Shen Pei

Shen Pei

Shen Pei

(Xi ǎ n) (Korean: 신헌, 1811-1885), minister, general and diplomat of the late Korean Dynasty. Real name

Guan Hao

, words

State guest

, No

Weitang

、

Qin Hall

、

Yu Shi

He went through the Shen family in Pingshan and became an official in Yinxu. He advocated strengthening national defense and actively promoted the policy of national defense construction. In 1876, he was ordered to negotiate with Japan and signed the first unequal treaty in Korean history, the Jianghua treaty. In 1882, on behalf of North Korea, it signed the Treaty of good trade between North Korea and the United States. Posthumous title“

Zhuang Su

”。 His son, Shin Chung Hee, was also an important political figure in modern Korea.

Life

Strengthening national defense

Shen Kai was born in a military family. He was born on March 25 in Xinwei (1811, the 11th year of Chunzu in Korea) in the 16th year of Jiaqing period in ningbian, Pingan Road, Korea

Shen Guanhao

In 1868, it was renamed Shenhe. His father, Shen Yi, was an official to the government and his grandfather, Shen Hongzhou, was a training general. Shen Kai lost his father in his early years and was brought up by his grandfather. In 1827 (the seventh year of Daoguang, the 27th year of Chunzu), he inherited his grandfather's position and became an official. Later, he served as a military officer in various places, and served as a guard general in the 29th year of Daoguang (1849, the 15th year of Xianzong in Korea). During his tenure as the general of the Imperial Guard, Xianzong was seriously ill. Shen invited a doctor to see him in private and gave him his own medicine. After the death of emperor Xianzong, Shen Kai was arrested for the charges of "taking medicine by crooked path" and "taking medicine by harmony room", and was sent to the deer island of Quanzhou. Three years later, he was transferred to quanluo Daomao and was released in the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857, the eighth year of zhezong in Korea). Although he was born as a military general, he had a deep knowledge of Sinology and was "able to write poems But the nature is generous and elegant, so it is called "Confucian general". He studied calligraphy, painting and epigraphy with Jin Zhengxi, a famous scholar at that time. Later, he completed three volumes of essays on the book of changes when he was exiled to the island. After his exile, Shen was reinstated in the 10th year of Xianfeng (1860, the 11th year of zhezong), and successively held the posts of general of capturing thieves, commander of Sandao water army, judge of punishing Cao, judge of Gongcao, etc. In December of the second year of tongzhi (1863, the fourteenth year of zhezong), Emperor Gaozong of Korea ascended the throne and was Regent by his father xingxuan dayuanjun. Shenkai was highly valued for his "knowledge of Yunxian (dayuanjun)". After Gao Zong ascended the throne, he was appointed as the judge of Bing Cao and participated in the construction of Jingfu palace. In 1866, when France invaded Korea, it was known as "Bingyin foreign disturbance" in history. Shen Kai was appointed as the general military envoy to fight against the French army on the front line of Huadao in Jiangjiang. Because of his meritorious service in guarding yancangxiang, he was promoted to the left counsellor of the parliament government. Since then, Shen Kai actively responded to the national defense construction of the emperor and became a military representative in the era of the emperor. In the sixth year of tongzhi (1867, the fourth year of Emperor Gaozong), Shen jishangshu put forward "six principles of military affairs", namely, the operation of Beijing corps, the selection of local artillery, the establishment of civilian fort, the establishment of soldiers in the north, the cultivation of internal affairs, and the examination of foreign affairs. He also served as the supervisor of Qinying construction capital, developed various new weapons, and made water cannon in accordance with the "Atlas of the sea" introduced by China. In 1874 (the 11th year of Emperor Gaozong), when Shen He was released as the governor and left behind by Jiang Hua, he vigorously strengthened the rectification of coastal defense and built more than 50 fortresses. According to historical records, "from sunshipu to jiachuanjin, Jianghua chose the key points to set up the mound and gun, which lasted for tens of miles, and all of them stayed behind in current affairs.". In addition, he also completed the military theory works such as the collection of Min Bao and the summary of Rong Shu.

Jiang Hua negotiation

In the autumn of the first year of Guangxu (1875, the 12th year of Gaozong), Japan created the "Yunyang incident". At the beginning of the second year, Japan sent Kuroda Qinglong, Inoue shin and other eight warships to Korea, trying to use this incident as an excuse to open the door of Korea. In the face of the fact that Japanese warships intruded into the mouth of the Hanjiang River and threatened the capital Seoul (now Seoul, South Korea), the North Korean government was divided into two groups: the main battle group headed by Jin Bingxue and other officials of the former Yuanjun faction, and the main peace group headed by min KUIHAO and other officials of minfei group. In this context, King Gaozong Li Xi made a compromise. He adopted the opinions of senior ministers such as Jin Bingguo, and sent officials to understand the Japanese's intentions before making a decision. The important task of meeting the senior officials fell on Shen Kai, who was the general of the imperial camp at that time. On the fifth day of the first month of the second year of Guangxu (1876, the 13th year of Gaozong), Shen Kai was granted the title of privy of the central government. He served as a senior official and went to Jianghua island with Yin Zicheng. After the 17th day of the first month, he held talks with Japanese representatives at the Jianghua military training hall and zhenfuying. during the negotiation, Japanese representatives repeatedly made unreasonable demands, claiming that if North Korea did not sign a treaty with Japan, either it would compensate Japan for its losses in the "Yunyang incident", or the Japanese warships would go up the Hanjiang River to Seoul. Shen Kai pointed out that in the "Yunyang incident", Japan's provocation came first, and North Korea's counterattack came later. He even took out the Japanese "world Communique" provided by the Qing government, which published an article on "the theory of Korean expedition". During the talks, Japan's accompanying troops fired indiscriminately, flaunting their might and playing a considerable deterrent role in North Korea. At the second meeting, the Japanese representative put forward 13 "mending the rules" and asked the DPRK government to reply within a time limit. Since Shen was an official, not a plenipotentiary, he submitted the terms to the government for the king's advice. Although Shen Kai was neither humble nor arrogant when negotiating with Japan, he advocated compromise with Japan and avoided war. King Gaozong, under the pressure of minfei, the imperial concubine in charge of real power, agreed to the Japanese terms despite the strong opposition of the whole Korean nation. At this time, the imperial court had decided to make a contract, so on the 25th of the first month of the second year of Guangxu (1876), Shen Kai was appointed to take the power of judgment. Later, according to the wishes of Gaozong and minfei, Shen Kai signed on behalf of North Korea on February 2 and concluded with Japan the first unequal treaty in the history of North Korea, the Jianghua treaty. This is also the most important story in Shen's life.

Old age career

During the signing of the "Jianghua treaty", Shen Kai witnessed the strength of Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He changed his previous view of supporting seclusion and began to tend to be civilized. When he returned to power after the conclusion of the "Jianghua treaty", he said to Gaozong: "the weak power of (North Korea) is already under control. The generals and generals of the imperial court are also responsible for their crimes. In the light of the general situation of the world today, the use of troops by various countries has been subjected to repeated insults. If the troops are so strong, I will not know what kind of humiliation they will face if they are spread to other countries. I am really worried. " Therefore, it is suggested that Emperor Gaozong should make great efforts to rectify his armaments in order to resist foreign aggression. In April of 1882, Shen Kai, on behalf of North Korea, concluded the Treaty of good relations and trade between North Korea and the United States. The conclusion of the treaty marked the full opening of the door of North Korea. It was for this reason that Shen Kai was impacted by the "Renwu mutiny" that broke out in the summer of this year. After that, he stayed away from politics and retired to the countryside. He died on December 10, 1885, at the age of 74. Chunzong was granted the posthumous title during the reign of Longxi“

Zhuang Su

”。

work

Shen Pei is the author of the collection of Shenda general, the calligraphy of Weitang, the collection of the sources of Jinshi, the collection of minbao, the summary of Rongshu, the diary of QINXING, etc《

QINXING diary

》It is an important historical material to study the Treaty of Jianghua and the relationship between Korea and Japan in modern times.

family

Shen's wife is the Yu family of Qixi, wife of Zhenjing. She has four sons: Shen Zhengxi, Shen XuXi, Shen Lexi and Shen zanxi. Among them, Shen Zhengxi and Shen Kai were officials of the same Dynasty, and they were active in the Korean political arena during the period of Emperor Gaozong.

Chinese PinYin : Shen Xian