The Analysis Of British’s Travel Notes To Southwest Of China In Late Qing Dynasty

In the late Qing Dynasty,many foreigners traveled and lived in the southwest of China,among which the British were the most,leaving the most abundant travel notes.In addition,China was the most influenced by the UK in the late Qing Dynasty.Therefore,this paper chooses the British travel notes in the late Qing Dynasty as the research object.The authors of these travel notes have different identities,including officials,soldiers,businessmen,missionaries,scientific investigators and explorers.The purpose of going to southwest China is also different,so there are different concerns,but there are also similarities.Based on the extensive collection of the southwest travel notes of the British in the late Qing Dynasty and the previous research results,this paper classifies and introduces these works in order to show their appearance and historical value.Through the introduction of these notes,it reveals the extensive and in-depth investigation on China’s trade,transportation and economy,the difficulties encountered in the process of religious communication and their active adaptation to China,the massive exploration and acquisition of China’s natural resources,the curiosity and unique understanding of Southwest society and natural environment.Due to the differences in their own quality,cultural background and perspective,these notes have different focuses,but they also share the same characteristics.They mostly describe the groups,natural and social conditions of the bottom of southwest,such as the impression of the Boat tracker and Sedan chair,the understanding of Southwest cities and townships,the cognition of Southwest opium poppy and opium poisoning,etc.This paper summarizes and expounds the British people’s understanding of the bottom of the Southwest,and analyzes the reasons for this unique understanding.In the late Qing Dynasty,many of the descriptions in the southwest travel notes of the British were easy to be ignored by the Chinese,which was also the less concerned content in the current historical research.These travel notes are important supplement to the domestic historical documents.Through the analysis of these notes and understandings,we can see that in order to travel and live in the southwest smoothly,the British take the initiative to learn Chinese and other minority languages,explore the history,culture,customs and habits of the southwest,showing a certain degree of active adaptability.Only when we have a deep understanding of the history and culture of the region,understand and respect the local people,and release mutual goodwill,can we get into the correct path of China-foreign exchanges,which is also of great significance for today’s China-foreign exchanges.