A Study Of The Burlingame Mission

In the middle of the 19^th century, the two Opium Wars ended in the failure of the Qing government. The Western powers forced a series of unequal treaties upon this government, which caused China declined to a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country. Under the historical background, the first diplomatic mission in modern China—the Burlingame mission—emerged. In 1868, Burlingame from the US was appointed minister to head a Chinese diplomatic mission to the Western countries. It was significant in that this was the first time for modern China to send mission to the Western countries on an equal basis. And it took the Burlingame mission two years to visit eleven countries as America, Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia. Through diplomatic negotiation, the mission led the Western powers to admit China's sovereignty and promise resolving disputes without recourse to force, protecting to a certain extent the sovereignty and interests of the Qing government. Especially the Supplementary to the Reed Treaty, later known as the Burlingame Treaty, which was signed on an equal basis, became a legal weapon of Chinese government defending Chinese workers in the US for the following decades, and guaranteed the designated children to study in America legally, thus providing for the development of modern China with abundant resource of talented people.On special historical condition, Burlingame—an ambassador in China and a defender and practitioner of American "cooperative policy"—became a principal of the first diplomatic mission of the Qing government. Because of this, most scholars in China before rejected the Burlingame mission as a whole. Even during the two decades after the reform and opening-up, most of the scholars in their works and teaching materials held negative attitudes towards the Burlingame mission. With the development of liberated mind and developed economic society, people become objective in evaluating the man and his mission. Sometimes scholars analyze the positive significances in their articles. However, the evaluations are not prolific, and they mainly focus on discussing isolated and superficial problems. Furthermore, studies in China underestimate Burlingame and his mission, while studies abroad overestimate them. Therefore, we need to carry out the study of the Burlingame mission roundly and systematically. On the basis of respecting historical facts, we will discuss its status and effect on the diplomatic history in modern China as well as its influence in the process of modernizing China fairly and objectively. This study analyzes the special historical background for the emergence of the mission, organizes and summarizes the diplomatic journeys and achievements they made. We hold that the diplomatic activities of the mission maintained to a certain extent the Qing government's sovereignty and interests, cultivated Chinese diplomats, and improved mutual understanding and communication between China and the Western countries. The study also analyzes in particular the cause of the mission's success and failure. The Burlingame mission had gained certain benefits diplomatically, though without much substantial results. It goes against Burlingame's primary imagination in that the Western powers didn't lead China to be a strong and powerful nation, and the Chinese government didn't carry out the reform as his expectation. This situation, on the one hand, was closely related with the political environment both in China and abroad at that time; on the other hand and most importantly, was linked with essential conflicts between China and the Western countries. Because the decayed and backward Qing government, representative of the feudal landlord class, had been seriously hindering the development of the productive forces, and was not able to compete with the advanced capitalism. Being unable to throw off the shackles, the fossilized Qing government had to be manipulated and forced to sign the humiliating treaties when faced with aggression of the Western powers. The external aspect presented continual misunderstanding caused by the cultural differences of China and Western countries, and further stimulated various problems. In the end, the study estimates historical status of the Burlingame mission, and also elaborates the positive effects and historical significance of the mission's activities. Anson Burlingame was an idealist to the backbone. The Burlingame mission was thus a special product of his idealistic diplomatic thoughts, the diplomatic activities of which had improved the establishment and transformation of the diplomatic system in modern China, protected the interests of the Qing government, and promoted the communication and friendship between Chinese and foreigners.The diplomatic activities of the Burlingame ambassadors were significant for the history of modern China's diplomacy in that they represented the starting point of China's transformation from an antiquated society to a modern one, from the inherent feudalistic system to a more advanced treaty system, hence opening up a road for the foundation of Chinese diplomatic system. In the meantime, they accelerated intercommunication and facilitated new ideas, through keeping China opened to understanding and learning of the Western countries. As a result, the mission should take its place in the history of modern China and its diplomacy.