Keying (Qing Dynasty)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
State portrait of Qiying

Keying (* 1787; † 1858; alternative names : Qiying or Kiyeng ) was a Manchu from the Aisin Gioro clan . During the Qing Dynasty , he was one of the high, civil servant dignitaries of the state. During the First Opium War he was entrusted by the order of the Emperor Daoguang from February 1842 as Imperial Commissioner and Governor of Guangdong with the solution of the conflict and was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Nanjing . During the Second Opium War , he served as a negotiator, but was sentenced to death for disloyalty and consequently committed suicide .

Origin and career

Keying came from the Aisin Gioro clan, who made up the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. His father Lukang already held high positions within the state, including serving as chief minister of the Ministry of Rites . Due to its origins, Keying was given access to high government offices without having to present the necessary qualifications in the official examination .

In 1806, keying was appointed to the Imperial Clang Court. In the course of his career he filled around 50 posts and filled them with distinction. Among other things, he served as Vice Minister in the War Ministry and, like his father, was Chief Minister at the Ministry of Rites. In 1838 he served as a lieutenant governor in Jehol .

Opium Wars

In February 1842, he was seconded to the disputed area during the Opium War as governor and imperial commissioner for Guangdong. In March 1842 he received the order from Emperor Daoguang to deal primarily with the war with the British together with the Manschuadligen Yilibu . Keying sought peace due to the military superiority of the British, but could not express this clearly due to the political conditions at the emperor. After the Battle of Zhenjiang in July 1842, Daoguang gave him permission to make peace under all circumstances. As a result, he led the negotiations with Yilibu on the Treaty of Nanjing , which ended the war.

During the Second Opium War, Keying was again part of the Qing negotiating delegation. When the British negotiators produced incriminating documents that discredited Keying as a negotiator, he left the Tianjin venue for the capital Beijing against imperial orders . There he asked for an audience with the emperor, but was turned away, imprisoned and sentenced to death for insubordination. As a token of imperial grace, he was allowed to end his life on his own.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mao Haijian: The Qing Empire and the Opium War. Cambridge 2016, p. 424f
  2. ↑ Julia Lovell: The Opium War. London, 2011, pp. 226-229, 249, 363
  3. ^ Harry Gelber: Battle for Beijing, 1858-1860: Franco-British Conflict in China. Basingstoke, 2016, p. 56f
personal data
SURNAME Keying
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Qiying, Kiyeng
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese official and Manchu nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH 1787
DATE OF DEATH 1858