Chapter 7. Impossible Representations: Visions of China and the West in Flower in a Sea of Retribution

I n the autumn of 1895, after China’s catastrophic defeat by Japan, the Zongli yamen (Office of Foreign Affairs) responded by instituting special classes within the ministry to teach foreign languages.1 Zeng Pu, a well-connected young juren degree holder, went north from his home in Jiangsu to attend these classes. Zeng was one of the few who enrolled in the French section, a choice that was to have a significant impact on the rest of his life. For all the good intentions evident in instituting the new course of instruction, the classes quickly failed: the teachers, apparently officials returned from overseas duty, had no interest or skill in instructing, and the students felt they had better things to do than attend class.2 Among the students, it seems, only Zeng Pu took the course seriously and devoted himself sedulously to learning French, sensing that knowledge of Western culture would be indispensable to successful reform within China. Even after the dissolution of the formal course, Zeng continued to study French on his own, embarking upon a course of self-study of works of literature and history written in that language.