Li Hongzhang
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| Image:LiHungChang.jpg | |
| Names | |
|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese: | 李鸿章 |
| Traditional Chinese: | 李鴻章 |
| Pinyin: | Lǐ Hóngzhāng |
| Wade-Giles: | Li Hung-chang |
| Courtesy names (字): | Jiànfǔ (漸甫) Zǐfù (子黻) |
| Pseudonyms (號): (Yisou and Shengxin used in his old age) | Shǎoquán (少荃) Yísǒu (儀叟) Shěngxīn (省心) |
| Nickname: | Mr. Li the Second (李二先生) (i.e. 2nd son of his father) |
| Posthumous name: | Wénzhōng (文忠) (Refined and Loyal) |
Li Hongzhang (Traditional Chinese: 李鴻章; Simplified Chinese: 李鸿章; Pinyin: Lǐ Hóngzhāng; Wade-Giles: Li Hung-chang, February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901) was a Chinese general who ended several major rebellions, and a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire. He served in important positions of the Imperial Court, once holding the office of the Viceroy of Zhili. He was best known in the west for his diplomatic negotiation skills. After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Li had became a literary scapegoat for China's embarrassments in the late Qing Dynasty. His image in China remains largely negative.
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Life
Li Hongzhang was born Li Tongzhang (李銅章) in the village of Qunzhi (群治村) in Modian township (磨店乡), 14 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of downtown Hefei, Anhui. From very early in life he showed remarkable ability, and he became a shengyuan when at a young age. In 1847 he obtained jinshi degree, the highest level in the Imperial examination system. Two years later gained admittance into the Imperial Hanlin College (翰林院). Shortly after this the central provinces of the empire were invaded by the Taiping rebels, and in defence of his native district he raised a regiment of militia. His service to the imperial cause attracted the attention of Zeng Guofan, the generalissimo in command.
In 1859, Li Hongzhang was transferred to the province of Fujian, where he was given the rank of taotai, or intendant of circuit. But at Zeng's request Li was recalled to take part against the rebels. He found his cause supported by the "Ever Victorious Army," which, having been raised by an American named Frederick Townsend Ward, was placed under the command of Charles George Gordon. With this support Li gained numerous victories leading to the surrender of Suzhou and the capture of Nanjing. For these exploits he was made governor of Jiangsu, was decorated with an imperial yellow jacket, and was enfeoffed as an earl.
An incident connected with the surrender of Suzhou, however, soured Li's relationship with Gordon. By an arrangement with Gordon, the rebel princes yielded Nanjing on condition that their lives should be spared. In spite of the agreement, Li ordered their instant execution. This breach of faith so infuriated Gordon's that he seized a rifle, intending to shoot the falsifier of his word, and would have done so had Li not fled. On the suppression of the rebellion (1864) Li took up his duties as governor, but was not long allowed to remain in civil life. On the outbreak of the Nian Rebellion in Henan and Shandong (1866), he was ordered again to take to the field, and after some misadventures he succeeded in suppressing the movement. A year later he was appointed viceroy of Huguang, where he remained until 1870, when the Tianjin massacre necessitated his transfer to the scene of the outrage. He was, as a natural consequence, appointed to the viceroyalty of the metropolitan province of Zhili, and justified his appointment by the energy with which he suppressed all attempts to keep alive the anti-foreign sentiment among the people. For his services he was made imperial tutor and member of the grand council of the empire, and was decorated with many-eyed peacocks' feathers.
To his duties as viceroy were added those of the superintendent of trade, and from that time until his death, with a few intervals of retirement, he practically conducted the foreign policy of China. He concluded the Chifu convention with Sir Thomas Wade (1876), and thus ended the difficulty caused by the murder of Mr Margary in Yunnan; he arranged treaties with Peru and Japan, and he actively directed the Chinese policy in Korea. On the death of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875 he, by suddenly introducing, a large armed force into the capital, effected a coup d'etat by which the Guangxu Emperor was put on the throne under the tutelage, of the two dowager empresses; and in 1886, on the conclusion of the Franco-Chinese War, he arranged a treaty with France. Li was always strongly impressed with the necessity of strengthening the empire, and when viceroy of Zhili he raised a large well-drilled and well-armed force, and spent vast sums both in fortifying Port Arthur and the Taku forts and in increasing the navy. For years he had watched the successful reforms effected in Japan and had a well-founded dread of coming into conflict with that empire.
Because of his prominent role in Chinese diplomacy in Korea and of his strong political connections in Manchuria, Li Hongzhang found himself leading Chinese forces during the disastrous Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). In fact, it was mostly the armies that he established and controlled that did the fighting, whereas other Chinese troops led by his rivals and political enemies did not come to their aid. The fact that some of his men were extremely corrupt further disadvantaged China from the beginning of the war. For instance, one official used ammunition funds for personal use. As a result, shells ran out for the some of the battleships during battle such that one navy commander, Deng Shichang, resorted to ramming the enemies' ship. The defeat of his relatively modernized troops and a small naval force at the hands of the Japanese greatly undermined his political standing, as well as the wider cause of the Self-Strengthening Movement.
In 1896, he toured Europe and the United States of America, where he advocated reform of the American immigration policies that had greatly restricted Chinese immigration after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (renewed in 1892). (He also witnessed the 1896 Royal Naval Fleet Review at Spithead.)
Li Hongzhang played a major role in ending the Boxer Rebellion. In 1901, he was the principal Chinese negotiator with the foreign powers who had captured Beijing, and, on September 7, 1901, he signed the treaty ((Boxer Protocol) ending the Boxer crisis, obtaining the departure of the foreign armies at the price of huge indemnities for China. Exhausted, he died two months later in Beijing.
Opinions and legacy
Li Hongzhang has been generally a target of criticism by the CPC government and was portrayed in many ways as a traitor to the Chinese people, an infamous name that lives in history. Such a message is echoed through textbooks and other forms of propaganda. The CCTV production Towards the Republic was the first public portrayal of Li Hongzhang in Mainland China that enforced a heroic image upon him. The series was later banned. Many historians and scholars consider Li an adept politician and diplomat that prolonged peace in the later Qing Dynasty era of Chinese history.
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