Page 442 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

428.

despatch a mission to China, the consul had then included the

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possibility of Cushing s seeing the Emperor. The Chinese be­
lieved they had successfully dissuaded the consul of the desir­

ability of such an idea at that time. Forbes• meeting had been

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with Imperial Commissioner Ch i-ying, who had just signed the
Supplementary Treaty with the English. The Commissioner argued

that the envoy•s presence at Peking would be very inconvenient

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and completely unnecessary. Ch i-ying instructed the consul
that he, as Imperial Commissioner, had the requisite power and

authority "to deliberate upon and manage the foreign affairs" of

the Chinese Empire. He further emphasized that on his own

initiative he "did not wait for the American Merchants to make

the request, but immediately informed beforehand the Consular

Agent of the U.S.A. E. King, Esq. that according to the new Laws

their duties would be levied and also that they were permitted

to resort to the newly opened ports and in the manner (with the

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English) to trade." In Ch i-ying s estimation the American
government had no reason to send an envoy to China. Forbes

could only promise the Commissioner that he would duly notify
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his government of the Commissioner•s statements. From this

answer, the Chinese concluded that probably no American envoy

Yu-ts'ai as Ching and to Ch'i-ying as Tsiyeng or Kiying. For a
biographical sketch of Ch'i-ying, see Eminent Chinese of the
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Ch ing Period, ed. by Arthur W. Hummel (2 vols; Washington,
1943-44), I, 130.

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cushing's letter to Ch eng and his correspondence with
Forbes is in Diplomatic Despatches: China, C. Cushing, Mar. 4, 1844.
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ch i-ying s reply is in Consular Despatches: Canton, P.S.
Forbes, Oct. 7, 1843.