吴熊光之困——鸦片战争前的“夷人长技”体验

Predicament of Wu Xiongguang:Experiences of the“Barbarian’s Advantage”before the Opium War

1808年英军侵占澳门地区事件中,两广总督吴熊光认为对手异常猖獗并且拥有船大炮利的优势,如若开战清军无法取胜,只能通过暂停“贸易”这一惯常手段迫使对手妥协,然后迅速恢复对英贸易,以免激发更大的海防危机。吴熊光的现实主义策略虽一时奏效,但被深居紫禁城的嘉庆皇帝视为太过软弱、有失“国体”,因而被革职治罪、遣戍伊犁,由此开创了清朝历史上封疆大吏因为“夷务”处置不当而获罪的先例。“吴熊光之困”反映了鸦片战争前清朝统治集团在愈益明显的西方扩张势头和军事优势面前的无奈,预示着二三十年之后卢坤和林则徐等人的类似遭遇和更大危局即将到来。

During the British occupation of Macao in 1808,Wu Xiongguang,the Governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi,realized that the opponent was exceptionally“unruly”and had the advantage of ship and artillery.He was afraid that the Qing army could not win if the war broken out,so he could only take the customary means,i.e.,force the opponent to compromise by suspending foreign trade with the Britain and then quickly resume it to avoid triggering a greater coastal defense crisis.Wu Xiongguang’s realistic strategy did succeed,but was regarded by Emperor Jiaqing,who lived far away in the Forbidden City,as too weak and shameful for the dignity of Heaven Dynasty.As a result,he was dismissed and punished,and exiled to Ili area.This set a precedent in the history of the Qing Dynasty where governors were punished for mishandling“barbarian affairs”.The predicament of Wu Xiongguang reflects the helplessness of the Qing Dynasty’s ruling group before the Opium War in the face of increasingly obvious Western expansion momentum and military advantages,indicating that similar experiences and greater crises will soon come for Lu Kun,Lin Zexu,and others two decades later.