Self-Strengthening in The New World - A Chinese Envoy's Travels in America

Self-Strengthening in the New World: A Chinese Envoy's Travels in America
Author(s): Charles A. Desnoyers

Source: Pacific Historical Review , May, 1991, Vol. 60, No. 2 (May, 1991), pp. 195-219
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3640491
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Self-Strengthening in the New World:
A Chinese Envoy's Travels in America
CHARLES A. DESNOYERS
The author is a member of the history department

in La Salle University.
The decade of the 1870s was a watershed in the his-

tory of Chinese foreign relations, and a particularly impor-
tant one for students of Sino-American affairs. Though the
cordial relations inaugurated by the 1868 Burlingame Treaty
grew increasingly strained over the issue of Chinese immi
gration as the decade wore on, there was also a significan
amount of cooperation resulting in such innovative projects
as the Chinese Educational Mission and the Cuba Commis-
sion, culminating in a permanent diplomatic legation led by
Ch'en Lan-Pin and Jung Hung, the latter more widely know
as Yung Wing. The careers of these two men were intimate
tied to this evolving movement toward overseas representa
tion. While Yung Wing is familiar both to Sinologists an
scholars of American foreign relations, Ch'en Lan-pin is mu
less so. To a great degree, this neglect is understandabl
Yung's Yale education (class of 1854), adventurous life in Chi
and the United States, and evangelical fervor in the serv
Western values--not to mention his English-language aut
biography-make him attractive and accessible to Weste
scholars. Ch'en Lan-pin, however, enjoys none of these adv
tages, and material on his career must be sought in a varie
of Chinese and American sources. Thus, although he w
Yung's superior during their service in the U.S. from 1872
1875 and again from 1878 until 1881, his career is generall
Pacific Historical Review ? 1991 by the Pacific Coast Branch American Historical Ass

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
196 Pacific Historical Review
regarded as a footnote in the development of Sino-

relations. To scholars of American history he is almo
unknown.1
Despite the scant recognition he has received, Ch'en's
place as the first Chinese minister to the United States, Spain,
and Peru is certainly a benchmark in its own right. More-
over, for China specialists, Shih-mei chi-lueh [A brief account
of my ministry in America], the diary of his travels to and in
the United States from March to September, 1878, is a valu-
able document on changing Chinese perceptions of the West-
ern world.2 The purpose of this article is to sketch the major
outlines of his diary, thereby introducing it to those outside
the sphere of specialists in Chinese foreign relations.
1. Biographical information on Yung Wing may be found in Arthur

Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (Washington, D.C., 1943-1944),
403-404; Thomas LaFargue, China's First Hundred (Pullman, Wash., 1942); and
LaFargue, "The Chinese Educational Commission to the United States," Far
Eastern Quarterly, (1941), 50-70; William Hung, "Huang Tsun-hsien's Poem,
'The Closing of the Educational Mission in America,"' Harvard Journal of
Asiatic Studies, XVIII (1955), 51-73; Edmund Worthy, "Yung Wing in America,"
Pacific Historical Review, XXXIV (1965), 265-287; and Yung Wing, My Life in
China and America (New York, 1909).
Material on Ch'en Lan-pin is contained in all of the above. In addition,
see Herbert A. Giles, A Chinese Biographical Dictionary (Shanghai, 1898), 94-95;
Robert Irick, Ch'ing Policy toward the Coolie Trade, 1847-1878 (Taipei, 1982),
94-95; Shih-shan Henry Tsai, China and the Overseas Chinese in the United States,
1868-1911 (Fayetteville, Ark., 1983); Yen Ching-hwang, Coolies and Mandarins
(Singapore, 1985); Kim Man Chan, "Mandarins in America: The Early Chi-
nese Ministers to the United States, 1878-1907" (Ph.D. dissertation, Univer-
sity of Hawaii, 1981). A translation of a brief entry from Ch'en's diary on his
travels in Utah, as well as an excellent overview of a century of Chinese
accounts of America, may be found in R. David Arkush and Leo O. Lee, Land
without Ghosts: Chinese Impressions of America from the Mid-Nineteenth Century to
the Present (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1989), 1-13, and 49-51.
Scanty but useful Chinese language biographical information on Ch'en
may be found in Chin Liang, ed., Chin-shih jen wu-chih [gazeteer of modern
personages] (Taipei, 1955), 216-217; and Li Tzu-ming, Yueh-Man-t'ang jih-chi
[Diary in the Yueh-man study] (Shanghai, 1921), 51 tse, entries for Kuang-hsu
1, 2nd month, 9th day; Kuang-hsu 2, 9th month, 18th day, pp. 4439, 4824.
Because the overwhelming majority of documentary sources and secondary
works cited in this article use the Wade system of Chinese romanization, all
Chinese names and terms are rendered in Wade, rather than in the newer
pinvin system.
2. Ch'en Lan-pin, Shih-mei chi-lueh [A brief account of my ministry in
America], in Hsiao-fang-hu-chai yu-ti ts'ung-ch'ao [Collection of geographical
works from the Hsaio-fang-hu studio], Wang Hsi-ch'i, comp. (Shanghai, 1897;
reprint, Taipei, 1962), 10045-10085.

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Chinese Envoy's Travels in America 197
Although Ch'en's journal stops short of recording his

policy deliberations as minister, it provides a revealing
glimpse of a well-travelled, traditionally educated Chinese
official exploring a country possessing the "wealth and power"
sought by China. His impressions reveal a genuine, though
criticallh lective, admiration for Western technology, and a
rather ambivalent attitude toward American culture. Though
apparently unshaken in his belief in the primacy of Confucian
values, he is repeatedly struck by the enterprise and prosper-
ity of the people, the number and quality of educational and
philanthropic institutions, and the vitality of the Chinese
and American merchant communities. Overall, his comments
on America are not unlike those of Kuo Sung-t'ao, the first
Chinese minister to England, who incensed conservative col-
leagues with his admiring glimpses of British life.3
All Chinese representatives abroad were required to record
their observations. Their diaries thus provide a unique view
of the expanding Euro-American world of the last quarter of
the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, their observations have
been largely ignored by writers in Western languages, a situ-
ation more to be regretted because, as J. D. Frodsham con-
tends, their writings contrast sharply with the classic accounts
of European travelers. Their ideological certitude renders
them largely immune from soul-searching in matters of pol-
itics or culture. Their observations have an unexpected
"freshness of response" coupled with a remarkably balanced
perspective on their new posts.4 Though they seldom refrained
from making value judgments about Western culture, espe-
cially religious and moral practices, their accounts are, in the
main, more even-handed than those of their Western con-
temporaries on life in China.
Though Ch'en Lan-pin had already spent several years
in America, his writing still conveys the sense of seeing much
3. For a translation of Kuo Sung-t'ao's diary of his ministry in England,

Shih-hsi chi-ch'eng [The record of an envoy's journey to the West], see J. D.
Frodsham, The First Chinese Embassy to the West (Oxford, 1974).
4. Ibid., xli. Frodsham points out that even the xenophobic Liu Hsi-hung
"comments on the bare arms and bosoms of fashionable society and the
promiscuous mingling of men and women... with all the dispassionate detach-
ment of an anthropologist commenting on the sexual mores of a Pacific
islander:" Ibid., Ivii.

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for the first time. He took great pains to set down, a

numbing detail, an enormous variety of data to sup
the earlier geographies of Wei Yuan and Hsu Chi-yu
ful attention was paid to describing every big cit
lated hamlet through which the envoys passed,
giving detailed accounts of all the states of the Uni
capitals, major rivers, mountain ranges, populatio
facturing, and agricultural practices. More specifica
to his charge of guiding and protecting his count
the New World, Ch'en attempted to gather extensiv
the settlement and distribution of Chinese in the United States.
Here again, the diary carefully records the Chinese popula
tions of every place touched by the transcontinental railroad,
their occupations, living conditions, and relations with th
non-Chinese community.
A large portion of the diary is also given over to de-
scriptions of the technological marvels of the New World
Like other Chinese envoys to the West, Ch'en was constantly
being taken on tours of factories, forts, arsenals, farms, tele-
graph exchanges, and other hallmarks of "progress." His com-
ments on these reveal, if not a high degree of technical
knowledge, at least a budding curiosity about the workings of
such devices as the telephone, telegraph, phonograph, and
especially military items. On the other hand, the diary reveal
only a superficial interest in, and understanding of, the Ameri
can political system. Included are a brief description of the
functions of the Congress and President, state and local gov-
ernments, and a sketch of U.S. history. Here again, he seems
far more impressed with American material culture than with
its undergirding institutions. Like most traditionally edu
cated Chinese, he seems to have considered these foreigners
extraordinarily gifted gadgeteers, but philosophically and
spiritually immature.6
5. Wei Yuan, Hai-kuo t'u-chih [An illustrated gazeteer of the countries

overseas] (N.p., 1844); Hsu Chi-yu, Ying-huan chih-lueh [A brief account of th
maritime circuit] (N.p., 1848). For a good monographic treatment of Hsu, se
Fred Drake, China Charts the World: Hsu Chi-Yu and His Geography of 184
(Cambridge, Mass., 1975).
6. One searches the diary in vain, however, for any blanket denuncia-
tions of Christianity like those of Kuo Sung-t'ao who pronounced it a religion

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While Ch'en's background was that of a classically trained

scholar-official, his movement up the ladder of government
preferment took some less orthodox shortcuts and detours. A
native of Wu-ch'uan in Kwangtung, he received the coveted
chin-shih degree, with the additional honor of Hanlin status,
in 1853.7 Though given a nominal post as a fourth-grade
secretary in the Board of Punishments (Hsing-pu), Ch'en, like
many Chinese officials during the tumultuous years of the
Taiping Rebellion, returned to his native Kwangtung and
helped to raise militia in the vicinity of Kao-chou.8
Following an increasingly popular avenue of extra-
governmental advancement - employment in the mu-fu, or
private bureaucracy, of a private official-Ch'en joined the
staff of Liu Ch'ang-yu, who was engaged in the Ch'ing gov-
ernment's suppression of the stubborn Nien Rebellion. Dur-
ing his service with Liu, from 1867 to 1869, he came to the
attention of Tseng Kuo-fan, arguably China's most powerful
and influential figure during this era, and was invited to join
his secretariat in 1869.9
Little is known of his activities during this period. Tseng's
Nien P'u, or "Chronicles," mention that he was assigned to
assist in famine relief in the area around Ta-ming in the
metropolitan province of Chihli.1o Less direct evidence indi-
cates that he may have also worked as a tutor to Tseng's
family.11 Though it is not clear where or how he came by his
for "imbeciles." Kuo to Yao Yen-chia, cited in Frodsham, First Chinese Embassy,
xlv. Ch'en's diary has little to say on the subject of foreign religion save for his
observations on the uniqueness of the Mormons' position in Utah. Shih-Mei,
10056-10057 (62b-63a).
7. Ch'en Lan-pin, Mao Ch'ang-shan, et al., Wu-ch'uan hsien-chih [A history
of Wu-ch'uan], 10 tse (N.p., 1886-1888), VI, 50a. Also see Fang Chao-ying and
Tu Lien-che, Ch'ing-ch'ao chin-shih t'i-ming pei-lu [A ranking of chin-shih degree
holders in the Ch'ing dynasty] (Peking: Harvard-Yenching Institute Sinologi-
cal Series, Supplement No. 19, 1941) 84. Ch'en was ranked seventh in the
second tier of degree holders.
8. Giles, Chinese Biographical Dictionary, 94-95; Li Tzu-ming, Yueh-man-
t'angjih-chi, 4439.
9. Giles, Chinese Biographical Dictionary, 94; Tseng Kuo-fan, Tseng Wen-
cheng-king ch 'uan-chi: Nien-pu [The complete works of Tseng Kuo-fan: Chroni-
cles], T'ung-Chih 8, 1st month, 17th day, (March 1, 1869), VIII (Shanghai,
1888), 19001 (hereafter cited as Nien-pu).
10. Nien-pu, 19009.
11. North China Herald, July 27, 1872.

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expertise, Ch'en was, by the fall of 1870, employed as a

or expert on "foreign matters" by Tseng. Accord
Tzu-ming, a well-placed and acerbic official, he serv
advisor during the thorny negotiations with the Fr
lowing the Tientsin Massacre.12 In a Nien-p'u entry
ber 16, 1870, Tseng characterized Ch'en as a man
"brave hardship and danger" and thus well qualif
China's first sustained overseas project of modern t
Chinese Educational Mission.13
The Educational Mission was the brainchild o
Wing, who, by dint of his foreign education and k
of Western technology, had also become a member
mu-fu and a protege of his lieutenant, Ting Jih-
conceived by Yung, and modified by Tseng and
chang in a succession of memorials to the thron
October 1870 and February 1872, the plan called for
tion of 120 promising boys between the ages of ten a
to study in American schools for fifteen years. Th
then form a nucleus of technical experts to aid Chi
struggle to "grow strong by our own efforts."'14 T
was launched in the summer of 1872, and despit
between the two men concerning the emphases of
educations- Yung attempting to guide the nontechn
of the curriculum toward Christianity and liberal a
Ch'en insisting on a strict Confucian course of s
initial years of the project proceeded smoothly.15
12. Li Tzu-ming, Yueh-man-t'ang, 4439.

13. Nien-pu, 19042.
14. Tseng Kuo-fan, Tseng Wen-cheng-kung: Tsou-kao [memo
3a-4a; Li Hung-chang, Li Wen-cheng-kung: I-shu han-kao [The com
of Li Hung-chang: Correspondence with the Tsungli Yamen] (
1905-1908), I, 19b-22a (hereafter cited as I-shu han-kao); Li Wen-
Tsou-kao [Memorials to the throne], XIX, 7a-10a; Ch'ou-pan i-wu s
complete record of our management of barbarian affairs] (Pe
section III, LXXXII, 46b-52a (hereafter cited as I-wu-shih-mo).
15. For Ch'en's views on the progress of the students, see his l
Han-ch'ing-the official in charge of the Educational Mission's
office-of August 20, 1873, in Chung-Mei Kuan-hsi shih-liao [Histo
als on Sino-American relations] (Taipei, 1968), III, 1059-1060 (her
as Chung-Mei). For a contemporary American's view of the missio
L. Bowen, "Yung Wing and His Work," Scribner's Monthly, X (
106-108.

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The increasing emphasis on "self-strengthening" had

important repercussions in the conduct of foreign relations
as well as in the acquisition of technical skill. Despite a strong
traditional bias against diplomatic activism, the Ch'ing gov-
ernment during the early 1870s was groping toward a realiza-
tion of the advantages of having representatives abroad, and
by the end of the decade Chinese legations would be estab-
lished in the capitals of most of the great powers. One of the
key elements in this process was a growing concern about the
fate of overseas Chinese, particularly those victimized by the
infamous "coolie trade."
Because of their position in the United States and knowl-
edge of conditions in the Americas, Ch'en and Yung were
sent on missions to Cuba and Peru, respectively, to person-
ally investigate the alarming reports of Chinese maltreat-
ment there. Their findings, carried back to China by Ch'en
in the winter of 1874-1875, laid out in graphic and sickening
detail the abuse practiced upon their countrymen and aroused
Chinese and Western opinion about emigrant conditions. For
the Tsungli Yamen (Chinese foreign office) they provided a
powerful argument in favor of a strong diplomatic and con-
sular presence in Spain and the Americas. And they made
Ch'en and Yung, as the leading Chinese experts on Chinese
problems in the West, the natural candidates to be the first
ministers to the United States, Spain, and Peru.
While both the Tsungli Yamen and American diplomats
in China were satisfied with these choices, circumstances inter-
vened to prevent the prompt dispatch of the mission. Follow-
ing their appointments on December 11, 1875, Yung remained
at the Education Mission in Hartford while Ch'en was repeat-
edly delayed in Peking by the Yamen's negotiations with
Spain on the questions of consular representation in Havana
and repatriation of Chinese from Cuba. With a treaty finally
concluded in November 1877, the way was cleared for Ch'en
and his retinue to leave for the New World in the spring of
1878.16
16. For the edict of appointment, see Tsungli Yamen to the Throne,
Ch'ing-chi Wai-chiao shih-liao [Historical materials on late Ch'ing foreign rela-
tions] IV, 17a-19a (hereafter cited as Wai-chiao). For the opinion of U.S. officials

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At this point Ch'en's diary begins with a report

preliminaries for the mission. On March 1, 1878, he
that he had received his credentials in Peking, and on
in a surprisingly brief entry, he noted his farewell
with the emperor. Following a delay of nearly two w
party then embarked for Tientsin, arriving on Ap
There, as in all Chinese ports of call, the party's acco
tions were provided by the China Merchant's Steam
tion Company, one of the first "government-sponso
merchant-supervised" (kuan-tu shang-pan) enterprises
to compete with Western concerns. As an early supp
the CMSN Co., Ch'en was undoubtedly gratified to se
hand the firm's expanded facilities.18 In the next fe
following a courtesy call on Li Hung-chang, he rec
official seal at the Tsungli Yamen's Tientsin office, co
with American consular personnel, and was presen
photographs of the 1876 American Centennial Exhib
Customs Inspector Gustav Detring, who had super
Chinese exhibit there.19
The ship put in at Shanghai on April 20, and Ch'e
arrangements to have the funds for the mission forw
America. Two days later, he embarked for Nanking
with Nanyang Commissioner Shen Pao-chen, but on
lowing day he was suddenly "afflicted with hot and c
and lost consciousness." The symptoms quickly w
the chills now accompanied by dizziness, ringing in
numbness, and diarrhea and it would be a month befo
would be sufficiently recovered to leave his bed. On
in China, see Chester Holcombe to Hamilton Fish, Dec. 13, 1875

Davids, ed., American Diplomatic and Public Papers: The United State
Series II: The United States, China, and Imperial Rivalries, 1861-1893 (W
Dela., 1979), I, 220-221. For the Spanish negotiations, see Tsungli
the Throne, Wai-chiao, IX, 19b-20a, and Ting Jih-ch'ang to the Thr
20a-21b.
17. Ch'en, Shih-Mei, 10045 (la).
18. In 1876 Ch'en had written a long memorial advocating closer coope
ation between provincial officials and the CMSN Co. and looking forward
the day when company vessels would be employed in trans-Pacific trad
Wang Yun-wu, ed., Tao hsien t'ung kuang ssu chao tsou-i [Memorials of the T
Kuang, Hsien Feng, T'ung Chih and Kuang Hsu reigns] (Taipei, 1969), VI
3079-3081.
19. Ch'en, Shih-mei, 10045 (la).

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and 25 he felt well enough to visit with American minister

George F. Seward and other members of the diplomatic com-
munity. They were all "very kind," he wrote, but he was
"unable to converse much." Finally, on June 1 the party
boarded another CMSN Co. ship for Hong Kong, arriving
on the 5th.20
In Hong Kong the party met with Governor John Pope
Hennesy on the 7th and the next day visited with assorted
English and foreign officials. Two years before, when Kuo
Sung-t'ao had visited the Crown Colony, British officials had
expended a great deal of effort trying to impress the Chinese
minister with the progressive aspects of their rule. Ch'en, too,
was wooed with appropriate pomp, but far more interesting
for him was the demonstration of a newly installed telephone
connecting the governor's mansion with his summer resi-
dence. As the diary notes:
There is a tube next to a bell [on the device]; a crank was turned
to signal [the other phone], and they spoke Chinese into the
tube and listened. Then the bell sounded and [they] listened to
the tube. [They] replied twice. I then asked him how it was
possible to transmit words and sound. I was told that if the wire
can transmit the written word [i.e., as with a telegraph], it must
also be able to transmit sound. The logic is clear, but how it
works is beyond my comprehension.21
Even more impressive was the news of another remarkable

machine, the phonograph. The man who had demonstrated
the telephone told Ch'en that
In England men are already making a "talking box." Several
persons' conversations [can be sent] a distance of 10,000 ii or
entered for hundreds of years then listened to from their own
lips, as it were.22
The benefits from such a device would be considerable:
Regarding contracts, wills, [and] various important [matters],

furthermore, this will have great utility. In the future, when it is
perfected, it will certainly be widely distributed in China.23
20. Ibid., 10045-10046 (lb).

21. Ibid., 10046 (Ib).
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.

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Ch'en's next few days were occupied with mee

Peruvian minister and travelling to Canton to pay hi
to local officials there. Upon his return, he made res
for the Pacific voyage and on June 22 his party boa
Pacific Mail Co. steamer City of Tokio for Japan and
leg of their journey to San Francisco.24
After a rainy week-long voyage, the ship put in
hama where Ch'en conferred with Chinese minister Ho
Ju-chang and consul Huang Tsun-hsien. Followin
sightseeing tour and some notes on the Chinese in J
envoys continued west.25 Shipboard life moved at a
pace, and Ch'en and party passed the time convers
the other passengers and researching their new post.
4 he recorded that "this is the day on which Ame
founded." He spent it engaged in a pursuit which
occupied Kuo Sung-t'ao on his trip: studying the fla
various maritime nations and noting some of the mo
inent designs.26
Two days later an incident occurred that served t
the voyage and pique the minister's curiosity about
workings.
[6th lunar month] 7th day [July 6].... At 9:00 this evening, we
were engaged in leisure conversation when the engines sud-
denly stopped. On inquiry I was given to understand its cause
was in the inner machinery. Because the lubricating oil was
insufficient, the shaft [the main crankpin] became worn and
broke off, stopping the ship. Repairs are being made while under
sail.27
The jerry-rigged repair, though effective, slowed the ship's

progress, and the remainder of the voyage was made with
only three of the four engines operable and aided by sail.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid., 10047-10048 (2a-b).
26. Ibid., 10048 (2b). See also Frodsham, First Chinese Embassy, 45-49.
27. Ibid. The Alta California of July 27, 1878, reported the story of th
Tokio's delay and noted that the ship spent fourteen days under sail while
forward crank-pin was being cut to replace the after one. The Tokio's ch
engineer, John Lynch, was awarded $1000 in gold by the San Francisco Boa
of Marine Underwriters for his extraordinary efforts to repair the ship. Al
Jan. 4, 1879.

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The vessel's tardiness and the prominence of the passengers

occasioned a certain amount of anxiety in San Francisco until
it was finally sighted off the coast.28
The Tokio made San Francisco Bay on the evening of
July 25 but delayed entering the harbor until the following
morning because of dense fog. As the ship was secured to the
wharf, the journal reflects Ch'en's excitement, even astonish-
ment, at the massive welcome that greeted the envoys:
Already at 9:00 a.m. the San-i hui-kuan [Sam Yap Company]
manager... came aboard and said that the Liu hui-kuan [Six
Companies] directors had provided carriages for our country-
men to welcome us and asked us to wait awhile. At 11:00, over
one hundred of the Association's [Six Companies'] directors came
aboard, more than ten wearing formal gowns and the others
sporting colorful jackets. On the wharf stood row upon row of
Chinese and foreign spectators of both sexes crowding to see
[us], some coming by train from miles away to have a glimpse of
the dignified Han officials.
Upon landing we saw that the Chinese hui-kuan and hotels
were already flying the Chinese dragon flag. On Montgomery
Street our rented quarters were at the nine story Palace Hotel
(which also flew the dragon flag.) In the city there are six large
foreign [American] hotels, and ours is the most elegant of the
six. The carpets, enough for an area of five ch'ing, are worth six
million yuan [dollars]. The court and hallways are equipped
with four newly-produced electric lights which shone like the
moon. Their power is far greater than gaslight and their cost to
operate is far lower....29
The San Francisco press, as well as such major eastern

papers as the New York Times, carried the news of the landing
and progress of the legation across the country. The San Fran-
cisco Call, for instance, in a long, mostly favorable, account of
28. San Francisco Call, July 27, 1878, reprinted in the New York Times,
Aug. 4, 1878.
29. Ch'en, Shih-mei, 10049 (3a). The hui-kuan, usually referred to collec-
tively as the Six Companies, were mutual aid organizations that regulated
Chinese social life in America and attempted to represent Chinese interests
and mediate disputes with the communities' non-Chinese neighbors. For
a detailed treatment, see Him Mark Lai, "Historical Development of the
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association/Huiguan System," in Chinese
America: History and Perspectives, 1987 (San Francisco, 1987), 13-52.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
the ministers' arrival, found the practical absenc

Chinese "sandlot" agitation especially worthy of c
"A few white men and boys in the throng groaned a
but they were summarily quieted by the Police."30
Not only was there a sizable gathering on the
greet the delegation but "a large crowd of laugh
pleased Chinamen accompanied the procession alon
street to the Palace Hotel, where about 1,000 more w
gregated in the court and on New Montgomery street
impressed the reporter with both his diplomatic ap
his ease with Western conveniences:
On alighting in the court of the hotel, the Embassy was

ducted to the apartments assigned to it. A few of the membe
the Embassy, to whom the elevator was a new thing, drew
diffidently, and some of the resident merchants ran around
corner and scampered up the staircase like a group of sky
ing schoolboys. The Ambassador, however, who is perfectly w
bred and a travelled gentlemen, gravely entered the elev
and the others quickly followed; and the first load went up a
a good deal of merriment.32
Perhaps as a result of his previous years in Amer

Ch'en also seemed to understand the value of treating ne
paper reporters with respect. Though Yung Wing genera
handled English exchanges with the press, Ch'en did
several occasions, give interviews via interpreters, and
initial brush with the Fourth Estate in San Francisco was
quite cordial. After the envoys received "the upper cr
San Franciscan Chinese" in the court of the hotel, the w
observed that
30. San Francisco Call, July 27, 1878. The literature on the Anti-Chines
movement is far too extensive to cite in more than cursory fashion her
However, the reader may profitably consult Gunther Barth, Bitter Strength
History of the Chinese in the United States, 1850-1870 (Cambridge, Mass., 19
Mary Roberts Coolidge, Chinese Immigration (New York, 1909); Stuart
Miller, The Unwelcome Immigrant: The American Image of the Chinese, 1785-18
(Berkeley, 1969); Alexander Saxton, The Indispensible Enemy: Labor and t
Anti-Chinese Movement in California (Berkeley, 1971); and Sucheng Chan, T
Bittersweet Soil: The Chinese in California Agriculture, 1860-1910 (Berkeley
Los Angeles, 1986). Tsai's China and the Overseas Chinese is the standard wo
on Chinese efforts on behalf of the immigrants.
31. San Francisco Call, July 27, 1878.
32. Ibid.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
A corps of reporters were on hand. They were the only Cauca-

sians present and the Ambassador, seeing them, inquired who
they were, and signified his wish to greet them by the Anglo-
Saxon custom of shaking hands, which was accordingly done.
The reporters smiled and bowed. His Excellency smiled and
bowed, the merchants smiled and bowed, and thus the reception
closed.33
Ch'en and his suite stayed in San Francisco for a week.

The diary entries for this period contain a potpourri of histor-
ical, demographic, and geographical information on the city
and state, gleaned largely from interviews with former U.S.
minister to China F. F. Low and George Seward. Sandwiched
among these are some astute observations on the history and
rapidly deteriorating position of the Chinese in California.
Because of his long absence from America and lack of direct
communication with Yung Wing, it appears that Ch'en's only
knowledge of recent developments had come second-hand
through Li Hung-chang, the Tsungli Yamen, and American
Minister Seward. Now he was forced to face the full import of
the "Chinese Question":
Although emigrants of various nationalities differ from the Chi-
nese in language and habits, there is no disharmony. Honest
well-to-do merchants like to hire Chinese. Only the Irish Work-
ingmen's Party deliberately insults these people. [They come]
from the English island of Ireland and have emigrated to Amer-
ica in a continuous stream; for the present they are able to
arrange the election of officials. Formerly there were hundreds
of [business] concerns in the beginning of the city. Its thorough-
fares, shipyards, and shops required workers. Also, railways were
built for tens of thousands of Ii around. People worked together
peacefully.
When the mining activities declined and the railroads were
completed, there was less work. They [the Irish] controlled the
jealous laborers and directed their discontent to others. Because
the others had the protection of their consuls, or their warships
were on patrol, they [the Irish] therefore picked the Chinese as
their targets.
In the beginning [this consisted of] beatings and seeking
fights. Now there is agitation to secretly burn and loot their
33. Ibid.

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lodgings. Originally just Chinese servants had suffe

treatment; now their employers are forced to dismiss t
aim is to rally the support of the entire nation to ex
Chinese.... 34
Ch'en was especially fearful of these efforts to national

the anti-Chinese movement. He noted the attempts of C
fornia agitators to "make the whole country fall in with th
by means of "spreading great numbers of treacherous lies."
Additionally, he found that Chinese in the San Francis
area labored under legal disabilities:
Now the unsettled [legal] cases in the said region number ov
one hundred, and those [Chinese] in custody number in th
hundreds. Also, new laws on the cubic air capacity of dwellin
prevent [Chinese] from moving into them. The dead are n
allowed to be transported [home to China], and Chinese are a
not permitted to testify in court.36
In view of the volatility of the situation, the establishment

a consulate in San Francisco would be among the ministe
first acts after presenting their credentials.37
After more sightseeing, and a conference with Col
Frederick Bee, the Six Companies' lawyer-and soon-to-
Chinese consul- Ch'en paid a farewell visit to thank th
hui-kuan leaders for their hospitality. The organizatio
regulations, he noted, stressed the maintenance of Chin
customs and the following of the Chinese lunar calendar a
imperial reign dates. He seemed impressed by the endeav
to preserve Chinese society on these far shores. In a passag
noteworthy for its illustration of changing Chinese attitu
toward voluntary emigrants, Ch'en averred that these peo
34. Ch'en, Shih-Mei, 10051 (4a).

35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Ch'en Shu-t'ang and Colonel Frederick Bee were appointed consu
general and consul, respectively, to reside in San Francisco. Ch'en Lan-pi
Evarts, Nov. 8, 1878, Notes from Foreign Legations: China, National Archi
Microfilm, M 98, Roll 1 (hereafter cited as NAM). Ch'en also nominated
Education Mission teacher Jung Tseng-hsiang to serve with Bee as a consul,
but because of a change of leadership in the mission, followed by a leave for
mourning due to the death of Jung's father, he never served. Ch'en to the
Throne, p ien, Dec. 8, 1878, Wai-chiao, XIV, 31b-32a.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
"did not forget their origins, and thus deserve high praise."38
On August 3 the party boarded a train for the journey
east. The account of the rail journey takes up a substantial
portion of the diary, and the descriptions of the myriad towns
and settlements, while informative, are too lengthy to repeat
here. Still, it should be noted that his survey of the Chinese
populations of these settlements provides valuable data on
how Chinese migration followed railroad routes across the
country.
The first stop of consequence was Sacramento. Here a
local Chinese business proprietor told Ch'en that the city
contained a sizable colony of Chinese merchants and labor-
ers. Despite increasing anti-Chinese feeling, "every place
employs Chinese," the railroad, lumber and sugar mills, and
manufacturing concerns.39 The next day, as the train made its
slow progress up the steep grade of the Sierra Nevada, Ch'en
was able to glimpse at close quarters the hard-won handiwork
of his countrymen. "These mountains called 'Sierra Nevada'
are 10,000 feet above sea level," he observed, and the snow
regularly fell up to a depth of three chang (30 Chinese feet).
Conditions are so extreme that "every mile of the road is
reckoned to cost 10,000 yuan [dollars]."40
After passing through Truckee--the site of a previous
attack on Chinese--and Reno, Nevada, where the diary men-
tions "hundreds of Chinese," the train made its way across
the Great Basin. Rolling through Utah, Ch'en devoted entries
to the territorial system of the United States, the require-
ments for statehood, and the phenomenon of Mormonism.
As for the latter, he provided a capsule history of the move-
ment, including a note on polygamy. Here for the benefit of
his Chinese readers he explained that "Western men do not
[ordinarily] marry two wives."41 From Utah the train entered
38. Ch'en, Shih-mei, 10051 (4b). Ch'en's opinion of the San Francisco
Chinese had changed considerably since he first visited the city in 1872. Then,
in a letter to Liu Han-ch'ing, he had described "over half' of the residents as
"low types," with "bad manners," who "carry pistols and knives with them."
Ch'en to Liu Han-ch'ing, Aug. 20, 1873, Chung-Mei, 1060.
39. Ch'en, Shih-mei, 10052 (4b).
40. Ibid., (4b).
41. Ibid., 10054 (5b), 10055 (6a).

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southern Wyoming, passing through Green River a

Springs--later to be infamous as the site of an 1885
massacre--to Fort Laramie. The party's arrival at th
outpost afforded Ch'en an opportunity to review
with the Plains Indians. When the railroad was com
1869, he reported, the Indians resisted and attack
ments, "killing whites and Chinese." Since then, th
ment had subjugated them with troops, sent agent
communities, and then "the said Indians were removed from
their villages and taken to the mountains."42 The Sioux and
Cheyenne, he observed, had not easily made the transition to
agriculture and pastoralism and had suffered from fraud at
the hands of some of the Indian agents. He had learned,
however, that missionaries had come to teach them and they
were becoming successful at reclaiming waste areas.43
The train next moved uneventfully across the wide
expanse of the Great Plains where, recorded Ch'en, there
had been a daring train robbery carried out by masked ban-
dits the years before. Here, as throughout the journey, he
seemed impressed with the richness of the land and vitality
of the people. In only a few decades, he noted, Omaha had
mushroomed into a city of 24,000. He was particularly struck
by the number and variety of educational institutions there
and elsewhere on the frontier.44 From Omaha, where they
changed cars, the train travelled across the Missouri River on
"an iron bridge 5 li [1.6 miles] long; [it is] iron on top of a
stone foundation... [and] it cost 2.5 million yuan."45 After a
rest stop at Council Bluffs, Iowa, the train moved on through
the night to Des Moines, Davenport, and the Mississippi
River:
Its length is more than 10,000 Ii [sic]. There is a wooden bridg

over the river that is several chang wide. On the river steamer
come and go continuously. In the port [Davenport] there are
42. Ibid., 10058 (7b).
43. Ibid., 10059 (8a).
44. Ibid., 10060 (8b). Ch'en notes a college, a high school, and two elemen-
tary schools as well as a private academy and a women's school. The budget fo
the public institutions, subscribed by "merchants and gentry," came to $430,00
per year.
45. Ibid.

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more than a thousand houses and upwards of 10,000 people.

The climate is pleasant and the produce of the area is plentiful.46
After crossing to Rock Island, the train worked its way

across northern Illinois, arriving at Chicago at 4:00 p.m. Here
they again changed cars and Ch'en took the opportunity to
describe this metropolis in-the-making. While casting an
admiring eye on such wonders as a mechanical drawbridge
and a river tunnel, he was even more impressed by the mete-
oric growth of the city:
The city was founded in 1804. Until 1830 there were only a
dozen wooden houses and a hundred people. Now there are
already over 400,000 people in the city.... Wheat and livestock
are regarded as the chief items [of production]. Throughout the
country this is regarded as the largest producer of these com-
modities. We were told that last year the trade in livestock was
worth 75 million yuan.47
Ch'en also observed that "the Chinese in this area number
several hundred." There was a university, medical schoo
and "trams, horse carts, and roads everywhere." A system o
water tanks and pumps, "capable of moving 75 million 'g
lons' of water (each 'gallon' weighs 5 chin)," served the city
The cost of these items was high but their convenience and
utility were manifest to everyone. Thus, "all the people and
merchants depend on these things and are happy to contrib
ute for them."48 He concluded by referring to the great fire of
a few years before and its aftermath:
In addition we heard that there was a fire here in 1871 that
destroyed 7,450 houses and property worth 190 million y
Insurance companies compensated them for 44 million. All
ernment offices, the customs office, libraries, [and] business off
were burned down. They were rebuilt only two years ago
cost of 5.5 million yuan.49
At noon on August 10, the train pulled into Hartford, t

site of the Chinese Educational Mission, and where Ch'en
46. Ibid., 10061 (9a).

47. Ibid., 10062 (9b).
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
and party would remain for over a month before t

to Washington, D.C., at the end of September. Beca
previous tenure there as Education Commissioner, C
acquainted with the area, and he recorded inform
the city's founding, growth as a manufacturing cen
educational institutions, including "a boy's schoo
[in 1817] for the deaf; today it is regarded as the b
for deaf-mutes in the country."" The party went d
the newly built Education Mission headquarters b
400 Collins Street where they were met by Assistan
Yung Wing, Education Commissioner Ou E-liang, an
Jung Tseng-hsiang. There it was discovered that
Rutherford Hayes was on vacation and would retur
the autumn, thus necessitating a delay in the prese
credentials until the end of September.
During the next several weeks the envoy was pr
occupied with examining the military installatio
tries, and farms of the area. He also acquainted him
the project's finances and even found time for an e
day at the races on August 17.51 A few days later, ho
mood abruptly changed when he was once again con
with the "Chinese Question."
Two weeks before, amid a flurry of publicity, W
men's Party firebrand Denis Kearney had come east
the support of the federal government for the cau
nese exclusion. The New York Times editorialized on the
contrasting efforts of Kearney and Ch'en:
The arrival of Mr. Kearney, the distinguished anti-M
agitator, for a tour of proselytism in the East, and the co
the Chinese Embassy for establishment at Washington, w
itably bring the Chinese question before this part of the
as it never has been brought before.... The embassy w
difficult task, because the Chinese, not being naturalized,
little to protect themselves. They have to deal with the f
from 100,000 to 120,000 of their countrymen are her
scribed race, and without that right to the ballot whic
procures at least some legislative championship.... T
50. Ibid.
51. Ibid., 10064-65 (10b-lla).

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Embassy has to care for a people in the country but not of the
country; a people who herd together for protection, and are
blamed for not mixing with Caucasians; who pay a poll tax, but
cannot vote; who pay school taxes, but are not admitted to the
public schools, and abused for despising education.52
Four days later, on August 11, the Washington Post entered the
fray by publishing a letter "To the American people" from
the Six Companies which denied the Workingmen Party's
claims that the hui kuan leaders had subjected Chinese to
their own private system of "coolieism" and bond-servitude.53
As the newspapers increased their coverage of the debates
and as the rhetoric became increasingly violent, Ch'en's diary
entries reveal his growing disillusionment:
[August 25] The newspapers report that the head of the Irish
party, Kearney, met with the President to request him to change
the treaty regulations in order to expel the Chinese. [It is] uncer-
tain whether this is true or not. This month during leisure
periods I have ordered [my] subordinates to translate the news-
papers of various regions. Seeing what these say about the Chi-
nese is thoroughly insulting, in addition to being based entirely
upon conjecture.54
Ch'en expressed dismay at how the press coverage seemed to
poison the electorate and intimidate American officials:
It is said that the government is based on the people and the
government must do what the people want. Occasionally some
[people] may hold somewhat fair opinions [of the Chinese], but
even these are more libelous than laudatory.55
The newspapers made him "so full of anger that, having
collected basketfuls of them, I can't bear to [record] them
further."
As Ch'en awaited the date set for his departure to Wash-

ington, he recorded in his diary, as his government had
instructed, information useful to China. Military matters, in
particular, attracted his interest. He spent an informative day
52. New York Times. Aug. 7, 1878.

53. Washington Post, Aug. 11, 1878.
54. Ch'en, Shih-Mei, 10065 (Ila).
55. Ibid.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
interrogating a Foochow man who was a cadet in th

navy. The cadet described the size and duties of Brit
and the displacement, armor, and armament of Brit
ships. Ch'en also devoted a significant amount of sp
new technology of torpedoes and mines, noting in d
construction and workings of the new British Whiteh
torpedo which, he observed, "resembles a carp." He
on the growing preeminence of such weapons in for
nals and cautioned: "Recently, Westerners have been
sizing torpedoes, and cannon have been relegated to s
priority... ."56
The opening days of September were passed in
of inspections of local institutions and points of inter
described the produce and implements exhibited at
necticut State Fair as well as tours of a textile mill, school,
hospital, and the school for deaf-mutes. Of particular impor-
tance to him was a trip to the Colt works in Hartford where
the Chinese delegation was fascinated by the Colt-produced
Gatling gun. As early as the summer of 1873, Ch'en had
authorized Yung Wing to initiate negotiations with the com-
pany.57 Those talks had resulted in a Gatling representative
going to China and obtaining an order for fifty guns in 1874.
The weapons reportedly saw extensive use in Tso Tsung-
t'ang's suppression of the Muslim rebellion in Sinkiang.58 At
the factory the party witnessed a test of the new model Gatling
gun which, according to a company official, could discharge
a thousand rounds per minute. "These words are not false,"
affirmed Ch'en.59
Military matters continued to occupy the minister's atten-
tion, and he was invited to inspect the summer encampment
of the Connecticut militia at Niantic. After watching the troops
drill, he confided to his journal that the militia seemed rather
less sharp than professional soldiers. He found much to com-
56. Ibid., 10066 (11b).
57. Ch'en to Liu Han-ch'ing, Aug. 20, 1873, Chung-Mei, 1060.
58. Bailey to Payson, Aug. 10, 1879, Dispatches from U.S. Consuls, Shang-
hai, NAM, M 112. Consul-General Bailey reported that "The conquest of
Turkestan, two years since, was chiefly attributable to the use of Gatling Guns
and Remington rifles."
59. Ch'en, Shih-mei, 10069 (13a).

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
mend, however, in the speed and efficiency of their mobili-

zation, a chronic problem for Chinese military forces:
If all militia of this type were ordered to assemble in the indi-
vidual thirty-seven states their numbers would come to approxi-
mately 140,000-150,000. Now these men are engaged in their
various occupations; given orders they could assemble instantly.
In the event of an emergency... millions and millions of those
over twenty years of age could be instantly mustered.6o
On September 18 Ch'en and his delegation left Hartford

for Washington, D.C., with a stopover in New York. As in
Chicago, he found fascinating the vast array of buildings, the
water works, and the mad bustle of traffic. He was also taken
with the cultural amenities of the city: the stone pavilions in
Central Park, the seals in the zoo, and the exotic museum
exhibits.61 Once again, though, it was the practical that elic-
ited his greatest enthusiasm: the central post office and the
telegraph exchange. A demonstration of the telegraph in
which a message was sent to Boston, which then replied with
a prearranged greeting, prompted his admiration for this
"most clever, excellent device."62
The next day, the delegation continued its journey by
train, finally reaching Washington in the late afternoon. The
envoys then received a note from the State Department set-
ting September 28 as the date for the presentation of their
credentials. At 10:45 a.m. on the 28th Ch'en, Assistant Minis-
ter Yung, Legation Secretary Yeh Shu-tang, and their inter-
preters went by carriage to the State Department where other
dignitaries were assembled. From there, they went to the
White House where the presentation was held in the Blue
Room. The reception was deliberately kept small and private
--in contrast to the one in San Francisco--"it having been
determined by the executive department that there should
be no deviation from the usage as to other foreign Ministers,
and that it should not be made a public spectacle, because in
60. Ibid., 10071 (14a).

61. Ibid., 10080-10081 (18b-19a). Ch'en apparently found New York so
agreeable that the legation summered there in 1880 and 1881.
62. Ibid., 10082 (19b).

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such an event it might be considered discourte

distinguished visitors."63
The Chinese entered the Blue Room paired w
cans according to rank: Ch'en with Secretary of St
M. Evarts, Yung with Assistant Secretary Frederick
Chinese Legation Secretary Yeh with D. W. Bartlett
ican Secretary to the Legation, and the interprete
up the rear. Evarts's biographer, Chester Barrows,
that the plainly dressed Secretary "seemed insignif
the robust, grandly dressed Chin Lan Pin [Ch'en
bowl-shaped hat and scarlet plume, his flowing silk
his lavender blouse covered with ornaments, and his short
sword in a jewelled scabbard."64After the presentation of the
credentials, Ch'en made a short speech in Chinese with Yung
interpreting. The remarks were noteworthy for their display
of the evolving Chinese world view concerning the "family of
nations" and the role of diplomatic relations:
His Majesty cherishes the hope that this Embassy will not only
be the means of establishing on a firmer basis the amicable rela-
tions of our two countries, but may also be the starting point of
a new diplomatic era, which will eventually unite the East and
the West under one enlightened and progressive civilization.65
Ch'en's description of the presentation is followed by

remarks about the governmental structure of the United
States. Unlike the hierarchical system of China, the govern-
ments and laws of America are "not the same," but "levying
taxes, [authority over] the Army and Navy, [and] the power
to make foreign treaties, these great affairs belong to the
capital."66 The national government, he observed, is itself
divided into separate offices. After naming the departments
within the executive branch, he briefly described the func-
tions of the Congress and the President:
The power to make laws is in Congress. In the Upper Congress
[Senate] every state has two members, a total of seventy-six men.
63. New York Times, Sept. 29, 1878.

64. Chester L. Barrows, William M. Evarts: Lawyer, Diplomat, and Statesman
(Chapel Hill, N.C. 1941), 382.
65. New York Times, Sept. 29, 1878.
66. Ch'en, Shih-Mei, 10085 (21a).

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
The Lower [House of Representatives] has greater or fewer mem-

bers according to [the] size [of the various states], all together
294 members. All the various states' people vote to send them to
the capital to serve.... There are many debates.... The Presi-
dent is the lone government head.67
Here the envoy's dairy concludes. His final remarks apol-

ogize pro forma for the brevity of the account and for his
imperfect understanding of what he has seen and heard.
Because of the great distances involved he has not yet been
able to visit Spain and Peru; additionally, because of his
language deficiency, he has only briefly recorded his impres-
sions by relying on and combining the recollections of his
subordinates.
The three years of Ch'en and Yung's ministry that fol-
lowed were to prove difficult. The exclusion controversy and
the embarrassingly public dissolution of the Chinese Educa-
tional Mission contributed to the perception that Ch'en and
Yung, like their counterparts in Europe and Japan, were inef-
fective as diplomats. Yet they also achieved considerable suc-
cess in settling disputes concerning the immigrant ship Perusia,
in ending the racketeering activities of U.S. Consul M. M.
De Lano, and in waiving discriminatory dues for Chinese
ships arriving in U.S. ports.68
If the place of Ch'en Lan-pin in early Sino-American
relations remains controversial and obscure, his diary never-
theless adds to an understanding of evolving Chinese per-
ceptions of the West. Neither a Westernized visionary like
Yung Wing nor the hidebound reactionary excoriated by Yung
in his autobiography, Ch'en emerges instead as an exemplar
67. Ibid.
68. For correspondence on the Perusia case, see Ch'en and Yung to
Evarts, Jan. 13, 1879, Notes from Foreign Legations, China, NAM, M 98,
Roll 1; Evarts to Yung, Dec. 13, 1879, Notes to Foreign Legations, China,
NAM, M 99, Roll 1. For the De Lano affair, see Ch'en and Yung to Evarts, Feb.
1, 1879, Notes from Foreign Legations, China, NAM, M 98, Roll 1; Evarts to
Yung, Jan. 22, 1880, Notes to Foreign Legations, China, NAM, M 99, Roll 1.
Correspondence on ship dues for the Chinese steamer Wo Chung may be
found in Wai-chiao, XXIV, 10a-11a; Ch'en and Yung to Evarts, Aug. 9, Sept. 4,
1880, Notes from Foreign Legations, China, NAM, M 98, Roll 1; Hay to Ch'en
and Yung, Aug. 13, 1880, Notes to Foreign Legations, China, NAM, M 99,
Roll 1; Evarts to Ch'en and Yung, Sept. 8, and Nov. 23, 1880.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
of the self-strengthening maxim: Chung-hsueh wei t'i,

weiyung [Chinese studies for the essence, Western s
practical application].69
If Ch'en's understanding of American society se
and limited compared to that of Yung Wing, or
Ch'i-ch'ao, writing at the turn of the century, he ne
touched on issues of "modernization" with which su
generations of Chinese officials would be forced
Military concerns, of course, were a primary consi
But one also sees him moving toward a realizati
importance of commerce and technical innovation as
dation of Western wealth and power. In his entries
and railroad travel, telephone and telegraph com
tion, and references to the funding of education
tions and public works, one detects a growing appr
the Western commitment to easing travel, speedin
nication, and enhancing the flow of wealth and k
thus strengthening the public weal. As with the ci
Chicago, he points out that the people are happy to
enormously expensive and technologically sophistic
lic works and utilities because they understand
things benefit all. In this, at least, his exposure to a
69. In My Life in China and America, Yung Wing portray

having a crucial role in the cancelling of the Education Mission. F
"practically represented the reactionary party" in Peking (p. 2
have generally tended to accept at face value Yung's assessmen
ideology and personality. William Hung, for instance, citing L
diary, opines that "Yung was... not unfair in characterizing Ch'en
irresponsible, and ungrateful man." Hung, "Huang Tsun-hsien'
More recently, Ting-yee Kuo and Kwang-ching Liu, in "Self-str
The Pursuit of Western Technology," in Denis Twichett and John
eds., The Cambridge History of China (Cambridge, Mass., 1978)
characterized Ch'en as being "determined on official advanceme
any means," and "to all appearances a self-seeking opportunist."
should be noted that much of Li Tzu-ming's criticism was direc
willingness to go abroad, as well as his apparent propensity f
speech. Yueh-man-t'angjih-chi, 4824. For a more favorable opinion
porary, see Weng T'ung-ho in Chin-Liang, ed., Chin-shih jen wu-c
A more moderate stance may also be found in Hao Yen-p'ing
Erh-min, "Changing Chinese Views of Western Relations," in T
Fairbank, eds., The Cambridge History of China, XI, 187. Here C
others, is described as a "secondary reformer," who was "def
Tzu-ming.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00
standing of the role of Western technology went far beyond

the appreciation of "strong ships and effective cannon" exhib-
ited by the majority of his homebound colleagues.70
It is difficult, however, to gauge with precision Ch'en's
ultimate enthusiasm for things Western. There is no evi-
dence that he ever seriously questioned the premises of his
Confucian philosophical foundation, and his well-documented
opposition to the Americanization of the Educational Mis-
sion students suggests that his interest was strictly limited to
the aspects of "practical application" in the self-strengthening
formula. Beneath the "new world" he constructs for his Chi-
nese readers, the strong presence of his old one is never far
from the surface.
70. In his 1876 memorial on the CMSN Co., Ch'en explored at consider-
able length these very themes with reference to the predicament of China.
Noting that the enrichment of the nation must precede the strengthening of
the military-quite the opposite of many of his fellow officials-he went on to
propose numerous ways in which enhancing the position of the company
would increase the national wealth and commerce. One surmises that his
travels in America tended to strengthen these views. Tao hsien t'ung k
ssu-chao tsou-i, 3079-3081.

103.24.77.51 on Mon, 03 Jun 2024 03:56:14 +00:00

Self-Strengthening in The New World - A Chinese Envoy's Travels in America

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Self-Strengthening in The New World - A Chinese Envoy's Travels in America

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Self-Strengthening in the New World: A Chinese Envoy's Travels in America

Author(s): Charles A. Desnoyers

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3640491

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The author is a member of the history department

The decade of the 1870s was a watershed in the his-

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regarded as a footnote in the development of Sino-

1. Biographical information on Yung Wing may be found in Arthur

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Although Ch'en's journal stops short of recording his

3. For a translation of Kuo Sung-t'ao's diary of his ministry in England,

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for the first time. He took great pains to set down, a

5. Wei Yuan, Hai-kuo t'u-chih [An illustrated gazeteer of the countries

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While Ch'en's background was that of a classically trained

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expertise, Ch'en was, by the fall of 1870, employed as a

12. Li Tzu-ming, Yueh-man-t'ang, 4439.

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The increasing emphasis on "self-strengthening" had

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At this point Ch'en's diary begins with a report

in China, see Chester Holcombe to Hamilton Fish, Dec. 13, 1875

19. Ch'en, Shih-mei, 10045 (la).

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and 25 he felt well enough to visit with American minister

Even more impressive was the news of another remarkable

Regarding contracts, wills, [and] various important [matters],

20. Ibid., 10045-10046 (lb).

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Ch'en's next few days were occupied with mee

The jerry-rigged repair, though effective, slowed the ship's

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The vessel's tardiness and the prominence of the passengers

The San Francisco press, as well as such major eastern

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the ministers' arrival, found the practical absenc

On alighting in the court of the hotel, the Embassy was

Perhaps as a result of his previous years in Amer

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A corps of reporters were on hand. They were the only Cauca-

Ch'en and his suite stayed in San Francisco for a week.

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lodgings. Originally just Chinese servants had suffe

Ch'en was especially fearful of these efforts to national

In view of the volatility of the situation, the establishment

34. Ch'en, Shih-Mei, 10051 (4a).

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southern Wyoming, passing through Green River a

Its length is more than 10,000 Ii [sic]. There is a wooden bridg

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more than a thousand houses and upwards of 10,000 people.

After crossing to Rock Island, the train worked its way

At noon on August 10, the train pulled into Hartford, t

46. Ibid., 10061 (9a).

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and party would remain for over a month before t

51. Ibid., 10064-65 (10b-lla).

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As Ch'en awaited the date set for his departure to Wash-