Databases

Imperial China and The West, Part II, 1865-1905, digitized in two parts from the FO 17 series of British Foreign Office Files held at the UK National Archives, Part II of Imperial China and the West provides General Correspondence relating to China from 1865–1905. Here, scholars will find material relating to the internal politics of China and Britain, their relationship, and the relationships among other Western powers— keen to benefit from the growing trading ports of the Far East—and China’s neighbours in East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The FO 17 series provides a vast and significant resource for researching every aspect of China-West relations during the nineteenth century, ranging from diplomacy and war, to trade, piracy, riots and rebellions within China, international law, treaty ports and informal empire, transnational emigration, and translation and cross-cultural communication.

The later nineteenth century saw an increase in competition amongst Western Powers for influence and rights in China, over profitable enterprises such as railways, telegraph lines, and mines whilst an influx of Western technology and ideas prompted China to look for ways to seek power and wealth. However, the country was defeated by a successfully Westernized Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), triggering calls for a constitutional reform led by Kang Youwei. At the same time, anti-foreign sentiments culminated in the Boxer Rebellion (1900), which led to the signing of the Protocol of Peking following its suppression by an alliance of eight powers. On top of these crises, the Chinese Qing regime also faced another mortal challenge, a series of revolutionary uprisings led by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen which overthrew China's last imperial dynasty in 1911.

The database is also accessible via Gale Primary Sources.