Ye Mingchen

Photograph by Ye Mingchen

Ye Mingchen (born December 21, 1807 in Hanyang , † April 9, 1859 in Calcutta ) was a high-ranking Chinese official during the Qing Dynasty . His actions against pirates and opium smugglers were used by Great Britain and France as an opportunity to start the Second Opium War . During the war, Ye was arrested by the British after the conquest of Canton . He died in their custody in British India .

Origin and career

Ye Mingchen came from a family that was originally based in Hankou . The family originally active in trade provided Ye Weiwen, the first scholar of the highest examination category , in 1788 . Ye Mingchen's grandfather founded the family as a scholar on a scholarship.

Ye himself passed the exam for the highest official grade in 1835. In 1856 he was appointed to the rank of Great Secretary to the Emperor.

Second opium war

As the provincial governor of Guangxi and Guangdong , Ye was responsible for suppressing opium smuggling, piracy and rebellion in southern China. In his area of ​​responsibility, the Chinese authorities seized the ship Arrow , which sailed under the British flag and was suspected of smuggling opium and piracy. The British representative Harry Smith Parkes took this as an opportunity to ask for a fleet for military intervention. The British government used this as an excuse to declare war on China. Ye was imprisoned by the British after the conquest of Canton. He died in captivity in British India

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joseph W. Eshrick, Mary Backus Rankin (Ed.): Chinese Local Elites and Patterns of Dominance. Berkeley, 1990, pp. 60-61
2. ↑ Joseph W. Eshrick, Mary Backus Rankin (Ed.): Chinese Local Elites and Patterns of Dominance. Berkeley, 1990, pp. 60-61
3. ↑ Julia Lovell: The Opium War. London, 2011, pp. 252, 259, 369

literature

• JY Wong: Ye Ming'chen - Viceroy of Lian Kuang (1852-1858). Cambridge, 1976

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Ye is the family name here, Mingchen is the first name.