Friends, Guests, Colleagues: The Bureaucratic System of the Late Qing Dynasty

Author: K.E. Forsom
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: This book is a specialized study on the late Qing dynasty's mufu system by an American scholar, with the main focus on the mufus of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang. It briefly reviews the formation and evolution of China's mufu system, and elaborates in detail on the composition, functions, and policies of the mufus in the early Qing period, explaining the characteristics of the rise of the new-style mufu system in the late Qing era due to the dramatic changes in modern Chinese society. The author visited several descendants of Li Hongzhang, such as Li Guochao, and obtained valuable materials. At the same time, original sources in both Chinese and English are used, such as the writings of foreigners who served in China at the time, official Qing dynasty archives, private letters, or accounts, making this book highly academic and readable.