11 Facts About Guo Songtao

Guo Songtao was a Chinese diplomat and statesman during the Qing dynasty.

Guo Songtao was among the first foreign emissaries to be sent abroad by the Qing government, as a result of the Tongzhi Restoration.

In 1847, Guo Songtao was awarded the highest degree in the imperial exams and soon afterwards he became a bachelor in the Hanlin Academy.

Guo Songtao later assisted Li Hongzhang's Huai Army in their campaigns against rebels in the Anhui province.

Guo Songtao called for foreign languages to be taught at a government school in 1859.

Guo Songtao became an important member of China's Self-Strengthening Movement in the 1860s and 70s and distinguished himself for his advocacy of a moderate and peaceful foreign policy.

Guo Songtao became the first Qing minister to be stationed in a western country.

Guo Songtao served as Minister to Britain and Minister to France from 1877 through 1879 as part of the United Kingdom's demands after the Margary Affair for an Imperial commissioner to be posted to Britain.

In July 1877 while serving as Chinese Minister to Britain, Guo Songtao led an entourage of legation officials on a visit to the Ipswich engineering works of Ransomes and Rapier to see the manufacture of steam locomotives, railway equipment and other engineering products.

Guo Songtao travelled from London to Ipswich by train and expressed his deep admiration for Britain's railway system, commenting that the distance travelled during the two-hour train journey would have taken two or three days in his own country.

Guo Songtao subsequently became a great proponent of railways and other modern engineering development in China, incurring the wrath of conservative and anti-railway Court officials, who resented his representations.