Tung Chih to Translated by J. M. L. Brown, First Secretary of Chinese Mission. Translation approved, December 31, 1867

[Untitled]

His Majesty the Emperor of China salutes the President of the United States!

In virtue of the commission we have with reverence received from Heaven, and as China and foreign nations are members of one family, we are cordially desirous of placing on a firm and lasting basis the relations of friendship and good understanding now existing between us and the nations at amity with China. And as a proof of our genuine desire for that object, we have specially selected an officer of worth, talents, and wisdom, Anson Burlingame, late minister at our capital for the United States of America, who is thoroughly conversant with Chinese and foreign relations, and in whom, in transacting all business in which the two empires of the United States and China have a common interest, we have full confidence as our representative and the exponent of our ideas.

We have also commissioned Chih Kang and Sun Chia Ku, high officers with the honorary rank of the second grade, to accompany Mr. Burlingame to the United States, where Mr. Burlingame, with the two so appointed, will act as our high minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary.

We have full confidence in the loyalty, zeal, and discretion of the said three ministers, and are assured they will discharge satisfactorily the duties intrusted to them, and we earnestly request that the fullest credence and trust may be accorded to them, that thereby our relations of friendship may be permanent, and that both nations may enjoy the blessings of peace and tranquillity, a result which we are certain will be deeply gratifying.