Sengge Rinchen (1811 – 18 May 1865) or Senggelinqin ( mn, Сэнгэринчен, ᠰᠡᠩᠭᠡᠷᠢᠨᠴᠢᠨ) was a

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

nobleman and general who served under the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

during the reigns of the Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi emperors. He is best known for his role at the Battle of Taku Forts and at the

Battle of Baliqiao The Battle of Palikao (french: La bataille de Palikao; ) was fought at the bridge of Palikao by Anglo-French forces against the Qing Empire during the Second Opium War on the morning of 21 September 1860. It allowed Western forces to take the c ...

during the Second Opium War and his contributions in helping the Qing Empire suppress the Taiping and Nian rebellions.

Background

Sengge Rinchen was from the

Horqin Left Back Banner Horqin Left Rear Banner ( Mongolian: ; , original Mongolian name ''Büve vang qosigu'') is a banner of southeastern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, bordering Liaoning province to the south. It is under the administration of Tong ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for ...

and was a member of the Borjigin clan. He was a 26th generation descendant of Qasar, a brother of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr /> Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent) Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin ...

. His name is made up of two Tibetan words, "Sengge" (Tibetan: ) and "Rinchen" (Tibetan: ), which mean "lion" and "treasure" respectively. When he was a child, he was adopted by Sodnamdorji (Содномдорж, 索特納木多布濟), a jasagh of the Horqin Left Back Banner and '' junwang'' (郡王; Prince of the Second Rank) under the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. He inherited his adoptive father's position and princely title in 1825 during the reign of the

Daoguang Emperor The Daoguang Emperor (; 16 September 1782 – 26 February 1850), also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanxong of Qing, born Mianning, was the seventh Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigni ...

Military career

In 1853, during the reign of the

Xianfeng Emperor The Xianfeng Emperor (17 July 1831 – 22 August 1861), or by temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing (), given name Yizhu (), was the eighth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigned from 1850 ...

, Sengge Rinchen led Qing forces to attack the

Taiping rebels The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted f ...

of the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. Th ...

in the southern suburbs of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

and defeated them. In 1855, in recognition of his achievements, the Qing imperial court granted him the hereditary title "Prince Bodlogotoi" (Бодлоготой чин ван, 博多勒噶台親王). In the same year, he repelled an attack on Fengguan Garrison (馮官屯; northeast of present-day Chiping County,

Liaocheng Liaocheng (), is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Dezhou to the northeast, Tai'an to the south, and the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the west. The Gra ...

, Shandong) by the Taiping rebel general Li Kaifang (李開芳) and captured him alive. In 1857, after the Second Opium War broke out, Sengge Rinchen was appointed as an

Imperial Commissioner Imperial commissioner is an ambivalent English language term, used to render foreign language titles of various – mostly gubernatorial – officers whose ' commission' was in the gift of an Emperor, including China, the Russian Empire and the Hol ...

to take charge of defence arrangements in Tianjin. Two years later, after defeating the British and French at the Second Battle of the Dagu Forts, he and Li Chaoyi (李朝儀) oversaw the construction of artillery batteries in Ninghe, Yingcheng (營城) and the

Dagu Forts The Taku Forts or Dagu Forts, also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River (Peiho River) estuary in the Binhai New Area, Tianjin, in northeastern China. They are located southeast of the Tianjin urban center. History The f ...

to resist an invasion. In 1860, after the British and French defeated Qing forces at the Third Battle of the Dagu Forts and occupied Tianjin, Sengge Rinchen and his army retreated to Tongzhou. When an Anglo-French delegation led by

Harry Smith Parkes Sir Harry Smith Parkes (24 February 1828 – 22 March 1885) was a British diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to the Empire of Japan from 1865 to 1883 and the Chinese ...

and

Henry Loch Henry Brougham Loch, 1st Baron Loch, (23 May 1827 – 20 June 1900) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Military service Henry Loch was the son of James Loch, Member of Parliament, of Drylaw, Midlothian. He entered the Royal Navy ...

showed up in Tongzhou for peace negotiations with Prince Yi and other Qing representatives, Sengge Rinchen ordered the delegation to be arrested and sent to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where most of them (excluding Parkes and Loch) died of disease or torture. During the

, he led his elite Mongol cavalry to attack the Anglo-French forces but was utterly defeated and his cavalry was almost completely wiped out. After entering Beijing,

Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the ...

(the British High Commissioner to China) ordered the British and French troops to burn down the

Old Summer Palace The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. ...

in retaliation for the torture and deaths of the delegation. Sengge Rinchen was stripped of his nobility title for his failure to drive back the invaders, but retained his appointment as Imperial Commissioner.

Death

When the Qing imperial court received news of the Nian Rebellion, Sengge Rinchen was ordered to lead troops to Shandong,

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

and

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

to suppress the rebellion. In 1865, during the Battle of Gaolou Fort, he was ambushed in a tavern near Gaolou Fort in

Heze Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. History Caozhou was at the cent ...

, Shandong by Nian rebels led by Lai Wenguang and

Song Jingshi A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

. He attempted to escape with some of his horsemen and take shelter in the woods but was killed by a minor rebel leader, Zhang Pigeng.

Legacy

The Qing imperial court sent couriers to retrieve and transport Sengge Rinchen's remains back to Beijing, in addition to not holding any court sessions for three days as a mark of mourning. The

Tongzhi Emperor The Tongzhi Emperor (27 April 1856 – 12 January 1875), born Zaichun of the Aisin Gioro clan, was the ninth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the eighth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign, from 1861 to 1875, which effectively lasted ...

, accompanied by the empress dowagers Ci'an and Cixi, personally attended the funeral and ordered a shrine to be erected to commemorate Sengge Rinchen. The shrine, called "Xianzhongci" (顯忠祠; "Shrine of Displaying Loyalty"), used to stand at the current location of Kuanjie Primary School (寬街小學) in Beijing's Dongcheng District. Sengge Rinchen's loyalty to the Qing Empire is interpreted in official histories of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

as an expression of Chinese patriotism. In 1995, the local government in

Tongliao Tongliao (; mn, ''Tüŋliyou qota'', Mongolian Cyrillic: Байшинт хот) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. The area is and as of the 2020 census, its population was 2,873,168 (3,139,153 ...

opened a Sengge Rinchen Memorial Museum. Sengge Rinchen was well known among foreigners in China: British soldiers nicknamed him "Sam Collinson" by mispronouncing his name in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Family

Sengge Rinchen was survived by his son, Buyannemekü (Буяннэмэх, 伯彥訥謨祜; 1836–91), who inherited his princely title. Buyannemekü's eldest son, Nersu (Нэрсү, 那爾蘇; 1855–90), held the title of a ''

beile The Qing dynasty (1636–1912) of China developed a complicated peerage system for royal and noble ranks. Rule of inheritance In principle, titles were downgraded one grade for each generation of inheritance. * Direct imperial princes with ...

'' and married the eldest daughter of Yixuan, Prince Chun. Nersu was, in turn, succeeded by his son, Amurlingkui (Амурлингуй, 阿穆爾靈圭; 1886–1930). Buyannemekü had five other sons, three of whom became lamas. His sixth son, Bodisu (Бодису, 博迪蘇; 1871–1914), was briefly a senator in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

at the beginning of the

Republican era Republican Era can refer to: * Minguo calendar, the official era of the Republic of China It may also refer to any era in a country's history when it was governed as a republic or by a Republican Party. In particular, it may refer to: * Roman Re ...

References

Sources

External links

On Sengge Rinchen's memorial shrine (in Chinese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sengge Rinchen 1811 births 1865 deaths Borjigin Qing dynasty generals People of the Second Opium War Qing military personnel killed in action Mongolian military personnel People from Tongliao Generals from Inner Mongolia Chinese people of Mongolian descent