张斯桂:从宁波走向世界的先行者

Zhang Sigui:the forerunner of Ningbo’s Opening to the outside World

宁波商人于1855年所购得的"宝顺号"轮船,是近代中国引进的第一艘轮船,其船长就是张斯桂。洋务运动期间,张斯桂受到李鸿章、曾国藩、沈葆桢等人的重用。1876年,清政府向日本派出了第一个外交使团,张斯桂任副使。1882年,张斯桂回国,后任广平府知府,1888年卒于任。他与丁韪良、容闳、曾纪泽等人都有密切的交往。张斯桂是从宁波走向世界的先行者,他丰富的经历折射出了中国现代化过程的复杂性与特殊性。

Zhang Sigui was captain of Baoshun, the steamship Ningbo merchants bought in t855, the first one in modern China. Zhang was appreciated by the leaders of the Westernization Movement including Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan, Shen Baozhen. In 1876, Zhang was appointed vice dean of the first diplomatic mission the Qing Government sent to Japan where he stayed until 1882. After he returned, Zhang Sigui became the governor of Guangping Fu, and died in harness in 1888. Zhang was friend of many famous men in modem China, such as W. A. P. Martin, Yun Wing, Zeng Jize. Zhang is one of the forerunners Ningbo＇s opening to the outside world, his life is a mirror of the complication of the modernization in China.