Het laatste gezantschap: de Nederlandse missie van 1795 en de westerse betrekkingen met China by Tonio Andrade

Het laatste gezantschap: de Nederlandse missie van 1795 en de westerse betrekkingen met China Reviews

• 
  TG Lin

  【讀後的胡思亂想】歐陽泰的《最後的使團》
  
  1. 與子俱小。
  
  這段「荷蘭使節團到北京祝賀乾隆登基六十周年（1795年）」的各項記錄，在研究近代中國外交關係上，基本受到忽視。與其對比的，是在此事件前兩年前，英國馬戛爾尼的失敗出使事件。我們現代人當然可以對於學界不公平看待史料，提出各種內部與外部的解釋原因。但我認為最重要的，還是這個事件文件所依附的母國國家勢力的變遷。自從18世紀英狤猁國逐漸展露頭角之後，緊接著它的崛起繁榮，乃至於其後啟的文化繼承者的亞美利堅合眾國。這自然使得馬戛爾尼成為兩百年來最重要的第一手史料；無論其最後得出的正反結論，都必須從馬戛爾尼出發。
  
  而本書所敘述的這個荷蘭使團，在賓主盡歡地完成了它的禮節性外交任務後，於同一年其母國尼德蘭聯省共和國滅亡，VOC也在不久後解散消失了。至於該地區在拿破崙時代結束後所接續繼承的政治實體，基本上已成了歐洲的二線國家。
  
  所以說，當事人所留下來的史料，是否受到保留與重視，與其母國勢力有很大的關連。
  
  記得唐德剛曾經痛罵那位參與甲午海戰的英國海員 William Ferdinand Tyler，說他的回憶錄裡一堆胡說鬼扯，卻成了中西學界的經典史料（我永遠會記得自己國中時歷史老師教到這一段時，老師在課堂上幫我們補充所講到的海戰過程的事蹟，居然全都來自這位「英國浪人癟三」……）。
  
  2. 一個人永遠擺脫不了他所處的時代。
  
  當我自己年少時的籠統公論，歐美西方一切好，中國一切壞——以財富、生產、生活品質而言，這也稱得上是客觀的現象。延伸至歷史談論時，「近代中國」也必須符合這項大家的底層意識形態，研究也需把東西方接觸時的「中國」和「歐美」，建立成為戲劇化的明暗對比臉譜。
  
  但這四五十年來，對岸 PRC 的那三件（財富、生產、生活品質）有顯著的提昇（這也是客觀現象）。也因此，重新建構近代中國（明清與民初）的新史觀，也逐漸成為新的潮流，一定要也要像是網路文章的「十億人都驚呆了︰明清皇帝對西歐的技術完全都不陌生」。這些年來自己所讀的歷史雜書，早已將我年少時那種「閉關自大、不思進取」的全部負面觀念全部清洗掉了。本書算是再為此新增一段史料證劇。
  
  沒有人會是純粹的理性者，連歷史研究者也無法例外。
• 
  Arjen

  It was very enjoyable to read about the Dutch envoy to the Qing court in 1795. The book is well written and interesting both for sinologists as well as readers with little prior knowledge about 18th century China or Batavia.
  
  This book is a reevaluation of the Dutch envoy which went down in history as a failure. Often history is told by the last men standing, in this case the British, who had sent a failed mission two years prior led by Lord Macartney and wanted to make the kowtowing Dutch one seem even worse. Tonio Andrade based his research on the diaries of the participants, and other documents in Dutch and Chinese that were missed by earlier scholars. He convincingly demonstrates that it is unjust to paint the Dutch mission as a failure, just because it didn’t lead to economic gain. This was mainly due to the collapse of the East Indies Company and the Netherlands being overrun by Napoleon’s armies that happened during the mission, which meant there was no commercial follow up possible. On their return to Europe the participants reports were not widely published and translated either, or misreported leading to further misunderstandings about the success of the trip.
  
  Drawing from the personal observations of four members of the trip, in letters home as well as in diaries, Andrade could include many authentic details of what life was like in China. He provides day to day descriptions of the arduous 1500-mile trip over land from Canton to Beijing in the middle of winter, which is rushed so that the envoy arrives in time for the celebration of the 60th year reign anniversary of Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong. There are many details about the lodging, food, entertainment, scheming in the Dutch group as well as on the part of the Mandarins that accompany them on their trip up and down the country, that help pace the book. On their way back the envoy takes the more leisurely Grand Canal Route and stops off at many sights that are tourist attractions to this day.
  
  What was considered most scandalous by contemporaries was the Dutch willingness to kowtow for the emperor. Andrade argues that the Dutch, with their diplomatic experience in Japan where they held a unique post at Deshima, understood that in Asia the role of diplomacy is not just about bargaining, gaining concessions, and signing treaties. Chinese diplomacy was “aimed at the maintenance of a regime of communications and interaction which both sides viewed as legitimate”. Arcade concludes that: “The Dutch visitors were greeted so warmly in the forbidden city and the imperial pleasure gardens, not just because their kowtows reinforced imperial order but also because it was fun to include these exotic outsiders in the holiday festivities”.
• 
  Tristan Mostert

  "This book is designed to provide both an immersive narrative and a historical argument", reads the note on the first page. Mission accomplished on both counts. The book takes you along on the Dutch East India Company's last embassy to the Chinese court, as the company itself was going bankrupt and the Dutch Republic back in Europe was on the verge of being invaded by the French. The unprecedentedly rich sources, and the wonderful writing (the whole book is in the present tense, unusual for a work of history but works like a charm), really bring alive not only its protagonists, but also the setting of late 18th-century China. It reads like a novel, but then also makes an extremely valid and insightful point about western perceptions of the Chinese Empire leading up to the Opium Wars. Andrade's earlier book about the fall of Dutch Formosa,
  Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory over the West, was already an impressive combination of scholarship and great reading. In this new book, he has outdone himself.
• 
  Tee Ro

  Professor Andrade knows how to write a quality scholarly-trade crossover and this by far is his best work yet. Lost Colony was a masterpiece, but Last Embassy is a touching story with a memorable cast of characters such as Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest, Isaac Titsingh, and the Qianlong Emperor. Last Embassy is an exciting journey from start to finish!
• 
  Doni

  Andrade is a master of his craft, as he paints a picture of pre Opium Wars China that is unheard of in recent literature. The book conveniently came out at a time when US-China tensions are again at levels comparable to the 1990s; with the same mistakes of Macartney being repeated once again. The US shows unwillingness to conform with Chinese demands, shows zealous pride in Western superior values and alienates the Chinese by considering them as irrational and hostile.
  The book brilliantly shows how a meagre Dutch mission, contrary to popular belief, was able to conduct a successful diplomatic embassy, and leave a positive impression at the Chinese court. The Last Embassy is a practical class in personal diplomacy, with its vibrant storytelling of encounters between the Dutch mission and the Chinese officials; highlighting the important role of establishing personal relationship in conduct of grand diplomacy.
• 
  Melissa

  I wish more academic research was presented in such an engaging narrative. I liked the amount of detail and it even made me laugh when one of the traveler's porters ran away and locals subsequently stole his hat. It was interesting to read about the way the narrative was changed in the following decades to make the mission seem like an embarrassing failure. 
• 
  Paul

  Fascinating recounting of the little-known Dutch embassy to the Qing court doing old fashioned diplomacy and perhaps providing a glimpse of another path that European-Chinese relations may have travelled over the ensuing centuries
• 
  Wayne

  Quite enjoyable to read. A unique delineation of the 18 century China from the European’s perspective.
• 
  Sam Kuivenhoven

  Geniaal
• 
  Sem C.

  Honestly, I can’t think of a reason not to give this book 5 stars. Andrade masterfully transforms a journey through 18th-century China into an engaging and enjoyable read. The book goes beyond merely recounting the journey; it offers diverse perspectives, rich historical context, and vivid descriptions that bring the scenery to life.
• 
  Richard

  What was it like to be among the only westerners to visit the Qianlong emperor in his private palace? Traveling through the Chinese countryside, viewing sites never seen before by non-Chinese, this is the account of a forgotten "embassy" (diplomatic mission) by some Dutch diplomats.
  
  Written in an easy-to-read style, this is as close to a page-turner as you can get for an academic book. The author has gone to exhaustive lengths to map out each portion of a unique voyage to Beijing by a Dutch mission in 1795. Ultimately the audience is China scholars, so although I enjoyed it for its meticulous details, it will remain to somebody else to write a shorter account for non-Chinese experts.
• 
  Henry

  6/10