Lonely Outsider (Robert Hart, the Commissioner of Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service)

Author: Zhao Changtian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The development status of documentary literature over the past twenty years is unparalleled by any literary form in any era. This is both pleasing and concerning. The pleasing aspect is that documentary literature has taken the lead in the literary and publishing circles in terms of the breadth and depth of its content, innovation and changes in form, the speed and scale of publication, as well as the readers' acceptance and response. The concerning aspect is that rapid and excessive expansion can easily create bubbles, and bubbles do not bear fruit or leave seeds. In modern Chinese history, this Irishman should occupy a very important position. He was the true founder of the modern Chinese customs, and also pioneered modern Chinese postal and maritime affairs. To a large extent, he controlled the economic lifeline of the late Qing government and served as the foreign representative in multiple major negotiations between China and countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Portugal. However, due to various reasons, he withdrew from the stage and vanished from the historical perspective of our generation. This series of books will feature a rich variety of themes and even more diverse colors. Legendary events and hot topics, great figures and ordinary lives, historical inquiries and reflections on the present, the charm of the written word and the allure of images, profound weight and light-heartedness—each can be blended in harmony, complementing one another.