Chen Lanbin
陳蘭彬
1st Chinese Ambassador to the United States
In office
11 December 1875 – 24 June 1881
MonarchGuangxu
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byCheng Tsao-Ju
Personal details
Born1816 (1816)
Wuchuan, Guangdong, Qing dynasty China
Died1895 (aged 78–79)
Wuchuan, Guangdong, Qing dynasty China
OccupationDiplomat

Chen Lanbin (Chinese: 陈兰彬; pinyin: Chén Lánbīn; 1816–1895), courtesy name Li Qiu (Chinese: 荔秋), was the first Chinese Ambassador to the United States during the Qing dynasty.[1][2][3]

Born in Wuchuan City, Guangdong, he passed the Chinese imperial examination in 1853 at the age of 24, and entered the Hanlin Academy. He soon became the head of two departments of the Qing government in succession, and in 1872 he was sent to the United States and named commissioner of the Chinese Educational Commission in Hartford, Connecticut, despite not knowing English.[4] He occupied numerous other positions until 1875, when he began acting as the government's representative in the United States. He was formally named the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Spain, and Peru in 1878, a position that he held until 1881.[1] A conservative, Chen was often at odds with the progressive oriented Yung Wing, the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, and a colleague of his.[5]

In 2015, Chen was featured in an article by China Daily, which remembered his efforts in promoting Sino-US relations.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Lin Bude (October 2007). 七律·读清代名臣陈兰彬生平事迹感怀四首（之四） (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2011-03-22. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  2. ^ Arkush, R. David; Lee, Leo O. (1993-09-20). Land Without Ghosts: Chinese Impressions of America from the Mid-Nineteenth Century to the Present. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-08424-7.
  3. ^ Qin, Yucheng (2009). The Diplomacy of Nationalism: The Six Companies and China's Policy Toward Exclusion. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3274-2.
  4. ^ Brawner Bevis, Teresa. Chinese Students in US Colleges, The First Hundred Years.
  5. ^ Hummel, Arthur W. Sr. (2018-01-01). Eminent Chinese of the Qing Period: 1644-1911/2. Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-61472-849-8.
  6. ^ "Spirit of China's first US ambassador lives on". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
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