Comments On Officials Making a Book-seeking Trip to Japan in the Qing Dynasty

In the Qing Dynasty when a large number of Chinese traders went to do business in Nagasaki, as goods in large quantity were shipped to Japan steadily, with Chinese classical and other literature introduced there on an unprecedented scale and at an unprecedented speed. Meanwhile, peopletopeople contacts were promoted thanks to the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1871. China's defeat in the SinoJapanese War of 18941895 awakened the Chinese, who set about learning from and study Japan, resulting in a continuous introduction of Japanese into China. They were brought home mainly by traders, diplomatic envoys to Japan, officials making an investigation trip to Japan, Chinese students in Japan, Chinese literati living in Japan, and political activists. In addition, foreigners visiting China and Japanese in particular played an active role.According to incomplete statistics, 1 195 Chinese went to Japan from 1898 to 1911, conducting a careful and positive investigation into its education, politics, law, military affairs, agriculture, industry and commerce with a lot of findings left behind them. From these materials it is learned that many inspectors devoted special time to seeking and purchasing books.Chinese officials visited Japan in the late Qing Dynasty, with the largest number in the period of 1904 and 1907 after the Meiji reform. With a view to drawing on experience from Japan, they paid much more attention to various about the Reform. These investigators from respective sectors brought back a great quantity of on education, political science, law, agriculture, industry, commerce, and military affairs for reference. They were different from Chinese envoys to Japan, such as Yang Shoujing, who chiefly looked for ancient Japanese books. However, officials visiting Japan in the late Qing, most of them being scholarofficials, showed a special love for classical Chinese in addition to purchasing new books in large quantity. Whenever they found rare and valuable or the only existing copy, they would buy them at high cost. Seeking and purchasing old as well as featured the bookseeking trips to Japan in the late Qing Dynasty.In the process of scholarofficials visiting Japan for books, Chinese students in Japan played a vital role. Most of the scholarofficials, who didn't know any Japanese at all, hadn't been to Japan before and knew little about the book markets there. In their short stay, Japanese students, serving as an interpreter or guide, helped them find a lot.