Guo Songtao

Guo Songtao ( Chinese  郭嵩燾  /  郭嵩焘 , Pinyin Guō Sōngtào ; * 1818 ; † 1891 ) was the first envoy of the Chinese Empire in Great Britain and at the same time the first permanently accredited Chinese envoy in western countries.

He completed the Chinese civil service career with moderate success and held various positions within the imperial administrative apparatus (including finance director, salt controller). In 1876 he was appointed the first Chinese envoy in London (recalled: 1878). Its primary task was to observe the European “barbarians”. A regular diplomatic mission was not considered necessary or appropriate by China at the time; rather, the sending of an ambassador was tantamount to humiliation according to the Chinese self-image.

literature

• Feng Chen: The Discovery of the West. China's first ambassador to Europe 1866–1894 (= Fischer pocket books 60165 European history ). Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-596-60165-7 .

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Guo is the family name here, Songtao is the first name.