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Late Imperial China 23.1 (2002) 1-27



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Difficulties in Comprehension and Differences in Expression:
Interpreting American Democracy in the Late Qing1

Xiong Yuezhi

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In the late Qing era there were essentially three political systems in the world: absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, and republican democracy. Among them, none differed more greatly than the American style of republican democracy and the Chinese style of absolute monarchy. Thus it would be extremely difficult for Chinese people to comprehend the American system. This article tries to tease out the process by which the American democratic system was introduced and explained in late Qing China, especially the concept of "president," and to analyze the misreadings and misunderstandings that this process entailed.

1

Contact between Chinese and American people began eight years after the founding of the United States in 1776. In 1784 the American steamship "Empress of China" arrived on Chinese shores, initiating the process of Sino-American cultural exchange. Almost immediately, the Chinese government and concerned private individuals began to focus attention on this country on the opposite side of the Pacific.

In 1817 the Liang-Guang Governor-general Jiang Youxian, in reporting to the court about the problem of American ships smuggling in opium, noted that Americans actually imported many different goods to China and that they were very well-behaved. He also mentioned that the Americans had no monarch (guozhu), but instead a "headman" (touren) who served a four-year term: [End Page 1]

These barbarians have no monarch whatsoever, only a headman. The tribe (buluo) publicly selects several men, who serve in succession according to the drawing of lots, for terms of four years apiece. Commercial affairs are managed independently by private individuals, who are not controlled or deputed by the headman. 2

In all the materials I have up till now seen, this is the earliest mention by an official of the American political system and its difference from that of China. Four points of difference are identified: (1) America does not have a permanent leader, (2) the country selects its leader, (3) he serves for a four-year term, and (4) there is economic freedom, not under the control of the leader.

In 1819 the English missionary Walter Henry Medhurst introduced the American political system in his Dili biantong luezhuan (Geographicalcatechism), published in Malacca:

Question 69: What is the American (Huaqi guo) court like?
Answer: The American court is generally like the English court. Both have two assemblies (dahui) to deliberate legislation, taxes, and similar matters. But America has no king, only a man who is granted charge of the affairs of governing the country. He serves a four-year term, after which another man succeeds him. 3

The text thus identifies the distinctive points of the American political system as: (1) a two-assembly system (that is, bicameralism), (2) the lack of a king, and (3) a leader who serves for four years, rather than for life.

The next year, 1820, Hailu (Maritime record) was published in Guangzhou. It introduced American products and customs, but said nothing about the American political system. 4

In the journal Eastern Western Monthly Magazine (Dongxiyang kao meiyue tongji zhuan), edited by the missionary Karl Friedrich August Gutzlaff and others and published in the 1830s in Southeast Asia, American subjects were [End Page 2] frequently treated and the American democratic system was discussed. For example, in an 1837 article entitled "Bei Yamilijia hejun" (The United States of [North] America), it was written that: "The people rule the country themselves, and once every three years elect a leader to manage government affairs. This year a man named Yuan Bilin (Martin Van Buren) has succeeded to the position." 5 The statement that elections were held every three years was obviously incorrect, but stating that the United States had a system of popular "self-government" (zizhu zhiguo) and that national leaders were elected was not.

An 1838 article, "Bei Yameilijia ban guozheng zhi hui" (The American Congress), offered a relatively concrete introduction to the American governmental system, and...

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