翁同龢与胶州湾事件

Weng Tonghe and the Jiaozhou Bay Incident

胶州湾事件是近代中国重要的对外交涉事件之一,对晚清的政治、思想产生了深远影响。翁同龢作为奉旨办理该事件的重臣,因对近代外交懵懂无知,既不了解德国的最终欲求,也不了解德俄之间的相互勾结,在整个交涉过程中,不明就里,处处被动。胶案发生伊始,一度寄希望于俄国的帮助,主张联俄;而后,基于对德交涉比较顺利,转而反对俄舰来华。而在与德国的交涉中,本来想减少损失,提出“另指一岛”,结果却步步落入德国租借胶澳的圈套。翁同龢办理该案可谓心力憔悴、屈辱备尝。而他因办理胶案激发出来的对中国变法重要性与急迫性的认识,与甲午战后酝酿多年的维新思潮产生共鸣,成为维新思潮在戊戌年走向实践的重要背景。

Jiaozhou Bay Incident was one of the important foreign affairs of modern China, which had a profound influence on the politics and ideology of the late Qing Dynasty. Weng Tonghe, who handled the event under orders, was ignorant of modern diplomacy and neither understood the ultimate desire of Germany nor the collusion between Germany and Russia, so he did not know what to do and was passive in the whole negotiation process. At the beginning, he hoped for Russia’s help and advocated the alliance with Russia. Then, based on the smooth negotiation with Germany, he turned against the Russian warship coming to China. In the negotiation with Germany, he originally wanted to reduce the loss and proposed "pointing to another island", but he fell into the trap step by step of Germany renting JiaoAo. Weng Tonghe dealt with the case and suffered from humiliation. His understanding of the importance and urgency of China’s reform inspired by his handling of the Jiao Case resonated with the reformist thought that had been brewing for many years after the Sino-Japanese War, and became an important background for the practice of the Reformist thought in the year of 1898.