The western reader is here presented with a biography of a major figure on the Chinese side in the crucial period of China's political contact with the western world, which describes a man of his own time and country, with his own background of education, endeavour and achievement and not merely a figure symbolic of Chinese obstruction of British purposes as he was seen from London or Hong Kong. This important work will be studied with interest by historians of both China and England and of Anglo-Chinese relations.
Part I. Yeh's background and his time; Part II. The administrator; Part III. The military organiser; Part IV. The paymaster general; Part V. The imperial commissioner for foreign affairs; Part VI. Yeh's last days; Notes; Glossary; Bibliographical essay; Bibliography; Index.