「中央外交」與「地方外交」之間：甲午戰爭期間王之春出使述論

Abstract

甲午戰爭期間，湖北布政使王之春出使俄國，弔唁亞歷山大三世逝世並祝賀尼古拉二世即位。他此行本來負有遊說俄國的外交使命，但中途取消。而在唁賀使命結束之後，他長期在法國逗留，從事了購買軍械、「潛師襲倭」、商借外債、聯法保臺等活動。王之春既是清政府任命的欽差大臣，又是署南洋大臣張之洞的部下，使得此次出使成為晚清外交史上的一個獨特案例。在出使前期，他遵循以往慣例，主動接受北洋大臣李鴻章的領導；而在後期，其活動背後皆有張之洞的授意或支持，赴日議和的李鴻章則不再過問出使。這些活動部分是為張之洞辦理，並未請示清政府；部分關乎大局，事先上奏請旨。由於王之春的雙重身份，這些活動中時時可以看到中央與地方利益的互動，兩者間有合作亦有掣肘。

During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Hubei Provincial Administration Commissioner Wang Zhichun was dispatched to Russia for condoling Alexander III `s death and celebrating Nicholas II `s enthronement. Originally, he was on a mission to lobby Russia, but it was cancelled halfway. After the mission in Russia was finished, he stayed in France to be engaged in some activities such as purchasing armament, raiding Japan, borrow foreign loan and lobby France to protect Taiwan. at the time, Wang took up two roles, Imperial Commissioner of Qing government and subordinate of Zhang Zhidong, acting Superintendent of Trade for the Southern Ports. It made this mission a special case in the diplomatic history of the Late Qing Dynasty. Following the established practice, he voluntarily conducted his activities under the leadership of Li Hongzhang, Superintendent of Trade for the Northern Ports, at the beginning of the mission. However, Wang`s activities came under the aegis of Zhang during the latter half of the mission, as Li was dispatched to negotiate with Japan. Some of these activities were undertaken in Zhang`s interests without requesting instructions from Qing government, while other activities related to the overall situation of the war were presented to the Emperor for permission. Because of Wang`s dual roles, interactions involving both cooperation and contradiction between central and local government could be found in these activities.