清末新政背景下清廷对南洋华侨的认知转变及其影响:以《申报》为中心的考察

Perception Shift of the Qing Government Towards Nanyang Overseas Chinese During the Late Qing Reforms:Insights from “Shen Bao”

鸦片战争以后,西方文化和思想对中国的冲击频繁,其涌入使晚清社会在思想认知领域经历了剧烈的动荡。传统社会的“权势结构”逐渐发生转移,并在清末新政时期形成了认知观念的转变浪潮。传统中国,特别是中央政府,对南洋华侨的认知根植于华夷观念和儒家传统文化。然而,到了清末,这种认知开始受到列强入侵和思想领域权力的急剧变化的影响,进而发生明显转变:南洋华侨从未知的群体渐渐被熟知却最终又被提防,从被视为化外之民逐渐成为臣民却最终又陷入乱民之列。晚清时期,南洋华侨在认知中的形象透过新兴的报纸媒体得以呈现,而华侨群体则通过与清廷、革命党、维新派、报纸媒体等多方势力的互动,深刻地介入并影响了清末政局。新政时期,清政府对南洋华侨的认识转变从内外互动的角度反映了晚清思想变革的底层逻辑,揭示了新政失败的部分原因。

Since the Opium Wars,the frequent impact of Western culture and thought on China has caused severe turmoil in the ideological cognition of late Qing society.The “power structure” of traditional society gradually shifted,culminating in a wave of conceptual understanding transformation during the late Qing reforms.The traditional Chinese view,especially that of the central government,towards the overseas Chinese in the Nanyang region was rooted in Sinocentric concepts and Confucian cultural traditions.However,by the end of the Qing Dynasty,this perception began to significantly change due to the influences of foreign invasions and rapid shifts in the domain of ideological power.The overseas Chinese in the Nanyang region transformed from an unknown group to one that was increasingly acknowledged yet ultimately viewed with caution,evolving from being considered outsiders to becoming subjects,and eventually being seen as part of the disorderly populace.In the late Qing period,the image of the overseas Chinese in the Nanyang region was depicted through the emerging newspaper media,with the “Shen Bao” playing a significant role,and the overseas Chinese community deeply engaged in and influencing the political situation of the late Qing through interactions with the Qing court,revolutionary parties,reformist movements,and the press.During the late Qing reforms,the Qing government's changing perception of the overseas Chinese in the Nanyang region,viewed through the lens of both internal and external interactions,reflects the underlying logic of ideological transformation in late Qing and unveils some reasons for the failure of these reform policies.