Constructing “History” from Reality – Narratives and Perceptions of the Treaty of Shimonoseki in Late Qing China –

This article traces how the Treaty of Shimonoseki was narrated and interpreted in late Qing China. It focuses on the emergence of the modern discourse of “national humiliation” (guochi 國恥) in response to the shifting demands of the era. Immediately after the treaty’s signing, officials and literati opposed its ratification on grounds of dynastic legitimacy and territorial integrity, while also developing self-reflective critiques that located the causes of defeat within the regime itself. Newspapers such as Shen Bao and Xinwen Bao brought the issue into the public sphere, fueling popular anger while debating pragmatic alternatives, including whether it was less costly to cede territory or to pay indemnities. Intellectuals, represented by statecraft anthologies like the Huangchao Jingshi Wenxinbian Xuji, used the treaty as an analytical lens to diagnose systemic collapse and to argue for fundamental institutional reform.<br/> Building on these debates, the New Policies period of the 1900s saw textbooks selectively reconstruct these diverse responses, consolidating them into a singular narrative of “national humiliation” for the next generation. This process employed strategies such as presenting seemingly objective facts stripped of emotion and drawing a sharp contrast between “us” and “the enemy.” The institutionalization of a complex and multifaceted sense of humiliation into an educational “history” demonstrates how the modern nation-state shapes and mobilizes collective memory. This new consciousness of recording provided a crucial foundation for the later construction of the “Century of Humiliation” (Bainian Guochi 百年國恥) narrative that continues to inform modern Chinese historical identity.