Page 450 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

436.

exchange of assurances of the reciprocal good will of the United

States and China." The Americans repaid Ch'i-ying's visit the

following day. Besides Cushing, the party consisted of his

secretary Fletcher Webster, the young attaches, Com. Parker and

several officers of the naval squadron, and his interpreters

Peter Parker and Elijah Bridgman. Ch'i-ying received the Amer­

icans at his residence, a temple, in Wang-hsia. Except for an

agreement by both envoys to begin their negotiations shortly,
this second meeting was also entirely social. The two Commis­

sioners appointed their respective subordinates who would
77
meet daily to discuss the details of a treaty.

After their initial courtesy calls, Cushing and Ch'i-ying

met infrequently. Although they corresponded concerning final

agreements on various points, lesser officials conducted the

bulk of negotiations. Cushing delegated his secretary and his

interpreters as representatives of the United States. The Chin­

ese counterparts of Webster, Parker and Bridgman included three

minor officials, whom Ch'i-ying chose for their familiarity with

foreign affairs. Two of them, Huang En-t'ung and Chao Ch'ang-ling,

had previously served Ch'i-ying in his negotiations with the Eng­

lish in 1843. The third Chinese agent was P'an Shih-ch'eng, a

member of the Hong merchant Pwankeiqua's family and a special

78
friend to American merchants. These six men conducted their

77
Diplomatic Despatches: China, C. Cushing, Jul. 8, 1844.
78
Diplomatic Despatches: China, C. Cushing, Jul. 8, 1844.
Swisher, Management of American Barbarians: pp. 32-33. Americans
transliterated the names of Ch'i-ying's advisors differently.
Huang En-t'ung became Hwang, Chao Ch'ang-ling became Chow, and
P'an Shih-ch'eng became Pwan. For sketches of Huang and P'an,
see Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, I, 132; II, 606.