Li Hongzhang

For more than a century, Chinese historiography has labelled Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) a traitor. Both in history textbooks as well as historical movies, Li was portrayed as the lackey of the feudalist Qing government for the following reasons:

1. In the course of the Sino-Japanese war 1894/95 Li is said to have fought only passively against the Japanese fleet. He was trying to spare the Beiyang Army out of self-interest and thereby caused Qing China’s defeat.

2. During the 1895 peace negotiations with Japan, Li acted as the lead negotiator for the Qing. He has been accused of failing to stand up against his Japanese counterparts and giving in to pressure and signing an unequal treaty. As a result, the Qing government was forced to pay indemnities as well as cede the island of Taiwan to Japan. For the first time in history, the glorious middle kingdom had been defeated by the “little island” Japan. It was an unforgivable and unforgettable disgrace of the Imperial Court and the nation at large. Li was blamed directly and indirectly for the loss and has since been accused of being a “traitor”.

The series portrays Li fundamentally different than previous series have. The discussion surrounding this positive image change, however, is far from new. The 1980s already saw researchers and historians of Li Hongzhang striving for a re-evaluation of his personage and historical depiction. But why did this come so late? The American historian Samuel Chu explains:

One of the reasons is that, for any scholar studying Li and his times, the relevant materials are overwhelming. A second reason is that, since Li’s death, the vicissitudes of Chinese history have not been conducive to a more sympathetic assessment of his career.” (Chu in Chu/Liu, p.265 [1])

Li’s characterisation in this series is very favourable. A highly educated official, loyally devoted to the Imperial Court, he is not only a public figure but also a successful and gifted poet. New light is shed on his failure in the war against Japan and during the peace negotiations. He may have been majorly responsible for the defeat in the war, but this was not due to egocentrism, but rather a result of a lack of financial funds on the part of the Qing court. During the negotiations he remained firm and gave his Japanese counterparts a hard time. Yet, he was left no choice but to accept Japanese demands, a fact which he explained with the words: “weak states cannot afford diplomacy” (ruoguo wu waijiao) He, however, has to be given credit for striving to keep the damage at a minimum. The fact that he was attacked by a Japanese extremist during the treaty talks even enabled him to negotiate a reduction of the indemnities by 100 Million Liang silver.
According to the series, Li acted out of loyalty to his motherland, its government, and its people, and was unjustly vilified a traitor as he merely served a weak China at the wrong time.

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