萨道义与《辛丑条约》谈判中取消北京会试的问题

The Role of British Diplomat Sir E. M. Satow in the Negotiation of Suspending Metropolitan Examination

萨道义是英国近代著名的外交官兼东方问题专家。1900年10月下旬,他担任英国驻华公使并代表英国政府全程参与《辛丑条约》的谈判。应英国的请求,外交团提出五年内停止部分地区的科举考试。中外双方在取消北京会试的问题上交涉最多,萨道义在此问题上立场强硬,但由于清廷两位官员刘坤一和张之洞的反对以及他为避免承担延误签约的责任,最后只好同意让步。本文结合第一手史料,分析停止科举考试的谈判过程,探讨萨道义及英国政府在取消北京会试问题上的立场和作用。

Sir Ernest Mason Satow was a famous English diplomat and Orientalist.During the summit of the Boxer Movement,he was appointed as British Minister to China and actively took part in the so called ＂Boxer Protocol＂ Negotiation.At the request of Sir Claude MacDonald,the former British Minister to China,the Diplomatic Body held an informal meeting to discuss the basis of negotiation with China proposed by French government.In this meeting,it was suggested that the Official Examinations should be suspended during the next five years in those places where foreigners were murdered or maltreated during the Boxer Movement.It became the final agreement of the Diplomatic Body,and was approved by all respective governments,including the UK government.On December 24th of 1900,it was imposed on the Chinese Government.Upon the suspension of the Metropolitan Examination,there were many negotiations between the Chinese Representatives and the Diplomatic Body,and disagreements among the members of Diplomatic Body.Satow had a tough stance on this problem,because he thought Western Powers should let China remember this humiliation,however,in order to content the two Governor-generals Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi,and avoid taking the blame for delaying the negotiation,Satow had to retreat from his former stance.Combining the diaries and letters of Satow,the British and American diplomatic documents,and Chinese documents,this article tries to describe the course of the negotiation of suspending the Official Examination,and to analyze the role of Satow and the UK government in the suspension of the Metropolitan Examination.