This is my endeavor to list all the entries in the The Truthful Record of Qing Dynasty 清實錄 (Qing Shilu) concerning Keying. I will start with the Tao-kuang and Hsien-feng eras and afterward work backward. The result may be excessively volumeful for a single post and I would need to break it down to more than one post, will see when we get there.
Commands Keying to proceed to Kwangtung to ascertain the defense readiness of Bocca Tigris and to seek opportunity to recover Hong Kong from the British.
Reprimands Keying, etc. for conceding to the British in the matter of excluding Foochow-fu as a treaty port; instructs them to avoid new issues and expedite the conclusion of the treaty.
Instructs Keying, etc. to accept the heads of agreement dictated by the British save for two modifications: Foochow-fu shall not be included as a treaty port; trading between Ch'ing and the Great Britain shall remain non-governmental affairs.
Portrait of Keying, ca.1845[1]. Credit: [British] Department for Culture, Media & Sport.
Keying and his two aids Hwang Antung and Hienling arrived at Hong Kong on June 23, 1843, in HCS armed steamer Vixen, to administer the exchange of the ratified treaties on June 26. He was also to engage Pottinger in tariff negotiations which had not been included in the Treaty of Nanking but were essential for its practical implementation. These discussions would then lead to the supplementary Bogue Treaty 虎門條約 signed on October 8, 1843.
Pottinger hosted a feast at his official residence in Hong Kong to honor Keying, who attended with Hienling and Hwang. It was at this evening that the Ch'ing Imperial Commissioner had behaved in such a bizarre manner that had both impressed and bewildered his English host. Pottinger must have thought what transpired as an important piece of intelligence that he described vividly, in great detail, the somewhat eventful evening in an official dispatch he sent to George Hamilton-Gordon (4th Earl of Aberdeen), Foreign Secretary, dated July 5. 1843. Here's the extract of the letter that concerns the dinner.
[1] This portrait of Keying, commissioned by himself, was the work of an unknown Chinese painter who, according to the British Department for Culture, Media & Sport, was active between 1800 and 1899. Keying had this painting sent to Pottinger in ca.1845 as a memento. The painting was, after the passing of Pottinger, in turn kept by his son, Henry, and by Henry's daughter, Ethel Adeline, who married Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson, 1st and last Baron Kearesborough, and by Ethel's daughter, Violet Ethel Meysey-Thompson, who married Algar Henry Stafford Howard, owner of the Thornbury Castle [whereat King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn had stayed for ten days in August 1535] and a direct descendant of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and by Violet's son from her first marriage, Giles Alexander Meysey Giles, Lieutenant-Colonel, British Army. Giles donated the painting to the Ministry of Works in 1960. The painting (gouache and ink on parchment), measured 250x125cm, is kept at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in Whitehall. It is unknown whether it is actually on display.
"In the evening the Imperial High Commissioner Keying came, according to his engagement, to dine with me, and after he and his two companions had made themselves comfortable by laying aside their mandarin caps and upper dresses, which is the custom at such parties in China, we sat for a few minutes in the drawing-room whilst dinner was being served. During this short period, Keying's attention was attracted to the miniatures of my family which happened to be on the table, and he desired Mr. Morrison to explain to me that he had no son himself, and therefore wished to adopt my eldest boy, and to know if I would allow him to come to China. To this I replied, that the lad's education must first be attended to, but that stranger things had happened than his seeing Keying hereafter on which his Excellency rejoined, ' Very well, he is my adopted son from this day. His name (which he had previously ascertained) shall henceforward be Frederick Keying Pottinger, and until you send him to me, after he is educated, you must allow me to keep his likeness. To this proposal I could make no objection, and I accordingly gave him the picture. Immediately after his Excellency expressed a strong wish to have Lady Pottinger's miniature also—but about giving it I made some little demur, and before the matter was either way settled dinner was announced, and we went to table. " I supposed the thing would be forgotten; but when dinner was partly over, Keying again introduced his request—said that he would send me his wife's likeness in return, and that he wanted my whole family to take back with him when he went to Nanking, and eventually to show to his friends at Peking. I felt it was impossible to refuse this flattering request, and I had the miniature brought, and put it into his hands. He immediately rose, and placed it on his head, which, I am told, is the highest token of respect and friendship—filled a glass of wine, held the picture in front of his face, muttered some words in a low voice, drank the wine, again placed the picture on his head, and then sat down. 'The whole of this extraordinary action was per- formed without apparent reference to any one being present, and formed quite a scene. He then delivered the miniature to his principal attendant, who was standing behind him, and directed him to send it home in his state chair, in which his Excellency had come to dinner, with all his official suite. Afterward he expressed his deep obligation to me for the gift I had bestowed on him, and inquired, through Mr. Morrison, what present he could send to Lady Pottinger that would be acceptable. I wished to evade giving an answer to this inquiry, and said I should think of it, and let him know next morning ; on which he asked, 'What ! am I the Governor- General of the Two Kiang, and cannot get my order obeyed !' At last, to satisfy him, I told him some piece of embroidery would be, as his gift, highly prized, and he had a memorandum made of it.
"Soon after he proposed to sing a Tartar song, which, I am told, is customary at their convivial friendly parties—and on my saying that I should be delighted to hear it, he began with a very animated and loud voice. The couplets he sung, I have since been informed, were allusive to the peace that had been concluded between the two countries, and, likewise, to his great personal friendship for me— and, at the close of it, he took a rich golden bracelet, made in the form of a puzzle, with two clasped hands, off his own arm, and put it on mine. He then explained to me that this bracelet, and its fellow, had belonged to his father, who gave them to him when he was eleven years of age—that he had worn this one for upwards of forty years, and had left the other with his wife at Peking, and that it contained his name in the palm of one of the hands in mystic characters, and that he had some friends in every part of China, who would, on my producing it, receive me as his brother. " In the course of the evening, he told me that he expected to go to Peking, in three or four years ; that he would then send for me ; that, in the mean time, I must correspond with him, whether I remained in China or returned to England; that if Taoukevang (the Emperor) saw me, he would give me a two-eyed peacock's feather, the highest honor in China, and that I had gained a great reputation and much distinction, not only in my own country, but in every part of this empire. After we rose from table, and retired to the drawing-room again, I presented his Excellency with a handsome sword and belt, which I had commissioned by Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm from England, for the purpose of sending to him, and with which he was highly pleased. He immediately buckled it on, and though it was a very warm night, and I begged him to lay it aside, he sat with it on whilst he stayed, and went to his chair of state to go home. Just before he went away, he put on my shoulders his own upper dress which, he said, was made of silk that had been given by the Emperor Kielong to his (Keying's) father when he was Prime Minister. "On the evening of the 26th the whole of the troops were out, and after the exchange of the ratifications they fired a feu de joie and marched round, the officers saluting the Imperial Commissioner, who seemed greatly struck with the whole ceremony, and expressed his admiration of the appearance and regularity of the men as to their dresses, movements, &c. We afterward sat down to dinner, a very large party, at which the Chinese high officers entered with great spirit and good feeling into the conviviality. Keying himself asked many officers to drink wine, and was asked by many, and as his Excellency had been complaining of a cutaneous disorder, it was hinted to him, by Mr. Morrison's desire, that he ought to be careful ; to which he answered—'Tomorrow must take care of itself ; I am too happy to-night.' Then, turning to me, he was about to address me in a whisper, when he suddenly seemed to recollect that I could not understand him, on which he expressed his chagrin that he could not tell me his secrets, and desired Mr. Morrison to explain to me that if he got tipsy in the joy of his heart, I must find him a bed for the night.
"When the dinner was over, I proposed a bumper toast, with all the honors, to ' the healths of the Queen of England and the Emperor of China, and that the peace which had that day been ratified between their Majesties, might be eternal,'—on drink which, the Chinese officers most warmly joined. I discovered, in the course of the evening, that Keying was a great proficient, or at least amateur, in music, and whenever the band played any particular tune, he fashioned it to some of his own native airs, and sung to it in a low voice. This led to a proposal to his Excellency to favor the company with a song, which he did immediately, with great good humor; and as Kwang and Hienlien (assistants to the Imperial Commissioner) followed their chief's example, and they all three called on different officers to sing in return, the evening passed away most jovially and agreeably; and we did not separate till a late hour. Just before we did so, the Commissioner and two Chinese officers gratified the company, by playing one of their favorite games at convivial parties, by one party rapidly throwing out his fingers whilst the other guesses at the numbers they are supposed to represent, and whoever loses drinks a glass of wine[1], a forfeit which they scrupulously enforced. On one occasion, when Keying was playing with Hienling, and the latter lost the game, he was about to have a glass, already half full, replenished, on which Keying taunted him with evading his proper forfeit, and called on him to fill a bumper."
[1] They were most probably playing a game of mora 酒令 (zauling).
Without Issue?
In the Pottinger / Aberdeen letter, Keying was quoted to have said that 'he had no son himself' and that being his reason for wanting to adopt Frederick. The fact is Keying had two sons: Qingxi and Qingxian. The elder of the two, Qingxi, was born on August 23, 1810. He was 33 years of age at the time of his father's first visit to Hong Kong. A Mandarin of associate second rank 從二品[1] , Qingxi was a Chancellor of Grand Secretariat 內閣學士 [essentially a cabinet minister] and a vice president of the Ministry of Rites 禮部侍郎. Qingxi attained his highest appointment in 1847 whereupon he was made a Mandarin of associate first rank 從一品, and Commandant of Malan County 馬蘭鎮總兵官; Malan was one of the six garrisons which guarded Peking and Tientsin, and a Minister of the Imperial Household Agency 總管內務府大臣. The second son, Qiungxian, was a lot less accomplished; he was an administrator of the Imperial Clan Court [the court that tried members of the imperial clan] 宗人府理事官 and a Mandarin of full fifth rank 正五品. [tbc]
[1] There were nine ranks 九品 in the Ch'ing bureaucracy. The first rank being top and the ninth lowest. Each rank was further divided into a sub-rank of 'full' 正and 'associate' 從.
A caricature of the procession of Keying at his November 1846 visit to Hong Kong. Unfortunately no image of his 1843 visit was found. Credit: The Illustrated London News, No. 197, Vo. VIII, for the week ending February 7, 1846.
In contrast to Pottinger's length description of the dinner, Keying's recital of his Hong Kong trip was exactly 65 words long. The following is an extract of Keying's memorial giving a brief account of his trip to Hong Kong. The extract was cited in the Imperial Rescript dated July 30, 1843.
On the 26th day of the 5th month, [I] went to Hong Kong on a steamer. [I] brought along Hwang Antong and Hienling; [we] traveled light and with a scale down suite. [I] gave an audience to the said chief Pottinger, and have settled on the rough framework of the by-laws for trade and the examples of the tariffs to be levied. The said chief was extremely humble and docile. [We] returned to Canton on the 1st day of the 6th month. (translated by Rudi Butt)
Blind Freddy
Susanna Maria Cook [or Cooke], Pottinger's wife whom he married in 1820, bore him three children, viz. Henrietta Maria, Frederick William and Henry. Frederick was 12 when the Ch'ing chancellor of the highest rank and of royal blood told his father he was to adopt the English [as far as Ch'ing officials of the time is concerned, anyone from the Great Britain was an English] boy as his son, and the child's name would henceforth be known as Frederick Keying Pottinger. It all sounds adventurous and exotic, but in reality, no ritual of adoption was performed since Frederick had never set foot in China. There was also no reference to Keying's notion to adopt Frederick, the Pottinger - Aberdeen letter aside, in all of the English or Chinese material I've perused. It seems that the only thing that link Keying and Frederick was their relation / association with Pottinger, and the one thing they had in common was the disastrous events which struck them in the year 1858. Keying died that year; he was ordered by his grandnephew, Emperor Hsien-feng, to end his own life by hanging. In that same year, Frederick had done squandering the entirety of the family fortune his father had left him a mere few months ago and resorted to exile himself to Australia under a false name.
A Grenadiers Officer, ca.1850.
Frederick William Pottinger was born on April 27, 1831 in Cutch (Kutch) where his father served as a colonel in the Indian Army, and later Political Resident for the district. Frederick was educated privately and he when he turned 13 years of age he was sent to England to attend Eton. It was during school years (1844-47) that he had acquired a profound interest in horse racing betting. Before long, Frederick had made himself an addictive punter, one who was spectacularly poor at the game. Meanwhile, Pottinger, clearly unhappy about the life his heir apparent was leading, purchased a lieutenant's commission for Frederick in the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. He thought military life was the answer for his aimless gambling addict son. He was wrong. The young and dandy Lieutenant Pottinger saw no active service and was in fact stationed in London throughout his service. He was said to have more interest in punting and womanizing than soldiering. Debts amassed as bad betting continued. In 1854, four years after his entry in the British Army, Frederick sold his lieutenancy to raise cash needed to retire some of his more urgent debts. [tbc]
Henry Pottinger, on his departure for China on May 31, 1841, was given the following instructions by Henry John Temple (3rd Viscount Palmerston), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with regard to opium.
Palmerston's Instructions to Henry Pottinger
"It is of great importance, with a view to the maintenance of a permanent good understanding between the two countries, that the Chinese government should place the opium trade upon some regular and legalized footing. Experience has shown that it is entirely beyond the power of the Chinese Government to prevent the introduction of opium into China; and many reasons render it impossible that the British Government can give the Chinese Government any effectual aid towards the accomplishment of that purpose. But while the opium trade is forbidden by law it must inevitably be carried on by fraud and violence; and hence must arise frequent conflicts and collisions between the Chinese preventive service and the parties who are engaged in carrying on the opium trade. These parties are generally British subjects; and it is impossible to suppose that this private war can be carried on between British opium smugglers and the Chinese authorities, without events happening which must tend to put in jeopardy the good understanding between the Chinese and British Governments. H.M. Government makes no demand in this matter; for they have no right to do so. The Chinese Government is fully entitled to prohibit the importation of opium, if it pleases; and British subjects who engage in a contraband trade must take the consequences of doing so. But it is desirable that you should avail yourself of every favorable opportunity to strongly impress upon the Chinese Plenipotentiary, and through him the Chinese Government, how much it would be for the interest of the Chinese Government itself to alter the law of China on this matter, and to legalize, by a regular duty, a trade which they cannot prevent."
Source: Final Report Royal Commission on Opium, Vol. 6, 1895, p.402.
Memorandum respecting Opium, Communicated by Sir H. Pottinger to Commissioners Keying and Elepoo, and Governor- General Neuikeen.
It was my intention to have drawn up some lengthened observations on the subject of opium, in the hope that they might be respectfully laid before the the Emperor, but on referring to the instructions which were written under date the 26th of February, 1841, to Her Majesty's joint Plenipotentiaries (Admiral Elliot and Captain Elliot) by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and also to those from' the same high officer which were furnished to me on the 31st of May, 1841, on my departure for China, I have found the said instructions to be so candid, so explicit, and so clear on the subject of opium, that I think I cannot pursue a better course than to have these instructions translated into Chinese, and to accompany them with such additional observations as occur to me to be likely to further elucidate the matter. I should hope that the instructions from the Principal Secretary of State cannot fail to impress on the Chinese Government the absolute impossibility of the British Government preventing the cultivation of opium in its own territories in India. Admit for a moment that it issued such an order, what would be the consequence ? Why the people who now earn their subsistence by cultivating opium in the territories of the British Government would migrate into native States, and there continue the same labor, by which an equal, or even, possibly, greater, quantity of opium would be produced. Besides this fact, many other countries, in no way subject to the Government or influence of England, produce opium, and, so long as there is a demand for it in China, it is certain to be brought. If China can prevent her subjects from buying and consuming opium, the trade in it would cease at once of itself, because no persons will bring any article for sale to a market where there are no buyers ; but as long experience has shown that the Government of China has not the power of putting down the use of opium, and is equally unable to prevent its being smuggled into the Empire, it follows that there is but one mode of disposing of this troublesome point, and that is, for the Emperor to legalize the sale by barter, and to fix a duty on it. This duty should be considerably higher than what is charged on any other kind of merchandise, but if it is made exorbitant it will be evaded by the native smugglers, in spite of all the efforts of China to the contrary. In this affair of smuggling the Empire of China is not singular. England, and all the other great nations of Europe, have long seen the hopelessness of utterly preventing the importation of various articles, and have bent to circumstances, and permitted them to be brought in on paying duties. I have observed what has been advanced in one of the High Commissioner's letters, that opium is not an esculent root, and therefore not necessary for the support of man. This is very true, but the same may be remarked of many things, and Providence has allotted most countries something that they may exchange with other countries for their produce. Wine is not produced in England, but vast quantities are brought into it from other kingdoms. Tea, and the berry called coffee, from which a decoction is made, were unknown in Europe till within a comparatively late period, and yet they are now in universal use, and of the coffee, in particular, the consumption is so great that the produce cannot keep pace with the demand. The excessive use of ardent spirits ("samshoo") is looked on with great horror and regret by the Government and people of England, and many plans have been proposed to check it. Some of them have been partially successful, but its evils are quite equal to those of opium, and yet it is not felt to be possible to prevent it altogether.
To conclude; it is my solemn and unbiased opinion, from all I have myself seen since I came to China, that to legalize the sale of opium by barter is the only remedy for the trade, unless China can stop it altogether, and that I consider to be utterly impracticable.
(Signed) Henry Pottinger
"Queen," off Nankin, August 27, 1842.
Source: Papers Relating to the Opium Trade in China, 1842-1856, Presented to the House of Common by Command of Her Majesty, London: 1857, pp.1-3.
In response, Keying, etc., sent this muting effect communication, knowing too well such an agenda could never form a part of any treaty negotiation, nor could Pottinger pursue this with his military might, not even with armed steamers and horse-drawn artillery. I was unable to find the Chinese original of the communication. Keying probably did not even report it to Peking.
Reply by the Imperial Commissioners to Memorandum on Opium.
On the withdrawal of the prohibition against opium it is not expedient at this time hastily to make any representations to the Throne. But the officers of China shall certainly be enjoined to confine their jurisdiction in that respect to the soldiery and people of the country, not allowing them to make use of it. Whether the merchant vessels of the various countries bring opium or not, China will not need to inquire or take any proceedings with regard thereto. (translator unknown)
Source: Papers Relating to the Opium Trade in China, 1842-1856, Presented to the House of Common by Command of Her Majesty, London: 1857, p.3.
This was the first communication Henry Pottinger had accorded to any Ch'ing official since his arrival in China. He did, however, send George A. Malcolm, Secretary of Legation, to Canton to inform the Prefect his appointment as plenipotentiary as well as his presence in China. The request of the prefect for a meeting was summarily denied by Malcolm citing his rank was not sufficiently high to admit of such interview.
On Board HMS Wellesley, off Amoy,
August 26, 1841.
To His Excellency the Admiral, Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of the Province of Fukien[1]:
"The undersigned, Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart, her Britannic majesty's plenipotentiary, Sir William Parker, commanding in chief the naval forces, and Sir Hugh Gough, commanding in chief the land forces of the British nation in these parts.
There being certain differences subsisting between the two nations of Great Britain and China, which have not been cleared up, the undersigned plenipotentiary, and the commanders-in-chief have received the instructions of their sovereign, that unless these be completely removed, and secure arrangement made, by accession to the demands last year presented at Tientsin, they shall regard it as their duty to resort to hostile measures for the enforcement of those demands. But the undersigned plenipotentiary and commanders-in-chief moved by compassionate feelings, are averse to causing the death of so many officers and soldiers as must perish, and urgently request the admiral commanding in chief in this province forthwith to deliver the town and all the fortifications of Amoy into the hands of the British forces, to be held for the present by them. Upon his doing so, all the officers and troops therein will be allowed to retire with their personal arms and baggage, and the people shall receive no hurt : and whenever these difficulties shall be settled, and the demands of Great Britain fully granted, the whole shall be restored to the hands of the Chinese."
(Signed)
Henry Pottinger,
Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary.
William Parker,
Rear Admiral.
Hugh Gough,
Major General.
Source: Bingham, John Elliot, Narrative of the expedition to China, from the commencement of the war, Volume 2, 1843, p.234. 韓栽茂，《廈門海防百年》，廈門大學出版社。
[1] Admiral Tow Chinpew (Dou Zhenbiao) 竇振彪, C-in-C of Ch'ing naval forces in Fukien 福建水師提督, at the time of the British attack, was away raiding pirates. The defense of Amoy were taken up, in his stead, by Commandant of Quemoy 金門鎮總兵, Keang Keyun (Jiang Jiyun) 江繼芸, and Xundao of Amoy 廈門巡道 [probably the equivalent of deputy magistrate], Liu Yaochun 劉耀椿. Keang's immediate transfer to Amoy was ordered by Yen Po-t'ao (Yan Botao) 顏伯燾, Viceroy of Fukien and Chekiang 閩浙總督. Keang, badly wounded, took his own life jumping off the cliff when cornered by British troops at dust on the first (and the last) day of engagement of the Battle of Amoy. The book "Narrative of the expedition to China, from the commencement of the war, Volume 2" gave this brief account of Keang.
"The Tsungping, Keang Keyun, whose proper station was Quemoy, but who, in consequence of the absence of Tow Chinpew, the naval Chinese commander-in-chief, had come from his own post to take the command, finding the day go against him, walked through one of the embrasures and drowned himself."
Victoria, by the GRACE of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, — GREETING KNOW YE — that We, of our Special Grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have thought fit to erect and do hereby erect our Island of Hong Kong and its Dependencies, situate between twenty-two degrees nine minutes, and twenty-two degrees twenty-one minutes North Latitude, and the one hundred and fourteenth degree eighteen minutes East Longtitude from the Meridian of Greenwich, into a Colony, and the said Island and its Dependencies is hereby erected into a separate Colony accordingly, to be known and designated at 'the Colony of Hong Kong'.
AND WE DO hereby further grant, appoint, and ordain, that the Governor, for the time being, of the said Colony, and such other Persons as are hereinafter designated, shall constitute, and be a Legislative Council for the said Colony: And We do hereby direct and appoint, that in addition to the said Governor, the said Legislative Council shall be composed of such Public Officers within the said Colony, or of such other Persons within the same, as shall from time to time be named or designated for that purpose, by Us, by any Instruction of Instructions, or Warrant, or Warrants, to be by Us for that purpose issued under Our Signet and Sign Manual, and with the advice of Our Privy Councillor, shall hold their places in the said Council, at our pleasure: And we do hereby grant and ordain, that the Governor for the time being, of the said Colony, with the advice of the said Legislative Council, shall have full power and authority to make and enact all such laws and Ordinances as may from time to time be required for the Peace, Order, and good Government of the said Colony of Hong-Kong: And that, in making all such laws and Ordinances, the said Governor shall exercise all such powers and authorities; and that the said Legislative Council shall conform to, and observe all such rules and regulations as We, with the advice of Our Privy Council, shall from time to time, make for his and their guidance therein: Provided, nevertheless, and We do hereby reserve to Ourselves, our Heirs and Successors, our and their right and authority to disallow any such Ordinances in the whole or in part, and to make and establish from time to time, with the advice and consent of Parliament, or with the advice of our or their Privy Council, all such Laws as may to Us, to them, appear necessary, for the Order, Peace, and good Government of our said Island and its Dependencies, as full as if these Presents had not been made: And, whereas, it is expedient, that an Executive Council should be appointed to advise and assist the Governor of our said Colony of Hong-Kong, for the time being, in the administration of the Government thereof — We do therefore, by these, our Letters Patent, authorizing the Governor of said Colony, for the time being, to summon as an Executive Council, such Persons as may from time to time be named or designated by Us, in any Instructions under Our Signet and Sign Manual, addressed to him in that behalf: And We, do hereby authorize and empower the Governor of Our said Colony of Hong Kong, for the time being, to keep and use the Public Seal appointed for the Sealing of all things whatsoever that shall pass the Seal of our said Colony: And we do hereby give and grant to the Governor of our said Colony of Hong-Kong, for the time being, full power and authority in our name and on our behalf, but subject, nevertheless, to such provisions as may be, in that respect contained in any instructions which may from time to time be addressed to him by Us, for that purpose, to make and execute in our name, and on our behalf, under the Public Seal of our said Colony, Grants of Land to us belonging within the same, to Private Persons for their own use and benefit, or to any Persons, Bodies Politic or Corporate, in trust for the Public uses of our Subjects there resident, or of any of them: And We do hereby authorize and empower the Governor of our said Colony of Hong Kong, for the time being, to constitute and appoint Judges, and in cases requisite, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, Justices of the Peace, and other necessary Officers and Ministers in our said Colony, for the due and impartial administration of justice, and for putting the Laws into execution, and to administer, or cause to be administered unto them, such Oath, or Oaths as are usually given for the due execution and performance of officers and places, and for the clearing of truth in judicial matters: And we do hereby give and grant unto the Governor of our said Colony of Hong-Kong, for the time being, full power and authority, as he shall see occasion, in our name, and on our behalf, to remit any fines, penalties, or forfeitures which may accrue, or become payable to us, provided the same do not exceed Fifty Pounds Sterling, in any one case, and to respite and suspend the payment of any such Fine, Penalty or Forfeiture, exceeding the said sum of Fifty Pounds, until our pleasure thereon shall be made known and signified to such Governor: And we do hereby give and grant unto the Governor of our said Colony of Hong Kong, for the time being, full power and authority, as he shall see occasion, in our name, and on our behalf, to grant to any offender convicted of any crime, in any Court, or before any Judge, Justice or Magistrate within our said Colony, a free and unconditional pardon, or a pardon subject to such conditions, as by any Law or Ordinance hereafter to be in force in our said Colony, may be there unto annexed, or any respite of the execution of the sentence of any such offender, for such period as to such Governor may seem fit: And we do hereby give and grant unto the Governor of our said Colony of Hong Kong, for the time being, full power and authority, upon sufficient cause to him appearing, to suspend from the exercise of his Office, within our said Colony, any person exercising any office or Warrant granted, or which may be granted by us, or in our name, or under our authority which suspension shall continue and have effect, only until our pleasure therein shall be made known and signified to such Governor: And we do hereby strictly require and enjoin the Governor of our said Colony of Hong Kong, for the time being, in proceeding to any such suspension, to observe the directions in that behalf, given to him by our instructions, under our Signet and Sign Manual, accompanying his Commission of appointment as Governor of the said Colony: And, in the event of the death or absence out of our said Colony of Hong-Kong, of such person as may be commissioned and appointed by us, to be the Governor thereof We do hereby provide and declare our pleasure to be, that all, and every, the powers and authorities herein granted to the Governor of our said Colony of Hong Kong, for the time being, shall be, and the same are, hereby vested in such person as may be appointed by us, by Warrant, under our Signet and Sign Manual, to be the Lieutenant-Governor of our said Colony; or, in the event of there being no Person upon the place, Commissioned and appointed by use to be Lieutenant-Governor thereof, then our pleasure is, and we do hereby provide and declare, that in any such contingency, all the powers and authorities herein granted to the Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor of our said Colony shall be, and the same are hereby granted, to the Colonial Secretary of our said Colony of Hong Kong, for the time being, and such Lieutenant-Governor, or such Colonial Secretary, as the case may be, shall execute all, and every, the powers and authorities herein granted, until our further pleasure shall be signified therein: And we do hereby require and command all our Officers and Ministers, Civil and Military, and all other, the Inhabitants of our said Colony of Hong-Kong, to be obedient in aiding and assisting to such person as may be Commissioned and appointed by us to be Governor of Hong-Kong, or, in the event of his death or absence, to such person as may, under the provision of these, our Letters Patent, assume and exercise the functions of such: And we do hereby reserve to us, our heirs and successors, full power and authority from time to time, to revoke, alter, or amend, these our Letters Patent, as to us or them shall seem meet:: IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have caused these, our Letters, to be made Patent.
WITNESS Ourself, at Westminster, the fifth day of April, in the sixth year of our Reign.
The Grand Secretariat is hereby commanded: pertaining to the previous expressed memorial submitted by Lin Tse-hsu, etc., who reported the entire stockpile of opium from the opium hulks has been surrendered [by foreign opium smugglers]. Lin plead to have the said opium transported to Peking for inspection and destruction. An edict should be issued to give OUR assent accordingly.
The memorial submitted by Censor, Teng Ying, received today mentions that it may be hard to totally secure the transfer in view of the vast distance between Kwangtung and Peking and the large amount of opium in matter. It says further that this very likely would invite the occurrences of fraudulent incidents. It is also unavoidable, furthermore, that some burden will be cast upon the common people dwelling along the route of the transfer because of the far distance that needs to be covered.
Lin, etc., was appointed by US to suppress opium, at which they have performed diligently. WE have no doubt they are not the kind to commit deceitful or conspiratorial deeds, however minute.
Now therefore, command Lin not to transfer the said opium to Peking and instead have it destroyed locally. Lin, along with Teng Ting-chen [Deng Tingzhen] and I-liang, are to administer the destruction in public. Both civil and military officers shall take part in it to first carefully inspect the said opium and afterward witness its destruction. Use this occasion to demonstrate our resolve to dwellers by the seacoast as well as the foreign barbarians stationed in Kwangtung. The effect should be one that is shocking and fearful.
If only the said chancellors look carefully into and understand the true meaning of OUR thoughts on this matter with utmost respects, they would execute this task with accuracy and precision and not to allow the flourish of any fraudulent or confusing incidents, however slightest. (translated by Rudi Butt)
Several days after I have completed my translation I found a fraction of a document quoted in The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australasia, Vol. 30, September – December, 1839, p.309. This must be the translation of the imperial edict issued by the the Grand Secretariat [translated as Cabinet Council in this document] to Lin, based on the instruction of the rescript I translated.
... a dispatch from the Cabinet Council, as follows:-
"This affair has been extremely well managed; and I, the emperor, certainly have no suspicion that there is any deception or glossing in the matter; but as to the request that the opium shall be sent to Peking to be destroyed, I consider that the distance is great and the road difficult, and it would require the strength of too many of the people; therefore there is no necessity to send it to Peking. Lin and his colleagues are to assemble the civil and military officers and destroy the opium before their eyes; thus manifesting to the natives dwelling on the sea coasts, and the foreigners of outside nations, an awful warning."
Source: 清實錄道光朝實錄 (Qing Shilu, Daoguangchao Shilu) [The Truthful Record of Qing Dynasty: The Truthful Record of the Reign of Daoguang]
[1] Subject was not written in any Imperial Rescript. What appears here has been written for the easy reference of the readership.
December 31, 1838 清宣宗道光十八年 (戊戌) 十一月十五日 (癸丑) [the fifteenth day of the eleventh month in the eighteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tao-kuang]
Subject[1]:
Lin Tse-hsu (Lin Zexu) appointed Imperial Commissioner; ordered to proceed to Kwangtung with haste
命湖廣總督林則徐、為欽差大臣。馳往廣東。查辦海口事件。該省水師。兼歸節制。
Lin Tse-hsu, Viceroy of Hukwang, is hereby appointed Imperial Commissioner. He shall proceed to Kwangtung with haste to handle port and maritime affairs. He shall be given the command of the naval forces in that province. (translated by Rudi Butt)
Source: 清實錄道光朝實錄 (Qing Shilu, Daoguangchao Shilu) [The Truthful Record of Qing Dynasty: The Truthful Record of the Reign of Daoguang]
[1] Subject was not written in any Imperial Rescript. What appears here has been written for the easy reference of the readership.
The engraving, titled The Signing and Sealing of the Treaty of Nanking, was the work of Scottish engraver John Burnet (b.1784-d.1868) after the painting of John Platt (b.1802-d.1857), Captain of Bengal Volunteers, depicting the scene of the execution of the Treaty in the State Cabin of HMS Cornwallis on August 29, 1842. It measures 40.8 cm x 85.8 cm and was published on April 20, 1846 by F.G. Moon of London. The article is currently stored [unknown whether it is actually shown] at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, London.
I was able to find an image of the engraving in a slightly higher resolution which enables a clearer view including facial features of the people. Right beneath it is the key to the engraving in which each of the 56 persons captured in the original painting were numbered. Their names and designations are shown in the scrollable list placed below the key. Move the scroll bars to view both the engraving and its key.
Credit: The British Museum.
The Key Plate
The title of the key reads, "Names of the principal officers and official gentlemen who are represented in the engraving of the signing and sealing of the Treaty of Nanking in the Sate Cabin of HMS Cornwallis, 29th August, 1842. The time chosen by the artist was after the Treaty had been signed and sealed, and while the Admiral's Band was playing the National Anthem on the Deck."
Credit: The British Museum. N.B. This is a scrollable list.
Shirreff; Maj.; General Staff
Henry Keppel; Capt., RN; CO, HMS Dido.
Armine Simcoe Henry Mountain; Lt.-Col.; 26th Regt.; Dep. Adj.-Gen.
Thomas Bouchier; Capt., RN; CO, HMS Blonde.
Alexander George Fraser; 17th Lord Saltoun, Maj.-Gen., 98th Regt.
Frederick Kingcomb, RN.
Hugh Gough; Lt.Gen.; C-in-C, Expedition Force (Land).
Henry Pottenger; British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in China.
Hwang Antung 黄恩彤, Mayor of Nanking.
Elepoo 伊里布; Ch'ing Imperial Commissioner; S-in-C of peace mission; Lt.-Gen., Commander of Chapoo Garrison.
Keying 耆英; Ch'ing Imperial Commissioner; head of peace mission; General of Canton Garrison.
Robert N. Thom; Assistant Translator and Interpreter.
William Parker; RAdm, RN; C-in-C, Expedition Force (Naval).
Hienling 咸齢; Lt.-Gen.; under the command of Keying.
George Alexander Malcolm; Maj., 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards; Sec. of Legation.
Peter Richards; Capt., RN; CO, HMS Cornwallis.
Francis Spencer Hawkins; Brevet Lt.-Col., Com.-Gen.
Wilson, Maj., Paymaster of the Forces.
R. Barley
Frederick William Grey; Capt., RN; CO, HMS Endymion.
Moore; Maj.; JAG.
Richard Collinson, Cdr, RN; HMS Plover.
Heatley; Capt., 49th, D; Adj.-Gen.
R.B. Watson, Cdr., RN; CO, HMS Modeste.
Tudor, RN.
Moorhead; Capt.; Com.-Gen.
Halstead, Capt., RN.
M'Cleverty, Cdr., RN.
Grahame; army doctor; Surgeon to C-in-C.
Fawett; Lt.-Col.; 55th.
Kingcome, Capt., RN.
Cunynghame; Capt.; ADC.
Campbell; Lt.-Col.; 98th.
Grant; Maj.; 9th Lancers.
M. Sobadar; Maj., Sappers, ADC
J.B. Gough; Lt.-Col.; 3rd Light Dragoon; QMG.
Richard Woosnam; army doctor; Surgeon to Henry Pottinger; Assistant Secretary of Legation.
W. Gabbatt, Lt., Madras Horse Artillery, ADC
John Robert Morrison; Chinese Secretary and Interpreter.
Charles Gutzlaff 郭士立; Interpreter; missionary.
Niukien 牛鑑; Viceroy of Liang-Kiang.
C.E. Tennant; Cdr., RN; Flag Lieut. to RAdm. Parker.
Benjamin Chimmo; Naval Sec. to RAdm. Parker and Cdr. Tennant.
Grey Skipwith; Lt., RN; HMS Cornwallis.
George Tradescant Lay; Interpreter; missionary belonged to the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Charles Frederick; Cdr., RN; CO, HMS Apollo.
Henry Kellett, Cdr., RN; HMS Starling.
William Hutcheon Hall; Capt., RN; CO, HCS, Nemesis.
Blundell; Lt.-Col., Madras Artillery
Pratt, Lt.-Col., Cameronians
Pears; Capt.; Madras Engineers
Thomas Maitland, Capt., RN; CO, HMS Wellesley.
Lloyd, Lt.-Col.; Bengal Volunteers.
Anstruther; Maj.; Madras Artillery.
Montgomery; Lt.-Col.; Madras Artillery.
Knowles; Lt.-Col.; Bengal Royal Artillery.
A Few Observations
John Platt was an incredibly observant and gifted painter. The sketch was made immediately after the Treaty had been signed and sealed, clearly with great haste, since there were 56 people he needed to draw and since also the Ch'ing mission, I don't think, had the patience for a half-hour-long sitting before retiring from humiliating scene. The triumphant British were elated; Keying and his entourage weren't. Now, even if Platt was given two hours, he would not have been able to sketch 56 facial features. I think what he did was he sketched the Ch'ing delegates whenever he could see them at negotiation and other ceremonial sessions that took place before the day of the signing. As for the key figures of the British mission and the expedition force, he probably had already a stockpile of what he had made since his arrival in China that he could use for this painting. For the rest of all the other officers, since they didn't have much to do now that the fighting was over and they wouldn't be withdrawing in another two weeks, so he went by and made sketches of them, leisurely.
The vast difference in attire between the two missions is simply too noticeable to be ignored. British military officers turned up in full dress uniform with swords, while their civilian counterparts also dressed formally in daytime tailcoats. Contrary to the British attendees, all members of the Ch'ing mission, with the exception of Niukien (#41), wore the most casual order of robe designated for Ch'ing officials – changfu 常服 – which was more or less the equivalent of mufti in the Western dress code. Collarless and without the buzi 補子 (Mandarin square) normally found in robes of higher order in the dress code, changfu was worn only in one's own office while not meeting anyone from outside. Their head wear was the matching bianmao 便帽, or casual hat. Why were they dressed like that? Keying gave the explanation that since they (Elepoo and himself) came to Nanking in a great haste and traveling light, they didn't bring their formal wear. But then both of them had been in Nanking for over two weeks and there were plenty of time to send for their dresses. Hwang Antung (#9), Puchingsz of Kongning Fu 江寧布政使 (Mayor of Nanking) did not need to send for his dress, yet he came to the signing in changfu. The next question that comes to my mind is why was Niukien dressed differently than everybody else? He was wearing bufu 補服, or the formal robe with Mandarin square, and court necklace of amber beads 朝珠. Was any part of these a deliberate act? I suppose I'll never find out exactly what transpired.
There probably was no established rules that governed how a Ch'ing official should dress when meeting with representatives of a foreign nation at a place where Ch'ing government had no jurisdiction. The below image (of an engraving and etching after the drawing of Harry Francis Colville Darell, Bt. Lt.-Col., ADC to Bremer) shows an example at the opposite extreme. It depicted the July 4, 1840 meeting on board HMS Wellesley off Chusan between John Gordor Bremer, Commodore of the British Expedition, and Chang Chaoufa (Zhang Chaofa) 張朝發, Commandant of Ting-hai 定海總兵.
The three seated Ch'ing officials were: Chang; Yaou Kwaetseang (Yao Huaixiang) 姚懷祥, acting Chief Magistrate of Chusan; and Tseen Pinghwan (Qian Binghuan ) 錢炳煥, Chang's Flag Captain. Chang and Tseen were dressed in jifu 吉服 including the brilliantly embroidered python robe 蟒袍, one of the top orders in Ch'ing official dress code inferior only to court dress. Additionally, Chang wore a piling 披領 (ceremonial collar). Yaou wore bufu.
The day after the meeting, whereat Chang was asked by Bremer to surrender and he refused, the British expeditionary force launched a general attack on Chang's fleet and the wall city of Ting-hai. Chang was wounded and died soon after. Tseen was also wounded but survived. Yaou killed himself when the wall city fell on the second (and the last) day of the battle.
The Tragic Death of the Soldier Painter
Colonel John Platt killed by the mutineers at Mhow, 1st July 1857, from 'The History of the Indian Mutiny', engraving, published in 1858.John Platt was born at Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England in April 1802. He joined the 25th Bengal Native Infantry in July 1820 as an ensign. The infantry was part of the Bengal Army that belonged to the East India Company. He transferred to the 23rd Native Infantry in 1824 and afterward to the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the latter was sent to China as a part of the British expeditionary force. With it, Platt arrived in China in June 1841 and stayed through the conflict till its end in August 1842. Between 1843 and 1847, he served as commandant of the 2nd Regiment of Oudh Light Infantry and was advanced to Major. He then returned to his old regiment, the 23rd Native Infantry, and in June 1853 was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel as well as commander of the regiment. Platt was killed by mutineers of his own regiment at Mhow on July 1, 1857. His body was found in the following morning lying on the parade ground inside the cantonments with multiple gunshot wounds and gashes of a tulwar.
Platt was the second of four children of Rev. Alexander Platt (curate of All Saints Church, Kings Langley 1796-1806) and Charlotte [maiden name unknown]. John Platt was married to Charlotte Atkinson.
Other Works of Art by John Platt
Hog Hunting. The Tired Pig., 1850, aquatint, published by Fores of London, ca.1850.
Hog Hunting, The Find, engraving, published by Fores of London, ca.1840.
Doing in China: Being the Personal Narrative of an Officer Engaged in the Late Chinese Expedition, from the Recapture of Chusan in 1841, to the Peace of Nanking in 1842
Defending Christianity in China: The Jesuit Defense of Christianity in the "Lettres Edifiantes Et Curieuses" & "Ruijianlu" in Relation to the Yongzheng Proscription of 1724
Crisis in the Opium Traffic: Being an Account of the Proceedings of the Chinese Government to Suppress that Trade, with the Notices, Edicts, &c., Relating Thereto
20,283 chests was counted when the surrender of opium was completed on March 21, 1839. Each chest of raw opium contained 40 balls of 3 catties each in weight, thus the total weight came up to 120 catties (or roughly 73kg) per chest on average. The contraband confiscated in Canton alone in one operation amounted to a staggering 2,433 metric ton. I was able to trace the owners of 17,920 chests (as shown in the table below), and believe the rest of them were mostly Parsi dealers. Perhaps one day (not very soon) I will find all of them.
Name
Chests
Remarks
British
Jardine, Matheson & Co.
7,341
including 5,000 chests owned by its Parsee partners.
Dent & Co.
1,723
Daniel & Co.
1,466
MacVicar & Co.
1,146
Lindsay & Co.
341
W. & J. Gemmell
266
John Thacker
86
Master mariner.
Turner & Co.
71
Joseph & William Cragg & Co.
53
Dissolved in 1939. Gibb Livington & Co. was charge to take care of all outstanding matters.
Eglinton Maclean & Co.
50
Bell & Co.
40
Gibb, Livingston & Co.
29
Abaden & Jam Sooden
25
Gouldsborough
12
James Starkey
10
Master mariner, captain of schooner "Thistle". Previously a partner with Dirom & Co. of Canton.
Jamieson & How
10
A.I. Smith
7
Bibby Adam & Co.
5
Withdrew from China in 1840.
Eneas Fraser, Jr.
2
Total British
12,683
Parsi
Heerjeehboy Rustomjee
1,700
Dadabhoy & Manockje Rustomkee
970
Cowasjee Eduljee
232
Nasserwanjee Dorabjee
127
Nasserwanjee Bomonjee Mody
92
Hormuzjee Framjee
73
Cowasjee Saporjee
67
Dassabhoy Hormutzjee Dorabjee
67
Burjorjee Monackjee
54
Rustomjee Ruttonjee & Co.
14
Cowasjee Saporjee Taback
13
Framjee Jametjee
12
Pallanjee Nasserwanjee
9
Hormuzjee Byramjee
4
Bomanjee Hosonojee
3
Abdoolally Ebahim & Co. 鴨都喇利
unk.
Ran the first cross-harbor ferry service between Tsimshatsui and Central (1842). Claimed to have received compensation from the British government in 1864, amount received unknown. Remains active in Hong Kong under the name of Abdoolally Ebrahim Group.
Ta-hae River (Dajiajiang) 大浹江, Yong River (Yongjiang) 甬江
Tientsin (Tianjin) 天津, Teentsing
Ting-hai (Dinghai) 定海 , Ting Hae
Toi-chau (Taizhou) 台州
Tseke (Xixi) 西溪
Wuxi 無錫
Yuyaun (Yuyao) 余姚
Abbreviations and Acronyms
ADC – Aid-de-Camp
Bt. - Brevet
C-in-C – Commander-in-Chief
Capt. - Captain
Cdr. - Commander
CO – Commanding Officer
Com.-Gen. - Commissary-General
HCS – Honorable Company Ship (ship owned by the East India Company)
HMS – Her Majesty's Ship
I/R - Imperial Rescript, Imperial Response
JAG – Judge Advocate-General
Lt.-Col. - Lieutenant-Colonel
Lt.-Gen. - Lieutenant-General
Maj. - Major
QMG – Quartermaster-General
RAdm. - Rear-Admiral
Regt. - Regiment
RN – Royal Navy
S-in-C – Second-in-Command
Sec. - Secretary
tbc - to be completed
TK - Tao-kuang
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From Rudi Butt
Don't forget to add "Treaty of Nanking" to your subject blank when you email me. I have a habit of deleting messages from people I don't know, and I don't want to throw away yours. Thank you. rudibutt@hotmail.com Hong Kong
I am taking the rest of the summer off and will reply to your email/comments when I am back. Thank you for your patience and I hope you too will have an enjoyable summer. (6/24/2016)
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