“警世钟”疑案拾遗

Re-examination of the "Alarming Bell Case"

1904年末,在上海公共租界内发生的"警世钟案"实为上海公共租界工部局制造的冤案,其实质是列强针对中国人排外情绪的惩戒。它的发生是《警世钟》一书所传递的"文明排外"主张与列强在华利益发生冲突的结果,而此时蔓延在华人社会中的排外情绪则将二者的冲突放大了。清末此起彼伏的排外运动给列强的心理蒙上了一层"阴影",因此列强处理"警世钟"一案时格外强硬。清政府在本案中态度暧昧、抗议无力,很大程度上迁就了列强。

At the end of 1904, the "Alarming Bell Case" that occurred in the Shanghai Public Concession was actually an unjust case made by the Shanghai Municipal Council, and its essence was the punishment of the foreign powers against Chinese xenophobia. Its outbreak was the result of the conflict between the "civilized exclusion" advocated in the book "warning the world" and the interests of the great powers in China,and the xenophobia spread in the Chinese society magnified the conflict between the two. The xenophobic movement in the late Qing Dynasty cast a "shadow" on the psychology of the great powers, so the great powers were particularly tough in dealing with the "Alarming Bell Case".However, the Qing government had an ambiguous attitude and weak protest in this case, which largely accommodated the foreign powers.