Peking, Pechili province, China: Dong Xun (1810-1892), Minister of Foreign Affairs, late Qing. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.

An elderly man seated in front of a building, wearing light coloured clothes, holding a pipe and a fan. The building is the same as in Thomson's negative number 655. Dong Xun (1810 1892) was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the late Qing. Dong Xun was also one of the three Chinese ministers in the Office for Foreign Affairs. During his time in office, he negotiated on behalf of the Qing government, which included signing several international trade treaties with Belgium, Britain, the United States, Russia and others. Dong Xun was an extremely learned man and a prolific author. He was also a well-known authority on hydrography, and had impressed Thomson with his plans to improve irrigation and drainage throughout China