Kišan [Borjigit]

Ch'i-shan 琦善 (T. 靜庵), d. Aug., 1854, official, was a member of the Borjigit clan and of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner. In Western accounts his name is often spelled Kishen. He was a descendant of Enggeder [q.v.] in the seventh generation and recipient of the hereditary rank of Marquis (see under Enggeder). He began his official career in 1808 as an assistant department director in the Board of Punishments. After several promotions he was appointed in 1814 provincial judge of Honan and in 1819 was made governor of that province. In 1820 he was dismissed for failing adequately to control the Yellow River during floods, but in the same year was pardoned. He was re-instated in his earlier post of provincial judge of Honan, and soon after was transferred to Shantung where in 1821 he became governor. Early in 1823 his father died and he inherited the rank of Marquis. In the following year he succeeded in exterminating a rebellious sect in the district of Lin-ch'ing, and early in 1825 was commended by the emperor for the determination he had shown in the face of great obstacles. Later in the same year he was appointed governor-general of Kiangnan and Kiangsi. His plans for the improvement of the waterways in northern Kiangsu gained the approval of the emperor, but the engineering methods he employed resulted in such damage in 1827 that he was dismissed from office. After being degraded for a few months to sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat, he was re-appointed governor of Shantung. From 1829 to 1831 he held the important post of governor-general of Szechwan and was then (1831-40) given the same host in Chihli. In 1836 he was made concurrently an assistant Grand Secretary and in 1838 a Grand Secretary.

In 1839 the first Anglo-Chinese War broke out at Canton (see under Lin Tsê-hsü) spreading northward when the British fleet took Tinghai, Chekiang, on July 5, 1840. Ch'i-shan was transferred to Tientsin to supervise defense measures. When the enemy squadron arrived off Taku on August 11 and 12, instead of offering opposition, he sent them provisions, and on the 16th his aide received for transmission to the emperor Lord Palmerston's letter demanding payment for the opium destroyed at Canton by Lin Tsê-hsü in 1839 and for the expenses of the British military operations. The letter further demanded that the affronts to Captain Elliot (see under Lin Tsê-hsü) be punished; that the island of Hong Kong be ceded to the British as a trading post; that the Hong merchants at Canton pay their large outstanding debts; and that in the future the British government's representatives be accorded treatment on terms of equality with officials of the Chinese government. On August 1840 the emperor instructed Ch'i-shan to negotiate with s view to getting the British back to Canton for the settlement of these matters. Ch'i-shan's entertainment of the British emissaries in specially prepared tents set up at Taku, and his tact and consideration in the negotiations held there on the 30th and 31st, were so successful that on September 17 they promised to leave for Canton. For this diplomatic success Ch'i-shan was sent to Canton to take the place of Lin Tse-hsü as High Commissioner, and shortly afterwards he was made acting governor-general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi—his main task being to continue the negotiations which he had begun near Tientsin. He was given power to act as he saw fit with the understanding that he would consult with Governor I-liang [q.v.] and others.

Ch'i-shan's task was not an easy one. Though he went to Canton to inaugurate a new policy of conciliation, he was required to employ local officials who were still loyal to the old practices used by Lin—officials who did not give him faithful support. Shortly after his arrival at Canton, on November 29, he sent the emperor a private report showing how Lin had promoted strife by his unfulfilled promises of compensation to the British for the opium he had destroyed and his insistence that further commercial dealings be under bond, with a penalty of death for traffic in opium. He also refuted several of the statements in Lin's official reports. In his dealings with the British Ch'i-shan encountered new difficulties: inadequacy of the military defenses of Canton, increased British demands for the punishment of Lin, cession to Britain of a new trade center, and finally an unexpected change of policy in Emperor Hsüan-tsung himself who now favored a more hostile attitude toward the British. Diplomatic failure or military disaster seemed inevitable. On January 7, 1841, the British, unwilling to allow negotiations to drag on longer, attacked the forts of Chuenpi (Ch'uan-pi 川鼻) and captured them. Ch'i-shan's first report of this battle, written on January 8, called it a "draw," but on January 10, after ascertaining the facts, he memorialized the throne on the fall of the forts and the inadequacy of the defenses against British cannon. He advocated the cession of Hong Kong to Great Britain and immediate resumption of trade at Canton in order to appease the British and to save Canton from almost certain disaster. Along these lines he began negotiations at the Convention of Chuenpi which was concluded on January 20.

This convention proposed that the island of Hong Kong be ceded to the British, that an indemnity of six million dollars be paid to them, that the privilege of direct official relations be granted to them, and that the Canton trade be soon re-opened. Without waiting for the approval of either the Chinese or the British governments Elliot permitted the occupation of Hong Kong (January 26) and formally declared it a part of the British Empire (February 1). This step was immediately reported to the throne by I-liang, governor of Kwangtung, who at the same time professed complete ingorance of the terms of the Chuenpi Convention. I-liang's report convinced the emperor that Ch'i-shan was acting with duplicity. On the other hand, the pouring in of new troops and the increase of defense measures as ordered by imperial decrees (see under I-shan) led the British to suspect that Ch'i-shan was playing false to them also. Ch'i-shan's later explanation to the emperor that Hong Kong was geographically indefensible and without military advantage, that it was lacking in arms and man power, and that among the population there was no fighting spirit, was naturally unconvincing in Peking, and the Court reiterated its orders to exterminate the British. Ch'i-shan's two personal interviews with Elliot on January 27 and February 13 convinced his Chinese critics that he had secret dealings with the British-all the more since he had failed to prevent the British attack of February 23 and the fall of the Bogue Forts (Bocca Tigris 虎門) on the 26th. On this last-mentioned day the emperor issued from Peking an edict condemning Ch'i-shan's policy and methods and accusing him of failure to report the truth. He was dismissed from all his official posts, stripped of all honors and titles, and his immense private fortune, amassed during his years of official life, was confiscated. His military command was given to I-shan [q.v.] and his post as governor-general was given to Ch'i Kung 祁⿰土貢 (T. 竹軒 H.寄庵, 1777-1844). On March 12 Ch'i-shan was escorted from Canton in chains. He was tried in Peking and was sentenced to be executed, but the emperor commuted the sentence to banishment.

In 1842, after the termination of the war, Ch'i-shan was reinstated in officialdom and made assistant military governor of Yarkand. In 1843 he was appointed military governor of Jehol, but the appointment was immediately denounced by a censor, and consequently he was not allowed to fill the post. However, late in 1843 he was sent as Imperial Commissioner to Tibet, where in 1846 he ordered the French missionaries Huc and Gabet back into China. On March 15, 1846 they started, taking with them two large cases containing Ch'i-shan's effects which he asked them to deposit at Chengtu, Szechwan, for him to pick up upon his return. Ch'i-shan was appointed governor-general of Szechwan early in 1847 and the next year an edict congratulated him on his good administration.and granted him the restoration of the first rank. Late in 1848 he was again made an assistant Grand Secretary though, at the same time he retained his position as governor-general of Szechwan. In 1849 he was made governor-general of Shensi and Kansu, but in 1851 was deprived of office because of his severe treatment (1850) of the native and Mohammedan tribes in Kokonor. He was again banished (1852), this time to Kirin, but after a few months his services were needed in Honan to check the advance of the Taiping rebels and he was recalled. As acting governor of Honan he supervised the garrisoning of the Honan-Hupeh border. In the spring of 1853 Emperor Wên-tsung ordered him to assist in the defense of the country in Kiangsu north of the Yangtze, and in March he took part in the defeat of the rebels round Pukow and Yangchow (see under Te-hsing-a). He was actively engaged in the fighting in this sector until his death in the summer of 1854. He was canonized as Wên-ch'in 文勤.

A son of Ch'i-shan, named Kung-t'ang 恭鏜 (T.振夔, d. 1889), was at one time military governor of Heilungkiang (1886-89). Kung-t'ang's son, Jui-chêng 瑞澂 (T. 莘儒, was governor-general at Wuchang when the revolution broke out in that city in 1911. Jui-chêng fled from the city and was ordered arrested by the Ch'ing government for neglect of duty, but escaped to Shanghai and took refuge in the foreign concessions. After the termination of Manchu rule he remained in Shanghai until his death (1914'?). He was one of the first officials of China to seek refuge in a foreign concession and thus escape punishment that had been ordered by the government. Another son of Kung-t'ang was Jui-yüan (see under Chang Yin-huan) who was a secretary in the Chinese Legation at Washington from 1886 to 1888. A granddaughter of Ch'i-shan married a son of Ch'ung-hou [q.v.].

[1/376/la; 2/40/18a.; Ch'ou-pan i-wu shih-mo (see under I-hsin) Tao-kuang, chüan 12-23, 31; The Chinese Repository, vols. IX-XI, passim; Davis, J. F., China During the War, vol. I, pp. 24-52, 141-43; Eitel, E. J., Europe in China, pp. 11-12, 115-25; M. Huc, A Journey Through Tartary, Tibet and China (1852) vol. II, pp. 181-244; Barnard, W. D., Narrative of Voyages of the Nemesis (1844), vol. I, pp. 196-437; Kuo, P. C., A Critical Study of the First Anglo-Chinese War, pp. 140–49, Appendix Documents, Nos. 28, 31-35, 37, 40-42; Morse, H. B., The International Relations of the Chinese Empire (1910), vol. I, pp. 266-80, 621-26; Tsiang T'ing-fu 蔣廷黻, 近代中外交史資料輯要 Chin-tai Chung-kuo wai-chiao shih tzŭ-liao chi-yao (1931), vol. I, pp. 82-112; and 琦善與鴉片戰爭 "Ch'i-shan yü ya-p'ien chan-chêng" in Tsinghua Journal, vol. VI, no. 3; Chang Yin-huan, San-chou jih-chi, 8/48a.]

WILLIAM R. LEETE

字靜庵 正黃旗滿洲 誥授光祿大夫 世襲一等奉義侯 原任太子少保 文淵閣大學士 協辦大學士 直隸兩江兩廣總督兼管粵海關監督 陝甘總督兼署青海大臣 四川總督兼署成都將軍 熱河副都統 倉場總督 漕運總督 內閣學士兼禮部侍郎銜 山東河南各省巡撫 江寧山東河南福建各省布政使 山東河南各省按察使 駐藏辦事大臣 葉爾羌辦事大臣 通政司副使 一品廕生 賞戴花翎 直隸總督任內御賜坐鎮畿疆匾額 道光三十年御賜遺念 咸豐三年賞給白玉搬指荷包等件 欽差大臣 專辦江北軍務 卒於軍 賜諡文勤 奉旨入城治䘮 御賜祭葬銀兩 入祀昭忠祠 賢良祠 敕建揚州專祠 勳績備載國史

《清史稿》卷370

琦善，字靜庵，博爾濟吉特氏，滿洲正黃旗人。父成德，熱河都統，以先世格得理爾率屬歸附，世襲一等侯爵。 琦善由廕生授刑部員外郎，累遷通政司副使。嘉慶十九年，出為河南按察使，歷江寧、河南布政使。二十四年，擢河南巡撫。河決馬營壩，偕尚書吳璥督工，甫塞而儀封南岸又決，奪職，予主事銜留工。尋授河南按察使，調山東。道光元年，就擢巡撫。父憂，奪情任事，襲侯爵。捕治臨清教匪馬進忠，又籌濟高家堰工費八十萬。

五年，京察，詔嘉其明幹有為，能任勞怨，加總督銜。尋擢兩江總督，兼署漕運總督。時高堰屢決，淤運阻漕。琦善請用盤運法，並暫行海運，如議行。七年，議啟王家營舊減壩，大濬正河，尋以減壩堵合，黃水倒漾，復閉禦黃壩，漕船倒塘灌放，詔斥失機，議革職，寬之，降授內閣學士。尋復授山東巡撫。九年，擢四川總督。十一年，調直隸。十六年，協辦大學士。十八年，拜文淵閣大學士，仍留總督任。

琦善久膺疆寄，為宣宗所倚任。二十年，海疆事急，駐天津籌辦防務。八月，英兵船至海口，投書乞通商，訴林則徐、鄧廷楨等燒煙啟釁。琦善招宴英領事義律及兵官，許以代奏。遂入覲面陳，授欽差大臣，赴廣東查辦。諭沿海疆吏但防要隘，遇英船毋開砲，義律乃率船回粵。尋罷則徐、廷楨，命琦善署兩廣總督兼粵海關監督。密疏臚陳粵事，略曰：「林則徐示令繳煙，許以賞犒，洋人頗存奢望。迨後每煙一箱，僅給茶葉五斤，所得不及本銀百分之一；又勒具『再販船貨入官、人即正法』甘結，迄未遵依，此釁所由起也。當義律具稟繳煙，距撤退買辦五日，非出情願。時義律僅止孤身，設有黨援，未必降心俯首。英吉利國王無給林則徐文書之事，惟呂宋國王曾有來文，或因此誤傳。林則徐稱定海陰溼，洋人病死甚多。咨查洋人米穀牲畜尚充，疫癘病斃者多水手舵工，頭目死者不過數人。從前外洋來信，祗言貿易。自林則徐欲悉外情，多方購求漁利之人，造作播傳，真偽互見，此時紛紛查探，適墮術中。林則徐奏各國憤英人阻其貿易，美利堅、法蘭西將遣船來與理論。訪聞各國曾有此說，然迄未見兵船來粵。前有美國二船，乘英人不備，進口，至今未敢駛出。畏葸如斯，縱力足頡頏，恐未肯傷其同類。虎門燒煙時，洋人觀者撰文數千言紀事，事誠有之，語多含譏刺，非心服。林則徐稱具結之後，查驗他國來船，絕無鴉片。如指上年而言，事屬以往，船貨無憑；若指本年而言，來船尚未進口，不能知其有，亦安能信其無？」並言將軍阿精阿請團練水勇，及林則徐請鼓勵員弁，俟事定再議。疏入，報聞，則徐以是獲罪。

時廣東撤水師歸營，猝被敵轟擊，掠去米艇兵丁，巡撫怡良以聞。琦善又陳：「英人回粵，詞氣傲慢，義律託疾將回國，且兵船日增。」得旨，仍暫停貿易，一面與議，一面籌防。義律堅持索還煙價，並增厦門、福州通商，嚴旨拒不許。十二月，義律見防禦漸撤，數遣挑戰，琦善諭止之。義律曰：「戰後再議，未為遲也。」乃犯虎門外沙角、大角兩砲臺，副將陳連陞力戰死之，遂陷。提督關天培守靖遠砲臺，總兵李廷鈺守威遠砲臺，並請援，琦善不敢明發兵，夜遣二百人往。二十一年正月，事聞，上震怒，下琦善嚴議，命御前大臣貝子奕山為靖逆將軍，戶部尚書隆文、湖南提督楊芳副之，率師赴粵協剿。

義律數索香港，志在必得，琦善當事急，佯許之而不敢上聞。至是，義律獻出所踞砲臺，並願繳還定海以易香港全島，別議通商章程。琦善親與相見蓮花城定議，往返傳語，由差遣之鮑鵬將事，同城將軍、巡撫皆不預知。及英人占踞香港，出示安民，巡撫怡良奏聞，琦善方疏陳：「地勢無可扼，軍械無可恃，兵力不固，民情不堅，如與交鋒，實無把握，不如暫事羈縻。」上益怒，詔斥琦善擅予香港，擅許通商之罪，褫職逮治，籍沒家產。英兵遂奪虎門靖遠砲臺，提督關天培死之。

奕山等至，戰復不利，廣州危急，許以煙價六百萬兩，圍始解，而福建、浙江復被擾。琦善逮京，讞論大辟，尋釋之，命赴浙江軍營效力，未至，改發軍臺。二十二年，浙師復敗，吳淞不守，英兵遂入江，江寧戒嚴，於是耆英、伊里布等定和議，海內莫不以罷戰言和歸咎於琦善為作俑之始矣。是年秋，予四等侍衛，充葉爾羌幫辦大臣。

二十三年，以三品頂戴授熱河都統。御史陳慶鏞疏論僨事諸臣罪狀，上重違清議，再褫琦善職，意仍嚮用，未幾，予三等侍衛，充駐藏大臣。二十六年，授四川總督。二十八年，詔嘉其治蜀於吏治營伍實心整頓，復頭品頂戴。尋協辦大學士，留總督任。以平瞻對野番功被議敘。二十九年，調陝甘總督，兼署青海辦事大臣，剿雍沙番及黑城撒拉回匪。既而言官劾其妄殺，命都統薩迎阿往按，革職逮問。咸豐二年，定讞發吉林效力贖罪，尋釋回。

時粵匪已犯湖南，勢日熾，屢易帥皆不能制。起琦善署河南巡撫，駐防楚、豫界上。以捐餉加都統銜，授欽差大臣，專辦防務。湖北省城失守，觀望不能救。三年春，賊遂連陷安徽、江寧省城，分擾鎮江、揚州，命琦善偕直隸提督陳金綬防江北。三月，連敗賊於浦口雷塘，進剿揚州，分屯寶塔山、司徒廟，五戰皆捷。秋，破浦口援賊，合圍揚州。十二月，賊突圍出竄瓜洲，以收復揚州入告，詔斥勇潰縱賊，責令進剿瓜洲、儀徵，儀徵克復。四年夏，連戰金山、瓜洲、三汊河，屢奏斬獲。自琦善與向榮分主大江南北軍事，攻戰年餘，鎮江、瓜洲迄未克復，無得力水師，不能扼賊，琦善雖議增水師，亦未果。是年秋，卒於軍，贈太子太保、協辦大學士，依總督例賜卹，諡文勤。

子恭鏜，黑龍江將軍。孫瑞洵，烏里雅蘇臺參贊大臣；瑞澂，兩湖總督。瑞澂自有傳。