The Margary Affair ( or 滇案; ''Diān àn'') was a crisis in Sino-British relations, which followed the murder of British official Augustus Raymond Margary in 1875. As part of efforts to explore overland trade routes between

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's provinces, junior British diplomat Augustus Raymond Margary was sent from

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

through

southwest China Southwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xizang. Geography Southwestern China is a rugged and mountainous region, ...

to Bhamo in

Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including ...

, where he was supposed to meet Colonel Horace Browne. It took Margary six months to make the journey through the provinces of

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

and

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

and he met Brown in Bhamo in late 1874. On the journey back to Shanghai, Margary heard rumors that the return route was not safe and changed the route to Tengyue. However, he did not notify local officials of their arrivals and confronted native people. In a following conflict on 21February 1875, he and his four Chinese personal staff were killed. The incident created a diplomatic crisis and led the British government to put pressure on their Chinese counterparts. The crisis was only resolved in 1876 when Thomas Francis Wade and

Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901) was a Chinese statesman, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in importan ...

signed the Chefoo Convention, which covered a number of items unrelated to the incident. Following this incident the first permanent Chinese diplomatic mission opened in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as the Chinese Legation in 1877.

Notes

{{Reflist

References

*Margary, Augustus Raymond, and Rutherford Alcock
''The Journey of Augustus Raymond Margary, from Shanghae to Bhamo, and Back to Manwyne: From His Journals and Letters, with a Brief Biographical Preface.''
London: Macmillan and co., 1876. *Wang, Shên-tsu. ''The Margary Affair and the Chefoo Agreement.'' London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1940. China–United Kingdom relations 1870s in China Diplomatic crises of the 19th century