作为 通用的身份证件，“护照”在 的起步却较晚，这当然和“ 古代长期闭馆锁国， 人与外国接触甚少”直接相关。据考证， 本护照诞生于1689年（清康熙廿八年），当时的护照并不是现在的“本式”，而是“信函式”，即由清朝政府在特定的纸张上，用文字撰写赴外 人的信息。 的 本护照还是信函式的“集体护照”。

1840年开始， 与西方各国签订各类不平等条约，并沦为半封建半殖民地社会；与此同时， 在政府层面与民间层面的外事往来逐渐增多，政府开始为 公民签发“单人单纸”护照，这种“单人单纸”护照可以视为个人因私护照的鼻祖。

除了国内的总理衙门，清政府也可以在海外领事馆或海关，按需为 人或华裔发放各类护照。当时的护照大致分为两类，一类是“内地游历护照”，一类是“华工护照”。

如以清朝为计， 护照始于鼎盛时期，却盛于衰落时期—晚清， 护照大量签发，但国力衰退。尽管国力衰退，但护照上的文字还是颇为“霸气”，并带些“下行公文”色彩。以下图这张光绪年间签发的护照为例，上面写有“持护照入境时，请立即查验放行，并按照约定对持有人予以保护，不得为难和阻滞”。当然，这番“硬气”呈现于口中和纸上，目的国是否认可就要另说了。

Taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, Chinese passports began in their heyday, but flourished in their decline - in the late Qing Dynasty, a large number of Chinese passports were issued, but their national strength declined. Despite the decline of national strength, the words on the passport are still quite "domineering" and have the color of "downward official documents". The following figure shows the passport issued during the reign of Guangxu as an example, which reads "when entering the country with a passport, please check and release it immediately, and protect the holder according to the agreement without embarrassment and obstruction". Of course, this "hardness" appears in the mouth and on paper. Whether the destination country recognizes it or not is another matter.

早期的 护照是全中文的，除了朝鲜、日本等使用汉字的 外，其他 的边防官员往往无从辨识；这样一来，护照的通行能力便大打折扣。基于此， 护照上开始添加英文。

随着外事交往越来越多，护照的使用越来越多，伪造护照的情况虽不常见，但使用他人护照的情况屡见不鲜。囿于技术因素，晚清时期的 护照并无照片设置，更不可能实现生物采集；为了正确辨别护照持有人的真伪，签发机关只得用文字表述其体貌特征，如面相概况、身高、体态以及形容上的显著特点等。

With more and more foreign exchanges, more and more passports are used. Although it is not common to forge passports, it is common to use other people's passports. Due to technical factors, Chinese passports in the late Qing Dynasty had no photo settings, let alone biological collection; In order to correctly distinguish the authenticity of the passport holder, the issuing authority has to express his physical characteristics in words, such as facial profile, height, posture and descriptive characteristics.