The Chinese delegation visiting Niagara Falls, 1868The Chinese delegation visiting Niagara Falls, 1868
Niagara Falls, New York
Photograph by Charles Bierstadt
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-107046
Presentation of Anson Burlingame and the Chinese delegation to President Andrew Johnson, 1868Presentation of Anson Burlingame and the Chinese delegation to President Andrew Johnson, 1868
Washington, D.C.
Engraving
Courtesy of the Picture Collection, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, 809304
Poem written for Anson Burlingame Burlingame (possibly by Dong Xun), c. 1868Poem written for Anson Burlingame Burlingame (possibly by Dong Xun), c. 1868
Courtesy of the Anson Burlingame and Edward L. Burlingame family papers, 1810-1922, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Box 2, Folder Miscellany Songs and Poems
The Chinese delegation, led by Anson Burlingame, ended its U.S. tour in Washington, D.C., where it met with President Andrew Johnson. Burlingame worked tirelessly to demonstrate his commitment to equality, and in 1868 collaborated with Secretary of State William Seward to amend the 1858 Treaty of Tientsin (Tianjin). The resulting Burlingame-Seward Treaty was acknowledged as the first equal treaty between China and a Western nation. Burlingame received letters and poems, such as this one, in appreciation of his diplomatic work.