More than one hundred years ago the Qing Dynasty first opened its door to the world by sending a diplomat to the west. Their choice was an American, Anson Burlingame, who was known in Chinese as Pu Anchen.

Pu Anchen is a legendary figure in the history of Sino-US relations. A Harvard graduate in legal studies, he entered the government at a young age and enjoyed a successful political career during his early years. He was elected to the House of Representatives of Massachusetts. He was a radical who epitomized the spirit of New England; a man who embraced democracy and freedom, and was always ready to defend others, especially disadvantaged nations, against injustice.

These pictures are now preserved in the U.S. Library of Congress. They were taken when Burlingame, after appointed envoy to the west by the Qing Dynasty, visited America in 1868. Burlingame, however, had first been the U.S. Ambassador to China. During his tenure, his growing admiration for China's venerable civilization and his disapproval of the west’s 'Gunboat Diplomacy' won him favor at the Qing Court. Just as he had completed his term and was ready to leave, a dramatic event took place. The Qing Court appointed him as China's first envoy to the west. In 1868, he signed the Burlingame Treaty on behalf of the U.S. and China. Article No. 7 states that in future 'Chinese subjects shall enjoy all the privileges as people of the most favored nation during their study in American public educational institutions, and vice versa.'

The Sino-US Burlingame Treaty of 1868 provided a foundation for China to send students to America in the years to come.

A dozen years elapsed, Rong Hong never forgot his dream. On various occasions he had proposed his project to some foreign affairs officials, only in futile.

In the spring of 1870, the Tientsin Massacre took place. Some peasants in Tianjin burnt down a church and killed a missionary. The court assigned Zeng Guofan to mediate in the event, while Rong Hong was summoned as the translator. As he increasingly encountered international issues, Zeng Guofan realized that the lack of Chinese professionals was a severe impediment. On this occasion, Rong Hong again proposed his overseas student project. Now, that dream was to become a reality.

“One night after I had already fallen asleep, somebody woke me up, saying that my project had been approved by Zeng Guofan, who would report with other officials to the court for imperial consideration. This piece of news was too much to allow me to sleep any more that night; while lying on my bed, as wakeful as an owl, I felt as though I were treading on clouds and walking in air.' [from My Life in China and America]”

An original act by China, unprecedented in history'. This is a quotation from Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang's memorial to the court. On August 5, 1871, two men, Zeng Guofan, the Viceroy of Liangjiang, and Li Hongzhang, the Viceroy of Zhili, together reported to the Tongzhi emperor. They said the foundation of westerners' military power was the knowledge of geography, mathematics, astronomy, manufacturing, and other fields of modern study. Westerners were eager to learn the advanced technologies of other countries, and to recruit experts to teach them. A strong land force and navy were life and death to them. China should learn from this success. The most urgent task was to select able students for overseas study so that the emperor's long-cherished wish of self-reliance could be realized.

On September 9, 1871, the Central Foreign Office received the royal decree. 'Proposal Approved', these two words initiated China's first overseas student project and turned Rong Hong's dream into reality.

In 1871, the Qing government determined to select bright children to study in America. The plan for the first four years was for an annual installment of 30 boys should be sent off, for a total of 120. They were to study military administration, mathematics, manufacturing, engineering sciences, so that China might become acquainted with the technology in which the west excelled, and thus propel China on to the path of gradual self-rejuvenation. The program was to last 15 years. The overall cost of overseas study would be covered by the Imperial government. The Qing Dynasty's first student recruitment program had begun.

“Such a gesture from the court was unheard of. Most people were confused when the message came to them. There were no newspapers in China at the time, so the information only spread by word of mouth in the capital, Beijing, and in a number of coastal cities.”

This is the memoir of Li Enfu, a boy student chosen for the project. In his book When I was a Bo y in China, he recounted in English his experiences in America. The book was published in Boston, in 1887.

“In fact, at that time it was rare for parents anywhere to send their son to the other end of the world for a long time, especially to a place they had never heard of. It was rumored that the place was inhabited by mere barbarians.”

“It was universally held by the Chinese that China was a nation of splendor and significance, and that learning from barbarians would be totally demeaning. When Guo Songtao, the first ambassador to the U.K. went abroad, Wang Kaiyun wrote couplets to insult him: 'before one has served humans, how can one serve demons? why should one leave his motherland? Why on earth do you leave your home and hearth?'”

In China, few parents were willing to send their children overseas. But the court was determined to select talented children for this project. Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang wrote in their memorial to the throne that good candidates are hard to find since they must be enterprising and of good nature. Only those unencumbered by domestic cares and immune to external temptations would qualify for overseas travel to undertake serious study. Thus an ad hoc office was set up in Shanghai to select eligible boy students, with strict rules for age limit. Li Hongzhang modified the original age scope, from 12 to 20 years old, to below 16 years of age. Student go abroad at 20 would return 35, then the odds were high that he would suffer from family bereavement. Thus the length of his servitude to the nation would be circumscribed.