Chinese Customs Secret Files (Correspondence of Hart and Goldstine 1874-1907) (Volume 8) (Telegrams. 1874-1895)

Author: Chen Xiefei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1995-11-01
Features:
1. The correspondence between Hart and Conant, including telegrams and letters, is synchronized from 1874 to 1907, totaling 4,496 pieces. It includes a small number of telegrams sent by Hart to the London office during his official absence or leave, handled by Pei Shikai as the acting Commissioner of Customs. Additionally, telegrams sent by Hart to the London office during the period when Conant fell ill in 1907 and was temporarily replaced by He Chengxian, are also included. All are recorded according to the original numbering of Hart and Conant's telegrams.
2. For confidentiality, the following methods were used in the correspondence between Hart and Conant:
1. The use of code words. In the telegrams, characters involved were referred to by code words if both parties were familiar with them. For example, the term "Presto" sometimes referred to Pouncefort, sometimes to Bagley, and sometimes to someone else. The editors have only noted those that can be identified with certainty.
2. To mislead recipients who were not supposed to know, the original telegram numbering had two types: one was sequential from small to large, such as 1, 2, 3, and the other was reverse sequential from large to small, such as 999, 998, 997. This collection of telegrams is arranged in chronological order by year, month, and day to help readers understand the content based on the sequence of events. Starting in 1881, the correspondence between the two parties, in addition to customs affairs and international information exchange, also involved Jin Dengkan's frequent reports and requests for instructions to complete secret missions assigned by Hart, further enhancing the confidentiality of the telegrams. The two parties agreed that each telegram would be preceded by a number with the same security level. For example, adding a reverse sequential number at the beginning indicated that the telegram was top secret, while adding a sequential number indicated a general classified telegram. This tacit agreement remained in place until the Boxer Rebellion broke out in 1900, temporarily disrupting foreign and domestic telegraph communications. To preserve the original state of the archives, these numbers are retained as they appear in the telegrams.
3. Some telegrams from Hart to Jin Dengkan have two dates. The first date is the date recorded by Jin Dengkan as the receipt of the telegram.