庚子事變期間,清廷宣戰引發了整個事件的高潮。經考證,光緒二十六年五月二十五日宣戰上諭最初并未發給地方。袁世凱利用電報提前傳達并對外隱瞞了同日廷寄諭旨的宣戰態度,引發了東南督撫的自保因應。與此同時,五月二十九日南北失聯后內廷首條電諭通過保定電局發出。由于信息機制的混亂,保定將宣戰等諭旨也一并發遞給地方,引發了第二次宣戰危機。東南督撫與電報局總辦盛宣懷繼續控制電報消息,張之洞以諭旨之間的時間差化解了不利于地方的重復宣戰,保證了長江一帶的穩定。宣戰諭旨的一波三折呈現了電報技術在晚清政局中復雜而關鍵的作用,以及在新舊信息媒介的時間差中內廷與地方在電報意識、信息使用與管控上展開的博弈。

The declaration of war by the Qing court brought its tensions with foreign powers to a climax during the Boxer Uprising. The paper unveiled that the imperial edict of declaration on May 25th was not initially intended to be sent to the provincial authorities. But Yuan Shikai received the news and informed the provincial governors in advance via telegraph,which contributed to the Mutual Protection of the Southeast. Due to the confused information transmission mechanism of the Qing government,the imperial edict of war declaration was repeatedly passed to the provincial government. Zhang Zhidong and the General of the Telegraph Office Sheng Xuanhuai, who were conjointly in charge of telecommunication,eased the tension on the excuse of the time lag between the different methods of transmitting the edict. By investigating the checkered process of transmission,the paper revealed the complex and crucial role of the telegraph in the politics of the late Qing Dynasty. Taking advantage of the time lag between the newand traditional information transmission mechanism,the Qing court and the provincial government competed with each other in terms of the telegraph awareness as well as the employment and management of this new media.