KUNG CH'IN-WANG

( (Prince), ) born Jan. 11, 1833, Peking died May 1898, Peking also called Kung Kung (Prince), Pinyin Gong Qinwang, or Gong Gong, original name (WadeGiles romanization) I-hsin, leading official in the closing years of the Ch'ing dynasty (16441911), who tried to repair a weakened government and to effect a rapprochement with the West. A brother of the Hsien-feng emperor (reigned 185161), Prince Kung was assigned to make peace with the British and French forces who had occupied the capital at Peking in 1860, during the Arrow War. After successfully concluding treaty negotiations, he urged that China try to understand and adopt some Western military techniques. As a result the Emperor created the Tsungli Yamen (Office for General Management), which assumed the function of a foreign affairs office and played an important role in the modernization of China over the next 40 years. When the Hsien-feng emperor died, in August 1861, Prince Kung became a co-regent for the young T'ung-chih emperor (186175). Under Prince Kung's direction, the great Taiping Rebellion, which had occupied most of South China for more than a decade, was finally suppressed in 1864, and a restoration of the government was attempted. Arsenals were constructed to manufacture Western arms, and other foreign methods were studied. Corruption was stemmed, and good men were recruited for the bureaucracy and army. The empress dowager Tz'u-hsi (18351908), however, soon became the real power at the court. Prince Kung's authority was gradually undermined until, in 1884, he was dismissed to die in obscurity.