Wu Ting-fang (; 30 July 184223 June 1922) was a Chinese calligrapher, diplomat, lawyer, politician, and writer who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and briefly as Acting

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

during the early years of the

Republic of China 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 ...

. He was also known as Ng Choy or Ng Achoy ().

Education and career in Hong Kong

Wu was born in the

Straits Settlement The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

, now modern-day

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

, in 1842 and was sent to China in 1846 to be schooled. He studied at the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

St. Paul's College, in Hong Kong where he learned to read and write in English. After serving as an interpreter in the Magistrate's Court from 1861 to 1874, he married Ho Miu-ling (sister of Sir

Kai Ho Sir Kai Ho (; 21 March 1859 – 21 July 1914), better known as Sir Kai Ho Kai and born Ho Shan-kai (), was a Hong Kong barrister, physician and essayist in colonial Hong Kong. He played a key role in the relationship between the Hong Kon ...

) in 1864. He studied law in the United Kingdom and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

(1876). Wu became the first ethnic Chinese

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in history. He returned to Hong Kong in 1877 to practise law. He was admitted as a

in Hong Kong in a ceremony that May before Chief Justice John Smale who observed:

I am glad to see a Chinaman running in the race the most highly intellectual in the world. I am glad to see that a Chinaman ... has become a member of the English Bar. In England, every office becomes open to talent without favour or affection. A distinguished American statesman has become, and now is an ornament of the English bar, and all the Bar will gladly hail the time when a Chinaman shall distinguish himself as much as the eminent counsel to whom I refer. I have seen stranger things happen.

In 1880, Wu became the first ethnic Chinese

Unofficial member Unofficial Member is the name given to individuals who are members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and Legislative Council of Hong Kong but who are not members of the Hong Kong Government. The terms "Unofficial" (or "non-official") and ...

of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...

and was appointed acting Police Magistrate.

Service under the Qing dynasty

He served under 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 Minister to the United States, Spain, and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

from 1896 to 1902 and from 1907 to 1909, having started out as legal adviser and interpreter to powerful diplomat and viceroy

Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901) was a Chinese statesman, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in importan ...

. As the minister, he lectured widely about

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, in part working to counter discrimination against Chinese emigrants by increasing foreign appreciation of their background.Wong, K. Scott. (1995) Chinatown: conflicting images, contested terrain. ''MELUS'' 20(1):3–15. To further this end, he wrote ''America, Through the Spectacles of an Oriental Diplomat'' in English in 1914. Wu is mentioned several times in the diaries of Sir

Ernest Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British diplomat, scholar and Japanologist. He is better known in Japan, where he was known as , than in Britain or the other countries in which he served as a diplomat. He was ...

who was British Envoy in China, 1900–06. For example, on 21 November 1903: "Wu Tingfang came in the afternoon, and stopped talking for an hour and a half about his commercial code and connected subjects. His idea is to draft also a new

criminal code A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...

, and put both into force at the outset in the open ports."Ian Ruxton, ed. ''The Diaries of

Sir Ernest Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British diplomat, scholar and Japanologist. He is better known in Japan, where he was known as , than in Britain or the other countries in which he served as a diplomat. He was ...

, British Envoy in Peking (1900–06)'', Lulu Press Inc., April 2006 (Volume One, 1900–03, p. 389) Wu had an opportunity to implement his ideas about Chinese law reform between 1903 and 1906, when he (together with

Shen Jiaben Shen Jiaben (, 1840 – 1913), alias Jiyi (), was a Late Qing Chinese politician and jurist from Huzhou, Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = ...

) were put in charge of reforming the Qing imperial code. His efforts included modernising the criminal code and abolishing inhumane methods of capital punishment such as

death by a thousand cuts ''Lingchi'' ( IPA: , ), usually translated "slow slicing" or "death by a thousand cuts", was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 until it was banned in 1905. It was also used in Vietnam and Korea. In this form of ex ...

, decapitation and

posthumous execution __NOTOC__ Posthumous execution is the ritual or ceremonial mutilation of an already dead body as a punishment. Dissection as a punishment in England Some Christians believed that the resurrection of the dead on Judgment Day requires that the body ...

, and use of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

in interrogations. He also reformed the governmental structure for the administration of justice, ending the traditional combined approach. Sun Yat-sen praised Wu's contributions, saying that he began a "new epoch" for Chinese criminal law. In an interview with American journalist

Marguerite Martyn Marguerite Martyn (September 26, 1878 – April 17, 1948) was an American journalist and political cartoonist with the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' in the early 20th century. She was noted as much for her published sketches as for her articles. ...

, Wu Tingfang argued in favor of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

Service post Xinhai Revolution

He supported the

Xinhai 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 ...

of 1911 and negotiated on the revolutionaries' behalf in Shanghai. He served briefly in early 1912 as Minister of Justice for the

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Provisional Government, where he argued strongly for an

independent judiciary Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...

, based on his experience studying law and travelling overseas.Xu Xiaoqun. (1997) The fate of judicial independence in Republican China, 1912–37. ''The China Quarterly'' 149:1–28. After this brief posting, Wu became Minister of Foreign Affairs for the ROC. He served briefly in 1917 as Acting Premier of the Republic of China. He joined

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 ...

Constitutional Protection Movement The Constitutional Protection Movement () was a series of movements led by Sun Yat-sen to resist the Beiyang government between 1917 and 1922, in which Sun established another government in Guangzhou as a result. It was known as the Fourth Revolut ...

and became a member of its governing committee. He advised Sun against becoming the "extraordinary president" but stuck with Sun after the election. He then served as Sun's foreign minister and as acting president when Sun was absent. He died shortly after

Chen Jiongming Chen Jiongming ( zh, t=陳炯明, p=Chén Jiǒngmíng, w=Ch'en Chiung-ming; 18 January 187822 September 1933) was a Chinese statesman, military leader, revolutionary, and a key figure in the Federalism in China, federalist movement during the W ...

rebelled against Sun in 1922.

Vegetarianism

Wu was a vegetarian who consumed eggs and milk ( ovo-lacto vegetarian).Wu, Liande; Wu, Lien-tê. (1959). ''Plague Fighter: The Autobiography of a Modern Chinese Physician''. W. Heffer. p. 274. "Dr. Wu Ting-Fang was a strict vegetarian though he believed in the taking of milk and eggs and always said that he would live for 120 years." He believed that a non-flesh diet would prolong his life and he would live over a hundred years. Wu abstained from alcohol and tobacco after reading

Mary Foote Henderson Mary Foote Henderson (July 21, 1842 – July 16, 1931) was an American author, real estate developer, and social activist from the U.S. state of New York who was known as "The Empress of Sixteenth Street". Henderson was a notable advocate of wom ...

's book ''The Aristocracy of Health''. He gave speeches on vegetarianism and authored an article "How I Expect to Live Long", published in November 1909 for the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

''.Pomerantz-Zhang, Linda. (1992). ''Wu Tingfang (1842-1922): Reform and Modernization in Modern Chinese History''. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 183-190. Wu founded the Rational Diet Society in Shanghai, also known as the Society for Cautious Diet and Hygiene (Shenshi Weisheng Hui) with

Li Shizeng Li Shizeng ( zh, t=李石曾, w=Li3 Shih2-tseng1, p=Lǐ Shízēng; 29 May 1881 – 30 September 1973), born Li Yuying, was an educator, promoter of anarchist doctrines, political activist, and member of the Chinese Nationalist Party in early R ...

in September, 1910.Seung-Joon, Lee. (2015). ''The Patriot's Scientific Diet: Nutrition Science and Dietary Reform Campaigns in China, 1910s-1950s''. ''

Modern Asian Studies ''Modern Asian Studies'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of Asian studies, published by Cambridge University Press. The journal was established in 1967 by the Syndics of the University of Cambridge and the Committee of D ...

'' 49 (6): 1-32.Leung, Angela Ki Che; Caldwell, Melissa L. (2019). ''Moral Foods: The Construction of Nutrition and Health in Modern Asia''. University of Hawai'i Press. p. 227. It was the first vegetarian organization in Shanghai and had about 300 members. The society met at Wu's residence for lectures on the dangers of

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

, meat-eating and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. Wu also established a vegetarian restaurant known as Micaili in Shanghai at Hotel des Colonies in the French Concession (now on East

Yan'an Road Yan'an Road ( zh, c=延安路, ; Shanghainese: ) is a road in Shanghai, a major east–west thoroughfare through the centre of the city. The modern Yan'an Road is in three sections, reflecting three connected streets which existed pre-1945: Ave ...

). It was the first vegetarian restaurant in China to experiment with western vegetarian cuisine. His public lectures on dieting were influential. Wu and his Society argued for the public to eat more

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. The Society introduced a Western-styled bakery to the Shanghainese that offered home-delivered wheat flour bread. Wu was an

anti-smoking Tobacco control is a field of international public health science, policy and practice dedicated to addressing tobacco use and thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality it causes. Since most cigarettes and cigars and hookahs contain or use ...

activist. An offshoot of the Rational Diet Society was the Anti-Cigarette Smoking Society that formed in June, 1911. The Society warned the public about the health dangers of

cigarette smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed to hav ...

. Wu wrote about the subject in his book ''Yanshou xinfa'' (''New Methods to Prolong Life''), in 1914. Wu was an enthusiastic bicycle rider.

Death

Wu died on 23 June 1922 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at the age of 79.''Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1922''. Volume 1.

United States Government Printing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO), formerly the United States Government Printing Office, is an agency of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal gove ...

, 1938. p. 274. "Wu Ting-fang died at one this morning fpneumonia after brief illness." Wu's tomb was moved to

Yuexiu Hill Yuexiu Hill, also known as Yut Sau Shan, Yut Sau Hill, or Mount Yuexiu, is located in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. It once formed the northern end of the old walled city, though most of the walls have been dismantled and the city has now expanded ...

in Guangzhou in 1988, where it forms an ensemble with the tomb of his son

Wu Chaoshu Wu Chaoshu ( zh, t=伍朝樞, s=伍朝枢, w=Wu Ch'ao-shu; 23 May 1887 – 3 January 1934), also known as C.C. Wu, was a Chinese diplomat and politician. He was Foreign Minister of the Republic of China in 1927–28, and was Minister to the Unit ...

and the memorial tablet bearing an inscription by

dedicated to Wu Tingfang.

In popular culture

Wu is caricatured in “The Chinese Minister Wu”, one of the Mr. Dooley columns of

Finley Peter Dunne Finley Peter Dunne (born Peter Dunne; July 10, 1867 – April 24, 1936) was an American humorist, journalist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published ''Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War'', his first collection of the nationally syndicated M ...

, where he is depicted bamboozling “Sicrety iv State Hay”.

Selected publications

''How I Expect to Live Long''
(1909)
''America and the Americans: From a Chinese Point of View''
(1914)
''America: Through the Spectacles of an Oriental Diplomat''
(1914)
''American Manners''
(1915)

References

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Tingfang 1842 births 1922 deaths 19th-century Chinese calligraphers 19th-century Chinese lawyers Ng, Choy Ambassadors of China to Peru Ambassadors of China to Spain Ambassadors of China to the United States Anti-smoking activists Chinese non-fiction writers Chinese people of Malaysian descent Chinese vegetarianism activists Deaths from pneumonia in the People's Republic of China Diet food advocates Foreign ministers of the Republic of China Ng, Choy Malaysian emigrants to Hong Kong Members of Lincoln's Inn Ng, Choy 19th-century Chinese diplomats People from Malacca Premiers of the Republic of China Progressive Party (China) politicians Republican Party (China) politicians People from the Straits Settlements Wu family