112 



CHINA. 



3,000,000; Thian-Shan-nanlu and Thian-Shan- 

 pelu, together, 1,000,000 ; Thibet, 11,000,000 ; 

 Corea, 9,000,000; the Loo-Choo Islands 500,- 

 000. The total population of China and de- 

 pendencies would therefore be about 477,500,- 

 000. At the head of the department of For- 

 eign Affairs is Prince Kung, an uncle of the 

 Emperor. The empire is divided into eighteen 

 provinces, each of which has a particular ad- 

 ministration, army, and finances. The Chinese 

 army, according to a recent statement (Moger, 

 " Recollections of Baron Gross's Embassy to 

 China and Japan," London, 1860), consists of 

 about 600,000 men, scattered throughout the 

 empire. Besides, there are about 200,000 Tar- 

 tars at the immediate disposition of the govern- 

 ment. The soldiers, when not on duty, prac- 

 tise some trade at their residences, so that it 

 may be said that China has no standing army. 

 The revenue, according to an official report 

 made in 1864, amounted to 63,934,713. The 

 receipts from customs in the ports open to for- 

 eign commerce, from 1861 to 1866, were as fol- 

 lows : 



The foreign commerce in the year 1867, ac- 

 cording to official statements, was as follows 

 (value expressed in taels, one tael == seven 

 shillings) : 



The movement of shipping in the years 1864 

 to 1866 was as follows : 



The appointment of Mr. Anson Burlingame, 

 United States ambassador in Pekin, as the first 

 ambassador of China to the United States and 



the Governments of Europe, has already been 

 announced in the ANTSTUAL AMERICAN CYCLOPAE- 

 DIA for 1867. Information, received too late to 

 be made use of in our former volume, shows 

 how this appointment came to be made and 

 accepted. Mr. Burlingame, as American min- 

 ister, gave the Chinese Government ample 

 proof of his diplomatic ability, and of his sin- 

 cere friendliness to China. He took the lead 

 in urging the adoption of what is known as 

 the cooperative policy, by which the auton- 

 omy of that country has been guaranteed, 

 and the old method of extorting concessions 

 by menace and force has been discarded. He 

 drew up a paper construing the doubtful pas- 

 sages in the treaties, which was accepted 

 by all the members of the diplomatic body at 

 Pekin. He successfully opposed the conces- 

 sion of territory in the neighborhood of the 

 seaports to foreign powers. He procured, with 

 the assistance of Sir Frederick Bruce, the ex- 

 clusion of confederate pirates from Chinese 

 waters. He induced the Chinese Government 

 to employ Mr. Pumpelly to make a thorough 

 examination of the coal-mines of Northern 

 China. He procured the grant for the sub- 

 marine telegraph from Canton to Nintsing. 

 He has constantly aided the missionaries in 

 their work, has used all his influence to pro- 

 mote the study of the European languages and 

 the natural sciences in Pekin, and has induced 

 the Chinese Government to employ foreigners 

 in its custom-houses, and in other departments 

 of the civil service. 



Early in November, Mr. Burlingame inform- 

 ed the Chinese Government that he intended 

 to resign his post and return to his country. 

 It was attempted, unsuccessfully, to dissuade 

 him from this purpose. Finding him resolute, 

 Prince Kung tendered him the compliment of 

 a farewell dinner. All the members of the 

 council of Foreign Affairs were present. Sev- 

 eral mandarins spoke of the great service 

 which Mr. Burlingame had done China during 

 his visit to Europe and this country in 1865. 

 Mr. Burlingame answered that he would al- 

 ways be ready to say a good word for their 

 country when the chance should present itself 

 to him. 



The idea of the embassy seems to have been 

 suggested by these speeches. The Inspector- 

 General of Customs and the secretary of the 

 British Legation were consulted, and, two 

 days after the dinner, a deputation of high 

 officials waited on Mr. Burlingame, and offered 

 him an appointment as ambassador. He ac- 

 cepted on the single condition that ..the em-' 

 bassy "should be placed in all respects on a 

 footing of the highest respectability." Mr. Bur- 

 lingame placed his resignation as American 

 minister in the hands of Dr. "Williams, his 

 secretary of legation. A week afterward he 

 received his credentials from the hands of 

 Prince Kung. The document is written on 

 yellow silk, and bears the great seal of the 

 empire. "With regard to the Chinese officials 



