Around the New Year, there were personnel changes in the diplomatic corps. Qin Gang was appointed as the new Foreign Minister , and Wang Yi was appointed as the director of the Foreign Affairs Office.
With this introduction, during the holidays, let’s talk about the initial diplomacy of and in the late Qing Dynasty.
In the second year of Guangxu's reign, the autumn wind rustled in the Forbidden City's Yangxin Hall. Empress Dowager Cixi summoned two ministers for a conversation:
When will we set off?
lasts approximately ten days, no more than twenty-five days. When will
arrive?
From Tianjin to Shanghai and Hong Kong, it will first open to the ocean , and it will arrive in the UK within 45 days.
I will work hard for my country without complaint.
obeys the imperial edict.
You two need to be in harmony.
is. When
comes to the UK, everything should be carefully scrutinized, and people should be restrained as necessary and should not cause trouble.
is.
...
The two people summoned were Minister Guo Songtao and Deputy Ambassador to the UK Liu Xihong. This is the first time that a great Eastern country with a history of five thousand years of civilization has sent envoys abroad.
Guo Songtao became the first ambassador to a foreign country in modern times.
Guo Songtao
Nowadays, it is a great honor and pride to be able to travel to various countries in the world as a business official. However, it was not a good job at that time. Going to the barbarian's lair was a long way and life or death was uncertain, just like a "hostage". This was the consensus of the Celestial Kingdom at that time.
The reason why Guo Songtao was chosen to serve as ambassador to the UK was the recommendation of Li Hongzhang. As an enlightened person of the Westernization school, Guo Songtao had a flexible way of thinking about new things and was not conservative, stubborn or rigid.
Then Guo Songtao didn’t know that traveling to the West was a good job, wasn’t it? Of course he knew that there were two things that made him determined to take up the post.
The first reason is that the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned Guo Songtao twice. Regarding Guo Songtao's doubts and worries, she said, "Who in the Prime Minister's Yamen does not get scolded?" Sincere words are often comforting.
The second reason is that the first priority of this mission was the "Margari case" that occurred in Yunnan. One of the results was that the Qing government must apologize to the Queen of England. The person who handled the case was his old friend Li Hongzhang.
By chance, Guo Songtao's trip to the UK was facilitated, and he became famous in history.
On September 25, the second year of Guangxu's reign, that is, December 2, 1976, the Qing Dynasty Minister to the United Kingdom Guo Songtao and his delegation left Beijing for Shanghai and took a boat to take up their post in the British Empire, which was thousands of miles away.
The journey was bumpy and tiring, and the sailing route was planned by the Englishman Magri , a foreign coach who once helped Li Hongzhang train the Huai Army. It passed through Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon, Aden, and Gibraltar , all of which were British territories, in order to show off the glory of the British Empire to Guo Songtao.
Although it was hard work, Guo Songtao was still interested in observing the customs, customs and natural scenery along the way, and recorded them truthfully.
After 54 days, we finally arrived at the Port of Southampton, England. After disembarking, we took a train to London.
Guo Songtao was very satisfied with the official residence arranged by the British government, and was dumbfounded by the modernization of London. He wrote in his diary, "I arrived late yesterday, and I will come home late today. The streets are like stars, the carriages and horses are rolling, the air is like smoke, and the crowds are like tides. I can't get more lazy." On the first day
entered the embassy, Guo Songtao convened a meeting with his entourage and agreed on the "Five Precepts": one to abstain from smoking foreign cigarettes, two to abstain from prostitution, three to abstain from gambling, four to wander around, and five to abstain from quarreling. Although there are fewer "three precepts" than what Tang Seng prescribed for his second apprentice, it is still very harsh for the followers from China.
Guo Songtao is obviously a person who is very good at accepting new things and applying new knowledge, and he does not shy away from "following the trend". This fact became the accusation against him later by deputy envoy Liu Xihong. What's going on with
? This is the problem that all the people educated by the Qing government, which regarded itself as the Supreme Kingdom of Heaven, are blindly arrogant, self-contained, self-centered, and stubborn. Deputy Ambassador Liu Xihong is a typical ignorant official.
I now translate the official memorial sent by Liu Xihong to the Prime Minister's Yamen, listing Guo Songtao's "crime".
Wearing foreign clothes when visiting the Yingyi Fort.What's going on? The British Royal Navy invited Guo Songtao to visit. On that day, the cold wind was biting, and Guo Songtao had a cold war . The British admiral warmly put the British army's coat uniform on Guo Songtao, covering Guo's court uniform. When
met the Queen of England, he took the initiative and bowed first, ignoring the power of the Qing Dynasty.
instigated the concubine to learn foreign languages, which was inappropriate and disrespected the majesty of the Qing Dynasty.
attended a foreign music concert at Buckingham Palace between the British and foreigners. Although he did not understand foreign languages, he imitated the foreigners and picked up music sheets many times to flatter the foreigners. When
met with the King of Brazil, he stood up without permission and moved forward in a hurry, which undermined the majesty of the heavenly dynasty.
is "particularly close" to the British Foreign Secretary and is suspected of being a liaison with foreign countries.
Think about it and think about it, these so-called "crimes" are all trivial and are typical symptoms of the heavenly kingdom's insomnia.
However, at that time, the entire China, from top to bottom, was almost full of this kind of pathological arrogance without any awareness of it. Don't you think it's funny or sad? At that time, the entire country was so wrapped up in this atmosphere that it was almost suffocating.
Chonghou
To give another contemporary example, after the same " Tianjin Teaching Plan ", Manchu Minister Chonghou was sent to France to apologize to the French King.
After a long journey, when it arrived, Napoleon III had already stepped down, so Chonghou's negotiating partner, or the object of apology, became the new French President Thiers, and then the two sides completed the process at the Elysee Palace in France.
The ceremony began. The two sides read each other's credentials to each other in the Elysee Palace. After reading, Chonghou bowed to the new French President Thiers, and the other party bowed in return; before going out, Chonghou bowed to the other party again, and the other party bowed in return.
After the Qing government found out about this, they immediately felt that Chonghou was really capable. Why? Because it’s not embarrassing! At least in the eyes of people at that time, when asking for forgiveness, you should bare your upper body and tie a few thorn sticks to show your sincerity. At the very least, you should kowtow to the other party!
But Chonghou actually only bowed twice to the other party, and the other party bowed twice in return. He was not at all arrogant, and indirectly proved that the Chinese emperor was a little taller than the French emperor.
Because Chonghou had to kneel and bow to the Chinese emperor three times, and the Chinese emperor did not have to bow to him, so from this point of view alone, the Chinese emperor was obviously more dignified, so everyone was extremely spiritually satisfied. From then on, Chonghou became a capable person among the Manchu and aristocrats.
It is precisely this Chonghou who had no rules when it came to major events related to national security. He muddleheadedly signed the unequal "Ili Treaty" when negotiating with the Russians, and lost a large area of land. If it hadn't been for Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Jize who argued hard with reason, Xinjiang would not be like this now.
Both of these incidents occurred in the 1870s. According to Macartney's visit to China in 1793, due to the etiquette dispute over whether to prostrate three times and nine times, more than 80 years have passed, and the Qing Dynasty has not made any progress at all.
This is the Qing Empire . People who are obsessed with their own world cannot extricate themselves and know nothing about the outside world. On the contrary, people who are sober become aliens, blocked everywhere, and encounter injustice. Guo Songtao was a victim. He served as ambassador to Britain and France for two years. The pressure from home and colleagues made him anxious and exhausted. He had to resign and return to China, ending his overseas trip.
Another 100 years have passed. We are still striving for the strength of our country and have closer and more frequent exchanges with other countries around the world. The "changes unseen in a century" are a test of the diplomatic wisdom of major powers. We must enjoy the prosperity brought by the common civilization of mankind, but also contribute to the common civilization and embrace the world. Only in this way can we go further and finally reach the destination we want.
