Translation talk:Imperial Decree on events leading to the signing of Boxer Protocol

A very useful source!

Thanks for putting this translation here! It is a key document in showing the efforts of the Manchu Court to cover its tracks and brand the Boxers as "rebels." Cwh (talk) 05:45, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks CWh for your supportive comment, I think the Manchu Court calling them "bandits" more than "rebels". My translation skill is not 100%, you are welcome to suggest any alternative translation. P.S. Are these translation PHD material? Arilang1234 (talk) 09:49, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay -- I didn't realize I had to set up a separate Wikisource talk page. One further suggestion is that "教" should be translated simply as "Christian," rather than "Christian convert," since 教 does not imply "convert." Besides, while some of the people involved were recent converts, others were long time believers, some for generations. To call Westerners "Christians" but call Chinese "converts" is to make a racial distinction, not a religious one. But again, thanks for doing the heavy lifting on this translation. Cwh (talk)

I have noticed that you are going to prune the Boxer Rebellion article in a big way, that is good, and long overdue, too. Are you going to cite Xiang Lanxin a bit more, and also, Tong Tekong was a specialist on Manchu history too. It is very sad that I got blocked from editing, but I only got myself to blame, really. I hope one day the block can be lifted.Arilang1234 (talk) 06:00, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the good words. When I was a graduate student, Tong Tekong was very kind to me in sharing his knowledge, so I have great respect for him. I'm not sure which of his works would be appropriate for a Wikipedia article, however, since we aim at general audience, not specialists or graduate students. Xiang's book is also excellent, and my idea would be to use it, especially for the diplomatic side. However, the revisionist proposals need to wait for wider confirmation before (at least in my own opinion) we should wait until they have received wider acceptance before giving them more space in the article. Again, we need to keep the needs of our audience in mind, since this is a general encyclopedia.

Meanwhile, I hope you continue your translations of the documents you have so well selected. Of course, this is a matter for consensus, but my own view is that linking to material in Chinese is not useful, but producing the translations is a major and enduring contribution. My Chinese is good enough to read the texts, but not good enough to translate fluently. So I would be happy to polish and comment.98.94.169.200 14:07, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Sorry -- didn't sign the comments above because I was at a strange computer and didn't have my password to log in. But I think you could guess it was me! Cwh (talk) 14:13, 12 July 2011 (UTC)