Editor's Note: This article provides important background to understanding the chief concern of the present collection: state-sponsored reforms of the 1895-1912 period. Essentially a summary of the relevant portions of Zhong Shuhe, Zou xiang shijie—Jindai Zhongguo zhishi fenzi kaocha Xifang de lishi [Going Out Into the World: A History of Modern Chinese Intellectuals' Investigations of the West (and Japan)] (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1985, 1993), Dong and Wang is a valuable brief overview not previously available in any language. Zou xiang shijie, it should further be noted, consists of Zhong Shuhe's critical introductions to individual Chinese travel accounts to the West and Japan before 1911, for the ten-volume reprint series compiled by Zhong himself, Zou xiang shijie congshu ["From East to West: Chinese Travelers Before 1911"] (10 vols.; Changsha: Yuelu Shushe, 1984-86).