Description:

Jitong Chen

Chen Jitong, French-Speaking Qing Dynasty Diplomat!

1p ANS inscribed overall in French and signed by Chinese diplomat Chen Jitong (1851-1907) as "Tcheng Kitong" in the lower right corner. The undated note is comprised of two paper slips mounted on a larger half-sheet, also inscribed and signed. Inscribed "Autographe de Tcheng-Ki-Tong" at top. With expected glue residue and minor edge darkening, else very good to near fine. 8" x 5". Enclosed within an early collector's archival folder.

Translated, with untouched punctuation:

"I recommend a good welcome for M. Hébrand the author of this letter whose person and writings are worthy of interest. If I had here at my disposition a French newspaper, I would be very happy to share the opinion of a Parisian with my compatriots, as you have very much wanted to publish mine for Parisian lectures. I seize the occasion to cordially shake your hand. Thank you in advance

Tcheng Kitong."

Jitong was accustomed to serving as a linguistic and cultural ambassador, as his letter suggests. A Qing Dynasty diplomat in Paris in the 1880s, Jitong educated fin-de-siècle French society about China, all while communicating in their own language. He wrote Les Chinois peints par eux-mêmes (Paris: Levy, 1884) [ The Chinese Painted by Themselves] and Journal d'un Mandarin: Lettres de Chine et Documents Diplomatiques Inédits (Paris: Plom, 1887) [ Journal of a Mandarin: Letters from China and Unedited Diplomatic Documents], making him the first published French-speaking Chinese author. Jitong's works fed the West's insatiable hunger for information about the exotic East.

Chen Jitong, whose name is alternately spelled as Tcheng Ki-tong, was the product of a remarkable background. He learned French as a teenager at a shipyard in Fuzhou, a southeastern Chinese province located approximately 255 km northwest of the modern day island of Taiwan. In his early 20s, Jitong was selected by Qing Dynasty officials to study European navigation and shipbuilding abroad. After his time as a diplomat in Paris, Jitong later served as a foreign minister in the Republic of Formosa (modern day Taiwan) in 1895.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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