清道光前期(1821～1839)广东对海难救助之研究——以欧洲船只、船员为例

A Study of Shipwrecks Rescue of European Fleets and Crewsat Canton during the Early Daoguang Era(1821-1839)of Qing Dynasty

引言近年海洋史学的兴起,为历史研究带来新的启示,对于东亚特别是中国历史研究的影响亦与日俱增。海难研究”作为海洋史学的一环,又于近代中国史研究有重要意义。一些重大国际交涉问题,例如1871年琉球宫古岛民漂流到台湾被杀害,引发日本于1874年出兵台湾,造成其后中、日交涉的影响最巨。再者,条约体制下的中美五口贸易章程三十四款(1844)、中法五月通商章程三十六款(1844~1845)、中英天津条约五十六款(1858)皆专设有关海难的“保护”“救护”,可见海难作为外交问题的处理,是探讨近代中国外交转变的重要切入点。道光前期(1821~1839)即鸦片战争前夕,为近代中国的开端,在探究近代中国发展轨迹方面具有重要的意义。

This article attempts to assess the foreign system of the Qing Dynasty by taking shipwrecks rescue of European Fleets and crews at Canton as examples.Firstly,the paper begins with an introduction of the background and the formation of Canton s shipwrecks rescue system.Secondly,the situation of China coastal line became complicated due to the Europeans approach at that time.Canton province,being a center of European affairs for the Qing court,handled most of the related shipwrecks incidents.Based on the study of the trial at Cohong(公行),it reveals that the quality of Qing s translator was far from standard and caused misunderstanding among both sides,which was a hidden problem of Sino-foreign relations.Despite of such deficiencies,Qing court treated those survivors with adequate care,and even sent them back home.In this view,we cannot criticize the failure and inability of Qing s foreign system,and there is a further need for reinvestigation about Qing s foreign relations.