Lou Tseng-Tsiang
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Lu Zhengxiang; he sometimes used the French name René Lou in earlier life, and Lou Tseng-tsiang in later life (later Pierre-Célestin, O.S.B.; 12 June 1871 – 15 January 1949) was a Chinese
diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
and a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
priest and monk. He was twice
Premier of the Republic of China The premier of the Republic of China, officially the premier of the Executive Yuan ( zh, 行政院院長), is the head of government of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to the President ...
and led his country's delegation at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.


Biography

Lu was born on 12 June 1871 in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
,
Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, 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 List of Chinese administra ...
, and was raised a
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
in religion and a
Confucianist Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
in philosophy. His father, Lu Yong Fong, was lay catechist for a Protestant mission in Shanghai. He studied at home until the age of thirteen, when he entered the School of Foreign Language in Shanghai, specializing in French. He continued his education at the school for interpreters attached to the Foreign Ministry, and in 1893 he was posted to
St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
as interpreter (fourth-class) to the Chinese embassy. At that time the diplomatic international language was French, but Lu also gained fluency in Russian. The ambassador, the reform-minded Xu Jingcheng, took an interest in his career. Lu married a Belgian citizen, Berthe Bovy (1855–1926), in St Petersburg on 12 February 1899, and eventually converted to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. The couple had no children.


Diplomatic career

His early years were marked by the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
, during which his mentor, Xu Jingcheng, was beheaded in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
. Lu served the
Qing 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 ...
regime as Chinese delegate at the first and second Peace Conferences in The Hague (1899 and 1907), as Minister to Belgium, and as Ambassador to Russia, but he never forgot the imperial government's betrayal of his "second father". When the
1911 Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...
broke out he was Ambassador in St Petersburg, and he took it upon himself, against the advice of his colleagues at other European capitals, to cable Beijing that there could be no hope of assistance from the Great Powers.


Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China

At the proclamation of the Chinese Republic in 1912, he joined the party of
Sun Yat-Sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...
, and served as Foreign Minister in the provisional government under President
Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...
, March 1912 – September 1912. In August–September 1912 he also served as Prime Minister, but his lack of political leverage forced his resignation, ostensibly for health reasons. He returned to the cabinet as Foreign Minister from November 1912 to September 1913, and reformed the Foreign Ministry: abolishing the complicated bureaucracy of the imperial commissions, requiring knowledge of foreign languages at all levels, and instituting modern civil service examinations for recruits. He managed to avoid being identified with any particular faction within the new government, but this relative political isolation meant that he was little able to influence policy, and he again resigned. On leaving office he became one of the founders of the Chinese Society of International Law. From 27 January 1915 to 17 May 1916 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs for a third time, in the "northern" government in Beijing which enjoyed international recognition, undertaking difficult negotiations with Japan and Russia. He became Foreign Minister for the fourth time on 30 November 1917. He served until 13 August 1920, with deputy minister Chen Lu becoming acting minister during his absence for the peace talks in Paris (November 1918 to December 1919).


Paris Peace Conference

Lu personally headed the Chinese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Article 156 of the envisioned
Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactl ...
transferred the German treaty territory in Shandong to Japan rather than recognise the sovereign authority of China. On 6 May, with the Japanese delegation insisting that they would only continue to support the conference's aims if Germany's colonial rights in China were transferred to Japan, Lu read the following declaration to the assembled delegates: When it transpired that the Great Powers would not countenance a signature with express reservations against any article, Lu ultimately refused to sign at all. This made China the only participating country not to sign the Versailles Treaty.


Benedictine monk and priest in Belgium

From 1922 to 1927 Lu was China's envoy to the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
. At the death of his wife he retired from an active life, and in 1927 became a postulant, under the name Dom Pierre-Célestin, in the
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monastery of Sint-Andries in
Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...
,
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. He was ordained a priest in 1935. During the Second World War he gave lectures about the Far East in which he propagandized for the Chinese war effort against Japan; German security agents noted the names of those attending but took no further action. In August 1946
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
appointed Lu titular abbot of the Abbey of St Peter in
Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
. In his final years he hoped to return to China as a missionary, to fulfill the instructions Xu Jingcheng had given him at the beginning of his career: His planned departure was postponed during the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...
, and Dom Lu died in
Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...
,
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
on 15 January 1949.


Publications

His best known work, published in 1945, is an autobiography in French, ''Souvenirs et pensées'', summarizing his diplomatic and political career and his subsequent religious vocation, in which Christianity appears as a completion of the
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
tradition of "pacifying the universe". The work was translated into English by
Michael Derrick John Michael Derrick (3 January 1915 – 5 August 1961) was a leading figure in Roman Catholic journalism in mid-20th-century England. Life Derrick was the son of the cartoonist Thomas Derrick (artist), Thomas Derrick, and older brothe ...
as ''Ways of Confucius and of Christ'' (London, 1948), and into Dutch by Frans Van Oldenburg-Ermke, under the title ''Mijn roeping: herinneringen en gedachten'' (Bruges, n.d. 946. His other writings and published addresses include: *''La Vie et les oeuvres du grand chrétien chinois Paul Siu Koang-k’i''. Lophem-lez-Bruges: Abbaye de Saint-André, 1934. (A study of
Xu Guangqi Xu Guangqi or Hsü Kuang-ch'i (April 24, 1562– November 8, 1633), also known by his baptismal name Paul or Paul Siu, was a Chinese agronomist, astronomer, mathematician, scholar-bureaucrat, politician, and writer during the late Ming dynasty ...
.) *Foreword to Marius Zanin, Auguste Haouisée and Paul Yu Pin, ''La Voix de l’église en Chine: 1931-1932, 1937-1938''. Brussels: Éd. de la Cité chrétienne, 1938. **Published in English as ''The Voice of the Church in China, 1931-32, 1937-38''. London and New York: Longmans, Green and co., 1938. *''Conférence sur madame Elisabeth Leseur'', with a foreword by Marie-L. Herking. n.p., 1943.(On Elisabeth Leseur.) *''Allocution de Dom Lou, abbaye de Saint-André le samedi 10 août 1946 fête de Saint Laurent''. n.p., 1946. *''Lettre à mes amis de Grande-Bretagne et d’Amérique''. Bruges: Abbaye de Saint-André, 1948. *''La rencontre des humanités et la découverte de l’Evangile''. Bruges: Desclée De Brouwer, 1949. In the 1999 film ''My 1919'' he is portrayed by Xiu Zongdi.


Notes


References


Additional sources

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External links

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Zhengxiang 1871 births 1949 deaths 20th-century Chinese diplomats Chinese Benedictines Converts to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism Diplomats of the Republic of China Delegates to the Hague Peace Conferences Premiers of the Republic of China 20th-century Chinese writers Roman Catholic writers Writers from Huzhou Politicians from Huzhou Empire of China (1915–1916) Chinese people of World War I Chinese emigrants to Belgium Belgian Benedictines