Chen Jitong (simplified Chinese: 陈季同; traditional Chinese: 陳季同; pinyin: Chén Jìtóng; 1851–1907), courtesy name Jingru (敬如), also known as Tcheng Ki-tong, was a Chinese diplomat, general, scholar, and shipbuilder during the late Qing dynasty. Chen was born in Houguan, now in present-day Minhou, Fuzhou. In 1869 he started to study the French language at the school attached to the Fuzhou shipyard. In 1875 Shen Baozhen sent thirty Chinese students, from the training school attached to the Foochow Arsenal to study shipbuilding and navigation in Europe. In 1876, Chen Jitong was selected to go to Europe and he wrote a book on his impressions after his return to China the following year. He subsequently served on a number of important positions in the Qing foreign service. While serving as a diplomat in France, he wrote several famous works in French, becoming the first Francophone Chinese author.

Chen Jitong
陳季同
Chinese Ambassador to the UK
In office
?–?
MonarchGuangxu
Chinese Ambassador to France
In office
?–?
MonarchGuangxu
Personal details
Born(1851-01-01)1 January 1851
Qing dynasty Houguan, Fujian,
Qing Dynasty, China
Died1 January 1907(1907-01-01) (aged 56)
Qing dynasty ?? Qing Dynasty, China
RelativesChen Shoupeng (陈寿彭)
EducationSciences Po
OccupationDiplomat

In 1891, he was dismissed from all official positions and settled in Shanghai. Following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, he served as foreign minister of the short-lived Republic of Formosa.

Writings edit

References edit

  • Yeh, Catherine Vance. "The Life-Style of Four Wenren in Late Qing Shanghai." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 57, no. 2 (1997): 419–70.
  • Ke Ren, "Chen Jitong, Les Parisiens peints par un Chinois, and the Literary Self-Fashioning of a Chinese Boulevardier in Fin-de-siècle Paris", L'Esprit créateur, Volume 56, Number 3, Fall 2016, Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 90–103.

External links edit

  • Speech by Chen (in French)
  • YU, Wen (May 24, 2016). "Chen Jitong and Cosmopolitan Possibilities in the Late Qing World". Dissertation Reviews.