Bin Chun

Bin Chun

Bin Chun, a flagman, was the first Chinese official to go abroad and was also the first Chinese official to be informally interviewed by the queen of England. He was the first person to introduce punctuation into China.

People information

Bin Chun, male, is a Manchu relative of Hengqi. He used to be a low-level official in Shanxi and Jiangxi. In his 60s, he was already at home. According to the introduction of Xianghe Hengqi, Mr. Hurd, the general tax department of China Customs, hired him as a copywriter (secretary). When Hart saw that the Chinese government did not send ambassadors or consuls to other countries, many foreign governments knew nothing about what happened in China, so he wanted to use binchun as an envoy to help China open up the diplomatic situation. He was also the first Chinese official to go abroad, and the first Chinese official to be received informally by the queen of England. At that time, officials did not want to go abroad for investigation, nor did they dare to go, and 63 year old bin Chun applied. His relatives and friends used to dissuade him with the idea of "yundangtao", and some even warned him that Su Wu had been detained and Xiongnu had been detained, but he was determined to give it a try in person. Binchun is the first person from the east to the West sent by the government as well as the government officials to study in Western Europe.

Binchun mission

At the beginning of 1866, Hart, the General Revenue Department of the Chinese customs and an Englishman, was going to return home for a holiday. Before leaving, he suggested to the Qing government that he should bring some students from Tongwen library to England to broaden his horizons and cultivate people who would deal with England. Prince Gong Yi Xi, a figure of Westernization Movement, had long wanted to send people to European countries for investigation, so he chose binchun, a 63 year old man from Xiangling County, Shanxi Province, as the chief representative to lead a delegation to Europe. In name, it was tourism, but in fact, it had the political purpose of investigating western society. On March 7, 1866, binchun led three students of Tongwen library and his son Guangying (to take care of his father). Starting from Beijing, he traveled to 11 countries, including France, Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Germany, Belgium and so on. After more than four months, he was the first Chinese official tour group to Europe. Bin Chun sailed from Shanghai to Marseilles after a month and eight days. Marseille, France is the first stop of this expedition. When I first came to Marseilles, the high-rise buildings and the streets were connected, which surprised binchun and others. They had never seen such a prosperous market. That night, bin Chun and others were arranged to stay on the seventh floor of a hotel. The elevators up and down made them feel deeply that the "wonderful skill" of Western civilization really deserves its reputation. The next day, they went to Paris by train. This is binchun's first time to see and ride the train in his life, which makes him very excited. After arriving in Paris, he talked about the wonderful feeling of taking the train many times. Seeing that he liked trains so much, the local overseas Chinese businessmen bought a model train for him. After a 17 day trip to France, binchun and his party came to Britain. Under the arrangement of Hurd, the British government received them with high standards. As soon as he entered London, binchun saw the scene of "dense population, tidy buildings and clean streets". He visited several places in succession with great interest. At the London photo studio, he took his first photo. What is most difficult for Lin binchun to forget is that he was invited to attend a palace ball specially held by Queen Victoria for Chinese visitors. On the evening of May 7, under the guidance of the translator, binchun entered Buckingham Palace, becoming the first Chinese official to enter here. Hundreds of steps were carpeted and lined with flowers, lights and court guards. Bin Chun walked into the dance hall surrounded by officials. The size of the dance hall is astonishing; the luxury of the hall is amazing. There are thousands of lights in the four corners of the hall. More than 400 dukes, Marquises and ministers attended the dance, and more than 800 of them, including their ladies. Dancers bare their shoulders and bare their backs, resplendent and brilliant. As the band played, they danced and the scene was grand, which made bin Chun's eyes open. He said with emotion: "Chinese envoys have never been to foreign countries. This time they were ordered to travel, they realized that there was such a grand scene overseas." The next day, Queen Victoria personally received binchun and his party. Binchun was very grateful. He said to the queen, "I can see that London's house furniture is more exquisite than China's. In all political affairs, there are many advantages. I'm very lucky to have been given preferential treatment by the monarch and been able to browse the scenic spots. " Bin Chun and his party stayed in the UK for as long as one month and seven days. During this period, they also visited the shipbuilding, steel, textile and other industrial enterprises in the UK, and gained a lot. On July 6, binchun and his party came to Sweden. Sweden specially arranged for them to visit the small city in the Arctic circle. Binchun and others saw the wonders of the day here and stayed up all night excited. And along the way, the beautiful scenery of "clear water bay ring, mountains and islands listed, peaks and turns" makes them more relaxed and happy. Three days later, the king of Sweden met binchun in his villa. The princess was attracted by binchun's folding fan. Above is Shen Fenglong's "the painting of picking Chi". The princess interprets the implied meaning of the fan. When the Empress Dowager learned of the arrival of the official Chinese tourist group, she summoned her to the Empress Dowager's palace to entertain the guests with a very precious fruit banquet. Binchun was flattered and immediately wrote a poem praising the Empress Dowager: "the queen mother of Xichi lives in Yingzhou, and the twelve pearl palace orders her to visit; the strange red earth can't fly, and the blue waves and green peaks protect the Qionglou." Binchun and his party went on a journey to Finland, Russia and Germany. He returned to Beijing on September 18 for the official tour group of the Qing Dynasty to Europe, which made a historic breakthrough in China's exchanges with European countries. Wherever they went, they were warmly welcomed. The German media called binchun and his party "Chinese angels"; the Dutch media published a poem of seven rhythms written by binchun after he visited the water conservancy project, which was widely spread; in the UK, the news media chased the whereabouts of binchun and others, and they published the report together with binchun and other people's photos in the newspaper, which greatly increased the sales of the newspaper. Some of the photos were printed separately and widely distributed. Some small businessmen printed the photos of bin Chun and others and sold them at a high price on the street.

Personal achievement

The Qing Dynasty, the first person to introduce punctuation marks into China, was forced to sign many unequal treaties and open trade ports after it was opened by European powers. Gradually, more and more European faces appeared in China. It is reasonable to say that foreign envoys are coming in droves and the integration of China and the west is speeding up, but Emperor Daoguang still made a joke: "is there a dry road between England and Ili?" It can be seen how ignorant the Qing government is of your opponents! During the Tongzhi period, no official of the Qing Dynasty had visited Europe. Not only in the Qing Dynasty, but also in the Han Dynasty, he only went to West Asia to do business in the western regions. In the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang went to India, and in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He went to Asia and Africa, far less than Europa. For that continent, only the Mongolian cavalry had set foot on it, but it was not a visit, but killing and conquest. In 1866, Robert Hurd, an Englishman who was then the General Revenue Department of the customs of the Qing Dynasty, applied to the Qing government for permission to return to China and get married. Then he wrote a memorial and suggested that the Qing government send officials to visit European countries. Hurd has played this kind of suggestion for many times. Since he can't shut his country down, he simply opens his door to the advanced west to understand what happened there, which will do no harm to the Qing Dynasty. At this time, the Qing government was vigorously promoting the Westernization Movement, and its attitude towards the West was very awkward: on the one hand, it was impressed by the "ingenuity" of the west, but on the other hand, it could not put down the face of China. Cixi did not immediately make a decision on the proposal put forward by Hurd. Instead, she consulted the ministers first. Yixi, Prince Gong, is ahead of his time and has always advocated sending people abroad to have a look. Europeans can come to China, but why can't Chinese go to Europe? In particular, after the establishment of the premier's national affairs office, there were no officials familiar with the west, which was passive. Therefore, he voted for Hurd's proposal. Cixi appointed Yi to take charge of the investigation. After Yi Xi led Yi Zhi, he analyzed that it was the key to select the head of the delegation. After careful consideration, he formulated three rigid criteria to select the leader. First, he must be a flag man of Miao Hong with reliable character. Secondly, being knowledgeable and reasonable, visiting foreign countries should not be humiliating to the Qing Dynasty. third, the brain should be smart and flexible when meeting things. Yi Yi thought about it simply, and all the appointed officials were afraid of difficulties. When he heard about going to a foreign country, he felt dizzy, his waist was sore, and even his legs were cramped. No one answered. What officials think in their minds is very clear to Yi. It's just that when they go to a foreign country, the etiquette system doesn't work, and they don't follow the precedent. For fear of making mistakes, they prefer not to go. Hurd is an expert in China. He is well aware of the face saving habits of Chinese people. He suggests that we should not go for official visit, but for sightseeing. On the surface, he is an official tour group to experience the Western civilization which is quite different from the East. In essence, he takes the opportunity to study. So, there's no need to be polite. after the first and second examinations, we finally chose a banner man, bin Chun, who seemed to meet the standard. But he's an old man over 60. When his family heard that he was going to travel to a barbarian country, they all dissuaded him from thinking twice. In order to persuade bin Chun, they even cited the tragic example of Su Wu's envoy to Xiongnu in Han Dynasty who was trapped in Baikal Lake for more than 20 years. But binchun was determined, and his real thought was: "I am an official of the imperial court, the first person from the west to the East." This opportunity is not everyone can have, you wait for the news of my victory back! Accompanied by Hurd, binchun and three excellent students from the Tongwen School of the capital set out from Shanghai by ship. After more than a month's sea voyage, he arrived at Marseilles, a port city in the south of France. As soon as they got ashore, binchun and his party were shocked by the tall and majestic foreign buildings. The neat streets, the polite big nose, and the French threw their arms at them

Chinese PinYin : Bin Chun