What is the picture hanging on the wall behind the U.S. Embassy in China, Blinken and Burns?
First, on June 6, 1868, Anson Burlingame presented the Great Qing Credentials to U.S. President Andrew Johnson at the White House. Pu Anchen was originally the US minister to the Qing Dynasty, and when he arrived in 1861, he was a friend of Lincoln and regarded as "his own person" by the Qing rulers. At the end of November 1867, when he left office to return to the United States, he was retained by Prince Gong Yixun and appointed as Minister Plenipotentiary, representing the Qing government in the United States, Britain, France, Prussia, Russia and other countries. At that time, there were really no willing diplomatic talents who were willing to send envoys, and Guo Songtao sent an envoy to Britain eight years later.
Second, on the occasion of Pu's envoy, his old friend Dong Xun personally wrote a poem for the gift: "The plum blossom fragrance returns to the boat, and the bottle of wine is temporarily stayed." I have worked with China for the longest time, and I often miss old travels when I look back. ”
When Pu Anchen went to the United States on behalf of the Great Qing, American public opinion said: "It is of great significance that the world's oldest empire has sent an envoy to the youngest republic"; Americans boast that "it is the youngest republic of America that introduces the oldest country in history to the world." The message is that the Americans helped China or the Qing Dynasty when they went abroad and went to the world, which may be the meaning of the US Embassy in China hanging this map.
