AsianForum 146th "The British and French China Expedition of 1860: Chinese Perceptions of Western Military Technology and Diplomacy"

146th
Tuesday, Feburary 19, 2013
14:00-15:00
H-201Ines Eben v. Racknitz
Department of History, Nanjing University

The British and French China Expedition of 1860:
Chinese Perceptions of Western Military Technology and Diplomacy

This lecture examines the course of the British and French China expedition of 1860 and seeks to explain
the looting and burning of the Yuanming palace. I analyze the expedition with respect to the question:
how did Chinese elites perceived Western military technology and diplomacy during the allied China expedition of 1860.
An analysis of Chinese perceptions of Western technology and diplomacy in 1860 thus provides a perspective on Chinese “cosmology” and self-perception before entanglement with the European world,
and thus gives insight into the foundation on which modernizing reforms were planned.

Lecture in English