중국 중심의 세계관이 동요된 19세기에 중국 외교관들은 세계관의 충격을 흡수하고 해외 임지에 적응할 수 있는 객관적인 지적 능력을 갖추고 있었을까? 이 의문을 해결하기 위해 1875년 이후 해외에 파견된 상주사절 60명의 교육배경을 조사해 보았다. 그중 7명은 서양 문화를 이해하는 데 필요한 공식 교육을 받았고, 12명은 서양 언어를 이해하고 외국 현지에서 실무를 처리하는 데 필요한 공식 교육을 받았으며, 절반이 넘는 41명은 서양을 이해하는 데 필요한 공식 교육을 받지 않은 사람들이었다. 아편전쟁 이후 50년이 넘도록 외교를 장악한 것은 전통적 지식인들이었다. 新政 이후인 1902년부터 외교관 양성기관인 同文館 출신들이 가장 많은 숫자를 차지하기 시작했지만, 그때는 이미 청의 국운이 현저히 기운 뒤였다.

The Sinocentrism of Chinese people was visibly shaken by the Opium War(1840). Did the Chinese foreign envoys in the late 19th century have objective intellectual capacity that could relieve the shock of a world view and adapt themselves to their overseas place of work? This paper studied this subject. To solve this question, this paper investigated the educational background of the Chinese foreign envoys in the latter era of the Qing Dynasty. They were 61 persons. The first Chinese foreign envoy was Guo Chongdao, the diplomatic minister to the British Empire. He was dispatched to the British Empire in 1875. He had graduated from Yuelu Academy and passed the last examination for office. He was a typical traditional intellectual. The traditional intellectuals as him was 41 persons. They hold a majority. They didn`t receive an education that was necessary for understanding the Western. Rong Hong was the first Chinese student studying in USA. He was dispatched to USA in 1875. The foreign envoys who had studied abroad as him was 7 persons. They received an education that was necessary for understanding the Western and performing their functions at their overseas post. Wang Fengzao was the first envoy who had graduated from Tongwenguan, a government school for teaching Western languages, founded Beijing in 1862. The foreign envoys who had graduated from Tongwenguan as Wang Fengzao was 12 persons. The education that they had received wasn`t suited to understanding the Western, but suited to performing their functions at their overseas post. As above, the Chinese foreign envoys in the latter era of the Qing Dynasty was mostly traditional intellectuals. The majority of them didn`t receive an education that was necessary for understanding the Western. Even if the graduates of Tongwenguan began to stand out since 1902, it was too late.