Note:
(a) Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Robert_Hart,_1st_Baronet
(1835-1911; In 1861, he was promoted to acting Inspector-General, and was named Inspector-General of Foreign Customs in 1863, a position he held until his retirement in 1907./ His name is still remembered in Beijing through a street name in the Legation quarter.)
(i) baronet (n): "the holder of a rank of honor below a baron and above a knight" www.m-w.com
(ii) For Imperial Maritime Custom Service (IMCS; 大清帝国海关), see
Chinese Maritime Customs Service
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Maritime_Customs_Service
(effectively established by foreign consuls in Shanghai in 1854 to collect maritime trade taxes that were going unpaid due to the inability of Chinese officials to collect them during the Taiping Rebellion. Its responsibilities soon grew to include postal administration among other things)
(iii) Inspector General 总税务司
(b) Horatio Nelson Lay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson_Lay
(1832-1898; 李泰国)
Quote:
"During the Second Opium War, Lay served as Lord Elgin's interpreter and he participated in the negotiation of the Sino-British Treaty of Tianjin 天津條約. Even though Lay was not in charge of designing the actual treaty, he was instrumental in intimidating the Qing delegation into signing it despite the highly unfavorable terms to the Chinese side. Among other things, Lay humiliated the Qing representative Qiying [1787--forced suicide 1858; 耆英] by exposing recently captured documents, which revealed Qiying's hostility to the British. The disgraced Qiying later committed suicide.
Lay-Osborn Flotilla: To recapture Nanjing, Chinese emperor agreed to British ambassador's 1861 proposal (initiated by Robert Hart) to purchase British gunboats. Lay was appointed as Inspector General of the new flotilla, who in turn appointed Captain Sherard Osborn as Commander of the flotilla.
(c) For 蒲安臣使团 Burlingame Mission, see
Anson Burlingame
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson_Burlingame
(1820-1870; American; section 2 Minister to the Austrian Empire and China)
(d) VOA states, "第二次鸦片战争后，列强在北京设立使馆."
I have no time and will finish tomorrow.
(e) Postage stamps and postal history of China
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_China
(section 1 Imperial China: In the same year, the Englishman Robert Hart developed a mail service for the Imperial Maritime Customs, initially to carry consular mail to and from treaty ports. This service was opened to the public on 1 May 1878, and China's first postage stamps, the "Large Dragons", were issued to handle payment. The stamps were inscribed "CHINA" in both Latin and Chinese characters, and denominated in candareens)
My comment: There is CHINA on the stamp all right. See the phto of a bluish stamp with the caption "This 1-candareen stamp of 1885 * * *" However, the Chinese in the stamp is NOT 中國 but 大清. It is generally accepted that popular use of 中國 started, and is abbreviated, from 中華民國.