Guan Tianpei (; 1781 – 26 February 1841),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Zhongyin (仲因),

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

Zipu (滋圃), was a Chinese admiral of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

who served in the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

. His Chinese title was "Commander-in-Chief of Naval Forces". In 1838, he established courteous relations with British Rear-Admiral

Frederick Maitland General Frederick Maitland (3 September 1763 – 27 January 1848) was a British Army officer who fought during the American War of Independence, the Peninsular War and later served as Lieutenant Governor of Dominica. Life The youngest son ...

.Hall, William Hutcheon; Bernard, William Dallas (1844).
Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis, from 1840 to 1843
'. Volume 1. London: Henry Colburn. p. 2. Guan fought in the First Battle of Chuenpi (1839), the Second Battle of Chuenpi (1841), and the Battle of the Bogue (1841). The British account described his death in the Anunghoy forts during the Battle of the Bogue on 26 February 1841 as follows:

Among these hinese 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.Hall & Bernard 1844, p. 342

The following day, his body was claimed by his family and a salute of minute-guns was fired from HMS ''Blenheim'' in his honor.

Early life

Guan Tianpei was born in 1781 in Shanyang county (now

Huai'an ) , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , established_title = ...

city) in

Jiangsu province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

. His courtesy name is Zhongyin (). In the eighth year of the Emperor Jiaqing (1803), he passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

for military service, and he was successively assigned to the Bazong (), Qianzong (), Shoubei (), Youji (), Canjiang () and vice general (), and these were the military ranking system during the

. In the sixth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1826), he was assigned to the vice-general of the Taihu camp for naval of Qing in Jiangsu province. In 1827, Guan was assigned to the army officer in Susong county in

Jiangnan Jiangnan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of its delta. The region encompasses the city of Shanghai, the southern part of Jiangsu ...

. In the thirteenth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1833), Guan was assigned to the military commander of the

area.

Anti-Opium Movement

In the fourteenth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1834), Guan was assigned to the navy commander of the southern

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

province. When he arrived at

, he devoted himself to strengthen the coastal defense affairs. In the nineteenth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1839),

Lin Zexu Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was a head of state (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynasty ...

was assigned to imperial commissioner to prohibit the use of

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. When Lin arrived, Guan was influenced by Lin. Guan mobilized his navy to coordinate with Lin to prohibit the Opium trade. They captured about 20,000 chests of opium from the British merchants.

Battle Between the Qing and the British Forces

In 1839, British warships attacked Qing navy in Chuenpi, Guan Tianpei commanded his navy and fought back, British warships were heavily inflicted by Guan's navy. In the twentieth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1840), Lin Zexu was dismissed by the Emperor Daoguang to quench British wrath. Qishan replaced Lin's position. Qi gave orders to remove Guan's coastal defence affairs by reducing the number of navy soldiers, and this gave the British forces the chance to invade. Many Guangdong local government officials hoped to make peace with the British forces. But Guan Tianpei was not swayed, and he was preparing to fight the British forces. Before the battle started, he dispatched a soldier to take his old clothes and tooth back to his hometown to give to his relatives. In January 1841, British forces captured Shajiao () and Dajiao fort (). Thus, Weiyuan Fort lost the protective screen. Guan Tianpei was defending with a few soldiers on the front line. Guan requested Qishan to reinforce, but Qi did not send an army to support Guan. Guan used his money for army food supplement, and he encouraged his soldier to fight the British forces. On 26 February, British forces massively attacked Humen. Guan led 400 soldiers to counterattack and attempt to repel British offence. Several forts were captured by the British force. A soldier asked Guan to retreat, but Guan refused and kept fighting. Guan gave his commander seal to a soldier and asked him to take it back to the emperor. A shell fired and hit Guan. Guan died along with 400 soldiers.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guan, Tianpei 1781 births 1841 deaths Qing dynasty admirals People of the First Opium War Qing military personnel killed in action People from Huai'an