放大圖片
耆英致港督戴維斯信函 Letter by Qiying to Hong Kong Governor John Francis Davis
1846年 香港歷史博物館藏 Collection of Hong Kong Museum of History
耆英是清廷負責簽署《南京條約》的欽差大臣,1844至1848年間出任兩廣總督,與第二任香港總督兼英國駐華全權公使戴維斯協商廣州入城及歸還舟山等問題。耆英在信中提及「進城事小、舟山事大」,計劃以容許英人進入廣州城來換取歸還舟山。舟山鄰近上海,位處長江入海處,形勢險要。此函的英文譯本出自德國傳教士郭士立的手筆,他自1843年在港出任撫華道。
Qiying was the leading Qing official responsible for the negotiation and signing of the Treaty of Nanking. From 1844 to 1848, as Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, he and John Francis Davis negotiated issues such as foreigners' entry to Guangzhou and the return of Zhoushan to China. Davis was the second Governor of Hong Kong as well as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China at the time. In this letter, Qiying writes, “the entry issue is a small one; Zhoushan is much more important”. His plan was to allow British people to enter the city of Guangzhou in exchange for the return of Zhoushan. The letter was translated into English by Karl Gutzlaff, a German missionary who was appointed Chinese Secretary to the Colonial Government of Hong Kong in 1843. ■資料:香港歷史博物館
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