Qu Hongji
Qu Hongji | |
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瞿鴻禨 | |
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Grand Councilor | |
In office 1901–1907 | |
Assistant Grand Secretary | |
In office 1906–1907 | |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 14 November 1901 – 17 June 1907 | |
Monarch | Guangxu Emperor |
Preceded by | Yikuang (as minister of Zongli Yamen) |
Succeeded by | Lü Haihuan |
Minister of Works | |
In office 11 November 1900 – 14 November 1901 Serving with Songgui | |
Monarch | Guangxu Emperor |
Preceded by | Chen Xuefen |
Succeeded by | Zhang Baixi |
Personal details | |
Born | 1850 Changsha, Hunan, Qing China |
Died | 1918 (aged 67–68) Shanghai, Jiangsu, Republic of China |
Education | Jinshi degree in the Imperial Examination |
Qu Hongji (Chinese: 瞿鴻禨; 1850–1918), style name Zijiu (
Biography
[edit]Qu Hongji was born in 1850 in a small town called Shanhua in the Changsha city area of Hunan Province. He passed the highest level of the Imperial Examinations (jinshi) in 1871 and went to the Hanlin Academy.[1] During 1875 he took first place in the Daijiang Bachelor Examinations. He was promoted to Neige Bachelor in 1897, and organized Town Examinations of Fujian Province and Guangxi Province. He also supervised local government as Provincial Education Commissioner of Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Sichuan Province. During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Qu carried the Four Troops Assaults plan to the emperor. Then he followed the emperor's royal family when it went hunting in the west, and was raised to the position of the Minister of Work Department. Later when he returned to Beijing, he became Minister of the Military and Minister of Government Affairs. He changed the Imperial Examinations into discourses on politics, and added economy examinations. He simplified the Headquarters of All Countries Business Department into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and became the first Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was also a member of the Grand Council.[2] He followed the Dowager Empress Cixi’s imperial edict, and among other things proposed peace plans, was honoured by the Emperor with a gold jacket, and tutored the crown prince.
Qu Hongji was actively involved in the reform of the Imperial Examination system, and was a key proponent of the establishment of the Jinshi Bureau and reorganisation of the Hanlin Academy around 1901.[3]
During the ‘New Political Affair’, government money was stolen by the ‘Building School, Commercial Intercourse and encourage Jobs’ organisation. Qu asked the Emperor to forbid this fraudulent group. During 1906, he worked with the Grand Secretary, to plan Provisional Constitutionalism, and nominated Ministers. During 1907 Cen Chunxuan, one of his allies, became Minister of Telecommunications, Cen took advantage of the Case of Yang Cuixi (a scandal involving the prince Zaizhen), and secretly impeached Zaizhen's father Prince Yikuang. Qu used 'Minister Slayer' Cen Chunxuan against his political enemy Yuan Shikai, which also made Prince Yikuang unhappy and he became jealous of Qu. The Empress Dowager Cixi was also becoming uncomfortable with Qu's blunt speaking and withdrew her support. Daijiang Bachelor Yun Yuding (惲毓
Famous
[edit]Qu Hongji(瞿鸿禨) was famous not only because of his erudition, but also because his face looked like that of the Tongzhi Emperor, 10th emperor of Qing Dynasty who died in 1875.
Publications of Authority
[edit]'Collections of Zhi An's Poems'《
'Annotations for Book of Han'《汉书笺识》
'Collections of Chaolan lou Library Poems'《
'Handwriting by Duke Wenzhen of Qu'《瞿文
‘Diary of Serving Henan Province and Fujian Province’《
‘Love and Kindness History’《
'Old Anecdote History'《
Family
[edit]Son - Qu Xuanzhi (瞿宣
Son - Qu Ruizhi(瞿兌
Grandson - Qu Tongzu (瞿同
Nephew - Qu Qiling (
References
[edit]- Zhao Erxun (赵尔
巽 ) etc., Draft History of Qing, Inspected by Chinese Publication Department
- ^ Celarent, Barbara (2006). Varieties of Social Imagination. University of Chicago Press. p. 66. ISBN 9780226434018.
- ^ Rhoads, Edward J. M. (2000). Manchus and Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928. University of Washington Press. p. 100. ISBN 9780295980409.
- ^ Han, Ce (January 2015). "The reform of the imperial examination system and the origin of the edict ordering the establishment of the Jinshi Bureau". CNKI Journal Translation Project. Modern Chinese History Studies. Retrieved 6 February 2018.