Yikuang (16 November 1838 – 28 January 1917), formally known as Prince Qing, was a Manchu prince of the Aisin Gioro imperial clan and statesman during the late Qing dynasty. He was most notable for being the first to hold the office of Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, appointed in May 1911.
Biography[]
Although he was the son of a minor noble, Yikuang's grandfather had been the 17th son of the Qianlong Emperor and the first holder of the Prince Qing peerage. He rose through the ranks of the Manchu aristocracy during the 1850s and 1860s, before being made a second-rank prince by the Tongzhi Emperor in October 1872. Yikuang was also appointed to the position of senior minister to the emperor at that time. In 1884, during the reign of the Guangxu Emperor, he was put in charge of the Zongli Yamen, the de facto foreign ministry of China. Yikuang was also granted the title "Prince Qing of the Second Rank."
Prince Qing continued to rise through the ranks of the bureaucracy throughout the late 1880s until he got to meet the Guangxu Emperor himself, in 1889. In 1894, on the occassion of Empress Dowager Cixi's 60th birthday, he was promoted to "Prince Qing of the First Rank". He became known for his corruption in the Qing court for selling official positions, and became the go-to person for backroom deals in politics.
During the Sino–Japanese War of 1894–95, Prince Qing was appointed as the head of the admiralty and the Board of War Operations, with the latter functioning as a quasi-general headquarters. In 1900, when the Boxer Rebellion occurred, Prince Qing was among the moderate pro-foreigner faction of the Qing government, and was opposed by Prince Duan, who led the reactionary anti-foreigner faction. When the Eight Nation Alliance sent troops to intervene, the moderates were discredited and Prince Duan replaced Prince Qing as the head of the Zongli Yamen. He was sent with Li Hongzhang to negotiate with the Alliance representatives to end the Boxer Rebellion in September 1901.
Prince Qing continued with his corrupt ways when he returned to court and thus was unsupported by both the reformers and moderates alike. In 1903, he was appointed to the Grand Council. The Prince was also made the head of the finance and war ministries, in addition to being appointed as the head of the reformed foreign affairs ministry (Waiwubu). Following the deaths of the Guangxu Emperor and the Empress Dowager in November 1908, some reforms began under the child Xuantong Emperor. His regent, Prince Chun, replaced the Grand Council with a 17-member Imperial Cabinet, making Prince Qing the Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. During the Xinhai Revolution, he stepped down as Prime Minister and became the head of an advisory board for the emperor.
Following the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he spent the rest of his days living in his residence in Beijing. The former Emperor Puyi, who had been forced to abdicate, gave him the posthumous title of "Prince Qingmi of the First Rank". The Prince Qing peerage was inherited by his son, which was confirmed by the president of the Republic of China, Li Yuanhong.