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FORUM: Communications Networks in Modern China
Introduction
In 1865, when a Russian minister to Beijing tried to persuade the Zongli Yamen (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China) to introduce a telegraph system, he said: 'Wherever there are wires, all locations will become the same regardless of their distances. Information will converge on Beijing from the four directions, and Beijing will possess the power to control the four directions. Surely this will help increase the dignity of the Court?'1Although China did not accept this advice immediately, a seed had definitely been planted. Within ten years, telegraph lines had started to appear on the coastlines of southern China, and this conservative-minded country finally allowed itself to be connected to the world by electrical means.
By including the introduction of the telegraph as part of the Self-strengthening Movement programme, scholars have paid attention to the impact of the telegraph on the late Qing period in terms of politics and major war events, for example, how the telegraph was used during the Sino-French War during 1884 and the Boxer Uprising in 1900.2From an economic perspective, scholars have noted that the telegraph helped China's international business as it enabled banks to fund minor trading agents, which meant that they were able to become bigger players and challenge the giant trading companies. The telegraph also allowed the prices of local Chinese products to be linked with international market prices.3The arrival of the telegraph also contributed to the hierarchy among China's cities becoming ever more evident, the development of Shanghai as China's financial centre, and the growth of stronger relationships between the coastal and inland areas.4
Indeed, within a relatively short period after the arrival of the telegraph, we see many examples of its recognizable impact on Chinese society. However, while prior scholarship has paid much attention to these changes, in business as well as other areas, problems associated with this technology--notably relating to how it was implemented in China--have been far less studied. This paper seeks to focus on how the telegraph was introduced to Chinese society and its associated problems and limitations. In doing so, the paper attempts, first, to explore how the telegraph as a...