Sun Jiagu

Sun Jiagu signed the 1868 treaty at Washington as Sun Chia-Ku, one of the Qing government’s three accredited envoys. His commission arose from the court’s decision to send its own Foreign Office officials alongside Anson Burlingame. Sun joined Zhi Gang and Burlingame in announcing their arrival to Secretary of State William H. Seward on June 2. ^{1, 3, 2}

The court expected Sun and Zhi Gang to learn diplomatic practice and consult over reports to Beijing, while Burlingame directed negotiations. Their names nevertheless appeared beside his on the July 28 agreement. ^{3, 2}

Sun described the journey in Shi xi shu lüe, preserved in a later printed collection. He recalled presenting credentials in the American capital before continuing to Britain and continental Europe. At the end of the account, he described visiting eleven countries and keeping private notes beyond the official papers, which he intended to arrange into a volume. ⁴