摘要
洪任辉事件及乾隆朝一口通商政策的形成,因其作为鸦片战争前中西方冲突的标志性事件,而成为历来史家讨论的热点。既有的研究一般仅从清廷的材料出发、从清廷方面揣摩清廷颁布一口通商政策的动机和意图何在,不免倒果为因,误将制度的表象当成了制度本身。本文以英属东印度公司的两项关税诉求为着眼点,指出清廷处理洪任辉事件的结果和随后一口通商政策的出台,实为在既有制度框架内解决问题之手段,反映的恰是18世纪以来清政权“高专制权力”和“低基层渗透”、世袭君主制和官僚制等根本制度层面的危机,一个清廷难以解决的制度困局。
The James Flint Affair of 1759 not only facilitated the subsequent issuing of the policy to restrict foreign trades to Canton,but also laid the foundation of the institutional frameworks for trading relations between China and Europe by the time of the Opium War.Much has been written on the formation of so-called China’s close-door policy.However,a vast majority of the literature thus far focuses exclusively on the considerations of the Qing side and inevitably falls short to unveil the deep institutional reasons that made the Qing Court to issue the policies.A shift of research focus from Qing documents to English East Indian Company archives reveals the overarching institutional crisis of the Qing Court since the 18^(th) century,that is,the irreconcilable contradictions between the imperial authority and the bureaucracy to maintain imperial control while curbing corruptions at all levels.
出处
《海交史研究》
CSSCI
2022年第3期102-113,共12页
Journal of Maritime History Studies
基金
国家社科基金青年项目“清代皇室财政与皇权政治演变研究”(项目编号:20CZS036)
山东省社科规划优势学科项目“清代皇室财政与政府财政分开的制度史研究”(项目编号:19BYSJ56)的阶段性成果。
关键词
洪任辉事件
粤海关
英属东印度公司
内务府
James Flint Affair
Canton Custom
English East Indian Company
Imperial Household Department
