Reading the Archive as a Learning Tool: Qualitative Interpretations of the HMS Centurion’s Encounters in Xiangshan

Journal of Qualitative Research in Education - Eğitimde nitel araştırmalar dergisi

Articles

Reading the Archive as a Learning Tool: Qualitative Interpretations of the HMS Centurion’s Encounters in Xiangshan

Downloads

https://doi.org/10.54963/jqre.i45.1941
Zhang, Z. (2025). Reading the Archive as a Learning Tool: Qualitative Interpretations of the HMS Centurion’s Encounters in Xiangshan. Journal of Qualitative Research in Education, (45), 239–253. https://doi.org/10.54963/jqre.i45.1941
Issue 45 (2026)
Copyright (c) 2026 Zhixun Zhang
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright

The authors shall retain the copyright of their work but allow the Publisher to publish, copy, distribute, and convey the work.

License

Journal of Qualitative Research in Education (ENAD)  publishes accepted manuscripts under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Authors who submit their papers for publication by ENAD agree to have the CC BY 4.0 license applied to their work, and that anyone is allowed to reuse the article or part of it free of charge for any purpose, including commercial use. As long as the author and original source are properly cited, anyone may copy, redistribute, reuse, and transform the content.

Authors

  • Zhixun Zhang

    Institute of Social and Cultural Research, The Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China

Received: 26 November 2025; Revised: 29 December 2025; Accepted: 9 January 2026; Published: 19 January 2026

This paper investigates the events of 1742–1743 between the British warship HMS Centurion and the maritime communities and governments of Xiangshan (Zhuhai Macau) based on a qualitative case study. The study incorporates the analysis of various primary archival materials such as British naval logs, Qing administrative records and Portuguese/Spanish correspondence, as the main data collection method as the primary data collection method. The purposive maximum variation sampling was used to select documents that represent different attitudes or perspectives, such as the naval, local government, and commercial perspectives, with the aim of not only covering all the aspects of the encounter but also having a broad spectrum of views. The analysis of grounded theory involves the use of open coding initially to determine the initial themes, and then the use of axial coding to determine the relationship between the initial themes. The results show how the interactions were molded through cultural misunderstandings, jurisdictional tensions, and communication barriers. Such categories of themes as the importance of local knowledge systems (fishermen and pilots), the influence of power asymmetries, and the importance of procedural and bureaucratic practices are noted. The paper brings out the pedagogical nature of archival records, showing how the records can be used to provide insights into intercultural learning and historical explanation. This work is relevant to our comprehension of the contact zones of the world and provides a pedagogical solution to the teaching of critical thinking, the ability to take perspectives, and historical literacy at the school level.

References

  1. Sen, T. Maritime Southeast Asia between South Asia and China to the Sixteenth Century. TRaNS: Trans-Reg. Natl. Stud. Southeast Asia 2014, 2, 31–59.
  2. Fish, S. HMS Centurion 1733–1769: An Historic Biographical-Travelogue of One of Britain’s Most Famous Warships and the Capture of the Nuestra Senora de Covadonga Treasure Galleon; AuthorHouse: Bloomington, IN, USA, 2015.
  3. Peina, Y. Government Registration in the Fishing Industry in South China during the Ming and the Qing. In The Fisher Folk of Late Imperial and Modern China; Routledge: London, UK, 2016; pp. 33–44.
  4. Mokros, E. Spies and Postmen: Communications Liaisons and the Evolution of the Qing Bureaucracy. Front. Hist. China 2019, 14, 19–50.
  5. Cirone, A.; Spirling, A. Turning History into Data: Data Collection, Measurement, and Inference in HPE. J. Hist. Polit. Econ. 2021, 1, 127–154.
  6. Banks, D.E. Fields of Practice: Symbolic Binding and the Qing Defense of Sinocentric Diplomacy. Int. Stud. Q. 2019, 63, 546–557.
  7. Graham, J.L.; Lam, N.M. The Chinese Negotiation. Harv. Bus. Rev. 2003, 81, 82–137.
  8. Gill, M.J.; Gill, D.J.; Roulet, T.J. Constructing Trustworthy Historical Narratives: Criteria, Principles and Techniques. Br. J. Manag. 2018, 29, 191–205.
  9. Markley, R. Anson at Canton, 1743: Obligation, Exchange, and Ritual in Edward Page’s “Secret History”. In The Culture of the Gift in Eighteenth-Century England; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2009; pp. 215–233.
  10. Anson, G. A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1740–1744; BoD–Books on Demand: Norderstedt, Germany, 2019.
  11. Yu, Y.; Zhang, H.; Liu, Q.; et al. Research on Countermeasures of China’s Marine Culture Dissemination under the Background of Maritime Power—Take Zhoushan City of Zhejiang Province as an Example. SHS Web of Conf. 2024, 183, 01013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202418301013
  12. Zhu, X.; Li, Y.; Wang, J.; et al. Historical Logic and Maritime Cultural Foundation of China’s Initiative of Building a Maritime Community with a Shared Future. Front. Mar. Sci. 2024, 11, 1362399.
  13. Zhang, Y. Knowing and Re-forming Place. In Place Making in International Practice of Landscape Architecture: A Study of Australian Practices in China; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2021; pp. 9–38.
  14. Jones, A.J.; Kimbrough, S.O. The Normative Aspect of Signalling and the Distinction between Performative and Constative. J. Appl. Logic 2008, 6, 218–228.
  15. Siskin, C. The Work of Writing: Literature and Social Change in Britain, 1700–1830; Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MD, USA, 1999.
  16. Mao, L.; Ma, Z. “Writing History in the Digital Age”: The New Qing History Project and the Digitization of Qing Archives. Hist. Compass 2012, 10, 367–374.
  17. Buhi, J. Global Constitutional Narratives of Autonomous Regions: The Constitutional History of Macau; Routledge: London, UK, 2021.
  18. Souza, G.B. Portuguese, Dutch and Chinese in Maritime Asia, c. 1585–1800: Merchants, Commodities and Commerce; Taylor & Francis: London, UK, 2024.
  19. Kropman, M.; van Drie, J.; Van Boxtel, C. The Influence of Multiperspectivity in History Texts on Students’ Representations of a Historical Event. Eur. J. Psychol. Educ. 2023, 38, 1295–1315.
  20. Foster, S. Hong Kong & Macau Travel Adventures; Hunter Publishing: Edison, NJ, USA, 2011.
  21. Rodrigues, I.; Gaspar, S. The Presence of China and the Chinese Diaspora in Portugal and Portuguese-Speaking Territories: An Introduction. In The Presence of China and the Chinese Diaspora in Portugal and Portuguese-Speaking Territories; Brill: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021; pp. 1–20.
  22. Clark, H.R. Frontier Discourse and China’s Maritime Frontier: China’s Frontiers and the Encounter with the Sea through Early Imperial History. J. World Hist. 2009, 20, 1–33.
  23. Xie, J. Portuguese Macao Border Delimitation in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries: Territoriality, Sovereignty and Negotiability. Int. Hist. Rev. 2024, 46, 851–870.
  24. Wach, E.; Ward, R. Learning about Qualitative Document Analysis; IDS: Brighton, UK, 2013.
  25. Ou, L.; Tian, Y. Decoding Enterprise Digital Transformation: A Multi-Theoretical Exploration. Inf. Dev. 2025, 41, 02666669251315838.
  26. Kwan, C.N. “Barbarian Ships Sail Freely about the Seas”: Qing Reactions to the British Suppression of Piracy in South China, 1841–1856. Asian Rev. World Hist. 2020, 8, 83–102.
  27. Vilic, I.; Žuškin, S.; Žuškin, M.; et al. Navigational Crossing Situation Challenges in Narrow Channels: Expanding Dynamic Safety Zone for Decision Support System in Integrated Navigation Systems. In Proceedings of the Thirty-fifth (2025) International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference, Seoul/Goyang, Korea, 1–6 June 2025.
  28. Mohammadiyan, M.; Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, R.; Zare, H.; et al. Factors Influencing Unsafe Acts in the Automotive Industry Using Grounded Theory and Fuzzy DEMATEL. Sci. Rep. 2025, 15, 7532.
  29. Chen, Y. Research on the Protection of Macau Water-Faring Community (Dan Jia) from the Perspective of Urban Heritage. In Proceedings of the 2021 2nd International Conference on Building Science, Technology and Sustainability (ICBSTS 2021), Lisbon, Portugal, 27–29 October 2021.
  30. Dias, A.G.; Malheiros, J.M. The Borders of Macau in a Geohistorical Perspective: Political Dispute, (Non) Definition of Limits and Migratory Phenomena in an Original Border-City. In Handbook on Human Security, Borders and Migration; Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, UK, 2021; pp. 328–344.
  31. Lam, K. Macao and Hengqin on China’s Southern Coast: Aesthetic Reading of Infrastructural Materiality and Island Integration. Vis. Stud. 2025, 40, 1–14.
  32. Yin, J.; Jia, M. Historical Traceability, Diverse Development, and Spatial Construction of Religious Culture in Macau. Religions 2024, 15, 656.
  33. Kruck, A. Asymmetry in Empowering and Disempowering Private Intermediaries: The Case of Credit Rating Agencies. Ann. Am. Acad. Pol. Soc. Sci. 2017, 670, 133–151.
  34. Liu, Y. Macao’s Moral Maze: Sino-Portuguese Efforts Against the Early Modern Chinese Slave Trade. Slavery Abolit. 2025, 46, 380–397.
  35. Po, R.C. Shaping the Blue Dragon: Maritime China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties; Liverpool University Press: Liverpool, UK, 2024.
  36. Williams, J.R. Fraud and Inquest in Jiangnan: The Politics of Examination in Early Qing China; University of California: Berkeley, CA, USA, 2005.
  37. Shiming, Z. Inter-law: Consular Jurisdiction and Modern Judicial Operation in China. In Law, Resources and Time-Space Constructing: Internal Evolutionary Logic for Chinese Judiciary During the 19th Century; Springer: Singapore, 2022; pp. 43–102.
  38. Bechky, B.A. Making Organizational Theory Work: Institutions, Occupations, and Negotiated Orders. Organ. Sci. 2011, 22, 1157–1167.
  39. Giraldez, A. The Age of Trade: The Manila Galleons and the Dawn of the Global Economy; Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham, MD, USA, 2015.
  40. Whaley, A. How Effective Is Adjudication for Resolving Complex Delay Claims? A Case Study Analysis of 10 Delay-Related Adjudications in the UK. Constr. Law J. 2021, 37, 142–157.
  41. Fairhurst, G.; Putnam, L.L. Analysis of Tensions and Paradoxes in Qualitative Organizational Communication Research. In The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Organizational Communication; SAGE: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2024; pp. 531–550.
  42. Geppert, A.A. Design for Equivalence: Mutual Learning and Participant Gains in Participatory Design Processes. PhD Thesis, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA, 2023.
  43. Guo, W. The Speed of Justice: Summary Execution and Legal Culture in Qing Dynasty China, 1644–1912. PhD Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2016.
  44. Bean, T.P.; Greenwood, N.; Beckett, R.; et al. A Review of the Tools Used for Marine Monitoring in the UK: Combining Historic and Contemporary Methods with Modeling and Socioeconomics to Fulfill Legislative Needs and Scientific Ambitions. Front. Mar. Sci. 2017, 4, 263.
  45. Matras, Y. Language Contact; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2020.
  46. Lukin, A. War and Its Ideologies: A Social-Semiotic Theory and Description; Springer: Singapore, 2019.
  47. Cap, P. Legitimisation in Political Discourse: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective on the Modern US War Rhetoric, 2nd ed.; Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2013.
  48. Ruettershoff, T. Counterinsurgency as Ideology—The Evolution of Expert Knowledge Production in US Asymmetric Warfare (1898–2011): The Cases of the Philippines, Vietnam and Iraq. PhD Thesis, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, 2016.
  49. Nokes, J.D. Building Students’ Historical Literacies: Learning to Read and Reason with Historical Texts and Evidence; Routledge: London, UK, 2022.
  50. Fangyin, Z. The Role of Ideational and Material Factors in the Qing Dynasty Diplomatic Transformation. Chin. J. Int. Polit. 2007, 1, 447–474.
  51. Jingying, G. Exploration and Practice of Cross-Cultural Communication Based on Local Multicultural Resources: A Case Study of the “Intercultural Communication” Course at the School of Foreign Studies, Zhaoqing University. Int. J. Nov. Res. Educ. Learn. 2024, 11, 1–9.
  52. Day, J.H. Mediating Sovereignty: The Qing Legation in London and Its Diplomatic Representation of China, 1876–1901. Mod. Asian Stud. 2021, 55, 1151–1184.
  53. Sagre, A.; Machado, L.P.; Zumaquè, Y.T. Intercultural Teaching Practices in the EFL Classroom: The Case of Non-Elite Communities. TESOL J. 2024, 15, e768.
  54. Du, L. Embodied Borders: The Sino-British Maritime Frontier, 1950–1957. Made China J. 2020, 5, 102–107.
  55. Haynes, D. A Brief History of Portugal: How Portugal Ruled the Seas and Changed History Forever; Dominic Haynes History: London, UK, 2025.
  56. Zhong, Y. Study on the Culture Experiential and Symbolic Consumption of a Heritage Site: A Case Study of Mount Lushan in China. PhD Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Carmarthen, UK, 2024.
  57. Ouyang, Z. Ancient Beijing and Western Civilization; Routledge: London, UK, 2024.
  58. Sun, J. Seventy Years of Strenuous Efforts: Tracing the Development of Archival Higher Education in China (1952–2022). Arch. Sci. 2025, 25, 1.
  59. Fong, S.-Y. Guns, Boats, and Diplomacy: Late Qing China and the World’s Naval Technology; Columbia University Press: New York, NY, USA, 2022.
  60. He, N. Chinese Criminal Trials. In The Politics of Law and Stability in China; Trevaskes, S., Nesossi, E., Sapio, F., et al., Eds.; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2016; pp. 47–48.
  61. Zhang, Q. The Systems of Politics, Law, and Selecting Officials in Ancient China. In An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture; Springer: Singapore, 2015; pp. 139–188.
  62. Wong, C.U.I. The Sanitization of Colonial History: Authenticity, Heritage Interpretation and the Case of Macau’s Tour Guides. J. Sustain. Tour. 2013, 21, 915–931.
  63. Lincoln, M. Representing the Royal Navy: British Sea Power, 1750–1815; Routledge: London, UK, 2017.
  64. Strand, K.J. Community-Based Research as Pedagogy. Mich. J. Community Serv. Learn. 2000, 7, 1–15.
  65. Fischer, G.; Rohde, M.; Wulf, V. Community-Based Learning: The Core Competency of Residential, Research-Based Universities. Int. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn. 2007, 2, 9–40.
  66. Gøbel, E. The Danish Asiatic Company’s Voyages to China, 1732–1833. Scand. Econ. Hist. Rev. 1979, 27, 22–46.
  67. Schottenhammer, A. Connecting China with the Pacific World? Orientierungen 2020, 31, 111–170.
  68. Zarrow, P. The New Schools and National Identity: Chinese History Textbooks in the Late Qing. In The Politics of Historical Production in Late Qing and Republican China; Routledge: London, UK, 2007; pp. 21–45.
  69. Warren, J.F. Weather, History and Empire: The Typhoon Factor and the Manila Galleon Trade, 1565–1815. In Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past; Institute of Southeast Asian Studies: Singapore, 2012; pp. 183–220.
  70. Ho, F.M. Reforms in Pedagogy and the Confucian Tradition: Looking Below the Surface. Cult. Stud. Sci. Educ. 2018, 13, 133–145.
  71. Bordonaro, A. “Coming to Know Others”: Using a Dual-Narrative Approach to Foster Empathy, Identity, and Historical Thinking—A Case Study of History Teaching and Learning in a Conflict Environment; University of Michigan Library: Ann Arbor, MI, USA, 2016.
  72. Brooks, S. Historical Empathy as Perspective Recognition and Care in One Secondary Social Studies Classroom. Theory Res. Soc. Educ. 2011, 39, 166–202.