Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/440

Rh KUEI-liang 桂良, Sept. 9, 1785–1862, July 17, official, was a Manchu of the Gûalgiya Clan and a member of the Plain Red Banner. His father, Yü-tê 玉德, served as governor-general of Fukien and Chekiang from 1799 to 1806, but was banished for negligence in conducting the war against the pirates (see under ). In 1808 Kuei-liang, then a senior licentiate, purchased the rank of a second class secretary of a Board, and later was assigned to the Board of Ceremonies. Also by purchase, he attained (1814) the rank of assistant department director in the same Board. Five years later he was sent to Szechwan where he served until 1827, first as a prefect, and then as intendant of the Chien-ch'ang Circuit. From 1827 to 1834 he acted as financial commissioner of the following provinces: Szechwan (1829–30), Kwangtung (1830–32), and Kiangsi (1832–34). In 1834 he was made governor of Honan where he destroyed (1838) the temples which had been erected in the province by certain rebellious religious sects. He was made governor-general of Hunan and Hupeh in 1839 but later was transferred to be governor-general of Fukien and Chekiang, and early in the following year was given the same post in Yunnan and Kweichow. In 1845 he went to Peking for an audience after which Emperor Hsüan-tsung remarked that Kuei-liang, who was then just over sixty sui, showed signs of impaired health, which rendered him unfit for the office of governor-general. He was ordered to await an appointment in Peking.

Late in 1845 Kuei-liang was named military lieutenant-governor of Jehol where he served until 1848 when he was recalled to Peking to look after affairs in connection with the imminent marriage of his tenth daughter (1834–1880) to the emperor's sixth son,. Thereafter Kuei-liang held several minor posts in Peking until 1851 when he was sent to Foochow as the Tartar General of that city. He was recalled in 1852 and named president of the Board of War. In the following year he was sent to Paoting, capital of Chihli, to take charge of the defenses against invasion by the Taiping rebels. In the same year he was appointed governor-general of Chihli, and two years later was given the concurrent rank of an Associate Grand Secretary. Early in 1857 he was promoted to be a Grand Secretary and served concurrently as lieutenant-general of the Manchu Plain White Banner. His post of governor-general of Chihli was taken by T'an T'ing-hsiang 譚廷襄.

In 1854, while in Chihli, Kuei-liang had his first experience in the conduct of foreign affairs. In that year the British, French, and American envoys landed at Taku to request a revision of their treaties with China (see under ). Kuei-liang was ordered not to demean himself by receiving the envoys personally, but to send a former salt controller, Ch'ung-lun (see under ), to discuss the matter with them at Tientsin. As the demands of the envoys were nearly all rejected, they returned south to await further instructions from their respective governments. Finally the British and the French decided to use force to obtain their objectives which in general were: the establishment of Legations in Peking on terms of diplomatic equality, the opening of the interior to foreign trade and travel, toleration for missionaries, and an extension of trading facilities. After the occupation of Canton in 1857 the British plenipotentiary, Lord Elgin, and the French Ambassador, Baron Gros (for both see under ), sailed northward with their fleets. At Shanghai they were joined, not for military but for diplomatic action, by the American envoy, William Bradford Reed (1806–1876), and the Russian Admiral, Count Evfīmii Vasīl'evīch Putıȃtīn (1803–1883). In April 1858 the four arrived at Taku and demanded that T'an T'ing-hsiang be given full powers to sign the revised treaties. After a month of fruitless discussion the British and French allies forced their way to Tientsin, and threatened to proceed to Peking if high officials were not sent immediately to open negotiations. Thus Kuei-liang and a Mongol, Hua-sha-na 花沙納, were chosen as the Emperor's delegates to negotiate with the plenipotentiaries of the four powers. They arrived at Tientsin on June 2, but were rebuffed by the foreign envoys for failure to provide themselves with seals. In China an official sent from the capital on short errands was not given a seal: therefore a delay occurred while special seals were made for the negotiators. There was no negotiation, however, for the British interpreters. H. N. Lay (see under ) and Thomas Wade (see under ) who conducted the meetings, brooked no mitigation of their demands. After they had frightened a third envoy away from Tientsin (see under ), the two interpreters had little difficulty with Kuei-liang and Hua-sha-na. The Chinese  428