Western Advisers and Late Qing Chinese Military Modernization: A Case Study of Constantin von Hannekin (1854-1925)

Major works on Western advisors in modern China pay much, if not too much attention to these sojourners' cultural arrogance, moral rightness and, above all desire to change China. However, they were people with different skills and worldviews and they came to China for different reasons. Their careers in China were in many ways determined by the successes they achieved and the frustrations they encountered. Their experiences in China are thus simply too diverse for one to make meaningful generalizations. This paper attempts to expose untold stories of Constantin von Hannekan who played a leading role in China's coastal defense construction in the period 1879-1886. Drawing principally on his personal correspondence, which was published in Germany in 1998 but remains underutilized, it aims not only to assess this German officer's actual contribution to China's military modernization, but also to present his life drama in China which was interwoven with hope, greed, ambition and betrayal.