¹ See Kuo-ch'i, Li, Chung-kuo chao-ch'i te t'ieh-lu ching-ying (China's Early Railways) (Taipei, 1961), pp. 37–45Google Scholar; Kent, P. H., Railway Enterprises in China (London, 1907), pp. 9–15.Google Scholar

² See ‘Memorial of Chang Chih-tung to the Court urging the Construction of a Trunk Line dated 3rd day of the 3rd moon of 15th year of Kuang-hsu (2 April 1889)’, in Chih-tung, Chang, Chang Wen-hsiang kung ch'uan-chi (The Complete Works of Chang Chihtung), Vol. 25, Tsou-i 25, pp. 11–19 (original), also Vol. 1 (Taipei, n.d.), pp. 503–7.Google Scholar

³ See Bays, D. H., China Enters the Twentieth Century: Chang Chih-tung and the Issues of a New Age 1895–1909 (Ann Arbor, 1978), p. 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁴ See ‘Memorial from Chang Chih-tung to the Court relating to the frontier defence for Kwangsi province dated 20th day of gth moon of 15th year of Kuang-shu (14 October 1889)’, in Chih-tung, Chang, Chang Wen-hsiang kung ch'uan-Chi, Vol. 27, Tsou-i 27 (original), Vol. 1 (Taipei, n.d.), pp. 544–5.Google Scholar

⁵ See Zen Sun, E-Tu, Chinese Railways and British Interests, 1898–1911 (New York, 1971), p. 16.Google Scholar

⁶ See T'ing-yi, Kuo, Chin-tai chung-kuo shih-shih jih-chi (Chronological Events of Modern Chinese History) (Taipei, 1963), Vol. 2, p. 953Google Scholar; En-han, Lee, China's.Quest for Railway Autonomy (Singapore, 1977), p. 14.Google Scholar

⁷ For a discussion of Chang Chih-tung as a national leader, See Bays, , China Enters the Twentieth Century.Google Scholar

⁸ See Shou-p'eng, Chu (comp.), Kuang-hsu ch'ao tung-hua lu (The Tung-hua Records of the Kuang-hsu Reign) (Peking, 1958), Vol. 4, p. 3870, 9th moon of 22nd year of Kuang-hsu.Google Scholar

⁹ See ‘Memorial of Chang Chih-tung to the Court urging the Construction of a Trunk line dated 3rd day of the 3rd moon of 15th year of Kuang-hsu (2 April 1889)’, in Chih-tung, Chang, Chang Wen-hsiang kung ch'uan-chi, Vol. 25, Tsou-i 25, pp. 16a–16b (original), also Vol. 1 (Taipei, n.d.), p. 505.Google Scholar

¹⁰ The plan was based on the proposal of Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan, the Governor-General of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. If the plan was successfully carried out, it would give China an integrated railway network centred at Peking. Radiating from Peking, there would be four trunk lines, running from Peking to Hankow and Canton in the South, to Kalgan and Urga in the North, to Mukden and Aigun in the Northeast, and to Taiyuan, Lanchow and Ili in the Northwest. See Shou-p'eng, Chu (comp.), Kuang-hsu ch'ao tung-hua lu, Vol. 5, pp. 5717–9.Google Scholar

¹³ See Zen Sun, E-Tu, Chinese Railways, pp. 18–20.Google Scholar

¹² See En-han, Lee, China's Quest for Railway Autonomy 1904–1911, p. 20.Google Scholar

¹³ See K'un-i, Liu, Liu K'un-i i-chi (Works of Liu K'un-i posthumously collected) (Peking, 1959), p. 883Google Scholar; for details of the working of the Kuan-tu shang-pan system, See Feuerwerker, Albert, China's Early Industrialization: Shen Hsuan-huai (1844–1916) and Mandarin Enterprise (Cambridge, Mass., 1958).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁴ See ‘Cable from Chang Chih-tung to Wang Wen-shao’, in Hsuan-huai, Sheng, Yu-chai ts'un-kao (Collected Papers of Sheng Hsuan-huai) (Reprint, Taipei, 1963), Vol. 24, p. 22.Google Scholar

¹⁵ See Kuo-ch'i, Li, Chung-kuotsao-ch'i te t'ieh-lu ching-ying, p. 137Google Scholar; for a discussion on the overseas Chinese capital as the alternative to foreign capital in late Ch'ing economic modernization, see Ching-hwang, Yen, ‘The Overseas Chinese and Late Ch'ing Economic Modernization’, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 16. No. 2 (04 1982), pp. 217–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁶ See ‘Letter from Sheng Hsuan-huai to Wang Wen-shao and Chang Chih-tung’, in Hsuan-huai, Sheng, Yu-chai ts'un-kao, Vol. 25, p. 4.Google Scholar

¹⁷ See Fu-ch'eng, Hsueh, ‘Dispatch to the Tsungli Yamen relating to the appointment of the Vice Consul in Penang dated 20th day of 1st moon of 19th year of Kuang-hsu (8 March 1893)’, in Fu-ch'eng, Hsueh, Ch'u-shih kung-tu tsou-shu (Correspondence of My Diplomatic Mission to England and My Memorials to the Court) (Taipei, n.d.), Vol. 2, tz'u-wen, pp. 25a–25b.Google Scholar

¹⁸ See Sing Po, 10/1/1895, p. 5. 1/11/1895, p. 8.Google Scholar

¹⁹ For details on Chang Pi-shih and his successful story in business, see Kuo-hsiang, K'uang, ‘Chang Pi-shih ch'i-jen’ (About Mr Chang Pi-shih), in Kuo-hsiang, K'uang, Pin-ch'eng san-chi (An anecdotal History of Penang) (Hong Kong, 1958), pp. 97–107Google Scholar; Kuan-ying, Cheng, ‘Chang Pi-shih chun sheng-p'ingshih-lueh’ (The Brief Life Story of Mr Chang Pi-shih), in Yun-lung, Shen (ed.), Chi-tai chung-kuo shih-liao ts'ung-k'an (Taipei, n.d.), No. 75, pp. 5–20Google Scholar; Godley, M. R., The Mandarin-Capitalists from Nanyang: Overseas Chinese Enterprise in the Modernization of China 1893–1911 (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 79–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁰ See Godley, M. R., ‘Chang Pi-shih and Nanyang Chinese Involvement in South China's Railroads, 1896–1911’, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 17.Google Scholar

²¹ See Penang Sin Pao, 15/12/1896.Google Scholar

²² For a discussion on the finance of the Lu–Han line, See Kuo-ch'i, Li, Chung-kuo tsao-ch'i te t'ieh-lu ching-ying, pp. 148–74.Google Scholar

²³ See Hsu, M. C., Railway Problems in China (New York, 1968, reprint), p. 90.Google Scholar

²⁴ See ‘Instruction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wai Wu Pu) on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce (Shang Pu) to the Viceroy of Liang Kvvang and the Governor of Kwangtung dated 17th day of 10th moon of the agth year of Kuang-hsu (5 December 1903)’, in ‘Wai Wu Pu Tang’ (Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, unpublished), Dispatches, 29th Year of Kuang-hsu (1903).

²⁵ See ‘Ch'ao-hsien t'ieh-lu yu-hsien kung-ssu hsiang-hsi chang-ch'eng’ (The Detailed Charter of the Chaochow Railway Company), item 2, in Yu-ch'uan-pu, (The Ministry of Transport and Telecommunication) (ed.), K'uei-cheng chi-yao ts'u-ch'ih pien (Collections of the Outlines of the Transport Administration) (Taipei, n.d.).Google Scholar

²⁶ Ibid., item 4.

²⁷ See Kuo-hsiang, K'uang, ‘Ch'ing-tai chu Pin ling-shih wai-chuan’ (Anecdotes of the Ch'ing Vice Consuls in Penang), in K'uang Kuo-hsiang, Pin-ch'eng san-chi, p. 90.Google Scholar

²⁸ See Godley, , ‘Chang Pi-shih and Nanyang Chinese Involvement in South China's Railroads’, pp. 21–2Google Scholar; see also Godley, , The Mandarin-Capitalists from Nanyang, p. 150.Google Scholar

²⁹ See Kuo-hsiang, K'uang, Pin-ch'eng san-chi, p. 90.Google Scholar

³⁰ Ibid.

³¹ For a discussion on overseas Chinese desire for Ch'ing honours, See Ching-hwang, Yen, ‘Ch'ing's Sale of Honours and the Chinese Leadership in Singapore and Malaya 1877–1912’, in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 20–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³² Michael Godley claims that Chang Yu-nan was Chang Pi-shih's cousin, but I am doubtful on this point. Although both were Hakka and carrying the same surname, Chang Pi-shih was a Tapu Hakka (the Hakka from Tapu district), whereas Chang Yu-nan was a Hakka from Mei district. The English word ‘cousin’ loosely includes both paternal and maternal sides of cousin. Chang Yu-nan could not be Chang Pi-shih's paternal cousin because he came from a different district and spoke a slightly different Hakka dialect; he could not be Pi-shih's maternal cousin either, because his maternal aunts were unlikely to marry someone in a distant district. See Godley, M. R., ‘Chang Pi-shih and Nanyang Chinese Involvement in South China's Railroads’, p. 21Google Scholar; also Godley, , The Mandarin-Capitalists from Nanyang, p. 150.Google Scholar

³³ See Kuo-hsiang, K'uang, ‘Ping-ch'eng san-chi’, p. 90.Google Scholar

³⁴ For instance, the Vice Consulate in Penang in 1910 consisted only of the Vice Consul Tai Ch'un-yung, his son Tai P'ei-yuan who was the interpreter, and a secretary named Li Kuang-hsi. See ‘Tsung-li ke-kuo shih-wu ya-men ch'ing tang’ (Tsungli Yamen Archives, Clean file), the mission of Li Ching-fang in the 2nd year of Hsuan-t'ung.

³⁵ For instance, the interpreter Tai P'ei-yuan and secretary Li Kuang-hsi were recommended by the Chinese minister in London, Liu Yu-lin, for awards in 1911 after their three years’ service in the Penang Vice Consulate. See ‘Tsung-li ke-kuo shih-wu ya-men ch'ing tang’ (Tsungli Yamen Archives, Clean file), the mission of Liu Yu-lin in the 3rd year of Hsuan-t'ung.

³⁶ In a dialogue with the Empress-Dowager Tz'u-hsi when he was given an audience in 1903, Chang Yu-nan mentioned that he had contributed to various relief funds in China. The dialogue was published in the Thien Nan Shin Pao, 22/12/1903.

³⁷ See ‘Memorial of T'ao Mo, the Governor-General of Liang Kuang, to the court recommending awards of Chang Yu-nan and Chou Yung-yao’, in Yu-chi hui-ts'un (Collected Records of Imperial Decrees and Memorials) (Taipei, 1967, reprint), Vol 43, 6th moon of 28th year of Kuang-hsu (07 1902), pp. 17a–17b.Google Scholar

³⁸ Ibid., p. 18a.

³⁹ See Thien Nan Shin Pao, 22/12/1903, Lat Pau, 21/12/1903.

⁴⁰ Chang Yu-nan was recommended for award by the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce dated 8th day of 2nd moon of 33rd year of Kuang-hsu (21 March 1907), see Shang-wu kuan-pao (The Gazette of Commercial Affairs) (Original, Peking, 1906–10), Vol. 4 of the Ting-wei year (1907), pp. 10b–11b.Google Scholar

⁴¹ In 1906, the Vice Consul Liang T'ing-fang presented a report to the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce relating to ways and means for developing mining industry in China. Based on his own tin-mining experience in Perak, he submitted a four-point plan on exploration and management of mines. See Liang T'ing-fang, ‘Chen-hsing k'uang-wu ch'u-yen’ (Suggestions on the Development of Mining), in Shang-wu kuan-pao, 32nd year of Kuang-hsu, , Vol. 9, pp. 32b–34b)Google Scholar; for a good discussion on Chang Pi-shih's plan for development of China's industry and commerce, See Godley, , The Mandarin-Capitalists from Nanyang, Ch. 5.Google Scholar

⁴² See Yu-nan, Chang, Hai-kuo kung-yu chi-lu (1898, n.p.) (kept in the Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard University).Google Scholar

⁴³ Ibid., Vol. 1.

⁴⁴ Ibid., Vol. 1, pp. 28–31, Vol. 4.

⁴⁵ Ibid., Vol. 1, ‘Preface’.

⁴⁶ Ibid.

⁴⁷ The concern of overseas Chinese nationalists for China's loss of mining and railway rights was frequently aired in local Chinese newspapers. See, for instances, Thien Nan Shin Pao's editorials on 6/11/1903, p. 2, 18/11/1903, p. 2.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ See Yu-Nan's, Chang open letter to a gentry-official Hsiao of Chaochow urging him to be the general manager of the Chaochow Railway Company. It was reproduced in Thien Nan Shin Pao, 30/5/1904, p. 3.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ See Chang's, dialogue with the Empress-dowager, in Thien Nan Shin Pao, 22/12/1903, p. 2.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ See a news report on the proposed Chaochow Railway under the title of ‘Chia-ying Chang Yu-nan undertakes to construct the Chaochow railway’, in Thien Nan Shin Pao, 28/12/1903, p. 2.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Hsueh was the third Chinese Vice Consul in Penang. He was also known as Hsueh Meng-ch'ih, or Hsueh Ch'un-sheng. He was appointed the Acting Vice Consul in Penang in June 1895 by the Chinese minister for Britain, Kung Chao-yuan. In March 1897 he was appointed as the Vice Consul. He had made several contributions to relief and coastal defence funds which gained him some brevet titles. For a short biography of Hsueh Yung-kuang, see ‘Tsungli ke-kuo shih-wu ya-men ch'ing-tang’ (Tsungli Yamen Archives), 28th year of Kuang-hsu, The Mission of Lo Feng-lu'. See also Kuo-hsiang, K'uang, Ping-ch'eng san-chi, pp. 91–3.Google Scholar

⁵² See Pin, Hsieh, Chung-kuo t'ieh-lu shih (A History of Chinese Railways) (Shanghai, 1930), p. 407.Google Scholar

⁵³ In many Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, this belief still persists nowadays. They believe they have a common ancestor (t'ung-tsung) and address each other as ‘tsung-ch'in’.

⁵⁴ See Kuo-hsiang, K'uang, Ping-ch'eng san-chi, p. 104.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ See Godley, , ‘Chang Pi-shih and Nanyang Chinese Involvement in South China's Railroads’, p. 21.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ For Chang Pi-shih's political support for the Ch'ing government, see Ching-hwang, Yen, ‘Overseas Chinese Nationalism in Singapore and Malaya 1877–1912’.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Godley, , The Mandarin-Capitalists from Nanyang, p. 151.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Few Chinese engineers were available at the turn of the present century. The best known Chinese engineer at the time was Chan T'ien-yu who was among the first batch of students sent to study in the United States in 1872. In 1881 he graduated from Vale University, and in 1882 he became a railway construction engineer. For details, See Ch'i-heng, Hsu and Hsi-mie, Li, Chan T'ien-yu ho chung-kuo t'ieh-lu (Chan T'ien-yu and China's Railways) (Shanghai, 1978).Google Scholar Chinese students studying engineering in Japan during the late Ch'ing period were comparatively rare. See Chao-yin, Fang (ed.), Ch'ing-mo min-ts'u yang-hsueh hsueh-sheng t'i-ming lu ts'u-chi (Lists of Chinese Students Studying Overseas during the Late Ch'ing and Early Republican Periods) (Taipei, 1962), pp. 1–53.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ See Wright, A. (ed.), Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Other Treaty Ports of China (London, 1908), p. 680Google Scholar; Penang Sin Pao, 17/3/1905.

⁶⁰ See Kuo-ch'i, Li, Chung-kuo chao-ch'i te t'ieh-lu ching-ying, pp. 37–45.Google Scholar

⁶¹ See Chang, Chung-li, The Income of the Chinese Gentry (Seattle, 1962), pp. 43–122Google Scholar; Chang, Chung-li, The Chinese Gentry: Studies on Their Role in Nineteenth Century Chinese Society (Seattle, 1955), pp. 32–70.Google Scholar

⁶² See ‘Cable from the Wai Wu Pu (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the Governor-General of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, and the Governor of Kwantung dated 17th day of 10th moon of 29th year of Kuang-hsu (5 December 1903)’, in Wai Wu Pu tien-tang (Wai Wu Pu Cables), 29th year of the Reign of the Emperor Kuang-hsu.

⁶³ Chang's doubt was probably well grounded. For the ‘Merchant Protection Bureau’ which was set up by the central government in Fukien and Kwangtung provinces in 1889 and 1900 for the protection of returned overseas Chinese merchants, failed to render any protection. In fact it was even used to exploit returned overseas Chinese. A petition from the Chinese merchants of Penang, Singapore and Luzon was sent to the Ministry of Commerce in 1902 to that effect. We do not know whether Chang Yu-nan was involved in the petition or not, but it can be certain that he must have known about it. For details of the petition, see Ta-Ch'ing kuang-hsu hsin fa-ling (New Statutes of the Great Ch'ing Empire during the Kuang-hsu Reign), Vol. 16, pp. 56–7.Google Scholar Part of the petition is also found in Kuang-hsu-ch'ao tung-hua lu, 11th moon of 29th year, Vol. 5, pp. 129–30.Google Scholar For a discussion on the failure of the ‘Merchant Protection Bureau’, see Yen Ching-hwang, ‘China's Overseas Chinese Policy under the Ch'ing’, (forthcoming) Ch. 7.

⁶⁴ See Thien Nan Shin Pao, 30/5/1904, p. 3.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ See ‘Chang Yu-nan's open letter to Hsiao Ch'ih-shan dated 25th day of 3rd moon of 30th year of Kuang-hsu (10 May 1904)’, reproduced in the Thien Nan Shin Pao, 30/5/1904, p. 3.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Ibid.

⁶⁷ See a discussion on this issue in Zen Sun, E-Tu, Chinese Railways, pp. 3–26Google Scholar; En-han, Lee, China's Quest for Railway Autonomy, pp. 9–24.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ See Thien Nan Shin Pao, 27/5/1904, p. 2.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ See Godley, , ‘Chang Pi-shih and Nanyang Chinese Involvement in South China/s Railroads’, p. 23.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ See a report entitled ‘The storm over the Chaochow Railway’, published in the Thien Nan Shin Pao, 9/8/1904, p. 2.Google Scholar

⁷¹ See Penang Sin Pao, 9/3/1905; North China Herald, 31/3/1905.

⁷² See Penang Sin Pao, 6/3/1905, 11/3/1905, 15/3/1905, 21/3/1905, 25/3/1905, 27/3/1905. 11/4/1905; Lot Pau, 6/4/1905.

⁷³ See ‘Memorial from the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce to the court dated 8th day of 2nd moon of 33rd year of Kuang-hsu (21 March 1907)’ in Shang-wu kuan-pao (The Gazette on Commercial Affairs), Vol. 4 of the Ting-wei (1907) year, pp. 10a–11a.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ See Pin, Hsieh, Chung-kuo t'ieh-lu, p. 408.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ See ‘Ch'ao-hsien t'ieh-lu kung-ssu ying-yueh chang-ch'eng’ (Charter of the Trading Department of the Chaochow Railway Company) of the 3rd moon of the 34th year of Kuang-hsu (04 1908), in Yu-ch'uan-pu, (ed.), Kuei-cheng chi-yao ts'u ch'ih pien, p. 111–12Google Scholar; see also ‘Ch'ao-hsien t'ieh-lu yu-hsien kung-ssu hsiang-hsi chang-ch'eng’ (The Charter of the Chaochow Railway Company), in Yu-ch'uan-pu, (ed.), Kuei-cheng chi-yao ts'u-ch'ih pien, Kuei 4, Item 22.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ See Godley, , ‘Chang Pi-shih and Nanyang Chinese Involvement in South China's Railroads’, p. 24Google Scholar; also Godley, , The Mandarin-Capitalists from Nanyang, p. 154.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ See ‘Memorial from the Shang Pu (Ministry of Commerce) to the Court relating to the undertaking of the Chaochow Railway dated 24th day of 24th moon of 29th year of Kuang-hsu (12 December 1903)’, Appendix in the Yu-ch'uan-pu, (ed.), Kuei-cheng chi-yao ts'u-ch'ih pien, Kuei 4, pp. 9–10.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ For a good discussion on this system, see Feuerwerker, , China's Early Industrialization, pp. 1–30.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ See Ching-hwang, Yen ‘The Overseas Chinese and Late Ch'ing Economic Modernization’, in Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 16, no. 2 (1982) pp. 227–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar