AI-generated summary
Title: The Death of Kiing
Date: 2023-09-13T12:33:42+08:00
Tags: Essay
Description: Diplomacy brought success and downfall.
Draft: False
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This is a story about a diplomatic incident.
Kiing (1787-1858), also known as Aisin Gioro Kiing, was a colorful and influential diplomat in mid-19th century China, possibly one of the earliest diplomats. His rise and fall in the diplomatic world is quite interesting and can be summarized as "success and downfall through diplomacy."
Kiing was a smooth talker, especially in diplomacy. He treated the British with kindness and personal diplomacy, actively building close relationships with them, particularly with the then Hong Kong administrator, Pudingcha. He seized every opportunity to develop a close bond, even going as far as praising Pudingcha's son and expressing a desire to adopt him as his own, and offering to exchange his wife's portrait for Pudingcha's wife's portrait. This was quite unusual for a Manchu like Kiing. Pudingcha, not wanting to offend him, agreed to both requests.
On one hand, through his flattery, the British began to trust him. On the other hand, he belittled the British in front of the Emperor, implying that the British only trusted him and were only willing to negotiate with him. This gained him the Emperor's trust and ultimately led to him being appointed as the Governor-General of the Two Jiangs.
In 1858, during the Second Opium War, the British once again arrived at the doorstep of the Qing Dynasty, and the Emperor hastily recalled Kiing. This time, he tried to use the same "appeasement" tactics, constantly flattering the British. However, he was exposed by the British in public - when the British occupied Guangzhou, they discovered many documents in the office of the Governor-General of the Two Jiangs
