Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest
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Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest (born 1 November 1739 in Werkhoven, died 8 July 1801 in Amsterdam) Dutch-American merchant who is mostly known for his participation in the last Dutch embassy to China under the tributary system.
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[edit] Early career
In 1757, van Braam joined the Dutch Navy as a midshipman, but soon left the navy for China in order to work for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1758, van Braam arrived in in China, and for the remaining eight years he was engage in trade in Guangzhou and Macao. During his sojourn in China, he left for Europe twice and married Catharina Cornelia Geertruida van Reede van Oudthoorn on his last visit.
In 1773, van Braam left China and the following year, he settled in a county-seat near Zutphen in the province of Gelderland. Inspired by the American Revolution, he decided to emigrate to the United States and settled in Charleston to work as a merchant and rice planter in 1783. He became a US citizen the following year. As a consequence of a family tragedy, van Braam decided to leave the US and take up a position as chief of the Dutch factory in Guangzhou. After a long journey, with stops in the Netherlands, Malacca and Batavia, he arrived in Guangzhou in 1790.
[edit] Embassy to China
Having learned about the British McCartney Embassy to the Qing court in 1793, he requested that the commissioners-general in Batavia send a VOC embassy to the court of the Qianlong Emperor for the celebration of his sixtieth year on the throne. Batavia accepted the suggestion, but appointed the chief of the Dutch factory in Dejima, Isaac Titsingh (1745-1812) as head of the Dutch embassy instead of van Braam. In November 1794, the embassy, which included van Braam and Christian Louis Joseph Guignes (son of Joseph de Guignes) left Guangzhou and it arrived in Beijing in January 1795, just in time for Chinese new year.
In Bejing, the embassy was received together with representatives of other tributary countries and the members of the embassy performed the kowtow in front of the emperor according to Chinese custom. Unlike British diplomats, the members of the Dutch embassy did not refuse to perform the kowtow. Van Braam had retained his US citizenship and thus became the first American to meet a Chinese emperor. The embassy was lavishly entertained for the remainder of their stay and they were allowed to have an audience with the Qianlong emperor at the Yuanmingyuan.
[edit] Later life
Upon the embassy's return to Guangzhou in March 1795, van Braam was unable to find a ship bound for the Netherlands and chose to board a ship to Philadelphia, where he arrived in 1796. van Braam's arrival in the city attracted a lot of attention and he published an account of his journey, which he dedicated to George Washington. van Braam decided to stay in the area and settled in Bristol outside the city. In 1798, he decided to leave the United States for unknown reasons, and after short stays in Germany and England, he bought a small property in Amsterdam, where he died in July 1801.
[edit] See also
[edit] Source
- Duyvendak, J. J. L. "The Last Dutch Embassy to the Chinese Court (1794-1795)." T'oung pao 34, no. 1-2 (1938): 1-137.
[edit] Work
- An authentic account of the embassy of the Dutch East-India company to the court of the emperor of China in the years 1794 and 1795. London, Printed for R. Phillips, 1798
