Correspondence Between the British and the Chinese in the 19th and the 20th Centuries: Chinese Language Manuscripts from the British Legation at Peking Deposited in the Public Record Office, London

- 40 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND THE CHINESE IN THE 19TH AND THE 20TH CENTURIES: CHINESE LANGUAGE MANUSCRIPTS FROM THE BRITISH LEGATION AT PEKING DEPOSITED IN THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON By David Pong University of Delaware In recent years, there has been a considerable amount of interest shown towards the Chinese language materials in the Public Record Office. These documents were not available to scholars until their removal from the British Legation at Peking to London in the winter of 1958. Evidently, they came from the Chinese Secretary's Office of that Legation. Although they do not, by any means, represent the complete archive of that Office, they cover an extremely wide range of subjects crucial to the British at that 2 time. Considering the predominence of British interests in China There are also a number of Chinese language documents scattered among the Foreign Office, Embassy, and Consular archives , mainly under the F. O. 233 series. However, many of these were translated and filed with the F. O. 228 series, which covers the period 1834-1922. 2 For a history of the archives and the range of subjects, see Denis Twitchett, "About David Pong's work at the Public Record Office in London," Ch'ing-shih wen-t'i, I, No. 4 (Nov. 1966), 6, - 41 from the time of the East India Company and the country traders to the 1930's, the significance of these materials requires no further comment. Our knowledge of the content of these materials, however, is as yet rudimentary. In the course of cataloguing the 3 Kwangtung Provincial Archives, which constitute a relatively small but significant part of these materials, I have found several additional major categories: correspondence between the East India Company and the British Superintendent of Trade on the one hand, and the Hong merchants and Chinese authorities at Canton and Macao on the other; documents on Chinese government and rebels (e.g. , Red Turbans, Taipings, and Boxers) as part of British intelligence; documents on treaty port diplomacy and organization (leases, title deeds, and blue prints of settlements); materials related to missionary and anti-missionary activities; and diplomatic correspondence. All are primary sources for the study of China itself as well as its foreign relations, and my present impression is that only a small percentage of them have apand David Pong, "The Kwangtung Provincial Archives at the Public Record Office of London: a progress report, " Journal of Asian Studies, XXVm, 1 (Nov. 1968), 139-143. 3 The cataloguing project is conducted under the auspices of die School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and the Public Record Office. - 42 peared in translated form in other classes of British diplomatic and consular correspondence. The present listing of Sino-British correspondence in the Chinese language is divided into five sections, for which I have provided the following notes and observations: Section I (Correspondence - Chinese to British), containing some 8,000 manuscripts, is the most voluminous, covering the period 1839-1939, without a break from 1856 onwards, with the exception of 1863. For the year 1878, however, only the "red notes" are preserved. Obviously the number of manuscripts available per year is extremely uneven. These manuscripts, as well as those in Section II, are serially numbered by the Chinese Secretary. Where serial numbers can be conveniently spotted, they are given in the list, otherwise, the number of manuscripts in the bundle will be given. In some cases, particularly in the case of the "red notes," in which the conditions of packing renders counting time consuming, only an approximate figure is provided. The term "red notes" calls for some explanation. They are sometimes referred to as "semi-official notes" covering a wide range of subjects, from the trivial (e.g. , Prince Kung's invitation to Thomas Wade to tea) to serious matters. They have a standard measurement of 11.5 ? 23 - 43 cm . , and as the term suggests, they are red. Unfortunately, Chinese ink on a red base does not reproduce clearly in xerox copies. Section II (Correspondence - British to Chinese) ranks second in terms of volume (about 5,500 mms.), covering the period 18401937 , unbroken after I860 except for 1872 and 1912. Correspondence...