數字是用以描述和定義自我及外在世界的基礎工具，它的公共性質時常容易引發政治性議題。本文以《列國歲計政要》這份根據英國《政治家年鑒》(The Statesman’s Yearbook)1874年數據資料翻譯的文本為核心，描寫它所觸發的三種相互關聯的社會現象──缺乏數字的焦慮感、以數字為核心的新表述方法，以及數字即等同事實的想法。這段變化提供我們觀察晚清數字政治的發源、數字參與中國現代轉型的實踐與經驗，它也是1920年代人們崇尚統計數據與社會事實的序曲。本文以知識史(history of knowledge)的角度，嘗試結合社會循環流通和日常實踐兩個面向，描寫這些通過統計處理的數據，如何逐漸被知識人認為是一種可靠且指向事實的知識形式，以及解決中國當前困境的重要資源。自域外輸入的統計數字，讓清政府認識到自己在文明發展進程中的落後。這段歷史經驗是一種中國因缺乏統計技術和量化資料，以致於為了追趕數字生產所陷入近似形式主義的困境。這段經驗更展示了國家如何通過數字來具象化地認識諸多政治挫敗帶來的現實困境與「事實」。

Numbers are fundamental tools for describing and defining both the self and the external world. However, their public nature often creates political contestation. This paper focuses on The Essential Statistics of Nations (列國歲計政要), a yearbook translated from the 1874 edition of The Statesman’s Yearbook of Britain. It explores how the publication of this text triggered three interrelated social phenomena: anxiety over the lack of numerical data, the emergence of new numerical-based forms of expression, and the perception of numbers as equivalent to observable facts. These changes foreshadowed the 1920s, when statistical data and social facts became highly valued. This article provides insight into the origins of numerical politics in late Qing China, allowing a diachronic exploration of how numbers shaped China’s modern transformation. Adopting insights from the scholarly literature on the history of knowledge, this article attempts to combine two dimensions—social circulation and everyday practices—to illustrate how data processed through statistical methods gradually became regarded as reliable and fact-oriented forms of knowledge. Statistical methods became a crucial resource for addressing China's contemporary challenges. These imported statistics made the Qing government aware of its lagging position in the process of civilizational development. This historical experience highlights how China's lack of statistical techniques and quantitative data placed China in a formalistic quandary as it attempted to catch up with the rest of the world through numerical production. Furthermore, this experience demonstrates how the state increasingly relied on numbers to concretely understand the challenges and “facts” brought about by numerous political setbacks.

數字; 統計學; 《列國歲計政要》; 知識史

numbers; statistics; The Essential Statistics of Nations; the history of knowledge