EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

East-West Contacts & Perceptions 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 142 Brusadelli Federico (Università degli Studi di Napoli ) The Ghost of Poland: Kang Youwei’s ‘Bolan fenmie ji’ and the Nightmare of China’s Dismemberment Key words: Kang Youwei, Late Qing, comparative historiography, Poland, Hundred Days Reform For philosopher Kang Youwei (1858–1927), 1898 was an intense year indeed. His attempt at reorganizing the ailing Qing Empire, drawing examples from Japan and Western Europe over a progressive view of histori- cal evolution inspired by an esoteric interpretation of Confucianism, finally had a chance to succeed. It did not happen, though, as it is well known, and that abortive effort was to be remembered as the Hundred Days Reform. That year, however, marked a peak in Kang’s scholarship: in order to provide a solid set of case studies for his reformproposals, he produced a large number of historical and comparative studies. In the same year, he presented to the throne an annotated account of Meiji Reforms in Japan (Riben bianzheng kao, “Survey on the Political Reforms of Japan”), a study on Peter the Great (E Bide bianzheng ji, “Record of the Political Reforms under Peter the Great”), an analysis of the French Revolution (Faguo geming ji, “Account of the French Revolution”) and a warning description of Poland’s partition (Bolan fenmie ji, “Account of the Dismemberment of Poland”). In my paper, I intend to analyze the last of the forementioned texts in which Kang brings the example of Poland as a disgraced model of failed State, where the suppression of local elites by a conservative aris- tocracy, and the consequent internal stagnation, had been rapidly exploited by its aggressive neighbors. An interesting example of intercultural history, the Bolan fenmie ji reveals much of the author’s methodology of comparative historiography — a ‘global’ approach which will later pervade his universalist utopia, the Book of Great Concord. At the same time, it interestingly expresses Kang’s own version of 19th century ‘Statism’, in which a reinterpretations of Confucian categories and a blend of foreign case-studies is used to convey an internal political struggle by ‘peripheral’ elites. Busquets Anna (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) The Palafox Testimony: Spanish, Mexican, and ManilaWitnesses of the Ming-Qing Transition Key words: Juan de Palafox; Vittorio Riccio; Mexico; Manila The entry of the Manchus in the Chinese Empire introduced a new subject matter into the works and letters about China circulating in Europe. The aim of this communication is to analyze the first documenta- tion about this event flowing out of China, especially the reports reaching Bishop Palafox in Mexico. The paper will also explore the information that Spanish missionaries in China sent, focusing especially on the experience of the Dominican Victorio Riccio and his Manila connections. Riccio was actor and witness of the Manila events in response to the rise of one of the main figures of the transition, Zheng Chenggong. Calanca Paola (EFEO) War Devastation and the Costal Evacuation in Fujian Key words: Zheng Chengong; genealogies; Fujian; coastal evacuation The 1640–1680 years constituted one of the darkest periods the inhabitants of Southeast and South coastal China ever experienced. This period corresponds to theMing-Qing dynastic transition duringwhich the population had to endure the Manchu invasion, numerous fights between the new government army and the Zheng troops, the evacuation of the coast by the inhabitants, and so on. Some of these struggles may be also related to episodes of civil war. The aim of this paper is to analyze these events through Chinese witnesses’ essays, including reports of civil servants and literati chronicles, and especially local genealogies, which deliver more details about family and individual survival strategies. The richness of genealogical materials not only allows to better understand the sequence and overlapping of events (difficult to summarize due to the scattered nature of the sources), but, more interesting, the diversification of the strategies deployed in order to preserve life and property.