Zaiyi (26 August 1856 – 10 January 1923), better known by his title Prince Duan, was a Manchu prince and statesman of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known as one of the leaders of the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901.
Biography[]
Zaiyi was born in the Aisin Gioro clan as the second son of Yicong (Prince Dun), the fifth son of the Daoguang Emperor. A leading conservative and strongly anti-foreign politician, Prince Duan was one of the main supporters of the Righteous Harmony Society ("Boxers") during the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901. He arranged a meeting between Empress Dowager Cixi and Boxer leader Cao Futian. In 1899, Prince Duan set up his own private armed forces, the Tiger and Divine Corps, which was among the several modernised Manchu banner forces. During the crisis in June 1900, he headed the Zongli Yamen (foreign affairs ministry) and commanded the Boxers who besieged the Beitang cathedral. He was also in command of the Beijing Field Force against the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance. Prince Duan's younger brother, Zailan, was also one of the leaders of the Boxer Rebellion.
Prince Duan fell out of favour with the imperials after the Boxers were defeated, and the Qing government was forced to side with the Eight-Nation Alliance against the Boxers. The victorious Eight-Nation Alliance named Prince Duan as one of the masterminds behind the rebellion. In 1902, the Qing government issued an imperial decree condemning Prince Duan for his involvement in the Boxer Rebellion. Prince Duan and his family were exiled to Xinjiang.
Prince Duan lived in exile until 1917, when the general Zhang Xun briefly restored Puyi, the Last Emperor who abdicated in 1912, to the Qing imperial throne. He was regarded as a national hero by the ruling elite because of his aggressive anti-foreign stance. The Beiyang government of the Republic of China invited him back to Beijing and cooperated with him. Prince Duan's hatred for things regarded as foreign to China, however, never changed. He refused to eat when a military officer threw a party for him in Western style. He also became angry when he heard about his grandchildren riding in trains because he believed that trains were objects alien to China. Foreigners were furious when they learnt that Prince Duan had returned to Beijing, and started protesting to the Beiyang government. As a result, Prince Duan moved back to Ningxia and lived the rest of his life there. The Beiyang government increased his stipend by 50%. He died in 1923.
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