China In The Eyes Of The People Who Had Been Abroad In The Late Qing Dynasty

Since the opium war, there had brought out many wars between China and foreign countries, and most of the wars ended in failure, and signed a series of unequal treaties. Since then, "door" of China was forced to be opened.And at the same time, Chinese saw a new world which was different from "middle kingdom". Under this special background, diplomats、mission officials and some foreign workers, who went to the world appeared. Because the situation was different, they couldn’t avoid observing the world selectively in the process of going to the world, so China in the eyes of these people was starkly different.《From East To West》 series included many diaries that wrote by overseas travelers in different period. By analyzing the diaries, we can explore the images of China in oversea travelers’eyes of different period from the subtle points. At the same time, combined with some historical documents and memorial data, we can analysis their political behavior after they returned China. Through analyzing the difference between what they wished to do and they actually did, we can more deeply understand the operation condition of the late Qing dynasty government.Overseas travelers in the support of the Qing dynasty government, went abroad to regulate the relationship between China and foreign countries, and inspect the western politics, then recorded. They saw the development of the west, and realized the problems existing in the Qing dynasty government. They wrote to the government to require reforming, but the result in not satisfied. However it is not difficult to find that the Qing government in their eyes and the place where Qing government need reform were same to what it did in the future. Although their recommendations were not implemented in the Qing period, the way that China later generations went just along the pace of their suggestion.