Guan Tianpei

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Guan.
Portrait of Admiral Guan

Guan Tianpei (simplified Chinese: 关天培; traditional Chinese: 關天培; Wade–Giles: Kuan1 T'ien1-p'ei2; 1781 – 26 February 1841) was a Chinese admiral of the Qing Dynasty who served in the First Opium War. His Chinese title was "Commander-in-Chief of Naval Forces".[1] In 1838, he established courteous relations with British Rear-Admiral Frederick Maitland.[2] Guan fought in the First Battle of Chuenpee (1839), the Second Battle of Chuenpee (1841), and the Battle of the Bogue (1841). A British account described his death in the Anunghoy forts during the Battle of the Bogue on 26 February 1841:

Among these [Chinese officers], the most distinguished and lamented was poor old Admiral Kwan, whose death excited much sympathy throughout the force; he fell by a bayonet wound in his breast, as he was meeting his enemy at the gate of Anunghoy, yielding up his brave spirit willingly to a soldier's death, when his life could only be preserved with the certainty of degradation. He was altogether a fine specimen of a gallant soldier, unwilling to yield when summoned to surrender, because to yield would imply treason.[3]

The following day, his body was claimed by his family and a salute of minute-guns was fired from HMS Blenheim in his honour.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Waley, Arthur (1958). The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes. George Allen & Unwin. p. 22. ISBN 0-04-951012-6.
  2. ↑ Hall, William Hutcheon; Bernard, William Dallas (1844). Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis, from 1840 to 1843. Volume 1. Henry Colburn. p. 2.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hall & Bernard 1844, p. 342