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Sheng Xuanhuai
Sheng Xuanhuai
1st Minister of Mail and Communications; of the Imperial Cabinet
	In office; 8 May 1911 – 26 October 1911
Monarch	Xuantong Emperor
Prime Minister	Yikuang, Prince Qing
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Tang Shaoyi
1st President of the Imperial Tientsin University
	In office; October 1895 – October 1896 Serving with Charles Daniel Tenney
Succeeded by	Tang Shaoyi (as Governor)
President of Nanyang Public School
	In office; 1896-1905
Succeeded by	He Zhi
Personal details
Born	4 November 1844
Died	27 April 1916 (aged 71)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	盛宣懷
Simplified Chinese	盛宣怀
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Shèng Xuānhuái
Wade–Giles	Sheng Hsüan-huai
Sheng Gongbao
Traditional Chinese	盛宮保
Simplified Chinese	盛宫保
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Shèng Gōngbǎo
Wade–Giles	Sheng Kung-pao

Sheng Xuanhuai (Chinese: 盛宣懷; November 4, 1844 – April 27, 1916) was a Qing dynasty Chinese tycoon, politician, and educator. He founded several major banks and universities and served as Minister of Transportation of the Qing Empire. He was also known as Sheng Gongbao (盛宮保; Shèng Gōngbǎo).

Biography

Sheng was born into a family of officials, and was the eldest of six children. Sheng's father was also a close friend of General Li Hongzhang. In 1870, Li appreciated Sheng's talent, employed him as his aide and soon became his chief economic deputy. Sheng recommended that Li build more merchant ships in order to fund the military ships that the Qing government needed. Sheng's suggestion was accepted and from then on Sheng became well known for his career in ship building.

Taking active part in the Self-Strengthening Movement, He actively advocated using Western technology in saving the country from destitution. His influence was mainly felt in the southern part of China, specifically in Shanghai. By 1893, Sheng controlled China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, established the Imperial Telegraphy Administration and created first successful cotton mill in China. In 1896, he took over the Hanyang ironworks and related mines, along with control of the newly created imperial railway administration.^[1]

In 1895, he founded Beiyang University, the first institution of modern higher education in China. In 1896, he also founded the forerunner of Jiaotong University, which was later divided into Shanghai Jiaotong University and Xi'an Jiaotong University. He also created eleven "first", including the first modern bank, first telegraphy company, the first iron and steel joint enterprise....^[2]

In 1897, official Sheng founded the Imperial Bank of China, the first Chinese owned commercial bank modeled on the Western banking system. The bank was headquartered in Shanghai and had the authority to issue notes from the Qing government.

Sheng Xuanhuai was a founder and the first president of the Red Cross Society of China, and is widely considered one of the key officials behind the then fledgling movement alongside Shen Dunhe.^[who?]^{[citation needed]}

After the Boxer Uprising, in 1900 when Eight Nation Alliance entered Peking, Sheng and Ronglu initiated the Mutual Protection of Southeast China, resisting Empress Dowager Cixi's Imperial Decree of declaration of war against foreign powers. Li Hongzhang, Yuan Shikai and other viceroys openly rejected Dowager's call for staging military actions against the foreign powers.^[3]

In 1902, Sheng and British diplomat James Mackay negotiated and signed the Sino-British "Mackay Treaty," which anticipated the abolition of extraterritoriality in China.

In 1911, Sheng was appointed head of the Board of Posts and Communications, a high rank in the Imperial cabinet during the Qing dynasty, until the dynasty fell in 1911. Sheng died at the age of 72 in Shanghai.^[4]

Residences

Sheng's private residence in Beijing while he was serving as the postal minister, has since been turned into a hotel for the public.^[5] In Shanghai, Sheng lived a mansion constructed in 1900 at No. 1517 Huaihai Zhong Lu.^[6] Tongmenghui revolutionaries Xia Chao and Gu Naibin planned to burn down the building in 1911.^[7] The manor currently houses the Japanese Consulate.^[6]

References

^ "Sheng Xuanhuai | Chinese official". Encyclopedia Britannica. 23 April 2024.
^ "Shanghai Library_Sheng Xuanhuai Family_". www.library.sh.cn.
^ "404 - 清朝电影网". www.qingchao.net. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)^{[dead link‍]}
^ http://www.britannica.com/facts/4/82476/ ^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Bamboo Garden Hotel Beijing". Archived from the original on 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
^ ^a ^b Former Residence of Mandarin Sheng Xuan Huai
^ Shêng & Danian (1983), p. 158.

Bibliography

Feuerwerker, Albert. China's Early Industrialization; Sheng Hsuan-huai (1844-1916) and Mandarin Enterprise. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1958.
Shêng, Hu; Danian, Liu (1983). The 1911 Revolution: A Retrospective After 70 Years. New World Press.