Keying

Keying
Keying (second from right) with Théodore de Lagrené (second from left) in 1844
Viceroy of Liangguang
In office 1844–1848
Preceded by	Qitian
Succeeded by	Xu Guangjin
Personal details
Born	March 21, 1787(1787-03-21) Beijing
Died	June 29, 1858(1858-06-29) (aged 71)
Occupation	Politician
Major work	Signed Treaty of Nanjing, Treaty of the Bogue, Treaty of Wanghia and Treaty of Whampoa

Keying^[1] (Manchu: Ciyeng; Chinese: 耆英; pinyin: Qíyīng; Wade–Giles: Ch'i-ying; Cantonese Yale: Kei⁴ Ying¹; literally "brave man of about 60 or 70"; born 21 March 1787,^[2] forced suicide 29 June 1858), was a Manchu statesman during the Qing Dynasty. He was a famous man in the Western world and well received in Hong Kong.^[3]

Background and early career

Being a descendant of Nurhaci's ninth son Babutai, Keying was a member of the imperial house of Aisin-Gioro and belonged to the Manchu Plain Blue Banner in the Eight Banners. Qiying held several prominent posts in the Qing government and was demoted several times because of corruption in office, but managed to regain his position as a leading official in the Qing court.

Role during the Opium Wars

In 1842, the Daoguang Emperor entrusted Keying to conclude a peace treaty with the Britain following the First Opium War, and he was chiefly responsible for negotiating and signing the Treaty of Nanking with the British on 29 August 1842. In the following years, Keying also concluded the Treaty of Whampoa with France, the Treaty of Wanghia with the United States and the Treaty of Canton with Sweden-Norway. This was the first group of treaties known as the "Unequal Treaties" in China.

In 1858, the Xianfeng Emperor ordered Keying to negotiate a peace treaty with Britain and France in order to conclude the Second Opium War. During the negotiations, the British interpreters Horatio Nelson Lay and Thomas Francis Wade sought to expose Keying's duplicity by producing documents the British had captured in Guangzhou, in which Keying expressed his contempt for the British. Humiliated, Keying promptly left the negotiations in Tianjin for Beijing and he was later arrested for having left his post in contravention of imperial order. He was sentenced to death by the Imperial Clan Court, but was allowed to commit suicide instead.

Commemoration

The junk Keying, the first Chinese ship to sail to Britain and America, was named after Keying. Keying and Marine House in Hong Kong, which became part of the Hong Kong Hotel^[4] in 1866, was also named after him.

Notes

References

• Fairbank, John King. "The Manchu Appeasement Policy of 1843." Journal of the American Oriental Society 59, no. 4 (1939): 469-84.
• Hummel, Arthur William, ed. Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912). 2 vols. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943.