SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Apart from several journalistic articles there is no major work on Sir John Jordan who was the British minister to Peking from 1906 to 1920. This can probably be explained by the fifty years' rule which had until recently prevented the opening to the public of Foreign Office materials pertaining to the later years of Jordan's service. This thesis is a study of his work as British minister in Peking between 1906 and 1916. However, as the title indicates, not every aspect of Jordan's ministry nor every major event in China in these ten years is dealt with in the thesis. The emphasis is on those which have a direct bearing on his role in the 1911 revolution and his relationship with Yiian Shih-k'ai. This also accounts for choosing 1916, when Ytlan died, as the closing year of the study. Jordan's ministry between 1906 and 1916 is worthy of study in that it throws light on a vital period of Chinese internal history which was crammed with dramatic changes. Institutionally, China changed from being a dynasty to a republic and then almost to a dynasty again; militarily, she suffered from three civil wars; and politically, she was to reap from these ten years decades of internal chaos and strife which was only brought to a temporary end with the institution of the communist regime in the middle of the century. Jordan, as the British representative, as a senior diplomat with great knowledge of China and as a friend of Yiian Shih-k'ai, played an important part in these events. The primary purpose of the thesis is to identify and assess his role. It is also hoped that the thesis will throw light on British policy towards China and, to a lesser extent, Japan during these years. In this respect, it is important to bear in mind that it was during this period that Britain's predominance in China, and the Far East, was for the first time being seriously challenged. Finally, Jordan himself is an interesting person to study. His activities during these ten years serve as a case study of the place of personal influence in policy-making in the peculiar political and international setting of the time.