略论李鸿章19世纪60-70年代的对日主张

A Brief Discussion about Li Hongzhang's Proposals on Japan in the 1860s and 1870s

李鸿章在1862年代理江苏巡抚期间开始对日本有所了解。随后,他曾以南洋通商大臣身份与日本官商打交道,主张与日本通商。1870年,日本派员前来谋求通商修约,李鸿章力排众议,说服了总理衙门大臣并于1871年与日本签订了修好条规和通商章程。次年,当日本方面派员改约谈判时,李鸿章则以约定守信的明确态度加以拒绝。与此同时,他还多次建议总理衙门向日本派驻使节以加强两国的相互了解和联络。李鸿章在这一时期所提出的对日主张应该说是符合当时中国社会实际和世界潮流的。

Li Hongzhang began to have some knowledge of Japan in 1862 when he was acting as the governor of Jiangsu province. Subsequently, as the Nanyang Trade Minister, he had some indirect dealings with Tokugawa Shogunate's official merchants, after which he proposed to do businesses with Japan. In 1870,a delegation from the Japanese Meiji government came to seek trade relation and a business contract with China. Li Hongzhang did his utmost to persuade the officials of Zongli yamen(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)to sign trade treaties with Japan in 1871. In the next year, when Japanese representatives came to modify the agreement, Li Hongzhang refused them explicitly by abiding by the set-up rules. At the same time, he suggested repeatedly to Zongli yamen to send envoys to Japan so as to strengthen the mutual understanding and communication between the two countries. Li Hongzhang's proposals on Japan were in accord with the social reality of China and the world trends at that time.