Liang Cheng

Liang Cheng

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Liang Cheng is from Panyu County, Guangdong Province (now Huangpu village, Haizhu District, Guangzhou). Liang Cheng, who was under 12 years old in 1875, was admitted to the fourth group of students studying in the United States with the support of his family. In 1881, he was called back to China and served as interpreter and counsellor. At first, he worked in the premier's office. Soon, he went to the United States with Minister Zhang Yinhuan and later served as counsellor of the embassy. His contribution to sports made him a sports celebrity in modern Chinese sports history.

personal data

Liang Cheng (1864-1917), formerly known as PI Xu, was born in Huangpu village, Haizhu District, Guangzhou. In 1875, Liang Cheng, who was under 12 years old, was admitted to the fourth group of students studying in the United States with the support of his family. In 1881, Liang Cheng, together with other international students, was recalled to China before he graduated. At first, he worked in the prime minister's office. Soon, he went to the United States with Minister Zhang Yinhuan. Later, he served as a counsellor of the Chinese embassy. From then on, he began his career as a diplomat. After returning home from his term of office, he went to the United Kingdom and the United States with Chinese envoys twice. He showed his patriotism and outstanding diplomatic ability and won praise.

Main experience

From 1903 to 1908, Liang Cheng served as Minister of the late Qing Dynasty to the United States of America with the title of minister of three grades, and visited many countries in America on behalf of the Qing government. According to the records of Tsinghua University History Museum, Liang Cheng also played a great role in the establishment of Tsinghua University. He also helped Zhang Zhidong win back the right to build the Guangdong Han railway from the United States. On February 5, 1912, in response to Lu Zhengxiang's appeal, Liu Yulin, minister to the United Kingdom, asked for an imperial edict to decide the Republic. In 1875, Liang Cheng, who was under the age of 12, was admitted to the fourth group of children studying in the United States with the support of his family and studied at Phillips college in Andover. After graduating from Andover in 1881, Liang Cheng was recalled to China with other international students. He has twice followed Chinese envoys to Britain and the United States. From 1903 to the beginning of 1908, he was sent to the United States, Peru, Cuba, etc. After the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, countless Chinese people were killed. He collected money from home and abroad to help them with relief. He led a donation and went to the port to deal with their affairs. From 1904 to 1905, he urged American President Theodore Roosevelt to reduce some of the outstanding Boxer Indemnity. According to the treaty, the Qing government paid 24.44778 yuan and 81 cents to the United States. With the approval of the U.S. Congress and President Roosevelt, it returned the outstanding amount of 10.785286 yuan and 12 cents to China from January 1909. Part of the money was later used to establish Tsinghua University. In the same year, he asked the court to declare constitutional reform. The Wuchang Uprising broke out in October 1911, and Yuan Shikai formed a cabinet on November 16. On January 11, 1912, Liang Cheng returned from Germany and settled in Hong Kong. In March 1912, Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China. At the invitation of his friends Tang Shaoyi and Zhou Ziqi, Liang Cheng never served in the government of the Republic of China. He died in 1917.

Diplomatic career

Founded in 1911, Tsinghua University is one of the famous universities in China and the birthplace of China's systematic education in the United States. But few people will associate it with a Cantonese named Liang Cheng, and few people know that Tsinghua University would not exist without his efforts. He was Liang Cheng, a diplomat of late Qing Dynasty from Guangdong.
Liang Cheng, formerly known as PI Xu, was born in Panyu County, Guangdong Province (now Haizhu District, Guangzhou). Liang Cheng was born in 1864 in a wealthy family. He was eager to learn and make progress since childhood. In September 1875, Liang Cheng, who was under 12 years old, went to the United States as the fourth group of children studying in the United States. In 1881, the Qing government suddenly issued an imperial edict to withdraw the students studying in the United States, and Liang Cheng had no choice but to return home. Since then, he entered the prime minister's office of state affairs and stepped on the diplomatic stage of the late Qing Dynasty. In 1886, Liang Cheng went to the United States with Minister Zhang Yinhuan. Later, he was promoted to the position of counsellor of the Chinese embassy. He became the minister in the United States since 1903. It seems that he was destined to have a close relationship with the education in the United States in modern China.
In 1900, the Qing government went to war with the great powers. As a result, Beijing fell and the Forbidden City was occupied. In September 1901, the Qing government signed the "Xin Chou treaty" with 11 big powers participating in the war. According to the treaty, the Qing government paid 450 million taels of silver as war reparations, which is the Boxer Indemnity.

Negotiation of indemnity

The Boxer Indemnity undoubtedly made China bear a huge economic burden. However, in 1905, a turning point appeared. After investigation, the US government found that the original amount of compensation was falsely high. It believed that "in addition to the actual expenses and all losses of US $11.65 million, the remaining 12 million yuan was actually redundant compensation.". After hearing the news, Liang Cheng immediately seized the opportunity to ask the US side to reduce the amount of reparations, and repeatedly negotiated with John Hayes, then Secretary of state of the United States, saying: "if all countries reduce the amount of reparations, it will be of great benefit to our finance. If your country can take the lead, it will be popular to hear what you say." John Hayes replied, "what your minister has said is really reasonable. You should try your best to act for him." He expressed support for Liang Cheng's initiative. The next day, he asked Ambassador Rou Keyi to draft a memorandum on returning part of the Boxer Indemnity. The memorandum pointed out: "after investigation, the losses suffered by American citizens during the Boxer Movement and the expenditure of American army were not as much as originally estimated. In view of this fact, I suggest that the executive department be authorized to inform the Chinese government, and then the United States only ask for the total indemnity Half the number. " After getting John's approval, Liang Cheng telegraphed to the Ministry of foreign affairs, suggesting that the Qing government should focus on the reduction of reparations.
At this point, it seems that it is logical to refund the compensation. But how can we expect the situation to change suddenly? There were the incidents of Guangdong Han railway recovering the right of way and the killing of American missionaries in Guangdong in China. At the same time, the Anti China Movement broke out in the United States, which triggered a huge domestic boycott of US freight transportation. This made Sino US relations take a sharp turn for the worse, and the United States began to delay the discussion of refund for various reasons Compensation matters.

make one 's utmost efforts to fight for one 's point of view

Liang Cheng withstood the pressure and decided to speak with facts. In the following days, he frequently went to the U.S. Department of state, the library of Congress and other places to look up various files. From the data, he confirmed that the loss of Boxer Rebellion in Beijing and other places mentioned by the United States in the Boxer Indemnity was very different from the facts, and thus calculated that the amount of indemnity was really high. He also visited the U.S. officials involved in the reparations many times and found that China should actually pay the U.S. only more than $2 million.
Liang Cheng, who has been in the United States for many years, is well aware of the operation mode of American politics. Therefore, he has won support from all walks of life in the United States through various channels. He frequently entertained reporters, made speeches everywhere, lobbied members of Congress, asked them to support China's refund request, and used press opinions to put pressure on the U.S. government and then President Roosevelt. Liang Cheng also took a flexible diplomatic approach, bypassing the stubborn Secretary of State Robert, to find the new secretary of the interior and Minister of industry and commerce who had a good relationship with him, and to state to Roosevelt the necessity of re examining the US losses. At that time, Roosevelt even put pressure on me through his old school friends in 1881, The relationship between the president and me has increased and approached tenfold. " Under the pressure of many parties, Roosevelt finally gave in. On May 2 of that year, he formally informed Liang Cheng that he agreed to re verify the amount of Boxer Indemnity of the United States, and the amount of refund was finally set at more than $10 million.

To start a school with the funds of Geng

Liang Cheng himself was a child studying in the United States. He had a special feeling for education. As early as 1903, when he became an American minister, there were 26 students with him. In the same year, he also sent seven people to Amherst for preparatory study. Since then, Liang Cheng has attended many meetings of the East China Student Union of the United States to tell Chinese students about his early study experience in the United States. These experiences undoubtedly planted the seeds of education in his heart.
As early as April 1905, when Liang Cheng discussed the amount of the refund with the ambassador to China, rou Keyi, in the name of the president of the United States, proposed how China would use the refund. At that time, Liang Cheng replied that China could not announce how to deal with its internal affairs in advance, but he was aware of the intention of the United States to interfere. Because China may lose control of the money, Liang Cheng suggested that the Ministry of foreign affairs should be prepared to deal with it before meeting roukeyi. At the same time, he also put forward his own ideas: running schools and sending overseas students.
As a member of "children studying in the United States" and an important witness of China's modern diplomacy, Liang Cheng clearly saw the general trend of Chinese studying abroad in the early 20th century. Since 1895, China's disastrous defeat in the Sino Japanese War of 1895 has aroused people's deep thinking. Until 1905, the imperial examination system was formally abolished. So far, studying abroad has become an important way for many Chinese youth to save their country. The number of students studying in Japan has increased sharply. From 1896 when the Qing government first sent students to Japan to the revolution of 1911, the total number of students studying in Japan exceeded 22000.
As Liang Cheng said in his letter to the Ministry of foreign affairs, "in the United States, the government is not only happy with the return of money, but also optimistic about the grand event of talent cultivation, even though there are a few gentry or students

Chinese PinYin : Liang Cheng