Qishan (琦善) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Qishan as an administrator, diplomat, military officer, and official. This record brings together 30 passages from 7 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Qishan	琦善	Qishan
Title	Governor	總督
Title	Governor-General	總督
Personal	Qi Shan	琦善	Qíshàn
Personal	Qi Shan	琦善	Qi Shan
Personal	Qishan	琦善
Personal name	Qishan	琦善	Qíshàn
Personal name	Qishan	琦善	Qishan

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:364:s0188, qingshigao:378:s0050, qingshigao:382:s0082, qingshigao:423:s0015
Sex: male
Explicit · qingshigao:373:s0013
Value: male
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:369:s0081

Roles

Administrator
Diplomat
Military Officer
Official
Statesman

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 咸豐元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 1851
Explicit · qingshigao:382:s0122
Source Date: Text: 道光二十九年 · Regnal Year: 29 · Western Year: AD 1849
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:382:s0081, qingshigao:382:s0082
Source Date: Text: 二十一年 · Western Year: AD 1841
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:373:s0013
Source Date: Text: 二十三年 · Western Year: AD 1843
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:378:s0106, qingshigao:378:s0097
Source Date: Text: 二十年 · Western Year: AD 1840
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:378:s0059, qingshigao:378:s0052
Source Date: Text: 咸豐三年 · Western Year: AD 1853
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:398:s0020
Source Date: Text: 道光二十年至二十一年 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1840 · End: AD 1841
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:369:s0081, qingshigao:369:s0090
Source Date: Text: 道光十九年至二十一年 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1839 · End: AD 1841
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:364:s0188
Source Date: Text: 道光間 · Western Year: AD 1840
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:423:s0053

Career and standing

Label: Imperial Commissioner replacing Lin / 代則徐 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 道光二十年 · Western Year: AD 1840
Explicit · qingshigao:369:s0086
Label: assistant commissioner at Yarkand / 葉爾羌幫辦大臣 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:378:s0106
Label: Rehe lieutenant-general / 熱河都統 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:378:s0108
Label: Governor / Governor-General / 總督 · Action: held
Explicit · qingshigao:369:s0081, qingshigao:369:s0086
Label: governor-general / 總督 · Action: held
Explicit · qingshigao:382:s0082
Status: exile · Place: Jilin / 吉林 · Action: entered
Explicit · qingshigao:382:s0128
Label: stripped of office and summoned for trial / 褫職逮京訊治 · Action: sentenced
Explicit · qingshigao:382:s0123
Label: arrested for ceding Hong Kong / 擅與香港逮治 · Action: suffered · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 二十一年 · Western Year: AD 1841
Explicit · qingshigao:369:s0090
Label: stripped of office / 革職 · Action: suffered
Explicit · qingshigao:378:s0132

Places and affiliations

Label: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Explicit · qingshigao:373:s0013
Polity: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Explicit · qingshigao:364:s0188, qingshigao:378:s0002

Learning and skills

Belief: appeasement policy / 撫 · Relation: advocated
Explicit · qingshigao:364:s0188

Events and relationships

Kind: diplomatic · Role: negotiator · Action: failed peace talks in Guangdong
Explicit · qingshigao:378:s0061
Kind: legal · Role: investigator · Action: investigated-Bu-Yantai · Other Person Id: Buyantai (布彥泰)
Explicit · qingshigao:382:s0082
Kind: diplomatic · Role: recipient · Action: received-Elliot-letter · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 七月 · Western Year: AD 1840 · Other Person Id: Charles Elliot (義律)
Explicit · qingshigao:369:s0081
Kind: political · Role: co-reemployed · Action: restored-with · Other Person Id: Yijing (奕經)
Explicit · qingshigao:373:s0118
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: suppressed-Qinghai-fan
Explicit · qingshigao:382:s0122
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: withdrew-coastal-defenses · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 二十一年 · Western Year: AD 1841
Explicit · qingshigao:369:s0168
Kind: military · Role: official · Action: withdrew-defenses
Explicit · qingshigao:373:s0013
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: Yongsha-killings
Explicit · qingshigao:382:s0123

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: favored appeasement but failed to grasp essentials · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · qingshigao:364:s0188

Source notes

Historicity: historical
Explicit · qingshigao:373:s0013

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 364Volume 364 Biographies 151: Ruan Yuan, Wang Tingzhen, Tang Jinzhao · 1 passage

Open chapter

林則徐既罷，琦善主撫，復不得要領。 Lin Zexu had been dismissed; Qishan favored appeasement yet again failed to grasp essentials.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 369Volume 369 Biographies 156: Lin Zexu, Deng Tingzhen, Da Hong A · 6 passages

Open chapter

七月，義律至天津，投書總督琦善，言廣東燒煙之釁，起自則徐及鄧廷楨二人，索價不與，又遭詬逐，故越境呈訴。 In the seventh month Elliot reached Tianjin and wrote to Governor Qishan, blaming Lin and Deng Tingzhen for the Guangdong opium burning, claiming they had refused compensation and driven him out, and had therefore come north to petition.

琦善據以上聞，上意始動。 Qishan reported this to the throne, and the emperor's resolve began to falter.

下則徐等嚴議，飭即來京，以琦善代之。 Lin and the others were referred for severe punishment, ordered to come at once to the capital, and Qishan was appointed in Lin's place.

琦善至，義律要求賠償煙價，廈門、福州開埠通商，上怒，復命備戰。 When Qishan arrived, Elliot demanded compensation for the destroyed opium and the opening of Xiamen and Fuzhou to trade. The emperor was enraged and ordered war preparations resumed.

時琦善雖以擅與香港逮治，和戰仍無定局。 By then Qishan had been arrested for ceding Hong Kong on his own authority, but whether to make peace or continue the war remained unsettled.

二十一年，琦善撤沿海兵備，虎門失守，复追論廷楨久任兩廣，廢弛營務，與則徐同戍伊犁。 In 1841 Qishan withdrew coastal defenses and Humen fell. Deng was again blamed for lax military administration during his long tenure in the Two Guang and was banished to Yili together with Lin.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 373Volume 373 Biographies 160: Zong Shiyishan, Long Wen, Zong Shiyijing, Wen Wei, Te Yi Shun, Yu Buyun · 3 passages

Open chapter

奕山不能用，且自琦善撤防，舊儲木椿鉅石皆為敵移去，時以杉板小船游弋以誘我師。 Yishan would not follow this advice. After Qi Shan had stripped the defenses, the enemy had carried off the old stockpiles of piles and boulders, and now sent out light fir boats to bait our forces.

大學士穆彰阿奏請釋琦善出獄，隨赴軍前效力，奕經卻之。 Grand Secretary Muzhanga asked that Qi Shan be freed from prison to serve at the front; Yijing declined.

圈禁逾年，與琦善同起用，予四等侍衛，充葉爾羌幫辦大臣。 After more than a year under house arrest he was restored with Qi Shan, made a Fourth Class Bodyguard, and sent as assistant commissioner to Yarkand.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 378Volume 378 Biographies 165: Huang Juezi, Jin Yinglin, Chen Qingyong, Su Tingkui, Zhu Qi · 13 passages

Open chapter

又言浙江為閩、粵之心腹，與江蘇為脣齒，請飭伊里布不可偏聽琦善，信敵必退。 They also warned that Zhejiang was the strategic heart linking Fujian and Guangdong to Jiangsu, and urged the court to tell Yilibu not to heed Qishan alone or assume the enemy would simply withdraw.

既而琦善在粵議撫不得要領，連歲命將出師，廣東、浙江皆不利。 Qishan's peace negotiations in Guangdong then failed, and repeated campaigns in Guangdong and Zhejiang went badly.

先後封事數十上，劾疆臣琦善、河臣吳邦慶尤為時稱。 He submitted dozens of confidential memorials in all; his impeachments of Governor-General Qishan and river conservancy official Wu Bangqing won particular acclaim.

血氣之倫，罔不拊手稱快，謂國法前雖未伸於琦善，今猶伸於餘步雲。 Men of spirit applauded, saying that although the law had not reached Qishan before, it had at least been applied to Yu Buyun.

乃未幾起琦善為葉爾羌幫辦大臣。 Before long, however, Qishan was reappointed assistant commissioner at Yarkand.

'皇上之於琦善，殆其類是，而今且以三品頂戴用為熱河都統矣，且用奕經為葉爾羌幫辦大臣，文蔚為古城領隊大臣矣。 Perhaps the Emperor's treatment of Qishan was of that kind—yet now he was appointed Rehe lieutenant-general with third-rank insignia, Yijing was made Yarkand assistant commissioner, and Wenwei leading commissioner at Gucheng.

琦善於戰事方始，首先示弱，以惰軍心，海內糜爛，至於此極。 Qishan had been the first to show weakness when war began, sapping army morale and bringing the empire to ruin.

奕經之罪，雖較琦善稍減，文蔚之罪，較奕經又減。 Yijing's guilt was somewhat less than Qishan's, and Wenwei's somewhat less than Yijing's.

倘俯採輿論，孰不切齒琦善為罪魁，誰不疾首於奕山、奕經、牛鑑、文蔚，而以為投畀之不容緩？ If Your Majesty heeded public opinion, who would not denounce Qishan as the chief culprit, or demand that Yishan, Yijing, Niu Jian, and Wenwei be cast out without delay?

側聞琦善意侈體汰，跋扈如常，葉爾羌之行，本屬怏怏； I hear that Qishan remains as extravagant and overbearing as ever and went to Yarkand reluctantly;

熱河密邇神京，有識無識，莫不撫膺太息，以為皇上鄉用琦善之意，尚不止此。 Rehe lies close to the capital; learned and common people alike sigh in dismay, fearing the Emperor intends to employ Qishan even closer to court.

疏上，宣宗嘉之，諭曰：「朕無知人之明，以致琦善、奕經、文蔚諸人喪師失律，惟有反躬自責，不欲諉罪臣工。 When the memorial reached the throne, the Daoguang Emperor praised it and said: "I lacked the wisdom to judge men, and so Qishan, Yijing, Wenwei, and others lost armies and broke discipline. I can only blame myself and will not shift guilt onto my officials.

复革琦善等職，令閉門思過。 He then stripped Qishan and the others of their posts and ordered them to remain at home in reflection.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 382Volume 382 Biographies 169: Hu Song E, Bu Yan Tai, Sa Ying A · 5 passages

Open chapter

時為固原知州徐采饒等所訐，命協辦大學士祁俊藻往會總督琦善按之，坐關防不密、清查歧誤，及失察家人，議降調革任。 He was then denounced by Guyuan prefect Xu Cairao and others; Associate Grand Secretary Qi Junzao joined Governor-General Qishan in an inquiry; lax seals, audit mistakes, and unchecked servants earned a sentence of demotion and dismissal.

咸豐元年，召授正白旗滿洲都統，會陝甘總督琦善剿青海番匪，言官劾其妄殺，命薩迎阿赴西寧按之。 In the first year of Xianfeng he was made Plain White Manchu Banner commander; when censors accused Qishan of slaughter in the Qinghai fan campaign, Sa Ying'a was sent to Xining to investigate.

奏調刑部司員梁照、奎椿、武汝清隨同鞫訊，得番子十四名無辜誣服狀，疏陳琦善剿辦黑城撒拉回子及黃喀窪番賊，尚非無故興師，惟將雍沙番族殺斃多名，實係妄加誅戮，並及文武妄拿、刑求逼供，詔褫琦善職，逮京訊治，命薩迎阿暫署陝甘總督。 With Ministry of Justice clerks Liang Zhao, Kuichun, and Wu Ruqing he found fourteen fan had confessed under duress; Qishan's strikes at Heicheng Salars and Huangkawa bandits were not wholly groundless, but the Yongsha killings and torture were real; Qishan was stripped and sent to Beijing for trial while Sa Ying'a acted as governor-general.

自琦善之逮治也，刑部尚書恆春以薩迎阿論劾過當，欲令原訊司員對簿，獨侍郎曾國籓持不可。 After Qishan's arrest, Justice Minister Hengchun thought Sa Ying'a had overreached and wanted the original clerks to confront him; only Vice Minister Zeng Guofan dissented.

及廷臣會訊讞上，琦善遣戍吉林，司道以下文武論罪有差，被誣番子免罪，略如原讞。 At the joint court review Qishan went to exile in Jilin, officials were punished by rank, the framed fan were freed, and the outcome largely matched Sa Ying'a's report.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 398Volume 398 Biographies 185: Zong Shixianghou, Huo Longwu, Fu Zhu Hong A, En Zhang, Chen Shengyuan, Qi Suzao, Chen Kerang, Liu Tongying, Rui Chang, Jie Chun, Xi Ling A · 1 passage

Open chapter

請飭琦善、陳金綬迅速繞出賊前，協力堵剿，以固省城根本，維持南北大局。」 We beg that Qi Shan and Chen Jinshou be ordered to get ahead of the rebels at once and join in blocking and destroying them, to secure Nanjing and uphold the balance of power between north and south."

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 423Volume 423 Biographies 210: Zong Jichen, Yin Gengyun, Wang Zheng, Mu Jixianga, You Baichuan, Shen Huai · 1 passage

Open chapter

昔宣宗起用琦善，以陳慶鏞之言而罷。 Under the Daoguang Emperor, Qishan had been reappointed but was dismissed after Chen Qingyong remonstrated.