Tracing the contours of the unequal treaties in imperial China, 1840-1911 -- Implementing and contesting international law: the unequal treaties and the foreign ministry of the Beijing government, 1912-1928 -- Disseminating the rhetoric of Bupingdeng Tiaoyue 不平等條約, 1923-1927 -- Redeeming a century of national ignominy: nationalism and party rivalry over the unequal treaties, 1928-1947 -- Universalizing international law and the Chinese study of the unequal treaties: the paradox of equality and inequality -- Conclusion: defining and redefining the past.

"This study, based on primary sources, looks at the linguistic development and polemical uses of the expression Unequal Treaties, which refers to the treaties China signed between 1842 and 1946. Although this expression has occupied a central position in both Chinese collective memory and Chinese and English historiographies, this is the first book to offer an in-depth examination of China's encounters with the outside world as manifested in the rhetoric of the Unequal Treaties."--Jacket.

Background: revival of Russian interest in the Far East -- Traditional Chinese diplomacy in retreat: The Treaty of Aigun -- Capitulation: The Treaty of Peking -- Ethnic tensions: the Muslim uprising and Russian invasion -- Chinese diplomacy in disarray: The Treaty of Livadia -- A reprieve: The Treaty of St. Petersburg -- The apogee of Tsarist imperialism: the Chinese Eastern Railway -- Over-extension: the Boxer Uprising and the Russian invasion -- Roll-back: the Russo-Japanese War -- Mongolia: the last frontier -- Tsarist foreign policy: Mongolian autonomy and Chinese Suzerainty -- Soviet foreign policy: Mongolian independence under Soviet tutelage.

Contents: Foreword -- Introduction: China, from empire to nation -- The Opium War -- The Taiping rebellion -- The period of imitation of western methods -- The reform movement: the first step -- The reaction to the reform movement -- Revival of the reform movement -- The struggle between the revolutionary and the constitutional movements -- Revolutionary versus constitutional movement, 1908 to 1911 -- The overthrow of the Manchu government and the establishment of the Republic of China -- The struggle between the Kuomintang and the Peiyang military clique -- Monarchical and antimonarchical movements -- Internal dissension of the Peiyang military clique, and the war lords in South China -- A federal government movement and melee among the war lords -- Reorganization of the Kuomintang and the end of the Peiyang war lords.