Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li zheng zhi da xue. / Cover title. Reproduced from ms. copy. Bibliography: p. 192-199.

Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li zheng zhi da xue. / Cover title. Reproduced from ms. copy. Bibliography: p. 192-199.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Also available in print.

Thesis--M.A., University of Hong Kong. / Mimeographed.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1962. / Also available in print.

據手稿本影印. / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學. / Ju shou gao ben ying yin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 432-438). / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue. / Chapter 第一章 --- 黃氏之生平 --- p.6 / Chapter 第一節 --- 傳畧 --- p.6 / Chapter 第二節 --- 交遊 --- p.31 / Chapter 第二章 --- 學養與事功 --- p.57 / Chapter 第一節 --- 早歲修學及壯歲舉業 --- p.57 / Chapter 第二節 --- 日本國志之撰述及其本旨 --- p.65 / Chapter 第三節 --- 西學對黃氏之影響 --- p.72 / Chapter 第四節 --- 外交 --- p.96 / Chapter 甲 --- 扶桑濯足 --- p.96 / Chapter 乙 --- 持節美洲 --- p.108 / Chapter 丙 --- 漫遊歐陸 --- p.114 / Chapter 丁 --- 奉使星洲 --- p.122 / Chapter 第五節 --- 歸國後於政教之主張 --- p.132 / Chapter 第三章 --- 文學及著作 --- p.155 / Chapter 第一節 --- 著述之文 --- p.155 / Chapter 甲 --- 日本國志 --- p.157 / Chapter 乙 --- 書札 --- p.188 / Chapter 丙 --- 政論及其他 --- p.211 / Chapter 丁 --- 黃氏論文之見解 --- p.252 / Chapter 第二節 --- 抒情之作 --- p.273 / Chapter 甲 --- 人境廬詩草 --- p.274 / Chapter 乙 --- 日本雜事詩 --- p.346 / Chapter 丙 --- 人境廬詞 --- p.358 / Chapter 丁 --- 集外歌謠及詩篇 --- p.368 / Chapter 戊 --- 黃氏論詩之見解 --- p.390 / Chapter 第四章 --- 總論 --- p.405 / Chapter 第一節 --- 論品學 --- p.405 / Chapter 第二節 --- 論文 --- p.413 / Chapter 附錄 --- 參攷書目 --- p.432

In the tenets of Western political science, “limited government” is usually seen as the touchstone of modern constitutionalism. Yet significant issues can arise when one applies this framework to East Asia. By studying the origin of constitutionalism in China and Japan, my dissertation reexamines the idea that “limited government” is the core of modern constitutionalism. I argue that constitutionalism, as it was introduced in Meiji Japan and late Qing China, focused on strengthening the government rather than limiting it. Many might feel this affirms the popular belief in an inherent affinity for authoritarianism in the Chinese mind, but this dissertation disagrees, finding such a conclusion to be unfairly reductive, and dangerous to achieving a true cross-cultural understanding. It argues instead that Chinese constitutionalism’s desire to strengthen the state was not the manifestation of a cultural predisposition toward authoritarianism, but was instead consciously adopted and constructed in response to the chaotic realities of late 19th and early 20th century China. By studying the constitutional thought of Aristotle, Cicero, Machiavelli, Hobbes, the early English constitutionalists, Locke, Montesquieu, the American founding fathers, and others, I shine light on a dilemma that was as critical to late Qing China constitutionalism as it was to Aristotle’s ancient Greece, Machiavelli’s Renaissance Florence, and Lincoln’s splitting 19th century America: to achieve the delicate balance between a strong state and the limiting principles of a Republic. My argument calls for a reevaluation not only of Chinese constitutional thought, but also of current liberal constitutional theory, which tends to define the goal of constitutionalism simply as the limiting of governmental power. My research shows that the essential goal of constitutionalism, whether it takes place in the East or the West, in the present or the past, is not to move closer to one pole of authoritarianism or the other of limited government, but to strike an ideal balance between the two, depending on the specific context of a state’s time and place in history. / East Asian Languages and Civilizations