Agui (; ; September 7, 1717 – October 10, 1797) was a

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

noble general for 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 ...

. As the only son of Akdun, he was a scion of a noble family who led a number of important Manchu military operations, including several of the "

Ten Great Campaigns The Ten Great Campaigns () were a series of military campaigns launched by the Qing dynasty of China in the mid–late 18th century during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1796). They included three to enlarge the area of Qing contr ...

Sino-Burmese War

On April14, 1768, Fuheng was appointed military commissioner (Jinglue) and Agui and Aligun, both

s, were appointed deputies. This occurred due to the death of the previous commander Ming Rui. Agui had already proven himself in Chinese Turkestan, as a competent commander. He served under Fuheng in the 1769 failed campaign of the Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769). Agui soon found himself out of favor as he was not fully supportive of Fuheng's plans and the Chinese

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

was vocal of his dislike for this behavior. The main push occurs in December at the height of the disease period and the Chinese suffer great losses to disease. Confusion surrounds the following events. Some sources say that the

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

nation initiated peace talks and others say the Chinese did; however it happened, by December 1769 peace negotiations had started, and on December22 the treaty was signed. However, both Agui and Fuheng were absent. The chief negotiator for the Chinese was

Ha Guoxing Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority, a former type of administrative organisation of the NHS in England and Wales * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (renamed ''Highways England'', now ''National Highways ...

. Documents from this era seem to support the fact that the only reason the Chinese agreed to a treaty was through the leadership of Agui and other generals, as Fuheng was vehemently opposed to a peace treaty. When the treaty was brought from the Myanmar king to Fuheng to be signed, he refused. Agui, after allying other powerful generals on his side, confronted Fuheng again. Fuheng demanded that all those allied against him and for peace, sign a statement (ganjie) to that effect. When they all did, he grew furious and threatened impeachment. This did not occur as he was getting sicker each day. At this time a decree was received from Qianlong, demanding a complete withdrawal regardless of the circumstances. This withdrawal, may also have been attributed to Agui, as he was the one responsible for letting the emperor know of the illness affecting Fuheng. Agui took charge of the troops during the withdrawal as Fuheng was worsening. When all was said and done, Agui took the majority of the emperor's wrath as Fuheng was on his deathbed. The emperor in acknowledging the retreat and defeat at the hands of the Myanmar, stated that it

made the Myanmar look down upon our celestial dynasty.

He also blamed Agui and others for not stopping Fuheng from the foolhardy decision to invade Myanmar if they knew that it would fail. The Jinchuan uprising could not come at a better time for Agui, who would alter drastically, the emperor's opinion of him after his coming victories. Agui thought so negatively of his time in Myanmar that he had all correspondence and writings concerning this time destroyed upon his death.

Ten Great Campaigns

He put down an uprising of the Jinchuan people west of

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, called the second Battle of the Jinchuan. This battle took place from 1771 until 1776. During this battle, Agui expressed the importance in ''shangyun'' which was the policy of utilizing merchants in keeping the military stocked. In 1781, Agui went to

Lanzhou Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu province in northwestern China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. His ...

, in the northwestern

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

province, to lead the suppression of the Jahriyya revolt by the Salar adherents of the Jahriyya Sufi order. along with Heshen, Li Shiyao and Fuk'anggan. Agui also led campaigns to unify the Yili area and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

island (1786-1787) within the Chinese state. He served as a minister to the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

and a member of the Grand Council and Grand Secretariat (both administrative cabinets of the Chinese government) until his death. Agui's grandson was Na-yen-ch'êng who served as an official in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

after the

Afaqi Khoja revolts In 1759, the Qing dynasty of China defeated the Dzungar Khanate and completed the conquest of Dzungaria. Concurrent with this conquest, the Qing occupied the Altishahr region in modern southern Xinjiang, which had been settled by Muslims who foll ...

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agui 1717 births 1797 deaths Qing dynasty generals Manchu politicians Generals from Beijing Grand Councillors of the Qing dynasty Grand secretaries of the Qing dynasty Assistant grand secretaries Viceroys of Sichuan Viceroys of Yun-Gui Manchu Plain Blue Bannermen Manchu Plain White Bannermen