Yixin (11 January 1833 – 29 May 1898), better known by his title Prince Gong, was a Manchu prince of the Aisin Gioro imperial clan and statesman of the late Qing dynasty. Noted for his brilliance at an early age, he became remembered for his attempts to modernize China during the late 19th century and role as a key negotiator with the European powers after the Second Opium War.
Biography[]
He was born as the sixth son of the Daogong Emperor and was related to other emperors of the Aisin Gioro clan. During his youth, Yixin studied in the imperial library and practiced martial arts with his brother Yizhu, who would become the Xianfeng Emperor in 1850. Their critically ill father appointed the fourth prince, Yizhu, as his successor on his deathbed, while promoting Yixin to first-rank prince, shortly before he died. Upon ascending to the throne, his brother made him "Prince Gong of the First Rank", according to their late father's request, and gave him some military positions. As an overseer of military affairs on the Grand Council, he oversaw the defeat of the Taiping rebels at Jinan. He was briefly suspended from his position in August 1855 after failing to observe protocol by the Taiping Emperor, before being returned to his position in 1856. Prince Gong was further appointed to the office of Interior Minister in 1859.
In September 1860, during the Second Opium War, the Emperor fled from Beijing as Anglo-French troops approached the capital in response to European diplomats having been kidnapped earlier by Qing forces. Prince Gong was appointed Imperial Commissioner with Discretion and Full Authority by him and remained in Beijing. He gathered their troops and maintained strict discipline while trying to raise their morale. In October he carried out negotiations with Britain, France, and Russia and signed the Convention of Beijing. Although Prince Gong requested to be punished for signing such an unequal treaty, the Xianfeng Emperor understood his difficult position and decided against it. The next year, he set up the Zongli Yamen, which would become the Qing Empire's de facto foreign ministry.
Before the Xianfeng Emperor died, he appointed eight regents to help his son, the Tongzhi Emperor, rule. However, Prince Gong and the Empress Dowagers Cixi and Ci'an believed that they had too much power, and thus he organized a coup against the eight regents in 1861. When the Tongzhi Emperor was enthroned, he appointed him as Prince-Regent and granted him special privileges. Prince Gong ended up having his salary doubled and was given command of the Beijing Field Force, a firearm-equipped Qing army unit. In 1864, the Taiping Rebellion was finally suppressed, ending the war that dragged on for more than a decade. Prince Gong was praised for his leadership skills throughout the rebellion. He was also responsible for spearheading reforms as the founder of the Self-Strengthening Movement, attempting to modernize the Qing Empire.
However, in 1865, he fell from grace after being accused of corruption by a court official. The Empress Dowagers responded by removing him from office of Prince-Regent, despite pleas from other officials to restore him. They did permit Prince Gong to remain as the head of the Zongli Yamen and served on the Grand Council. During the early 1870s he became an enemy of the Empress Dowager and was demoted by her for failing to follow court protocol, although he had his titles restored by the Tongzhi Emperor later on. After he died in December of that year and was succeeded by the Guangxu Emperor, Prince Gong retained most of his privileges, but continued to clash with Empress Dowager Cixi. During the Sino-French War, in return for refusing to go to war with France in Vietnam, he was replaced as the head of the Grand Council. Many officials of his administration were also purged.
He was summoned back to court and was given command of the Beiyang Fleet during the First Sino–Japanese War (1894–95), but his health continued deteriorating from disease. He died in 1898, at the age of 67. The Guangxu Emperor attended his funeral himself and ordered court functions to cease for five days in mourning. He praised Prince Gong as a model citizen that all Qing subjects should emulate.