Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 9, 1891

[Inclosure 1 in No. 1250.]

Memorandum of an interview between the members of the tsung-li yamén and Mr. von Brandt, January 81, 1891.

Mr. von Brandt had the opportunity, at the visit which the prince and ministers paid to him to-day, to speak to the prince in the sense of the aide-mémoire agreed upon, and to give his highness a copy of it at his demand. Further discussion was postponed until a conference arranged to take place at the yamén on the 31st instant. The contents of the aide-mémoire produced undoubtedly a deep impression upon the prince and ministers, who again brought forward, though in a very cursory manner, the many occupations of the Emperor, which would prevent His Majesty from receiving the ministers singly, or single ministers arriving afterwards in separate audiences.

The prince repeatedly expressed the wish that the audience might take place on the basis of the former programme, with some slight alterations, and the minister Sun-yi-wen insisted very much on the proof of great friendship on the part of China given by the willingness of the Emperor to receive the foreign ministers.

The Chinese ministers present were Prince Ching, Hsu-wen-shen, Sun-yi-wen, and Liao Shou-ming.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 1250.]

Protocol of the meeting of the representatives of treaty powers held at the German legation on January 30, 1891.

Present: The representatives of Belgium, France, the German Empire, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States, the representative of Russia being absent on account of indisposition.

The following points to serve as guidance for Mr. von Brandt in his negotiations with the yamén on the audience question were discussed and adopted in the form hereafter mentioned:

A.

The representatives to be received—

(1): Either singly, each accompanied by his interpreter and the members of his legation belonging to the diplomatic service; or
(2): The representatives having letters of credence to present being received singly, each one accompanied by his interpreter, and afterwards the whole diplomatic body being received together, the doyen making a short congratulatory speech and the different representatives not yet having had an audience, as well as the other members of the diplomatic body, being presented to the Emperor by Prince Ching, or the doyen, the former, in that case, to be furnished with the exact phraseology to be used; or,
(3): As a concession, for this time only, all the representatives, with their secretaries and interpreters, entering together, the representatives furnished with letters of credence presenting them separately; and finally, a short congratulatory address to be pronounced by the doyen.

B.

The audience to take place in one of the audience halls of the palace proper, the Tai-ho-tien (throne room) and the Wu-yin-tien being mentioned, the latter one being a kind of library.

C.

The representatives not being kept waiting for any length of time before the audience.

D.

The question through which of the five or three openings in a Chinese gateway the representatives, bearers of letters of credence, and the other representatives ought to pass was extensively discussed and ventilated. Though the representatives were of opinion that as long as one of their number was the bearer of a letter of credence to the Emperor he ought to pass through the middle opening, through which, according to Chinese ceremonies, not only the person of the Emperor, but also the imperial edicts and seals passed, it was nevertheless, resolved not to open this question, but to claim only the next best opening, i. e., from the outside, the one to the right of the middle opening. The reasons for this decision were that, as the question once raised could not be abandoned and was certain to meet with the greatest opposition on the part of the Chinese, it would be better not to touch it at all, it even being doubtful if for autograph letters of sovereigns the same ceremonial might be claimed as for the sovereigns themselves. In any case the action of the foreign representatives thus confined to what they had an undoubted right to ask would prove their desire not to raise questions which might endanger the final results of the negotiations to be undertaken.

E.

The letter of credence either to be placed into the hands of the Emperor, or, as [Page 369] this would certainly prove impossible to be obtained, on a table near enough to the throne that the Emperor could take them if he should be inclined to do so.

F.

The rehearsal of the ceremony at the yamén to be refused.

G.

The dinner to be offered to the representatives at the tsung-li yamén to be refused, as had been already done in 1873, the representatives being of opinion that any banquet offered them should be at the palace.

The two last points, as not likely to be brought forward immediately, were reserved for further discussion.

M. von Brandt.
Charles Denby.
John Walsham.
K. Otorio.
A. Pansa.
J. K. Ferguson.
G. de Uribari.
P. Risteliiueber.
Charles Michel.

Approved:

C. Kleiménow.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 1230.]

Memorandum on the meeting held at the tsung-li yamén on January 31, 1891, between the Chinese ministers Prince Ching, Hsu Keng Shen, Sun-yi-wen, and Chang Yin-huanand Mr. von Brandt, the latter in the name and for the representatives of the treaty powers.

After some general complimentary remarks, Prince Ching asked Mr. von Brandt what were the views of the foreign representatives on the question of the audience. Mr. von Brandt replied that before entering upon any details he had to make some remarks on the principle underlying the question. Two sides had to be taken into consideration, the personal and the international ones. With regard to the first, it was unquestionably an honor for a representative to be received by a sovereign, and he and his colleagues considered their reception by His Majesty in that light. From the international point of view there could be no doubt that a representative, being accredited by a sovereign or ruler, had the right to demand an audience in order to present his letter of credence, as, by the rules of international law generally adopted and recognized, he could not enter upon the discharge of his official duties before having done so. The foreign representatives now at Peking were therefore bound to assure themselves that their reception by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor was not to preclude any newly arriving minister from demanding and obtaining an audience in order to present his letter of credence. Mr. von Brandt referred the Chinese ministers to the experience of his excellency Chang, present at the conference, and that of the other Chinese representatives who had been accredited to foreign countries.

After some desultory remarks about the minority of the Emperor, which had until now rendered an audience impossible, Prince Ching declared that if a foreign minister furnished with letters of credence arrived in future at Peking he would have to write to the yamén demanding an audience in order to present his letters of credence, which would then be granted, perhaps not immediately, but not with too long a delay, according to circumstances.

Mr. von Brandt, declaring this promise to be satisfactory, then proceeded to explain to the prince and ministers the way in which the foreign representatives might be received. He pointed out that the proper way to receive them would be in separate audiences, but that, in order to show their willingness to meet the yamén as far as possible, the audience to take place might for once be a general one, all the foreign representatives with their diplomatic staff and their interpreters entering at the same time, those representatives having letters of credence presenting them separately, which ceremony having been gone through with, the doyen would make a short congratulatory address in the name of the diplomatic body. At the mention of the presentation of the letters of credence the prince interrupted. Mr. von Brandt by saying they will place them on the table. Mr. von Brandt replied that they were mow discussing one point, the other points being taken in their turn. After a short and very pleasant discussion the prince proposed, without any suggestion from Mr. von Brandt, that the representatives having letters of credence to present should be received each one separately with his own interpreter, and that after these separate receptions were over all the representatives should reenter the imperial presence together, with their secretaries of legation and one interpreter, the doyen pronouneing [Page 370] a short congratulatory address. The prince gave as a reason why it would not be desirable that the representatives should be accompanied each by his own interpreter at this second general reception that the hall of reception was not very large, that it would be, therefore, inconveniently crowded, and that the going into the presence of the Emperor and the leaving of the reception hall would prove difficult if a too large number of persons were present.

Mr. von Brandt replied that the prince’s proposal seemed to contain the elements of an understanding, and that he would place it before his colleagues.

The conversation was then turned by the prince to the place of reception, at which he designated the Tzü-Kuang-Ko. Mr. von Brandt stated that with regard to this place grave objections existed in the minds of the foreign representatives, and that he and his colleagues would be very thankful if the yamên would propose some other place. To the question what were the objections Mr. von Brandt replied that the Tzü-Kuang-Ko was not within the imperial palace, but in an out-of-the-way corner of the garden, and that besides foreign public opinion had pronounced itself so very strongly against the use of this place that it would be difficult for the foreign representatives to ignore it; he could therefore only repeat the request that another place might be selected. Prince Ching then stated that he could not understand what objections could be raised against the hall in question, it being a very fine place, in very good order, and being used for the banquet offered to the Mongol princes. Mr. von Brandt rejoined that that was perhaps one of the reasons which rendered it undesirable as a place for the audience of the foreign representatives, and that he had no doubt that there were a great many places in the palace which could serve the purpose much better than the Tzü-Kuang-Ko. From this moment the conversation grew rather excited on the part of the Chinese ministers. Sun-yi-wên declared that the palace was quite out of the question, as no one could be received there who did not perform the kotow; that the Tzü-Kuang-Ko had once been selected, and that the ministers would have to go there. On the prince repeating this declaration, Mr. von Brandt replied that the Tzü-Kuang-Ko would not be acceptable to the foreign representatives, but that he had no doubt that if the yamên would place before His Majesty the reasons which made the place undesirable another place might be easily found. To this Prince Ching answered: “Certainly not in the palace, but perhaps in the Hsi Yuan, western garden, the part of the garden actually inhabited by His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress ex-Regent, though the halls there were not as large and convenient as the Tzü-Kuang-Ko.” On Mr. von Brandt answering that he would be very willing to transmit to his colleagues any proposal the prince might make on this point, Sun-yi-wên interposed with the remark that there were no places in that part of the garden, and that any other place but the Tzü-Kuang-Ko was quite out of the question, to which his excellency Ching added that if the foreign representatives objected to the Tzü-Kuang-Ko the yamên would write to the cabinets of the treaty powers to inquire whether international law allowed foreign representatives to dictate to a sovereign the place where he was to receive them. Mr. von Brandt answered that it was rather difficult to discuss the question with the yamên. The foreign representatives had an undoubted right by international law and courtesy to be received in the palace; but they were told that that could not be done on account of Chinese law, and when they objected to some other places they were told that they had no right to do so under international law. He, for his part, had not the slightest objection to see the question submitted to the decision of his Government, and he was quite ready to ask for its instructions, nor did he doubt that his colleagues would do the same; but he thought it his duty to point out to the yamên that the answers from the foreign governments might not improbably be that, as a general principle, the view of the yamên was quite correct, but as to the particular case the objections of the foreign representatives were equally so. In that case the position, instead of being a better one, would be rather worse, and he did not think that that would be in the interest of either party. He would therefore recommend once more that the yamên might place the objections of the foreign representatives before His Majesty and recommend a place better suited than the Tzü-Kuang-Ko. Prince Ching thereupon asking if the foreign representatives would declare their readiness to submit to the imperial decision if asked for by the yamên, Mr. von Brandt parried the question by replying that as the audience was, according to imperial edict, to strengthen the friendly relations between China and the treaty powers, he had not the slightest doubt that nothing would be further from the wish of His Majesty than to impose upon the foreign representatives conditions which they, for very good reasons, had declared unacceptable.

The Chinese ministers then said that they expected Mr. von Brandt to write them a dispatch giving his reasons for the nonacceptance of the Tzü-Kuang-Ko, which they would make the basis of their action with regard to the cabinets of the treaty powers. Mr. von Brandt replied that for that purpose his verbal declarations would be so much more sufficient, as the foreign representatives, themselves would address reports to their governments giving the reasons for their action. He thought, however, that [Page 371] it would be best to abstain from all written communication between the yamên and the representatives, as they were always likely to leave some bitterness behind them, which he was of opinion would be better avoided. It would, however, be very easy for the yamên to find sufficient time for a thorough ventilation of the question if the ministers would write a short note to the foreign representatives stating that on account of the death of His Imperial Highness Prince Chun it was desirable to postpone the audience for some time. To such a course the Chinese ministers objected most strongly, insisting again upon a dispatch from the foreign representatives stating their objections. The discussion then went on for over an hour, always turning upon the same points, without any progress being made, the spirit in which the negotiation was carried on by the Chinese ministers being illustrated by the remarks from the prince that he thought the action of the representatives only intended to increase difficulties to the yamên, and that it was so much more incomprehensible as in the aide-mémoire nothing had been said of the place of reception, the place being besides already fixed by imperial decree, the yamên being only ordered to report on the ceremonies. Sun-yi-wên, who had more than once declared that the anger was rising in his throat and nearly suffocating him, chimed in, without the point having been brought forward in any manner, by saying, “And the entertainment at the yamên must also be accepted under international law.” Sun-yi-wên also most positively denied that the Mongol princes were ever entertained at the Tzü-Kuang-Ko.

The conference came finally to an end, after having lasted more than three hours, by the yamên requesting Mr. von Brandt to place the question of the Tzü-Kuang-Ko before his colleagues, which he promised to do, holding out, however, no hope of a change in the views of the foreign representatives, while the yamên on their part, being asked to take into consideration the choice of another place, declared their inability to do so.

[Inclosure 4 in No. 1250.]

Protocol of the meeting of representatives of treaty powers held at the German legation on February 1, 1891, at 3 o’clock p.m.

Present: The representatives of Belgium, France, the German Empire, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia, and the United States.

Mr. von Brandt having read the annexed memorandum on his interview with the ministers of the tsung-li yamên on January 31, his action was approved. He pointed out at the same time that the concession concerning audience to be granted representatives arriving in future was only an apparent one, the same concession having been made in exactly the same terms as now and to the foreign representatives in 1873, on the occasion of the discussion of the yamên’s first programme; besides, it had been acted upon in 1874, when four foreign representatives had been received in separate audiences.

The yamên had therefore played only its usual game, ignoring former concessions in order to be able to make them again and then point to them as a proof of the yamên’s willingness to go as far as possible and the insatiableness of the foreign negotiators.

After some discussion among the representatives, Mr. von Brandt was instructed to tell the yamên at their next meeting that the idea of wishing to dictate in any manner to His Majesty was very far from the minds of the foreign representatives; but that it was their duty at the same time to see that nothing derogatory to the countries they represent took place in any ceremony in which they were called upon to take a part, and that for the reasons already given to the yamên the Tzü-Kuang-Ko was unacceptable. Mr. von Brandt was further instructed, in order that a clear insight might be gained into the situation, to place at the next meeting before the yamên the other objections and demands of the foreign representatives, i. e., with regard to the situation of the table upon which the letters of credence are to be placed, the door through which the representatives are to pass, and the necessity of not keeping them waiting for the audience for any length of time when once in the grounds of the palace.

The meeting then separated.

M. von Brandt.
Charles Denby.
John Walsham.
K. Otori.
A. Pansa.
J. H. Ferguson.
G. de Uribari.
C. Kleiménow.
P. Ristelhueber.
Charles Michel.

[Inclosure 5 in No. 1250.]

Memorandum on the meeting held at the tsung-li-yamên on February 5, 1891, between the Chinese ministers Prince Ching, Sun-yi-wên, and Chang Yin-huan and Mr. von Brandt, the latter in the name of and for the other representatives of treaty powers.

After the exchange of some complimentary remarks, Mr. von Brandt opened the conference by saying that before entering upon any details he wished to place a general statement before the prince and ministers present. In a foreign country an envoy, on arriving, places a copy of his credentials in the hands of the minister of foreign affairs and asks for an audience of the sovereign or ruler of the country, in order to present the original. At the audience, a few days afterwards, he pronounces a short complimentary speech and places his letters of credence into the hands of the sovereign or ruler, who replies by a few words, after which the envoy retires. It is only after this ceremony has been gone through with that the envoy is in a position to assume his official duties. This is the procedure in foreign countries, which the yamên declared would not be followed in China. The Chinese ceremonial was equally unacceptable to the foreign representatives. A mutual understanding ought, therefore, to be arrived at in which, while nothing was further from the minds of representatives than to presume to dictate in any way to His Majesty, it was their duty to see that nothing occurred that was offensive to the dignity of the countries they had the honor to represent. The prince replied to this that the yamên were very anxious on their part, too, that nothing should be asked of the foreign representatives which they might consider as derogatory to their country’s dignity; on the other hand, the same rule held good for China. The other day, after Mr. von Brandt had left, he and his colleagues had found themselves in a great difficulty about the hall in which the audience was to take place. The hall was, so to say, fixed upon by the imperial edict, and all the preparations had been made in it. He therefore proposed that the present audience should take place in the Tzü-Kuang-Ko, while for the next one a new hall should be provided in the western garden. Mr. von Brandt said that he would submit this proposal to his colleagues. Prince Ching then stated that it would certainly be best that they should know at once all the objections the foreign representatives might have to the ceremonial observed in 1873. He hoped that they would not be very numerous, as the yamên had already made a great many concessions, especially with regard to the reception of representatives arriving after the audience and the admission of secretaries of legation and interpreters. Mr. von Brandt replied that the arrangements arrived at could hardly be considered as concessions on the part of the yamên, the reception of representatives arriving after the audience having already been discussed and settled in 1873 and acted upon in 1874, while the admission of secretaries of legation and interpreters was the natural result of the admission of Chinese functionaries of the same rank to audiences elsewhere. Mr. von Brandt proceeded, then, to explain the objections of the foreign representatives with regard to the placing of the letters of credence on the yellow table, of having to wait before the audience, and of entering the hall by the western entrance. Along discussion then ensued upon the question where the foreign representatives ought to place their letters of credence, the members of the yamên maintaining that the rule adopted in 1873 ought to be followed also on this occasion, the table being placed not so very far from the throne and within the hall, Prince Ching also stating in the course of the conversation that papers presented by the highest officials in the Empire were equally placed upon a table, the table for the audience being a specially prepared one, only to be used on such occasions, from which they were to be taken by the chief chamberlain and handed to the Emperor. This last statement Prince Ching tried afterwards very much to disown, but it gives undoubtedly the true state of affairs and proves that the Chinese have attempted and attempt to treat letters from foreign sovereigns and rulers as any other state papers or reports placed before the Emperor. On the other hand, the placing of the table within the hall is, in the eyes of the Chinese, already a considerable concession, the table upon which the letters from the rulers of subject nations are deposited being placed outside the audience hall. Prince Ching also repeated the proposal made in 1873, that if the foreign representatives objected to their letters of credence remaining on the table he could take them from the table and place them in the hands of the Emperor, of course kneeling, a proposal which Mr. von Brandt rejected on the same grounds which had already in 1873 caused the then representatives not to accept it. Mr. von Brandt told the Chinese ministers that the proper way of transmitting a letter from one sovereign or ruler to another was to place it directly in the hands of the latter; but, as Chinese ceremonial appeared not to admit of this being done, his colleagues and he himself would content themselves with placing their letters of credence on a table near enough to the throne that His Majesty, if so inclined, could take the letter with his own hands. [Page 373] Asked to explain how he thought the ceremony ought to be gone through, Mr. von Brandt said that he proposed to walk up to the place where the representatives had formerly stood, then stop, make a short speech, then advance, place his letters of credence upon the table, and retire to the former place, there to listen to the Emperor’s answer.

The conversation on this point having lasted for over an hour without making any progress, the Chinese ministers asked Mr. von Brandt to place their objections before his colleagues and to request them to take the matter once more into consideration. Mr. von Brandt replied that he would do so with pleasure, but that he thought he could hold out very little hope that his colleagues would change their minds on the subject. With regard to himself, he could already tell them to-day that he would not hand over his letters of credence in any other way than in the one proposed by himself.

The Chinese ministers upon this asked him then again to write a dispatch to the yamên on the subject; to which he replied that he had strong objections to writing on subjects under discussion, “but that he would take the yamên’s proposal into consideration, and might perhaps find a way to comply with it. In the course of the before-mentioned conversation Sun-yi-wên asked suddenly, “And how about the feast at the yamên?” to which Mr. von Brandt replied that his colleagues and he himself were accustomed to be received at the table of the sovereign who did them the honor to have them invited, but that if all the other questions were settled satisfactorily means might be found of accepting the invitation of the yamên for once. Mr. von Brandt then asked what were the views of the yamên on the other points mentioned by him; to which the prince replied that the representatives would have to wait a short time before going to the audience, a little friendly conversation and collation having to precede the reception by the Emperor, if an hour from the moment the representatives reached the outer gate to their reception by the Emperor seemed too much, so that if the audience were fixed for noon the ministers would arrive at 11 a.m. Mr. von Brandt replied that he would place the matter before his colleagues, and thought that no objection would be raised against the yamên’s proposals. Asked which gate the foreign representatives claimed, Mr. von Brandt stated that it was the first to the right of the middle gate from outwards, or, in the case of the Tzü-Kuang-Ko, the first to the east. The ministers immediately agreed to the proposal, Prince Ching mentioning in an undertone to Sun-yi-wên that it was the proper one. The gate having been pointed out on a map, no misunderstanding can exist on the point. Prince Ching then added laughingly, “Of course, the ministers refuse to come to a rehearsal of the ceremony.” To which Mr. von Brandt replied in the same tone, “Certainly.”

The prince then remarked that all points seemed to be arranged with the exception of that of the table on which the letters of credence were to be placed, to which Mr. von Brandt replied that some little points to which his colleagues had drawn his attention remained still to be settled. It was, of course, understood that attaches were to accompany their chiefs, as well as the secretaries of legation. The prince objected to this, counting upon his fingers, “One minister, one secretary of legation, one interpreter, making altogether three persons to be admitted from each legation.” Mr. von Brandt pointing out that at some of the legations there were more than one secretary of legation, the prince gave way on this point, still maintaining, however, his objections to the attachés, who, he said, would swell the number of persons to be admitted too much. Mr. von Brandt remarked that to his knowledge there were attaches only to two of the legations, at the French one and at the Japanese one, and that there would be only two or three of them, to which the prince replied, “Yes, but there may be more appointed afterwards.” Mr. von Brandt then said that as the question now stood the interpreters of six of the legations would be admitted to the audience, while the interpreter of the seventh legation would be present at the reception. There remained three legations represented by chargés d’affaires, of which two had interpreters; their chiefs desired very much that they should be allowed to assist at the general reception. The prince replied that they would be received in the audiences when their chiefs had letters of credence to present.

The conference then closed, after it had lasted two hours and a half, Mr. von Brandt recommending the Chinese ministers to take the wishes of his colleagues with regard to the attachés and interpreters into further favorable consideration. It must be remarked that the tone of the Chinese ministers was from the beginning to the end of the conference an exceedingly friendly and amiable one, quite different from the disagreeable and assuming way in which they had acted at the last meeting.

[Inclosure 6 in No. 1250.]

Mr. von Brandt to the tsung-li yamên.

Peking, February 7, 1891.

To His Highness Prince Ching,
President of the Tsung-li Yamên:

Your Highness: I have taken the first opportunity to place before my colleagues, the representatives of Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the United States, the results of the conference held at the yamên on the 5th instant.

My colleagues and myself are of opinion that the only way to transmit the letters from our sovereigns or rulers to His Majesty the Emperor, containing our credentials, would be to place them either into the hands of His Majesty, as is done everywhere else, or on a table placed so near to the throne and so high that His Majesty could, if he chose, take the letters with his own hands. My colleagues and myself are willing to agree to the second alternative.

All the other points being very nearly arranged, it would want only one more conference to settle them definitely.

According to His Majesty’s wish, I also inclose a list of the secretaries, military attachés, attachés, and first interpreter of the foreign legations now present at Peking.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your highness the assurance of my highest consideration.

von Brandt.

Approved:

Charles Denby.
John Walsham.
K. Otori.
A. Pansa,
J. H. Ferguson.
G. de Uribari.
C. Kleiménow.
T. Ristelhueber.
Charles Michel.