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In November 1901, Li Hongzhang, the prominent Qing dynasty statesman, died at the age of seventy eight. Western media reported on his passing and recognized his importance in directing China's foreign policy. The American journal Forum declared that with Li's death, China had lost "her most widely known citizen. The 400,000,000 of China, as well as the millions of the continents, knew his name and something of his history" (cited in Wue 143). For those outside China, Li was likely a more familiar and recognizable figure than anyone else in China, including those from the imperial household, due to his constant presence in the foreign press (Wue 142–43). After his death, Li continued to generate a considerable amount of interest, which resulted in several biographies.
In English, two well-known British writers, Alicia Little and J.O.P. Bland, wrote biographies of Li, published in 1903 and 1917, respectively. It was in this environment, when curiosity about Li was high, that a memoir of the famous statesman was published. Purported to be edited by an American named William Francis Mannix, the book, entitled Memoirs of Li Hung Chang, is a vivid account of Li's thoughts and musings on a number of significant events. Evocative and rich in detail, the book is a fascinating read. When it was published in 1913, it captivated its audience in England and America. There is, however, a significant problem with the memoir: there is not a kernel of truth to it. It is, in its entirety, an invention of Mannix's active imagination.
After Memoirs was revealed to be a literary forgery, interest shifted from the book to the man behind the fabrication. Researchers attempted to piece together fragments of information on Mannix's life and character. The American journalist and author Ralph Paine provides the most comprehensive published research on Mannix. Paine met Mannix in China when they both worked as journalists—Paine had been sent to cover the Boxer Rebellion for the Philadelphia Press (Hess 162). After Mannix's death, Paine wrote The Story of a Literary Forgery for the re-printed 1923 edition of Memoirs, which was then sold as a work of fiction.
A few decades after Paine, the award-winning medical science authors Ruth E. and Edward M. Brecher became interested in...