Description:

19th Century China
Washington, DC, ca. 1868
Signatures of Anson Burlingame and Chinese Negotiators of Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868
Signature
[CHINA.] Signatures of negotiators for China of U.S.-Chinese Treaty of 1868. 1 p., 4.625" x 7.25". Expected folds; very good.

Includes signatures of Anson Burlingame and Chinese Commissioners Sun Tajen and Chih Tajen, who negotiated the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868 in Washington, D.C.

After representing the United States as minister to the Qing Empire from 1861 to 1867, Anson Burlingame agreed to accompany Chinese representatives on a tour of the capitals of Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin. Originally a representative of the United States government, Burlingame resigned his post to assist the Chinese in their treaty negotiations with Secretary of State William H. Seward, his former superior. In the summer of 1868, they negotiated the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868, which gave China the status of most favored nation in trade with the United States and lifted former restrictions on Chinese immigration to the United States.

A contemporary report entitled "The Chinese Embassy in London" in The Illustrated London News (October 3, 1868) described the Chinese diplomats: "The First Associate Minister, Chih-u-Kang, sits at his left hand, and the Second Associate Minister, Sun-Chia-Kung, sits at his right. The former, otherwise called Chih-Tajen, or his Excellency Chih, is a Manchu Tartar, fifty years of age, a man of great learning and political experience, who has also done good military service. The other, Sun-Tajen, as he is usually called, is likewise a great scholar, but has served the Empire in a civil and military capacity, and has held the office of one of the Imperial Censors, whose duty it is to remonstrate against any wrong acts of the Government."

When William H. Seward visited China in 1870, he visited with Chih-Tajen and Sun-Tajen in Shanghai and together mourned the recent death of Burlingame. The Chinese diplomats thanked Seward for the hospitality they enjoyed while visiting the United States.

Anson Burlingame (1820-1870) was born in upstate New York and grew up in Ohio and Michigan. He studied at a branch of the University of Michigan and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1846. He practiced law in Boston and supported the Free Soil Party in 1848. He was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention (1853) and the Massachusetts Senate (1853-1854). From 1855 to 1861, he represented Massachusetts in Congress, first as a Know Nothing and then as a Republican. After Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina brutally assaulted Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in the Senate chamber, Burlingame denounced Brooks in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. Brooks challenged Burlingame to a duel but was dismayed at Burlingame's eager acceptance and choice of rifles as the weapons and a navy yard on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls as the place to avoid the ban on dueling. Brooks sheepishly backed down, recognizing Burlingame's reputation for marksmanship and being unwilling to cross "hostile territory" to get to Canada. In June 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Burlingame as U.S. Minister to the Qing Empire. In China, Burlingame worked for a cooperative policy between the nations and won the respect of the Chinese leadership. When he retired in November 1867 and was preparing to return to the United States, the Chinese government appointed Burlingame envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary for a Chinese diplomatic mission to the United States and several nations in Europe. He concluded a treaty with the United States in the summer of 1868, followed by treaties with Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and Prussia. He died in Saint Petersburg while negotiating a treaty with Russia.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 4.625" x 7.25"
  • Medium: Signature

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