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Ulysses S. Grant and Li Hongzhang at Tientsin

Unknown (restored by ralph repo) · 1879

A photograph of Grant meeting Qing Viceroy Li Hongzhang in China in 1879 during his post-presidential world tour.

This photograph shows Grant meeting Viceroy Li Hongzhang during his world tour after leaving the presidency.

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Sepia-toned photograph of two seated men in front of a plain tan backdrop. On the left, a bearded man in a dark Western suit with a watch chain sits in a carved wooden armchair. On the right, a man in a long dark robe and a round brimmed hat sits. A small carved wooden table with a vase of flowers stands between them.
Unknown photographer (Qing government), Ulysses S. Grant and Li Hung Chang, Tientsin, China, 1879. Restored version.

About this source

What it is

This sepia-toned photograph shows two seated men, one in a Western suit and one in a long robe, at a meeting in Tientsin, China, in 1879. It was likely taken by an anonymous Chinese photographer at the direction of the Qing government, showing Ulysses S. Grant with Viceroy Li Hongzhang. The copy here has been digitally cleaned and tinted by a later restorer.

Why it matters

After leaving the presidency amid scandal, Grant undertook a world tour that brought him great popular acclaim abroad. In China he met Li Hongzhang and was asked to help mediate a dispute over the Ryukyu Islands, showing how a former president could still carry diplomatic weight.

Look closer

  • What does the formal setting and clothing of both men suggest about how this meeting was staged?
  • Why might the background of the original photograph have been removed, and what does that change about how we read the image?
  • What does this photograph leave out about the actual conversation between Grant and Li Hongzhang?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ulysses S Grant on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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