COMMANDER // 1786–1864
Qishan
Lifespan
1786 – 1864
Active service 1841 — 3 battles across 1 war; first command at age 55.
Profile
Qishan, First Class Marquis, courtesy name Jing'an, was a Mongol nobleman and official of the late Qing dynasty. He was of Khalkha Mongol and Borjigit descent, his family was under the Plain Yellow Banner of the Manchu Eight Banners, and he lived during the reign of the Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng emperors. He served as the Imperial Commissioner of the Qing Dynasty, the second highest-ranking position in the Qing government only below that of emperor, twice. He served in the First Opium War and Taiping Rebellion and famously negotiated and signed the Convention of Chuenpi with British plenipotentiary Charles Elliot, which ceded Hong Kong Island to the British. He, alongside Li Hongzhang, Keying, Elliot, and Henry Pottinger, are considered the founding fathers of modern Hong Kong, making them extremely famous in the city.
Battles (3)
1841
Battle of CantonFirst Opium War · Qing China
1841
Battle of the BogueFirst Opium War · Qing China
1841
Second Battle of ChuenpeeFirst Opium War · Qing China