Saišangga ( mnc, ᠰᠠᡳ᠌ᡧᠠᠩᡤᠠ, , 1798–1875),

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 ...

Heting (鶴汀), was a

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 ...

official and linguist from the Mongolian

Alut clan Alut () was a clan of Manchu nobility. The clan initially belonged to Mongol Plain Blue Banner, but later was transferred to Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, one of the upper banners of Eight Banner System. Some descendants of the clan adopted surnam ...

and the Mongolian Plain Blue Banner. He was the father of Imperial Noble Consort Gongsu. His third son was Chongqi. Saišangga obtained ''

juren ''Juren'' (; 'recommended man') was a rank achieved by people who passed the ''xiangshi'' () exam in the imperial examination system of imperial China. The ''xiangshi'' is also known, in English, as the provincial examination. It was a rank high ...

'' degree in the Mongolian Translation Examination (蒙古繙譯) in 1816. The Translation Examination (繙譯科) was an

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 ...

subject that only young Bannermen can participate in; the Mongolian Translation Examination required translating from Mongolian to Manchu. Influenced by his father Jinghui (景煇), whom was also a linguist, Saišangga was proficient in

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 ...

, Mongolian and Chinese. Therefore, he was highly valued by Daoguang and Xianfeng. He had served as Grand Councillor, Minister of

Lifan Yuan The Lifan Yuan (; ; Mongolian: Гадаад Монголын төрийг засах явдлын яам, ''γadaγadu mongγul un törü-yi jasaqu yabudal-un yamun'') was an agency in the government of the Qing dynasty of China which administered ...

, Minister of War, Minister of Works, Minister of Revenue, Minister of Personnel, Grand Secretary and other positions. During 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 ...

, he was twice sent to

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

to supervise the defense of the coast. In the year 1851,

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...

broke out in

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

. The

provincial governor Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

Zhou Tianjue (周天爵) and

provincial military commander The provincial military commander () was the highest military official in the Chinese provinces of the Green Standards (綠營 ''lǜyíng'') in Qing dynasty (1644–1911). There was usually one in each province, but sometimes there were two in a ...

Xiang Rong Xiang Rong (; 18019August 1856) was a Chinese military general and politician. He was born in Wuxi County, Chongqing, and was promoted from the rank of a foot soldier during the later years of the Qing dynasty (16441912). He was involved in ear ...

were unable to suppress the rebellion. Saišangga was made the Imperial Commissioner in charge of military affairs in Guangxi to fight against the Taiping rebels. Accused of allowing the rebels to move from Guangxi to

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, he was dismissed and escorted to Beijing for trial. In 1853, Saišangga was stripped of official position, imprisoned and waited for execution. However, Xianfeng Emperor pardoned him and exiled him to

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

. In 1855, he was sent to serve at frontier military outposts (軍台效力). Soon after the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...

broke out, he was recalled to the capital and ordered to train Chahar Mongolian soldiers. he was appointed the deputy lieutenant-general of the Mongolian Plain Red Banner (正紅旗蒙古副都統) in 1860. He died in 1875. (

Draft History of Qing The ''Draft History of Qing'' () is a draft of the official history of the Qing dynasty compiled and written by a team of over 100 historians led by Zhao Erxun who were hired by the Beiyang government of the Republic of China. The draft was publ ...

Volume 392)

Publications

* ''Huijiang zeli'' (回疆則例) * ''Mengwen zhiyao'' (蒙文旨要)

References

{{Authority control 1798 births 1875 deaths 19th-century Chinese politicians 19th-century linguists Grand Councillors of the Qing dynasty Grand secretaries of the Qing dynasty Mongolian Plain Blue Bannermen Qing dynasty government officials Linguists from China