Anson Burlingame (Pu Anchen) with the Chinese delegation, 1868Anson Burlingame (Pu Anchen) with the Chinese delegation, 1868
Washington, D.C.
Photograph by J. Gurney & Son
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, PH – Gurney (J.), no. 4 (B size)
Anson Burlingame was appointed minister to China in 1861 by President Abraham Lincoln. Because of his tendency for cooperative, rather than imperialistic, policies, Minister Burlingame gained the respect of the Chinese court. In 1867, he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to head a Chinese diplomatic mission to the United States and to the principal European nations the following year.