First Chinese Ambassador to England

January 8th, 2009
  • Who is the first ambassador to England from China (Qing Dynasty) in the 19th century? Are there any anecdotes or stories arising from cultural differences?


  • Hi, Woodland-ga ! China Soul, a Christian website, mentions the ambassador in their potted history of China and names him as Guo Songtao, at: http://www.chinasoul.com/e/e-wk/episode03.htm "C36) In 1860, when the allied forces took Tianjin again--Emperor Xianfeng imprisoned all thirty-nine Anglo-French negotiation delegates in Beijing. C37) Three days later, when the allied forces entered the city, half of the delegates had been tortured to death. In retaliation, the Garden of Yuanming, the Emperor's luxurious summer palace was burned. C38) Pressured by the Western Powers, the Chinese emperor began to receive foreign diplomats in 1873. Consequently, Guo Songtao was sent to London, the first Chinese ambassador in history. " The English edition of The People's Daily of Monday March 31st 2003, carries a story about him at: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200303/31/eng20030331_114304.shtml Guo Songtao (1818-1891) was China's first resident diplomatic commissioner to foreign countries, and the renovation of his mausoleum is currently underway in central China's Hunan Province. His career is summarised as follows: "In 1847, Guo passed the highest imperial examination of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was chosen as a member of the Imperial Academy. He also served as governor of Guangdong Province and the chief prosecuting attorney of Fujian Province. In 1876, Guo was sent to Britain as the resident imperial commissioner. He later served as commissioner in France. An innovative government official, Guo contended that China should learn from western countries, especially with regard to the development of military forces and technology. Guo died at the age of 74 in 1891 and was buried near Huajiang Village in Shaxi township in Miluo..." Yuelu Academy, which has him dying a year earlier, in 1890, numbers him among its alumni at: http://dm.hnu.net.cn/english/05people/0503st/st.html "His courtesy name is Bochen, and his alias, Yunxian. He entered the Academy at the age of 18, and got the Presented Scholar degree in the Dao Guang Reign (1821-1851). He served successively as Governor of Guangdong Province, Surveillance Commissioner of Fujian Province, Vice Minister of Ceremonies, Vice Minister of Defence and Envoy to Britain. ..... His works include Mission to the Western Countries, Collected Works of the Yangzhi Study, Guo Songtao's Diaries, etc." There is a photo of him dressed in furs at: http://dm.hnu.net.cn/english/05people/0503st/st01pic/32_1_0.jpg Yuelu Academy - now the Hunan University - was founded over a thousand years ago in 976. A poem of his is quoted on the site for the South Heaven Gate on Hengshan Mountain (delightfully spelt "Sooth Heauen") at: http://www.nanyue.net/english/nantian.htm He wrote: "Haze spits out the sun from chilly rocks; cloud emerges from old cliffs." It is one of several poems by various writers describing the Gate's location at the meeting place where airstreams from north and south merge together in the Hengshan Mountain causing frequent haze and cloud, and the writing of poetry marks Guo Songtao as an educated man of his day. A site focussing on the history of Korea at: http://history.korea.ac.kr/journal/vol2/text5.htm tells us that Guo Songtao was aware of the latest theories of Western science. "China's first knowledge of Darwin and Spencer does not, however, start with the Hunanese reform movement. Yan Fu ( ?? ) (1853~1921), who went to England in 1878 to study naval science, learned about the natural, political and social theories of Darwin, Spencer, Mill and Montesquieu and discussed these with China's first ambassador to Europe Guo Songtao " I have not been able to trace his diaries or "The Mission to the Western Countries" online, though these may contain more personal anecdotal material. However, the University of Pittsburgh at: http://www.pitt.edu/~ablow/Courses/History%201470%20syllabus.htm lists Guo Songtao as author of "Kuo's London Letter to Li Hung-Chang (1877)." which is required course reading. for History 1470: Eurasian Currents The Instructor for the course is Anthony Barbieri-Low (Office: Posvar Hall 3M28 Work Ph: 412-648-7465) who might be able to help you source this material. There is a link to his email on the page. All in all, Guo Songtao seems to have been an educated, open-minded man who felt that China could best advance by opening itself to a knowledge of Western thought, and was probably sent to London as ambassador precisely because he was not likely to make social mistakes because of culture differences. Thank you for a an interesting question. Search terms: Qing dynasty Chinese ambassador Guo Songtao


  • Hi angy-ga! Thank you for the very thorough answer. Could you lead me to a website with Guo Songtao's Chinese name (in Chinese characters)? If you happen to know Chinese, perhaps you can type it out for me. When you searched the websites you listed, did you come across any websites in Chinese? I would like to check out some. They might present Guo from a different angle. I heard that he was denounced by the Qing Dynasty when he came back from his short stint in London? Did you come across any stories on that? Many thanks.


  • Hi ! I'm sorry, but I don't speak either Mandarin or Cantonese. However, all is not lost ! Digging around as outlined below, I found an alternate spelling of his name as Kuo Sung-t'ao. Searching under that turned up an article in English by Tao, Yuan Chen (Zhen), "Patterns of Changes of Chinese Officialism" at: http://www.geocities.com/sltao_ca/yscngov.htm Searching the page (Ctrl F in Microsoft IE) for "Kuo Sung-t'ao" turned up a paragraph about him, with his name in Chinese beside the English. The article points out that he was one of two ambassadors sent out to the West at the one time. A senior secretary of the Board of Punishment Ch' Lan-pin was aent to represent China's interests in Spain, Peru, and the United States. Here is what I was able to find additionally: There's a Portugese site which has references to him in transliterated Chinese at: http://www.vinecovn.com/dh_tdh%20Trung%20Quoc.htm Dartmouth College Library (now the Digital Library at Dartmouth) catalogues: Guo Songtao deng shi xi ji liu zhong / Kuo Sung-tao ... [et al.] chu ; [Pan Zhenping ze ren bian ji] Beijing Shi : Sheng huo, du shu, xin zhi san lian shu dian, 1998 Baker Berry Orient DS754.18 .G86 1998 There are two copies of this, which appears to be a 1998 anthology of various Chinese writings including his account of the London visit. The Library has two URLs: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library http://diglib.dartmouth.edu/ Here I found the ambassador is also referred to as Kuo Sung-tao, Kuo Sung-t'ao and Kuo Sung Tao. Presumably "Guo Songtao" is the new transliteration, as "Beijing" is now the approved Western spelling of whta we used to call "Peking". As Kuo Sung-t'ao Dartmouth hold a copy of "The first Chinese embassy to the West; the journals of Kuo Sung-t'ao, Liu Hsi-hung and Chang Te-yi." Translated and annotated by J.D. Frodsham. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1974. Library call number DS740.5.G5 K8 This book seems to be quite well-known, and there are references to it in other libraries as well as in the extensive Qing Dynasty bibliography to be found at: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/bibqing.html Dartmouth also holds two reproduction copies of some of Kuo Sung-t'ao's original manuscripts. (Search under "Author".) A Chinese Education site in Taiwan is at: http://www.sinica.edu.tw/imh/Eng/eng-Publications.htm They list an out of print monograph from 1971 "A Chronological Biography of Kuo Sung-t ao" by Kuo T ing-yee & Lu Pao-ch ien. It runs to 1011 pages. Searching under Kuo Sung Tao found a splendid 1877 "Vanity Fair" water colour of him by Spy (Sir Leslie Ward), at: http://www.strictlystores.com/storesites/thevanityfairprintcompany1/online_store/pages/0000000491.html You mention the possibility of his being reprimanded on his return to China. There is an interesting transcription of Tseng Chi-Tse [Zeng Qizi] (1839-1890) 's meeting with the Dowager Empress prior to his relieving Kuo Sung Tao as Ambassador to London. His account of the Audience is at: http://www.lcsc.edu/modchin/Cixi3.htm After discussing the logistics of the handover, including house rental and the system for sending dispatches and other documents, Tseng Chi-Tse says: "Kuo Sung-tao is certainly an upright and straightforward person. This time he also risked damage to his reputation in order to manage affairs for the nation. In the future it is hoped that the special grace of the Empresses and the Emperor will protect him in every respect. Decree: Up above [ shang-t'ou, i.e., by the rulers ] it is thoroughly understood. Kuo Sung-tao is a good man. Since his mission abroad he has managed many affairs but he has also received plenty of scolding from people. Answer: Kuo Sung-tao is vexed by the fact that China cannot become strong immediately and he has frequently argued with people and therefore he has been scolded. After all he is a loyal minister. Fortunately the Empresses Dowager and the Emperor understand him. Even though he has lost his reputation in the fight, still it is worthwhile. .... Decree: We all know him. The princes and great ministers also understand him. Answer: Yes." So while there seems to have been some controversy, it appears that he still enjoyed the confidence of the Emperor - at least in so far as Tseng was told !







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