific methods such as geography and political economics to introduce and analyze China's political system, legal system, judicial system, customs, important cities, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, literature and art, agriculture and commerce. It is by using these scientific methods that Westerners have unveiled the veil of mysterious China and seen through the illusion of the Qing Dynasty's "rich country and strong people". The author has repeatedly hinted that Chinese politicians are blind, turning a deaf ear to the conflicts between European countries, especially the conflicts between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom and Portugal, due to the competition for hegemony in East Asia.
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