In the summer and autumn of 1871, the English photographer John Thomson entered Beijing to shoot. With his outstanding communication skills, he was given the opportunity to visit the Prime Minister Yamen and photographed portraits of prince Gong Yixuan and other dignitaries. With the help of these precious images, we get to know this institution and get to know its principals.
The courtyard of the Prime Minister's Gate.
On March 1, 1861, the Xianfeng Emperor approved the establishment of the Prime Minister's State Affairs Yamen, referred to as "Prime Minister's Yamen", also known as the "General Office" and "Translation Office", with offices located at the residence of the former university scholar Sai Shang'a in Dongtangzi Hutong, Beijing. There are five units in Britain, France, Russia, the United States and Japan, and there are also departments such as the Office of The Treasurer, the Clearance Office, the Telegraph Office, and the Silver Treasury. In addition, there are two subordinate units of the General Taxation Department and the Tongwenguan.
Prime Minister Yamen's foreman, Prince Gong Yixuan.
According to the original idea, the functions of the Prime Minister's office were to handle diplomacy and foreign trade. Prior to this, the Qing Dynasty did not have a special diplomatic organization, and related affairs were shared by the Ministry of Rites, the Li Fan Yuan, and the Viceroy of Liangguang. In practice, the functions of the Prime Minister's office far exceeded the scope of diplomacy and trade, and extended to all matters related to foreign affairs, such as building factories, building railways, opening mines, running schools, sending students, and so on.
Prime Minister Wen Xiang.
The officials of the Prime Minister Yamen are divided into two levels: Minister and Zhang Jing. All these positions are not really lacking, but "poor", also known as "input value". In the current words, that is, the Prime Minister Yamen is not organized, the Chancellor and Zhang Kyoto are part-time or seconded from other units, their salaries, subsidies and other benefits are issued by the original unit, and the Prime Minister Yamen does not give them a copper plate.
Prime Minister Shen Guifen.
The Prime Minister is the official in charge, and is selected by the Emperor among the princes, the county kings, the university scholars, the military ministers, and the officials of the three or more ranks of the various ministries and commissions, generally about 8 people, and 11 or 12 people at most times. These ministers are divided into three levels: foreman (prince, county king), minister, and learning to walk.
Prime Minister Yamen Minister Bao Zheng.
Zhang Jing is the executive of specific work, selected from the cabinet, the ministries and departments, and the division of military aircraft and Zhang Jingnei, and rotates into the duty. Initially, there were 8 Manchu and Han Chinese, and later it was gradually increased to 48 (22 Manchus and 26 Han), in addition to 4 each of the Military Aircraft Department Zhang Jing, who also handled the Affairs of the Prime Minister Yamen. Zhangjing is divided into the general office, the deputy office, the forehead Zhangjing, and the zhangjing (that is, the alternate) when the office is dispatched.
Prime Minister Yamen Minister Dong Ke.
Because all the personnel are part-time and have their own salaries, the prime minister's office expenses were only 300 taels of silver per month when they were first set up, which was paid from the household department. Later, with the development of various work, the monthly fund of 300 taels was obviously insufficient, and with the consent of the emperor, the monthly fund was increased by 300 taels to reach 600 taels per month.
Prime Minister Yamen Minister Mao Changxi.
Photographer John Thomson walked into the Prime Minister's Yamen compound, met the 7 ministers here, and took photos of them. They were: Minister foreman of the Military Aircraft Department, Minister of The Prime Minister's Yamen, Prince Gong Yixuan, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of Household Affairs, and Prime Minister Of Prime Minister Bao Zheng, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of The Ministry of Military Aircraft, Minister of The Bureaucracy, Minister of The Prime Minister, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of War, Minister of War, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of War, Minister of The Prime Minister, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of War, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of War, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of War, Minister of Military Aircraft
Prime Minister Yamen Minister learned to walk into the forest.
From left to right: Cheng Lin, Wen Xiang, Bao Xun were ministers on duty at the Prime Minister's Yamen at the time, and the 80-year-old Shang Shu Chonglun of the Ministry of Works, Thomson probably did not see him and failed to take a picture of him.
These ministers were not idle people, but in that era they could be regarded as "people who opened their eyes to the world". For example, Wen Xiang said, "It is difficult to establish a foreign upper house and a lower house", but its "righteousness can be taken"; Dong Ke cooperated with others to translate the American poet Langferro's "Ode to Life", leaving the first English-to-Chinese poem in the history of Chinese literature.
From left to right: Cheng Lin, Wen Xiang, Bao Zheng.
Thomson was keenly aware: "The ministers Wen Xiang, Bao Zheng and Shen Guifen enjoyed a higher status than any high-ranking official, because like Prince Gong, they were also members of the Military Aircraft Department. Four of the five military ministers had already been appointed prime minister Yamen (only Li Hongzao, who was the master of the Tongzhi Emperor), was not included), so he said that the central military aircraft department of the imperial court was exactly the same as the department in charge of foreign affairs. No wonder people say that Prime Minister Yamen is the "second center of power" of the imperial court.
From left to right: Shen Guifen, Dong Ke, Mao Changxi.
Prime Minister Yamen has existed for a total of 40 years, and in terms of the actual role it has played, it should be positively evaluated. It took back all the foreign-related affairs that had previously been scattered in the management of various ministries, independently undertook the complicated foreign-related work, and made the Qing Dynasty's diplomacy move towards the direction of professional development; it presided over the reform of all aspects of the country in the foreign affairs movement, which greatly promoted the modernization process of the Qing Dynasty. In 1901, according to the development of the situation, the imperial court reorganized it into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.