General Tso's Diplomatic Thought And Practice

As a frontier minister and the leader of Westernization Movement and an important official governing the trade and business in South China,Zuo Zongtang had great effect on internal foreign affairs in the late Qing Dynasty.He took part in some foreign affairs neither humble nor pushy,argued strongly on just grounds with the ability of the experienced insight.He put forward his valuable views and suggestions to the court many times about the importment issues of national sovereignty and national interests. His diplomatic thoughts and practice occupied the important status in Chinese modern diplomatic history.This paper has discussed Zuo zongtang's success or failure in the diplomatic activities and the Chinese diplomatic modernization in the envolving process from the diplomatic view on the basis of previous studies as Zuo zongtang's diplomatic thoughts and practice.The thesis are divided into four parts.The first part expounds the reasons about the development Zuo zongtang's diplomatic thoughts from four aspects.The reasons lies in the change of the sino-foreign relation pattern;early education and humpy career;the exhortation and guidance from his teachers and friends and personal conduct.The second part expounds Zuo zongtang to maintain the national sovereignty and interests: maintained the country's territorial sovereignty;modified or kept the treaty to safeguard national interests; used one country to control the other; guided and supported vassal state to consolidate our frontier and so on.The third part elaborats the diplomatic starting point of Zuo zongtang. including four respects:rectifying offical management; hiring foreign workers to conduct the ship administration;strengthening the coastal defense;establishing schools and sending students to foreign countries.All thesemeasures raised the Qing Dynasty's dipiomatic skill.The last part is the conclusion.It mainly expounds the characteristics, progress and limitation of Zuo's diplomatic thoughts and practice.First of all, the thesis affirms Zuo's diplomatic activities which maintain national sovereignty and interests.All these prometed the modernization of Chinese diplomacy.Secondly, the part also analyses the limitation thoughts and practice.