An international conference presented by the Dept. of History, National University of Singapore, Singapore History Consultants and Rise of Asia Museum (RoAM).

This conference combines the study of an evergreen abstract theme – the role and influence of individuals as agents in history – with a particular context: Great Powers and their efforts to “globalize” China, during the period that country now refers to as “the century of humiliation.” This is not another pointless return to the old polemical “great man” explanation for what drives history. It is rather an exercise in exploring the premise that individuals always had, to some degree and in various ways, influence over how history unfolded,and why it went the directions it did. There has been an explosion in the study of the international history of China since the turn of this century, but one dimension remains underexplored: the perceptions, policies, views, and agendas of the “metropolitan authorities” among the Great Powers most heavily involved in that international history.

We will explore the premise that one good way to better understand that dimension is to examine a particular kind of individual involved: someone who worked in China, either as a sojourner or for a career, and, while in China, had a direct responsibility that moved in two directions: having to “answer up” directly to some sort of higher authority or body in their “home country,” while also exercising direct responsibilities in China, including daily contact with the Chinese population, to oversee, or conduct, whatever office, occupation, or project brought them there. We seek to understand what difference individuals made to how the rest of the world perceived and engaged China during this turbulent era, from a range of different times, occupations, and nationalities.