Wei Yuan (魏源)(III)

In chapter one Leonard gave a portrait of Wei Yuan. Wei was of an activist with diverse interest. He had written several books on different subjects. In 1825, he was appointed to edit the encyclopedia on statecraft ( ching-shih 經世), Statecraft Writings of the Qing Period. This appointment gave Wei a invaluable chance to understand the internal problems of the Qing empire. The topics that received the most attention were government finance, public works and the military. 1 As far as military problems were concerned, the focus was on maritime defense and internal security at the coastal region. 2 At this stage, the emphasis on coastal defense did not reflect any awareness of Western threat or encroachment, but it was mainly about internal security that arose from piracy and rebellion. According to Leonard, the term statecraft in China first appeared in the Sung period (A.D. 960-1279), literally meant "to manage the world". In early Qing, statesmanship contained two major elements : first is the moral element, the statesmanship was responsible for the society's moral order at both the societal level and cosmic level. At the societal level it was the Court's responsibility to transform lesser men into morally perfect being and thus created a moral society.3 The second element was on a more practical side: the smooth functioning of the dynasty, i.e. to achieve a stable, prosperous state society. In early 1800s, the moral and practical elements of statesmanship were merged into one single goal, i.e. to prop up the declining dynasty. One solution was to reform the bureaucracy. Changes were considered necessary in both governmental and non-governmental institutions, although high moral standard among elites still the fundamental issue for a stable society. 4 Before the outbreak of the Opium War, maritime defense and coastal control were already issues that had attracted Wei's attention.5 The popular view at that moment among elites was that coastal security could be achieved by suppressing anti-Manchu elements. It was after the Opium War that Wei began to shift his attention from anti-dynasty elements to foreign maritime countries, as indicated in the Treatise of the Sea Kingdoms. (to be continued)


Note:
1. Leonard, Jane Kate. Wei Yuan and China's Rediscovery of the Maritime World. Cambridge (Mass.): Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University: distributed by Harvard University Press, 1984, page 19
2. page 20
3. page 21
4. page 22
5. page 29