# Li Jingfang

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Chinese statesman

Not to be confused with [Li Jinfang](/source/Li_Jinfang).

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Li Jingfang

**Li Jingfang** [GCVO](/source/GCVO) (李經方; 1854 – 28 September 1934), also known as Li Ching-fong, was a Chinese statesman during the [Qing](/source/Qing) dynasty. Being the nephew and adopted son of the late statesman [Li Hongzhang](/source/Li_Hongzhang), he served in his adoptive father's secretariat in his youth. In 1882, Li Jingfang obtained the second highest degree in the [imperial examinations](/source/Imperial_examinations) and subsequently obtained appointment in the Qing foreign service because of his knowledge of English. In 1886–89, he worked as a secretary to the Qing legation in [London](/source/London) and in 1890-92 he served as the Qing [minister](/source/Minister_(diplomacy)) to [Japan](/source/Japan). He is mostly known for having signed the Sino-Japanese [Treaty of Shimonoseki](/source/Treaty_of_Shimonoseki) in Li Hongzhang's stead in 1895. He was appointed as an Honorary Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order by Queen Victoria in 1896 and was promoted to an Honorary Knight Grand Cross a few years later in 1909. He also served as the Chinese Minister to London in 1909–1910.[1]

## Life

Li Jingfang was originally the son of Li Zhaoqing, the sixth younger brother of Li Hongzhang. In 1862, Li Hongzhang was over 40 years old and still had no children, so Li Zhaoqing adopted Li Jingfang to Li Hongzhang, who referred to him as his "eldest son."

In 1877, Li Jingfang and his eldest younger brother Li Jingshu studied at the [Viceroy of Zhili](/source/Viceroy_of_Zhili)'s Office in Tianjin under the tutelage of Hong Rukui. In 1890, he was appointed [Resident Minister](/source/Resident_minister) to Japan.[2] In 1894, the Sino-Japanese Yellow Sea Battle ([Battle of the Yalu River](/source/Battle_of_the_Yalu_River_(1894))) broke out, and Li Jingfang returned to China.

In 1895, Li Jingfang accompanied Li Hongzhang to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan to negotiate the Treaty of Shimonoseki. As the Qing government's plenipotentiary, he was responsible for "handing over Taiwan" and was thus known as the "Taiwan Cession Envoy".[3] On June 1, Li Jingfang arrived in Taiwan on the German steamship Gerechtigkeit. On June 2, accompanied by translators Lu Yongming and Tao Dajun, he signed the "Taiwan Handover Document" with Admiral [Kabayama Sukenori](/source/Kabayama_Sukenori), the first Japanese [Governor-General of Taiwan](/source/Governor-General_of_Taiwan), off the coast of [Cape Santiago](/source/Cape_Santiago_(Taiwan)) in [Keelung](/source/Keelung).[4][5] The document stipulated that "all forts, arsenals, and public property belonging to the various ports and prefectures of the entire island of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands" would be handed over to Japan. Li Jingfang chose to conduct the sovereignty handover on board a Japanese warship off the coast of Keelung to avoid angry locals.[6] Kabayama had asked Li "why not go ashore to sign it," to which Li replied, "The Taiwanese people are very resentful and I am afraid of being assassinated."

In 1905, Li Jingfang was appointed Minister of Commerce by the Qing government.[7] In 1907, he became Resident Minister to Britain.[8] In 1911, he was transferred to the post of Left Vice-Minister of Posts and Communications.[9] After much effort to negotiate with foreigners, Li Jingfang was appointed the first Director-General of the Chinese General Postal Administration.

## References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Li Jingfang](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Li_Jingfang).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Alec-Tweedie, Mrs (Ethel)](/source/Ethel_Brilliana_Tweedie) (2017-08-04). [*Thirteen Years of a Busy Woman's Life*](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55263?msg=welcome_stranger).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *Qingshilu: Da-Qing Dezong Jing Huangdi shilu* (in Chinese). Vol. 287. 828-1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty*. 2 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Vol. 24. 968.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["120年前的台湾独立战争"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190302090725/https://www.peoplenews.tw/news/3099c9f6-c8f1-4924-80b6-7cdbcb034aee). *民报* (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2015-08-27. Archived from [the original](https://www.peoplenews.tw/news/3099c9f6-c8f1-4924-80b6-7cdbcb034aee) on 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2024-07-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["依約接收"](https://archives.ith.sinica.edu.tw/collections_con.php?no=166). *The Archives of the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinca* (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2024-07-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** 思痛子. *台海恩恸录* (in Chinese).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** *Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty*. 2 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Vol. 24. p. 1007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** *Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty*. 10 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Vol. 219. pp. 7609–7612.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** *Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty*. 8 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Vol. 203. p. 6241.

v t e China's ambassadors to Japan Qing dynasty 1644–1912 He Ruzhang 1876–1877 Zhang Sigui 1877–1880 Xu Jingcheng 1880–1881 Li Shuchang 1881–1884 Xu Chengzu 1884–1887 Li Xingrui 1887 Li Shuchang 1887–1890 Li Jingfang 1890–1892 Wang Fangzao 1892–1894 Yugeng 1895–1898 Huang Zunxian 1898 Li Shengduo 1898–1901 Cai Juni 1901–1903 Yang Shu 1903–1907 Li Jiaju 1907–1908 Hu Weide 1908–1910 Wang Daxie 1910–1913 Republic of China 1912–1938 Ma Tingliang 1913 Zhong Lu 1913–1916 Liu Chongjie 1916 Zhang Zongxiang 1916–1919 Liu Jingren 1919–1920 Hu Weide 1920–1922 Shi Luben 1922–1923 Zhang Yuanjie 1925–1926 Jiang Zuobin 1931–1936 Xu Shiying 1936–1938 Wang Jingwei regime 1940–1945 Chu Minyi 1940–1941 Xu Liang 1941–1943 Cai Pei 1943–1945 Lian Yu 1945 Republic of China 1952–1972 Hollington Tong 1952–1956 Shen Jinding 1956–1959 Chang Li-sheng 1959–1963 Wei Tao-ming 1964–1966 Cheng Zhimai 1966–1969 Peng Mengji 1969–1972 People's Republic of China 1973–present Chen Chu 1973–76 Fu Hao 1977–82 Song Zhiguang 1982–85 Zhang Shu 1985–83 Yang Zhenya 1988–93 Xu Dunxin 1993–98 Chen Jian 1998–2001 Wu Dawei 2001–04 Wang Yi 2004–07 Cui Tiankai 2007–09 Cheng Yonghua 2010–19 Kong Xuanyou 2019–2023 Wu Jianghao 2023-present

Authority control databases Te Papa (New Zealand)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Li Jingfang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Jingfang) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Jingfang?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.