Qishan (Manchu official)

Qishan^[nb] (Chinese: 琦善; Manchu: ᡴᡳᡧᠠᠨ; Möllendorff: Kišan; Abkai: Kixan; 1786–1854) was a Manchu nobleman and high official during the late Qing dynasty known for his role during the First Opium War.

Background and early career

Qishan came from the Borjigit clan and belonged to the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner in the Eight Banners. In 1808, he joined the Board of Punishment as an assistant department director and he subsequently held a number of important positions in the Qing government including the Viceroy of Liangjiang from 1825 to 1827.

First Opium War

Encampment at Toong-Koo, one of several places where Qishan met British Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot.

Following Lin Zexu's failure to push back the British in the First Opium War, the Daoguang Emperor ordered Qishan to replace Lin as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and entrusted him with the delicate task of negotiating a peace treaty with the British. Without getting appropriate sanction from the throne, Qishan agreed to the abortive Convention of Chuenpee with the British on 20 January 1841. Among other things, the convention ceded Hong Kong Island to the British and that the Qing Empire pay an indemnity of 6 million dollars to the British. Because of this, Qishan was dismissed from his post and condemned to death, but the sentence was later commuted to banishment.

Later career and death

Following the Opium War, Qishan was reinstated in 1842 and subsequently held a number of prominent positions in the government, including a spell as the Qing imperial resident in Lhasa. After the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion, Qishan took an active part in the suppression of the rebel forces, dying on the battlefield in 1854 while trying to prevent the Taipings from capturing Jiangsu.

Notes

Footnotes

1. ^ The British referred to him as "Keshen". Later usage was "Ch'i Shan" and the pinyin is "Qíshàn".^[1][2]

Citations

References

• Hummel, Arthur William, ed. Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912). 2 vols. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943.