Wenxiang (, ; born October 16, 1818, in Liaoyang, died May 26, 1876) was an ethnic

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 ...

statesman of 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 ...

of China. Wenxiang hailed from the Gūwalgiya clan and belonged to the Plain Red Banner in the Eight Banners in Mukden. In 1845, he obtained the highest degree ('' jinshi'') in the imperial examination and four years later he was appointed to the Board of Works. He advanced through the ranks and in 1858, he was appointed vice president to the Board of Rites and also became a member of the Grand Council, the highest policy-making organ in the Empire. He subsequently held a number of prominent posts in the central government and became a key player in court politics. As foreign troops invaded Beijing during the Second Opium War and the Xianfeng Emperor fled to Chengde, Wenxiang remained in the capital and took part in negotiating with the British and French. Following the peace settlement, he became one of the founders of the new Qing foreign office, the Zongli Yamen. He was one of the architects behind the

Self-strengthening movement The Self-Strengthening Movement, also known as the Westernization or Western Affairs Movement (–1895), was a period of reforms initiated during the late Qing dynasty following the military disasters of the Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion. The ...

and was instrumental in devising the Qing government's cooperative policy towards the Western powers in the period between 1861 and 1876.

References

* * Crossley, Pamela Kyle, ''Orphan Warriors' (1990), 141–146.. * "Wen-hsiang." ''Encyclopedia of World Biography'', 2nd ed., vol. 16, Gale, 2004, pp. 202-203. ''Gale eBooks'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3404706807/GVRL?u=sacr16736&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=e037079c. Accessed 15 Aug. 2023. 1818 births 1876 deaths Manchu Plain Red Bannermen Manchu politicians Grand Councillors of the Qing dynasty Politicians from Liaoyang Grand secretaries of the Qing dynasty Assistant grand secretaries Ministers of Zongli Yamen {{China-politician-stub