Acknowledgement

Firstly, and most importantly, I would like to thank my dissertation director: Mr. Christian Henriot, for guiding me through my research. His trust, patience and professional academic guidance has seen me through the last five years, whenever and wherever I needed his help. He pushed me ahead whenever I lost courage, when I was lost amongst the numerous archives and written work, and when I was beset with family issues and academic problems. He is one of the most responsible and the best professors that I have ever met, and I am very grateful to him for being such a good and kind dissertation director.

I would also like to thank Mr. Xu Jilin, co-director of my dissertation, for his encouragement and support during the years. Without his help, I could not have completed this research.

My sincere thanks also go to the archivists in the Diplomatic Archives of Paris and Nantes, Shanghai Municipal Archives, Service Historique de la Défense, and Archives Nationales d’outre-mer, for helping me to search the catalogues and for delivering the archives, which formed the basis of my research.

I’d like to thank Madame Feng Yi, Madame Zhang Yu, Mr. François Guillemot, and MadameYamamoto Miyuki for helping me so much during my stay in the Institut d’Asie Oriental. I would also like to thank Clémence Andréys for helping me read the handwritten French archives; Isabelle Durand for making the beautiful maps in my dissertation; my dear friends Ni Xiaofang, Li Na, Xiao Qi and Ni Xiaoju for letting me share their small rooms whenever I stayed in Paris; and Dorothée Rihal, Lee Ju Ling, Sung Tzu-hsuan and Zhao Weiqing for their encouragement and thoughtful discussion during my writing process.

I would also like to thank the professors who helped a great deal during my research: Madame Jiang Jin, Madame Christine Cornet, Madame Xiaohong Xiao-Planes, Mr. Moullier Igor, Madame Marie Vogel, Mr. Jean-Marc Berlière and Mr. Emmanuel Blanchard. Thanks also go to Divya Castelino for her excellent copyediting. And, last, but not least, I would like to thank my parents and husband for supporting me unconditionally.