LI Hongzhang Lǐ Hóngzhāng 李鸿章 1823–1901 Qing Diplomat and Industrialist

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LI Hongzhang Lǐ Hóngzhāng 李鸿章 1823–1901 Qing diplomat and industrialist

Li Hongzhang was one of China’s most in- of the finest military forces in China. Working in con- fluential officials during the late nineteenth junction with Zeng’s army and foreign troops of the Ever century. As the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) Victorious Army, Li was finally able to crush the Taiping struggled to adjust to domestic uprisings and Rebellion in 1864. He was rewarded for his military ac- complishments with an appointment as imperial com- the intrusion of Western nations, Li emerged missioner to suppress the Nian Rebellion and promotion as the nation’s foremost military leader, dip- to governor-general of Hunan and Hubei provinces. Af- lomat, industrialist, and reformer. ter a difficult campaign against the Nian rebels in Anwei Province, Li finally brought the uprising to an end in Au- gust 1868. For his success in pacifying the region, Li was i Hongzhang was born in Hefei, Anwei (modern awarded the honorific title of Grand Guardian of the Heir Anhui) Province, the second son of a successful Apparent. landowner and scholar-official. He earned the jinshi degree (in the Chinese civil service examination system, the highest degree a scholar could attain) at the Foreign Diplomacy age of only twenty-four and earned an appointment to the prestigious Hanlin Academy in Beijing, where he be- In response to the Tianjin Massacre of 21 June 1870, in came the protégé of an eminent official, Zeng Guofan. which a French consul and eighteen other foreigners, in- In 1853 Li returned to his hometown to help his father cluding ten Catholic nuns, were killed by a Chinese mob, establish a local militia to defend the region against Nian Li marched his Huai Army to Tianjin as a show of force. rebels. Five years later he left Anwei for Jiangxi Province En route he was reassigned as governor-general of Zhili to join Zeng and his powerful Hunan (Xiang) Army in Province, replacing his ailing mentor, Zeng Guofan, in combating anti-Qing Taiping rebels in southern China. this politically sensitive post. During his twenty-five-year From these auspicious beginnings Li would go on to be- tenure in Zhili, Li became China’s chief negotiator of come one of the Qing dynasty’s (1644–1912) foremost critical issues with foreign powers. In 1876 he concluded military leaders, a valuable contributor to China’s efforts the Chefoo Convention with Great Britain, regulating at self-strengthening in technology and defense, and a trade along China’s border with Burma (Myanmar). In renowned diplomat. 1883 he defused a tense situation in Korea between Chi- In 1861 Li was appointed governor of Jiangsu Prov- nese and Japanese troops but that same year was unable ince and arrived the next year in Shanghai with his to prevent French advances in Vietnam. The subsequent newly organized militia, known as the “Huai Army.” Sino-French war (1884–1885) resulted in the near-total de- Hand-picked generals and loyal troops made this one struction of China’s southern fleet and a relatively quick 1313 L © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 1314 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 宝库山中华全书 victory for the French. Li negotiated the convention end- Witte signed an agreement allowing Russia railroad rights ing this conflict, which recognized France’s suzerainty through Mongolia and Manchuria. Li was again criticized (dominion) over Vietnam. In 1894 smoldering tensions in for ceding Chinese territory, and rumors circulated that Korea erupted into war between China and Japan. Again he had accepted a huge bribe. China was quickly defeated, and Li was called to nego- tiate a settlement. The Treaty of Shimonoseki formally ending the hostilities granted Japan an indemnity of 230 Reform and Industry million tael (a value based on the weight of silver) and ceded Chinese territory, including the island of Formosa Perhaps even more significant than his military and polit- and the Pescadores. Stipulations might have been more ical service was Li Hongzhang’s contributions to China’s severe if Li had not been wounded by a Japanese fanatic self-strengthening. In 1872 he created the China Mer- during negotiations. Nevertheless, Li bore the brunt of chant Steam Navigation Company, one of the era’s most criticism for this humiliating treaty and for the loss of his successful government-private joint enterprises, which northern fleet during the war. He was reassigned to non- proved highly effective in competition with foreign ship- political posts but still conducted one more controversial ping firms. In 1878 he constructed a modern textile fac- negotiation. In 1896, while in St. Petersburg, Russia, to tory in Shanghai to counter increased foreign imports. attend the coronation of Czar Nicholas II, Li and Count In order to improve communications, he built a national

Li Hongzhang (c.1901). “Greatest of China’s statesmen—Li Hung Chang in the court of his yamen [government office], Tientsin, China.” Stereographic print by Underwood & Underwood.

telegraph line that linked China’s major cities and con- over his career, and bribery claims associated with the nected Chinese officials and businessmen to the world Russian railroad lease through northern China further via the international telegraph cable. He was also instru- clouded his legacy. He died of illness just two months mental in promoting the use of railroads, building one of after concluding negotiations with foreign powers over the first to facilitate the transportation of coal from the the Boxer Rebellion. Kaiping mines. Daniel J. MEISSNER Li believed that a strong state needs a strong military. In the 1880s he established arsenals in Tianjin to pro- Further Reading duce ammunition for the army’s imported rifles and pur- chased modern gunboats for his northern fleet stationed Bland, J. O. P. (1917). Li Hung-chang. New York: Henry Holt. at Weihaiwei in Shandong Province. He sent promising Chu, Samuel. (1994). Li Hung-chang and China’s early naval students to Europe for training and invited foreign modernization. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. experts to teach at his new Tianjin Naval Academy. By Douglas, R. (1977). Li Hungchang. Washington, DC: Uni- 1882 Li’s northern fleet consisted of twelve formidable versity Publications of America. gunboats and cruisers staffed by Western-trained officers Folsom, K. (1968). Friends, guests, and colleagues: The and engineers, and the combined navies of the country Mu-fu system in the late Ch’ing period. Berkeley and now included fifty steam warships—half of which were Los Angeles: University of California Press. constructed in Chinese shipyards. Grasso, J., Corrin, J., & Kort, M. (1991). Modernization and revolution in China. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Hummel, A. W. (Ed.). (1943). Eminent Chinese of the Ch’ing period (1644–1912). Washington, DC: U.S. Govern- Implications ment Printing Office. In the early 1890s Li Hongzhang reached the apex of his Mannix, W., & Paine, R. (1923). Memoirs of Li Hung Chang. New York: Houghton Mifflin. career. On his seventieth birthday in 1892 he was show- Spector, S. (1964). Li Hung-chang and the Huai Army. Se- ered with gifts by the emperor and empress dowager, attle: University of Washington Press. honoring his contributions to China’s stability and mod- Vohra, R. (2000). China’s path to modernization: A histori- ernization. However, despite his success in implementing cal review from 1800 to the present. Englewood Cliffs, self-strengthening programs in technology and defense, NJ: Prentice-Hall. China proved no match in conflicts with European or Wright, M. C. (1957). The last stand of Chinese conserva- Japanese troops. Military defeats and the humiliating tism: TheT’ung- Chih restoration, 1862–1874. Stanford, stipulations of the Treaty of Shimonoseki cast a shadow CA: Stanford University Press.

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