Qishan (official)

Qishan[lower-alpha 1] (Manchu: ᡴᡳᡧᠠᠨ; Möllendorff: Kišan; Abkai: Kixan; 18 January 1786 – 3 August 1854), courtesy name Jing'an, was a Mongol nobleman and official of the late Qing dynasty. Although he was of Mongol descent, his family was under the Plain Yellow Banner of the Manchu Eight Banners. He is best known for negotiating the Convention of Chuanbi on behalf of the Qing government with the British during the First Opium War of 1839–42. Some view him as a traitor.[3]

Qishan First Class Marquis
Assistant Grand Secretary
In office 1848–1851
In office 1836–1838
Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Library
In office 1838–1841
Viceroy of Sichuan
In office 1846–1849
Preceded by	Baoxing
Succeeded by	Yucheng (acting)
In office 1829–1831
Preceded by	Dai Sanxi
Succeeded by	Ošan
Imperial Resident in Tibet
In office 1843–1847
Preceded by	Mengbao
Succeeded by	Ruiyuan
Viceroy of Liangguang (acting)
In office 1840–1841
Preceded by	Lin Zexu
Succeeded by	Qi Gong
Viceroy of Zhili
In office 1837–1840
Preceded by	Mujangga
Succeeded by	Nergingge
Viceroy of Liangjiang
In office 1825–1827
Preceded by	Wei Yuanyu
Succeeded by	Jiang Youxian
Viceroy of Shaan-Gan
In office 1849–1851
Preceded by	Buyantai
Succeeded by	Yutai
Personal details
Born	18 January 1786 Beijing
Died	3 August 1854 (aged 68) Yangzhou
Relations	Chengde (father)
Posthumous name	Wenqin (文勤)
Known for	Negotiating the Convention of Chuanbi

Qishan
Chinese	琦善
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qíshàn Wade–Giles Chi-shan
Jing'an
Traditional Chinese	靜庵
Simplified Chinese	静庵
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jìng'ān

Life

Qishan was a Khalkha Mongol by birth and was from the Borjigit clan. His 7th generator ancestor Enggeder had led his followers to submit to the Manchu-led Qing Empire and received a hereditary first class marquis peerage in return. Qishan inherited the peerage from his ancestor. His father, Chengde (成德), served as a general in Hangzhou and dutong (都統; a military commander) in Rehe Province.

In 1806, Qishan obtained the position of a yinsheng (蔭生; or shengyuan 生員) in the entry-level imperial examination and was recruited into the civil service as a yuanwailang (員外郎; assistant director) in the Ministry of Justice. In 1819, he was promoted to xunfu (provincial governor) of Henan Province but was later demoted to zhushi (主事) and put in charge of river works. Since then, he served in a number of appointments, including Viceroy of Liangjiang (1825–1827), Sichuan (1829–1831) and Zhili (1831–1840), and Grand Scholar of Wenyuan Cabinet (文淵閣大學士).

Encampment where Qishan met British Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot

In 1840, during the First Opium War, the Daoguang Emperor ordered Qishan to replace Lin Zexu as the acting Viceroy of Liangguang (covering Guangdong and Guangxi provinces). Qishan was also tasked with negotiating for peace with the British. Upon witnessing British naval power, he ordered his troops to evacuate from the artillery batteries, and sent Bao Peng (鮑鵬) to meet the British at Chuanbi (穿鼻; present-day Humen, Guangdong Province) and call for a peace settlement. On 20 January 1841, without seeking approval from the Qing imperial court, Qishan agreed to the Convention of Chuanbi with the British. Among other things, the convention required the Qing Empire to pay the British an indemnity of six million silver coins and cede Hong Kong Island. The Daoguang Emperor was furious when he found out later that Qishan had agreed to the convention without his permission. He ordered Qishan to be arrested and escorted as a criminal to Beijing for trial; Qishan had his properties and assets confiscated and was sentenced to military service.

Qishan was pardoned later and reinstated as an official in 1842. He was subsequently appointed as Imperial Resident in Tibet (1843–1847), a second term as Viceroy of Sichuan (1846–1849), and Viceroy of Shaan-Gan (1849–1851).

In 1852, during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor, Qishan was appointed as an Imperial Commissioner to oversee Qing imperial forces in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion. He set up the "Jiangbei Camp" (江北大營) on the northern bank of the Yangtze River at Yangzhou, with 18,000 troops stationed there. He died in the autumn of 1854 in camp. The Qing government granted him the posthumous name "Wenqin" (文勤).

Notes

Footnotes

1. The British referred to him as "Keshen". Later usage was "Ch'i Shan" and the pinyin is "Qíshàn".[1][2]

Citations

1. Hoe, Susanna; Roebuck, Derek (1999). The Taking of Hong Kong: Charles and Clara Elliot in China Waters. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. p. xviii. ISBN 0-7007-1145-7.
2. Tsang, Steve (2007). A Modern History of Hong Kong. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-84511-419-0.
3. Mao, Haijian. The Qing Empire and the Opium War. p. 1.

References

• Leete, William R. (1943). "Ch'i-shan". In Hummel, Arthur William (ed.). Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644–1912). 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. pp. 126–129.
• Zhao, Erxun (1928). Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao). Volume 370.