Wang Zhichun 1842-?

A native of Qingquan in Hunan province, he began his career in the armies raised by Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang to suppress the Taiping rebellion. He was sent to Japan in late 1879 to ascertain Japan's response to the hostilities between China and Russia. During the Sino-French War of 1883-85, he took part in negotiations to fix the border between China and French-occupied Vietnam. He played host in 1891 to the visiting Russian crown prince when the latter visited Guangdong. In 1894 Wang was selected to attend the funeral of Nicholas I and pay respects to the new tsar Nicholas II. His diary from his 1894 trip to Russia by way of France and Germany was published as Mission to Russia.

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