蒲安臣何许人？
·马萨诸塞州参议员，1853-54
·美国联邦众议员，1855-61
·由时任美国总统亚伯拉罕·林肯委任为驻中国公使，
1861-67
·由中国清朝同治皇帝委任为公使，作为中国的全权代表办理与美国和欧洲国家外交，1867-1870
蒲安臣突出贡献：
·在美国国会众议院：
o 反对黑奴制度
o 作为杰出演讲人，为代表自己所属麻萨诸塞州的联邦参议员萨姆纳辩护，言辞斥责代表南卡罗来纳州的联邦众议员普雷斯顿·布鲁克斯，驳斥南方各州拥护黑奴制度的立场。
·在北京：
o 制定一项“合作政策”，倡导西方列强与中国寻求共同利益，反对以高压和武力威胁对待中国。
o 向中国引介矿业、电报和其他技术以及国际法。
o 在北京主持法庭审理时听取中国证人证词，判处一名美国白人死刑，显现他真正信奉平等理念。
o 说服恭亲王派遣留学生，去美国学习新技术，包括铁路和电报技术，返回中国运用。
·在美国：
o 与时任美国国务卿苏厄德联手，草拟一份中美条约、即《蒲安臣条约》并推动美国国会批准这份文件，其中要点包括：
·美国不干涉中国内部事务
·中国可以委任驻美国各口岸的领事，享有豁免特权，与英国、法国和俄国等最惠国的领事同等
·美中接受对方移民，没有人数没有限制
·美中两国公民可以在对方国家自由旅行、就学和居住
o 在美国各主要城市演讲，公开倡导改善与中国贸易关系、尊重中国主权
·在欧洲：
o 继续代表中国，推动欧洲列强接受《蒲安臣条约》：
·觐见英国维多利亚女王和外交大臣克拉伦登勋爵
·觐见法国皇帝拿破仑三世
·觐见普鲁士国王威廉
·觐见俄国沙皇亚历山大二世
o 罹患急性肺炎，1870
年 2 月 23 日在俄国城市圣彼得堡去世。正式葬礼
1870 年 4月 23 日在美国东部城市波士顿举行，灵车覆盖美国星条旗和中国清朝黄龙旗，沿街数以千计市民致意。同治皇帝下诏书，追授一品文官衔（相当于总理级别），赐予遗属
1 万两白银。
蒲安臣遗存：
·1867 年
11 月，美国第一人、世界唯一例，结束派出国任期，继而成为派驻国使节。
·1868 年，帮助起草并推动美国国会通过一份中美条约，实际是任何一个西方列强与中国
之间第一份平等条约，就美国而言把中国置于与英国、法国和俄国等最惠国同等地位。
·《蒲安臣条约》所含平等理念帮助中国打开国门，派遣年轻学生、即中学生去美国，为中国寻求现代化学习新技术。
·1880 年，美国与中国重新谈判《蒲安臣条约》，暂停中国向美国移民，美方继而在1882
年通过《排华法案》。
·1908 年，伯林盖姆建市，以蒲安臣的英文名安森·伯林盖姆命名。伯林盖姆位于旧金山以南大约
32 公里，现有大约 2.9 万居民。
·2009 年，美国总统奥巴马宣布“10
万人计划”，有意以后 4 年内送 10 万名美国学生去中国就读。
·2011 年，美国国会参议院通过一项决议，就
1882 年《排华法案》等歧视华人移民的美国法律表达遗憾。
·2012 年，美国国会众议院全票通过一项决议，就
1882 年《排华法案》和其他歧视华人法律表示遗憾。
何以记取蒲安臣？
·以蒲安臣名义设立年度奖项，表彰为改善美中关系作出卓越贡献的美国人。
·创制一部纪录片，以蒲安臣为题材，激励美中双方学生学习对方国家的语言和文化。
·组织专题会议，作政策研讨，寻求缓和并改善美中关系。
·把旧金山国际机场命名为蒲安臣国际机场。
作者柴大定 (David Chai)
电子邮件地址 dtchai@comcast.net
Anson Burlingame [蒲安臣] 1820-1870
By David Chai [dtchai@comcast.net]
Who is Burlingame?
Mass. State Senator, 1853-54
US House of Representatives, 1855-61
Appointed by Pres. Lincoln as Minister to China, 1861-67
Appointed by Emperor Tongzhi [同治皇帝] as Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States
and other Treaty European nations, 1867-1870
Burlingame’s Significant Contributions:
While in Congress:
o Spoke against slavery
o As a distinguished orator,
delivered scathing remarks in defense of his US Senator Sumner from Mass who
was attacked by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina for having
spoken against the pro-slavery stance of the Southern states.
While in Beijing:
o Developed a “Cooperative Policy” that advocated common
interests among the Treaty Powers and China as opposed to coercion and threat
of force toward China.
o Helped introduce mining,
telegraphing and other technologies, as well as international law.
o Demonstrated his true belief in
the equality of people when he had to set up his own court in Beijing to
convict a white American to hang, after taking the witness testimonies of
Chinese men.
o Convinced Prince Gong to send
students to America to learn new technology to bring back to China, including
railroading and telegraphing.
While in the US:
o Working with the then Secretary of State Seward on what
was later known as the Burlingame Treaty and getting it approved by US
Congress. Main points include,
That the US would not interfere
with the internal affairs of China
That China can appoint Consuls at ports in the US, with
the same privilege of immunities of other Most Favored Nations, such as
Britain, France, Russia
That either nation would be open
to unlimited immigration from the other
That citizens of one nation would
be able to travel, study and reside freely in the other nation
o Spoke eloquently on improving
trade with and respecting the sovereignty of China in major US cities.
While in Europe:
o Continued his mission to get his
Treaty approved by other European powers:
Meeting Queen Victoria of Britain and Foreign Secretary
Lord Clarendon
Meeting Emperor Napoleon III of France
Meeting King William of Prussia
Meeting Tsar Alexander II of Russia
o Died of pneumonia in St.
Petersburg, Russia on 2/23/1870. His official burial ceremony in Boston on
4/23/1870 was attended by tens of thousands on the street as his carriage was
covered with both the Stars and Stripes flag and the Yellow Dragon flag of China.
A Royal Decree was delivered from Emperor Tongzhi awarding
him posthumously as Civilian Rank 1 [equivalent to the position of Prime Minister]
and an award of 10,000 liang [or 500,000 grams] of
silver to his family.
Burlingame’s Legacy:
In Nov. 1867, the first American and only person in the
world ever, to become an Envoy from the country which he was originally
assigned as an Envoy from the US.
In July 1868, he helped to draft and ratify through US
congress a Treaty between the US and China that was the first equal treaty
between any of the Western powers and China. It put China at the same basis as
any other Most Favored Nations, such as Britain, France and Russia.
The equality of the Burlingame
Treaty helped China to open its door to send young students (i.e., high
schools) to study in US to learn new technologies to modernize China.
In 1880, the Burlingame Treaty
was re-negotiated with China to temporarily suspend the Chinese immigration
before the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
In 1908, the City of Burlingame
was incorporated with the namesake of Anson Burlingame. It is a city about 20
miles south of San Francisco with a current population of ~29,000.
In 2009, Pres. Obama announced
the “100,000 Strong Initiative” to send 100,000 American students to study in
China within four years.
In 2011, US Senate passed a
Resolution Expressing Regret for Discriminatory Laws against Chinese
Immigrants, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
In 2012, US Congress unanimously
passed a Resolution of Regret for Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and other
discriminatory laws.
How to honor him?
To create an annual Anson
Burlingame Award for the best American who improved the US – China relations.
To create a film documentation on
Anson Burlingame to inspire students to study in each other’s country of her
language and culture.
To organize conferences to
discuss policies to reduce tensions and improve US-China bilateral relations.
To name the San Francisco airport
to Anson Burlingame International airport.
Source material: A collection of relevant Burlingame
material can be found at:
http://burlingame.cmain.org/
