Yixin, known as Prince Gong, was a Manchu prince of the Aisin Gioro clan and a leading statesman of the Qing dynasty in China. He negotiated the Convention of Peking in 1860, established the Zongli Yamen to manage foreign affairs in 1861, and supported self-strengthening reforms until his retirement in 1884.
Background
Ethnicity:
Yixin was a Manchu prince of the Aisin Gioro imperial clan, the house that ruled the Qing dynasty, which was established by Manchu rulers in 1644 and governed China until 1912.
Yixin was born on 11 January 1833 in Beijing, the sixth son of the Daoguang Emperor, who reigned from 1820 to 1850. The Qing dynasty had been ruled by the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan since 1644, and Beijing was the imperial capital, so his childhood unfolded within the palace and princely households at the center of the Chinese state.
He had eight brothers and ten sisters. Among the Daoguang Emperor's children, only he and Princess Shouan were born to Empress Xiaojingzheng, a concubine of the emperor who was later honored with that title. After the mother of Yiju, the fourth son and later the Xianfeng Emperor, died in 1840, Empress Xiaojingzheng raised Yiju alongside her own children, and the two brothers grew up together and became close. He was also known as the 'Sixth Prince.'
In 1851, after Yiju's enthronement as the Xianfeng Emperor, Yixin received the special title Gong Zhong Qing Wang, meaning 'Respectfully Loyal Prince', from which the name Prince Gong derives. As the highest-ranking prince at court, he had direct access to the emperor on state affairs, but his growing power and occasional arrogance toward his brother created rifts between them. Reference works date his tenure as Prince Gong of the First Rank from 25 February 1850 until his death in 1898.
Education
In 1855 the Xianfeng Emperor ordered him to return to study at the Palace School for Princes. The Palace School was part of the Qing court's arrangements for educating members of the imperial clan, and the order placed a senior prince in that setting as a sign of imperial disfavor.
Career
Yixin's public career at the Qing court began in the early 1850s. He served as Chief Grand Councillor from 1853 to 1855, a post in the Grand Council, the central body through which the Qing emperors handled military and state affairs and which had become the principal policy body of the court during the eighteenth century. In 1855 the Xianfeng Emperor removed him from all posts, citing mismanagement of the funeral of Empress Dowager Xiaojingzheng, his mother. Another account attributes the dismissal to his claim of an empress dowager's title for his deceased mother.
He was recalled in 1857 and appointed commanding general of the palace guards and director of the Grand Council. In 1859 he became senior chamberlain of the imperial forces in Beijing. These appointments came as the Taiping Rebellion threatened the dynasty from within and Western powers pressed for more open ports in south China, and the emperor relied on his brother's advice and support.
In 1860 British and French forces entered Beijing, and the Xianfeng Emperor fled to Jehol, the imperial retreat north of the capital. Yixin remained in Beijing to negotiate with Lord Elgin of Britain and Baron Gros of France. He signed the Convention of Peking on 24 October 1860 with Britain and on 25 October with France, in the Ministry of Rites building south of the Forbidden City, and a separate agreement with Russia followed on 14 November. The agreements ratified the Treaty of Tianjin, opened Tianjin as a trading port, ceded the southern part of Kowloon to Britain and required large indemnities.
The Xianfeng Emperor died at Jehol in 1861. Yixin then allied with Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an in a coup in late 1861 that removed the eight regents appointed during the emperor's final illness. He was made Prince Regent and served as a regent from 1861 to 1865. Earlier that year, on 11 March 1861, he established the Zongli Yamen, which handled foreign affairs and was supervised by a board of five senior officials, initially all Manchus, with Yixin as the de facto leader. The Zongli Yamen had a relatively low formal status, and its members served concurrently in other agencies.
In the Self-Strengthening Movement, which in its first phase from 1861 to 1872 emphasized Western firearms, machines and technical training, he worked with Grand Councilor Wenxiang to establish the Tongwen Guan in 1862. The school offered instruction in English, French and Russian. Yixin also supported Han Chinese leaders such as Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, whose programs produced the Fuzhou Shipyard and the Jiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai. Robert Hart was appointed Inspector-General of the Chinese Maritime Customs during this period, and the Taiping Rebellion was suppressed in 1864, while the Muslim uprisings were quelled by 1873.
His standing declined in the 1870s. Empress Dowager Cixi came to suspect that he had become too sympathetic to Han Chinese officials and too accommodating toward foreigners, and she questioned his loyalty to the Manchu imperial house. Allied with Woren, a powerful Manchu conservative, Cixi attacked his handling of crises in 1871 and 1879. Officials of the conservative Qingyi faction, including Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Peilun, also criticized his leadership. Ci'an died in 1881, and his position weakened further. Accounts differ on the timing of his fall, with a dismissal in 1880 reported, but he was forced into retirement in 1884 and Cixi came to dominate the court.
He returned to government in 1894, when the First Sino-Japanese War broke out, and held office until his death. He died in Beijing on 29 May 1898, under official reproach, and was buried at the foot of Cuihua Mountain in Changping. His title passed to his eldest grandson, Puwei.
Negotiated and signed the Convention of Peking in 1860 on behalf of the Qing government. The settlement ended the Beijing phase of the Second Opium War, ratified the Treaty of Tianjin, and opened Tianjin to foreign trade, while also marking the first time the Manchu court accepted direct diplomatic engagement with the Western powers on such terms.
Established the Zongli Yamen on 11 March 1861 as the Qing government's central office for foreign affairs, which Chinese historians describe as the first of its kind in modern China. The office linked the court with foreign ministers in Beijing and became the framework for Qing diplomacy until its replacement by a foreign ministry in 1901.
Supported the self-strengthening programs of Han Chinese leaders, including the Fuzhou Shipyard and the Jiangnan Arsenal, and co-founded the Tongwen Guan in 1862 to train interpreters and scholars in Western languages and sciences. These institutions were part of the broader effort to acquire Western military and industrial technology.
Politics
Yixin did not belong to a political party, because the Qing state of his lifetime had no party system. His political activity took place within the imperial court, the Grand Council and the Zongli Yamen, where he worked as a senior prince and statesman under the emperor's authority.
His policy stance was reformist and pragmatic within the imperial system. He accepted diplomatic engagement with the Western powers as a necessity after the Second Opium War, and he supported the Self-Strengthening Movement, which sought to combine Chinese cultural traditions with Western firearms, machinery and technical training. That movement built arsenals, shipyards and schools, and it emphasized military and technical modernization rather than political reform of the monarchy.
His approach drew opposition from conservative officials at court, including members of the Qingyi faction, who criticized his leadership and his dealings with foreigners. His influence declined in the 1870s and 1880s as Empress Dowager Cixi reduced his power.
Personality
Biographical accounts describe him as a man of considerable literary and martial talent, among the most capable members of the imperial family.
Connections
In 1848 he married Lady Guwalgiya, his primary consort, who was the daughter of Guiliang, Viceroy of Huguang, and a granddaughter of Yude, Viceroy of Min-Zhe. The marriage was arranged under an imperial decree issued by his father.
His sons included Zaicheng, the eldest son, who lived from 1858 to 1885 and was posthumously named Prince Gongguomin, and Zaiying, the second son, who lived from 1861 to 1909 and held the title Beile of Prince Zhong. Zaiying was the father of Puwei, who succeeded to the title of Prince Gong after Yixin's death.
His closest documented political partnership was with Empress Dowager Cixi, with whom he cooperated in the 1861 coup and in the regency of the young Tongzhi Emperor. Their alliance later gave way to a power struggle over the succession and over policy, which ended with his removal from power.
Father:
Daoguang Emperor
Qing emperor who reigned from 1820 to 1850.
Mother:
Empress Xiaojingzheng
Concubine of Emperor Daoguang who was later honored with the title Empress Xiaojingzheng. After Yiju's mother died in 1840, she also raised Yiju with her own children.
Wife:
Lady Guwalgiya
Primary consort and daughter of Guiliang, Viceroy of Huguang; her grandfather Yude was Viceroy of Min-Zhe. Prince Gong married her in 1848 under an imperial decree issued by his father.
Brother:
Xianfeng Emperor
Half-brother, the fourth son of the Daoguang Emperor, who became emperor in 1851 and died in 1861.
Collegue :
Cixi
Empress Dowager who, with Yixin and Empress Dowager Ci'an, carried out the 1861 coup that removed the eight regents. Their cooperation later turned into a power struggle, and she removed him from key appointments.
Son:
Zaicheng
Eldest son, who lived from 1858 to 1885 and was posthumously named Prince Gongguomin.
Son:
Zaiying
Second son, who lived from 1861 to 1909 and held the title Beile of Prince Zhong. He was the father of Puwei.
Grandson:
Puwei
Eldest grandson and son of Zaiying, who succeeded to the title of Prince Gong in 1898.
References
Prince Gong
Encyclopedia article covering Yixin's life, his imperial title, his role in the Convention of Peking, the Zongli Yamen and the Self-Strengthening Movement, and his later career.
