From Dynastic State to Imperial Nation: International Law, Diplomacy, and the Conceptual Decentralization of China, 1860s–1900s

This article traces how the concept of the “Central State” (Zhongguo), the term used to refer to China in classical and modern Chinese, experienced thorough transformation and gained its modern meaning as a territorial, sovereign country during the second half of the nineteenth century. The Qing empire once defined its Other primarily diachronically as previous dynasties. As the Qing empire reconceptualized itself from a dynastic state to an imperial nation, its Other became redefined horizontally as foreign colonial powers. This article argues that the translation of international law and experiences of diplomats overseas, both facilitated by the Qing’s systematic engagement with the Euro-centric “family of nations” following the Arrow War (1856–60), played an important role in this conceptual revolution. By the last decade of Qing rule, the “Central State” was perceived by many of its own intellectuals and officials as but one “parallel” (pingxing) country competing for survival in a globe comparable to the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China; meanwhile, the Qing was viewed as but one regime in Chinese history whose fate warranted special concern only as a means to save the trans-dynastic entity that was the Chinese nation (Zhongguo). Boding ill for the fate of China’s last dynasty, this nineteenth-century reenvisioning shaped how the “Central State” has been imagined domestically and internationally ever since.