Mr. Burlingame to Mr. Seward

No. 102]

Sir: I have the honor to send herewith correspondence in relation to the prohibitions that exist in China against entering forbidden places.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

ANSON BURLINGAME.

Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington,

[Enclosure.]

Prince Kung, chief secretary of state for foreign affairs, herewith makes a communication:

Some time ago, owing to the non-acquaintance with our regulations respecting going into the gate of the forbidden city, or the enclosure of the Yuen-ming gardens, or the imperial mausolea at Tsun-hwa, and at Mukten in Manchuria, which foreigners exhibited, inasmuch as they had heedlessly broken the rules and intruded into these important places, notifications were made [to the foreign ministers] in order that they might enjoin the same on whom soever it concerned.

A minute has recently been received from the sacrificial board upon this subject, as follows:

“The imperial statutes respecting entrance into altars, temples, and other forbidden places, should be most carefully observed, and it is for their protection that officers and soldiers are distributed at them to guard against intrusion. Except the policemen and official employes who are detailed for this duty, all idlers and persons having no duties there are not allowed to go in and out. If the present condition of things is allowed to remain longer it is really to be feared that by and by some untoward event may happen from foreigners, ignorant of these prohibitions, trying to go into these enclosures and buildings against the wishes of the police guarding them, and the bes,t way, therefore, will be to inform the foreign ministers beforehand, in order that they may strictly require their countrymen not to intrude into these for bidden places. Such a course will tend to show the importance of the statutes and our usages, as well as manifest the dignity of the nation.”

I have, therefore, the duty to inform your excellency of these things, in the expectation that you will enjoin upon those persons under your direction that hereafter they are not to go into the precincts of the imperial tombs, or into palaces and other forbidden places where guards are stationed to prevent intruders, in order to ramble about and see them. This intimation is given in the spirit of the well-known maxim, “When you enter a kingdom learn its regulations,” and I shall await a ready reply to it so that I can inform the officers of the sacrificial board of the same.

His Excellency Anson Burlingame, United Stales Minister,

[Enclosure.]

Mr. Burlingame to Prince Kung

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a despatch from your Imperial Highness of the 17th ultimo, in which you have quoted from a document which had been received [Page 436] from the sacrificial board respecting the prohibitions that exist against foreigners entering forbidden places, and asking that they1 may be warned not to forcibly intrude into them.

I have carefully read this despatch, and need only remark in relation the subject, that as the path of propriety is plain, every man of judgment will see what the circumstances at any time require, and if any person under my control is at all guilty of making disturbance he will be dealt with according to the provisions of the treaty, and in the spirit of friendship which exists between our respective countries. It is, however, proper that the officers of the sacrificial board designate the time and place where an offence has been committed before I can act in this matter.

I beg here to refer your Imperial Highness to the third volume of Wheaton’s International Law, chap. 1, (in the Chinese version,)for some details upon the usages of western nations in their intercourse with the representatives of friendly powers who reside at their courts, as they are there clearly described.

I have the honor to be, sir, your Highness’s obedient servant,

ANSON BURLINGAME,

His Imperial Highness Prince Kung, &c.,&c.,&c.