关于中法战争时期李鸿章违旨问题考势

本文对以前认为李鸿章在签订李福协定时存在的违旨问题进行了辨析。经过将清廷授权和李福协定内容进行比对,认为李鸿章基本是按照授权谈判的。传统说法在藩属、通商问题的理解上存在误解。李福协定中放弃越南的关键原因,是甲中易枢后清廷对越目标发生变化,把保护越南看作是李福协定后的善后问题。     

李鸿章宗藩思想简析

宗藩思想是李鸿章外交思想的一个重要方面。对于晚清重要的藩属国越南和朝鲜所出现的危难,李鸿章在处理和交涉的过程中,依据其与中国国防安全层次的不同,采取了不同的处理方式。在越南问题上,李鸿章放弃了传统的“守在四夷”观念,主张放弃对越南的援护。而对于朝鲜问题,鉴于地理位置的重要,李鸿章主张采取逐步强化中国的宗主权。     

中法越南交涉时期中国的"瓯脱"筹议

中法越南交涉时期,随着边疆形势日益危迫,"瓯脱"古法逐渐受到中国朝野重视.自1882年起,曾纪泽屡向法方阐发"隔阂"理论,法国则顺水推舟,提出有名无实的"瓯脱"方案.法国方案虽遭中方驳斥,但因越南局势变化,旋为醇亲王等人所注重.李福协定签订前后,国内请设"瓯脱"之声渐起.至《中法新约》议订时期,清廷亦开始积极谋划"瓯脱".中法勘界前夕,清朝关于"瓯脱"的呼声更是空前高涨,然终因法方强烈反对而停息.这一时期的"瓯脱"筹议,深刻地反映出晚清国人利用传统思想资源挽救边疆危局的努力,其中亦足见清朝疆土观念走向近代的曲折.     

刘铭传在台湾领导抗法斗争的几个问题

关于刘铭传在台湾领导抗法斗争的评价,史学界历来存在着分歧。有的论者认为:刘铭传是个紧紧追随李鸿章的准军将领,他在台湾“执行了李鸿章的投降政策”,既无战功可言,也说不上是领导者。但更多的论者则认为,刘铭传在台湾抗法斗争中是     

李鸿章对中国近代化的贡献应予肯定——“李鸿章与近代中国经济学术讨论会”综述

中华人民共和国成立以来,第一次对李鸿章进行专题讨论的会议—李鸿章与近代中国经济学术讨论会,1988年10月6月至10日在李鸿章的家乡合肥举行。会议由安徽省社会科学院历史研究所、合肥市政协文史资料研究委员会、合肥市社会科学联合会、安徽省历史学会、合肥市历史学会联合主办,北京、上海、天津、江苏、湖北、山东、山西、陕西、吉林、河北和安徽等11个省市的代表共70余人参加。讨论时,大家竞相发言,重点围绕“李鸿章与近代中围经济”问题实事求是地进行了探讨。这次会议明显的特点是,大家对李鸿章的评价与过去不同,比较一致地认为,尽管李鸿章有误国之处,但他对中国近代化有重要贡献,应予充分肯定。现将主要观点综述如下。     

1954年中印协定与中印边界争端--和平共处五项原则创立50周年回顾

1954年中印协定是20世纪五六十年代中印边界争端中双方争论的一个焦点.当时的印度政府认为,1954年中印协定解决了中印之间包括边界在内的所有悬而未决的问题,是其主张的中印边界中段的条约依据,和平共处五项原则写入协定表明中国确认了印度政府主张的中印边界.中国政府认为,1954年中印协定和写入其中的和平共处五项原则与中印边界无关,更不能表明中国承认了印度主张的任何一段中印边界.中国政府的观点是符合历史事实的.印度政府坚持上述主张及其拒绝续签1954年中印协定的做法,只是为了把其主张的中印边界强加给中国,这对中印关系产生了极坏的影响.     

19世纪的地方政府与荒政——兼论李鸿章在直隶的赈灾活动

本文认为在19世纪地方财政不足,中央财政支持力度又不大的情况下,赈灾力度不足和达不到理想结果应是常态和必然趋势.李鸿章通过自身影响和努力,能够在一定程度上减缓这种趋势,但不可能彻底扭转,因而各种救灾活动不可能达到理想结果.但绝不能以此否定李鸿章任直隶总督时期的赈灾努力.相对于其前后任,李鸿章筹得的款、物最多.赈灾达不到理想结果,更多的是中央政府的责任.     

李鸿章与郭嵩焘的友谊

在洋务派中,清廷政要认为李鸿章能见其大,丁日昌能致其精,沈葆桢能尽其实,郭嵩焘既精且大.李鸿章与郭嵩焘都是洋务派的佼佼者,志同道合,互相支持.又同受守旧派的攻讦,同病相怜,互相同情,互相安慰,形成了他们之间的深厚友谊.     

也谈历史人物评价的相关理论问题——以李鸿章的外交活动为例

评价李鸿章不能仅仅以外交活动作为依据,而应以举办洋务事业、推动中国社会近代化作为其人生主流。全面评价历史人物的功过是非,并不存在“将功补过”问题。简单地把李鸿章斥为“卖国贼”,是从痛恨不平等条约丧权辱国的情感出发的;掉“卖国贼”的帽子,对李鸿章的外交活动进行具体而深入的研究,才是理性的做法。否认李鸿章是卖国贼,主要是说他签订不平等条约不属于“卖国”行为,而不是说他在无可奈何时即可卖国,更不是说“卖国是情有可原的”,也绝不会引导出卖国行为。对外是战是和,应该以是否符合国家和民族利益为转移,而不应根据对手是谁来决定,李鸿章为“变法”而主张“和戎”的主观动机应该予以肯定。     

镇南关大捷之后清廷为何与法国议和

正1885年中法战争中的镇南关大捷,老将冯子材率军浴血奋战,使得法军全线崩溃,形势一片大好。而此时清廷却选择议和,签订《中法新约》,放弃越南的宗主权。这是为何?一是李鸿章等清廷决策者深知镇南关大捷只是局部胜利,很难从根本上扭转在越南的不利局面。镇南关以南的大部分地区仍被法军占领,法     

Telling small stories: spaces of knowledge and the practice of geography

This article examines how the practice of learning geography, and the arenas in which knowledge-making takes place, can be usefully positioned within changing histories of the discipline. It contends that networks of action – understood through the intersection of social sites, subjects and sources – present a conceptual framework and narrative focus for the re-consideration of specific episodes from geography's past. The interventions made here are informed and illustrated by a 'small story' about the doing of geography. Based on different personal accounts, the story revives a series of events, encounters, dialogues and images dating back to the winter of 1951 at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland. This educational institution in the Cairngorm mountains offered children from urban areas the opportunity to learn field studies and the skills of 'outdoor citizenship'. Initially, the focus falls on Margaret Jack, a 14-year-old field-course participant. Her learning experiences are traced through personal letters, a diary and a field journal dating from that time, and her recent recollections of this event. Margaret's account dovetails with the story of her field studies instructor, Robin Murray. Robin's role is traced through his learning experiences as a geography undergraduate at Aberdeen University, and the recent recollections of Catriona Murray, his wife.     

Das Wissen der Schulden. Recht,Kulturtechnik und Alltagserfahrung im liberalen Kapitalismus

The Knowledge of Debt: Law, Media Technique, and Everyday Experience in Liberal Capitalism. Performing an object such as ‘the economy’ hinges on practices of formatting knowledge. The article proposes to look at such instituting moments in connection with social conflicts over the legitimate rules of exchange. This is exemplified by way of recounting the story of the codification of Swiss bankruptcy law in 1889. In order to homogenize the legal procedures of debt collection and bankruptcy, two subject categories were instituted: ‘merchants’ and ‘non-merchants’. These different categories were thought to account for the diverging temporalities and spaces of credit exchange in everyday economic life. The introduction of the commercial register, a media-technical apparatus, enabled a formal distinction between ‘merchants’ and ‘non-merchants’. However, this boundary was contested and proved to be porose.     

Two radiocarbon dates for freshwater shells from hierakonpolis: Archaeological and geological interpretations

Shells of two species of freshwater bivalve (Unio willcocksi Bullen Newton and Etheria elliptica Lamarck) from the predynastic Gerzean (Nagada II) Decorated Tomb at Hierakonpolis, Egypt have given dates of 5000±90 bp for the tomb, and 12,900±120 bp for an episode of Nile terrace accumulation (correlated here with the Sahaba-Darau aggradation event). The archaeological and geological significance of these results is discussed, together with an outline of problems associated with radiocarbon dating of shell. Comparisons are made with the few other radiocarbon dates available for the Predynastic period in Egypt and possible reasons for the presence of shells in the tomb are considered.     

Some chronological implications of a fossil molluscan assemblage from a neolithic site at Brook,Kent, England

The later post-glacial history of a valley in the chalk escarpment near Brook, Kent, is described, based on molluscan stratigraphy, archaeological evidence and radio-carbon dating. Differences in size and colour banding, respectively, of fossil and living representatives of two species of land snails, Pomatias elegans (Müller) and Cepaea nemoralis (L.), are correlated with climatic change during the post-glacial period. The problems of the use of fossil shells of these species as samples for radiocarbon dating are discussed.     

China's Dynamic Industrial Sector: The Internet Industry

A Singapore-based economic geographer explores and analyzes the spatially uneven evolution of the Internet industry in China, arguing that the country's immense regional disparity in the provision of Internet services is best explained by the interplay of place- and path-dependence. The author demonstrates how the highly uneven regional endowments in relevant industrial and entrepreneurial resources have led to the substantial and persistent regional imbalance within China's emerging "new economy." His initial survey of the country's 100 leading Internet content providers (firms), identified from a listing of ca. 11,700 commercial websites, is selectively augmented to reflect an increase of over 70 million Internet users in 2007, reaching a total of 253 million in June 2008, and thus overtaking the United States as the world's largest Internet market. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: L10, L86, O30. 6 figures, 1 table, 53 references.     

The 1911 International Exposition in Rome: architecture, archaeology, and national identity

This paper discusses the 1911 International Exposition in Rome and illustrates how this patriotic celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Italian Sate utilized symbolic landscapes of architecture and archaeology to promote nationalist sentiments of italianità and romanità centered on the young capital of Rome. Through modern art exhibitions at the Valle Giulia, scientific conferences at the Castel Sant’Angelo, archaeological exhibits on the Roman Empire in the Baths of Diocletian, and regional Italian pavilions in the Piazza d’Armi, exposition officials offered a complex representation of Italian national identity that was modern yet ancient, cosmopolitan yet bucolic, European yet regional, and imperial yet developing.     

The Rise and Fall of Alexander the Great – The Need for Medical Analysis: Reply to Commentaries

Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. from an unknown cause. By elucidating the nature of his death, we can better interpret various aspects of Alexandrian history. Alexander’s death may have ensued from the sequelae of a congenital scoliotic syndrome. It would therefore be of significance to note that one of the greatest leaders in history who conquered much of the then known world may have been suffering from a physical disability.     

The Chemists' Style of Thinking

Der Denkstil der Chemiker. Der Aufsatz diskutiert die Tragfähigkeit des Begriffes “Denkstil”, wie er von Alistair Crombie eingeführt und Ian Hacking aufgegriffen wurde, für das Verständnis dessen, wie das Fach Chemie historisch seine Identität ausgeprägt hat. Obwohl weder Crombie noch Hacking den Begriff “Denkstil” in Bezug auf einzelne Disziplinen verwendet haben, erscheint im Fall der Chemie seine Anwendung besonders vielversprechend, weil er hier hilft, ein zentrales Problem zu thematisieren – nämlich die Frage, wie es Chemikern trotz wechselnder Gegenstandsbereiche und theoretischer Umbrüche gelang, eine eigenständige und stabile Identität auszubilden. Nach einer Einführung in den Begriff “Denkstil”, argumentiert der Aufsatz, dass die Beständigkeit der Chemie als eines Faches wesentlich in ihren Laborpraktiken gründet, die ihrerseits wiederum die spezifische Art der Fragen bestimmten, die Chemiker in ihren Forschungen stellten bzw. die Form der Antworten, nach denen sie suchten. Folgende Merkmale kennzeichnen diesen “chemischen Denkstil” (1) eine spezifische, im Herstellen begründete Form des Wissens, (2) die Befassung mit einzelnen Stoffen und Materialien statt mit Materie im Allgemeinen und (3) eine Beobachtung von Natur besonders im Hinblick auf Transformationsprozesse. The Chemists' Style of Thinking. This paper discusses the relevance of the notion of “styles of scientific thinking” introduced by Alistair Crombie and revisited by Ian Hacking, for understanding how chemistry shaped its identity. Although neither Crombie nor Hacking applied this notion to individual disciplines, it seems appropriate to use it in the case of chemistry because it helps to address a puzzling issue: how did chemists manage to shape an identity of their own, despite shifting territories and theoretical transformations? Following a presentation of the notion of style, I will argue that the stable identity of chemistry is rooted in laboratory practices, which determined the specific questions that chemists put to nature as well as the answers to their questions. The “chemical style of thinking” is characterized by i) a specific way of knowing through making, ii) the concern with individual materials rather than matter in general and iii) a specific commitment to nature.