Zhi Gang

Zhi Gang carried Qing credentials to Washington with Anson Burlingame and Sun Jiagu in 1868. The court had commissioned him as a Foreign Office official to visit the treaty powers. In the account of his audience before departure preserved in the later edited Chu shi tai xi ji yao, he described entering the Zongli Yamen from the Ministry of Rites. ^{1, 5, 6}

He joined the delegation’s June 2 notification to William H. Seward and signed the additional treaty articles at Washington on July 28 under the name Chih-Kang. His edited account also describes the White House credentials ceremony, with Burlingame entering first and Zhi and Sun following. ^{5, 2, 6}

The Qing government assigned different tasks within the delegation. Burlingame controlled negotiations, while Zhi Gang and Sun Jiagu were to consult with him on reports to Beijing. The court also expected its own officials to acquire experience for future missions. ⁵

After Burlingame died in Russia in 1870, Zhi Gang led the remaining tour. The delegation returned to Beijing that November. His account described diplomatic encounters and observations abroad and circulated in edited forms after the journey. ^{3, 4, 6}