Qiying

Qiying (born 1790, China—died June 29, 1858, Beijing) was a Chinese official who negotiated the Treaty of Nanjing, which ended the first Opium War (1839–42), fought by the British in China to gain trade concessions there.

A member of the imperial family of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), Qiying served in various high governmental positions before being sent to the east-central Chinese city of Nanjing in 1842 to negotiate a treaty with the advancing British forces. The document finally signed by Qiying granted the British the island of Hong Kong, opened five other ports to British trade and residence of British citizens, and agreed to the payment of a large indemnity. The following year, on Oct. 8, 1843, Qiying signed the British Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue (Humen), which governed the execution of the Treaty of Nanjing and granted the British the right of extraterritoriality; i.e., the right to try British subjects by British courts set up on Chinese soil. The Bogue Treaty also granted the British a “most favoured nation” clause, which promised that any concession granted later to other foreign powers would also then be granted to the British. In 1844 Qiying signed similar treaties with the United States and France and, in 1847, with Sweden and Norway. In his ignorance of the West, Qiying felt he was ridding the Chinese empire of an immediate nuisance by agreeing to the foreigners’ demands. This practice was, however, the beginning of a series of treaties that humiliated the Chinese for more than a century.

Qiying pursued his policy of appeasement until 1848, when he was recalled after the British, in an attempt to pressure the Chinese, conducted a short raid on Guangzhou (Canton) and the forts along the coast. In 1858 Qiying returned to government service to aid in the negotiation of a treaty to end the second Opium, or Arrow, War (1856–60). The British negotiators, however, took a hostile attitude toward him, confronting him with a letter he had written to the emperor in 1845, in which he discussed the proper methods for dealing with “barbarians.” Qiying, by then old and half-blind, panicked and gave up his assigned duty. For his disobedience, the emperor had him imprisoned and then ordered him to commit suicide.