Shen Pao-chen and China's Modernization in the Nineteenth Century [Paperback]

A look at the life of Shen Pao-chen who devoted his life to building China's first modern naval dockyard and academy.A look at the life of Shen Pao-chen who devoted his life to building China's first modern naval dockyard and academy. His successes and failures shed new light on the story of China's efforts at modernisation.A look at the life of Shen Pao-chen who devoted his life to building China's first modern naval dockyard and academy. His successes and failures shed new light on the story of China's efforts at modernisation.The Opium Wars ushered in an era of intensive Western imperialism in China, at a time when the Ch'ing dynasty was already in decline, forcing a small number of Chinese officials to come to the realisation that China must protect itself by adopting the same military technology that had brought it national humiliation. Shen Pao-chen was one such official. Abandoning the comfort of his successful career, Shen devoted his life to building China's first modern naval dockyard and academy. His successes and failures shed new light on the story of China's efforts at modernization - a story that has not come to a conclusion. As China engages in new rounds of economic and industrial modernization in the post-Mao era, many of these issues acquire new meanings and significance.Introduction; 1. Early Years; 2. A Local Official in Kiangsi 185659; 3. TheGovernor of Kiangsi 186265; 4. First Encounters with Foreigners; 5. Director General of the Foochow Navy Yard; 6. The Foochow: Early Developments186667; 7. The Foochow Navy Yard: Adminstration and Personnel 186775; 8. The Foochow Navy Yard: Building and Training Programmes; 9. The Foochow Navy Yard: Financial Crises; 10. The Next Steps in Defence Modernisation: Ma-wei and Beyond; 11. Towards a pan for Self-Strengthening; Conclusion; Glossary of Chinese characters; Bibliography; Index.'& an important case study in the debate on the reasons for the long-term failure of the modernization drive in the late lóÜ