Haiguo sishuo 海國四說

Haiguo sishuo 海國四說 "Four discourses on overseas nations", comprising four works in fifteen juan, was written during the late Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Liang Tingnan 梁廷楠 (1796–1861), courtesy name Zhangran 章冉, who was a native of Shunde 順德, Guangdong. He held the status of secondary tribute student (fu gongsheng 副貢生) and was granted the title of Grand Secretariat Scribe (neige zhongshu 內閣中書) during the Xianfeng reign-period 咸豐 (1851-1861), with the additional honorary title of Reader-in-waiting (shidu xian 侍讀銜).

He was well versed in historical scholarship, accomplished in poetry and prose, refined in musical theory, and paid considerable attention to the study of political conditions in Western nations. He supported Lin Zexu 林則徐 (1785-1850) and Deng Tingzhen 鄧廷楨 (1776-1846) in their campaign to suppress the opium trade, and backed Guangdong's resistance against British forces seeking to enter the city. His work Yifan wenji 夷氛聞記 "Record of barbarian troubles" contains relatively faithful accounts of the circumstances of the Opium War (1839-1842). He also wrote the book Nanhanshu 南漢書. His poetry and prose are collected in the Tenghuating shiwen ji 藤花亭詩文集.

The Haiguo sishuo was compiled from historical sources relating to foreign countries and Sino-foreign relations. Having been engaged to compile the "Comprehensive survey of maritime defence (Haifang huilan 海防彙覽), Liang gathered old records and accounts from overseas in the course of that work, and on the basis of this material composed the Haiguo sishuo. The book includes the parts Yesujiao nanru Zhongguo shuo 耶穌教難入中國說 "On the difficulty of Christianity entering China" (1 juan), which introduces the origins of Christianity and the purposes of missionaries coming to China to spread their faith; Heshengguo shuo 合省國說 "Discourse on the Confederate States [i.e., the USA]" (3 juan); Lanlun oushuo 蘭崙偶說 "Occasional remarks on London" (4 juan); and Yuedao gongguo shuo 粵道貢國說 "Discourse on tributary nations in the Circuit of Guangdong (6 juan).

The latter three works being largely records of foreign trade with China and related matters, and of considerable value as historical source material. The parts Heshengguo shuo and Lanlun oushuo draw their material respectively from the American missionary Meilige's 美里哥 (i.e., Elijah Coleman Bridgman) Heshengguo zhilüe 合省國志略 and from various works of Western learning. The part Yuedao gongguo shuo was compiled on the basis of archival records of Sino-foreign commercial negotiations held over the years in the Guangdong Maritime Customs (Yue haiguan 粵海關).

The book was first printed in 1846. The text is included in the series Qingdai shiliao biji congkan 清代史料筆記叢刊.