A report on Beiyang Fleet and Self-Strengthening Movement

Ensign of Beiyang Fleet
Foochow arsenal
Flag of the Admiral of the Beiyang Fleet
Foochow arsenal
The Beiyang fleet at anchor in Weihaiwei
Feng Guifen, coiner of the phrase
Flag of Provincial Commander-in-Chief of Beiyang Fleet
Commissioner Lin Zexu
Flag of Fleet Commander of the Beiyang Fleet
Photo of a 27-year-old Prince Gong.
Dingyuan (定遠)
Front gate of the Zongli Yamen, the de facto foreign affairs ministry.
Zhenyuan (鎮遠)
Nanjing Jinling Arsenal (金陵造局), built by Li Hongzhang in 1865.
Jingyuan (靖遠)
The Fuzhou Arsenal in Mawei District, Fuzhou, Fujian.
Jingyuan (經遠)
Chinese warship Yangwu, built at the Fuzhou Arsenal in 1872.
Lai Yuan (來遠)
Builder of the Fuzhou Arsenal, Prosper Giquel
Chaoyong (超勇)
"Chinese Gordon"
Chinese Qing officers with a Montigny mitrailleuse.
Premier Li Hongzhang with former President Ulysses S. Grant, 1879
Chinese fortifications, Sino-Vietnamese border
Gun transportation at Shanghai Jiangnan Arsenal (上海江南製造兵工廠).
Zuo Zongtang, 1875
Minister of Transport Sheng Xuanhuai

Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trusted vassals of Empress Dowager Cixi and the principal patron of the "self-strengthening movement" in northern China in his capacity as the Viceroy of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang Commerce (北洋通商大臣).

- Beiyang Fleet

This plan underpinned the formation of the Beiyang Fleet, the largest fleet in Asia at that time.

- Self-Strengthening Movement
Ensign of Beiyang Fleet

3 related topics with Alpha

Overall
First Sino-Japanese War, major battles and troop movements

First Sino-Japanese War

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Conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon Korea.

Conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon Korea.

First Sino-Japanese War, major battles and troop movements
Caricature about the dispute between China, Japan and Russia over Korea, published in the first edition of Tôbaé, 1887
Woodblock print depicting the flight of the Japanese legation in 1882
Kim Ok-gyun photographed in Nagasaki in 1882. His assassination in China would contribute to tensions leading to the First Sino-Japanese War.
Itō Sukeyuki, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet
The French-built Matsushima, flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Sino-Japanese conflict
Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese War
Empress Dowager Cixi built the Chinese navy in 1888.
, the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet
Depiction of the sinking of the Kow-shing and the rescue of some of its crew by the French gunboat Le Lion, from the French periodical Le Petit Journal (1894)
Korean soldiers and Chinese captives
Japanese soldiers of the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan, 1895
The Battle of the Yalu River
An illustration by Utagawa Kokunimasa of Japanese soldiers beheading 38 Chinese POWs as a warning to others
Revisionist depiction of Chinese delegation, led by Admiral Ding Ruchang and their foreign advisors, boarding the Japanese vessel to negotiate the surrender with Admiral Itō Sukeyuki after the Battle of Weihaiwei. In reality, Ding had committed suicide after his defeat, and never surrendered.
Japan–China peace treaty, 17 April 1895
Satirical drawing in the magazine Punch (29 September 1894), showing the victory of "small" Japan over "large" China
Convention of retrocession of the Liaodong Peninsula, 8 November 1895
Western Powers tried to divide their interests and influence in China in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War.

The war demonstrated the failure of the Qing dynasty's attempts to modernize its military and fend off threats to its sovereignty, especially when compared with Japan's successful Meiji Restoration.

Four warships from the Qing Empire's navy, the Beiyang Fleet, stopped at Nagasaki, apparently to carry out repairs.

Li Hongzhang in 1896

Li Hongzhang

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Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty.

Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty.

Li Hongzhang in 1896
Li Hongzhang with Lord Salisbury and Lord Curzon
Photographic portrait of Li Hongzhang by Baoji Studio, Shanghai. Date unknown.
Woodcut of Li Hongzhang with Otto von Bismarck in Friedrichsruh in 1896.
A painting of Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang in U. S. Government engraved portrait
Hongzhang by Guth in Vanity Fair, 13 August 1896
Hongzhang's arrival at Vancouver in 1896, in the British library
Li photographed with former American president Ulysses S. Grant, 1879, by Liang Shitai

His image in China remains controversial, with criticism on one hand for political and military defeats and praise on the other for his success against the Taiping Rebellion, his diplomatic skills defending Chinese interests in the era of unequal treaties, and his role pioneering China's industrial and military modernisation.

He was given the concurrent appointments as Viceroy of Zhili Province and Beiyang Trade Minister (北洋通商大臣) to oversee various issues in Zhili, Shandong and Fengtian provinces, including trade, tariffs, diplomacy, coastal defence, and modernisation.

Oil painting by Hubert Vos (1905)

Empress Dowager Cixi

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Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for 47 years, from 1861 until her death in 1908.

Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for 47 years, from 1861 until her death in 1908.

Oil painting by Hubert Vos (1905)
An early portrait of the Consort Dowager Kangci, foster mother of the Xianfeng Emperor. She hosted the selection of the Xianfeng Emperor's consorts in 1851, in which Cixi participated as a potential candidate.
The Pavilion of Beautiful Scenery, where Cixi gave birth to the Tongzhi Emperor
Portrait of Empress Dowager Ci'an (co-regent with Cixi), with whom Cixi staged the Xinyou Coup.
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Photograph of Princess Rongshou (center seated), Prince Gong's daughter. As a way to show gratitude to the prince, Cixi adopted his daughter and elevated her to a first rank princess (the highest rank for imperial princesses).
Ceremonial headdress likely worn by Cixi. The small phoenixes emerging from the surface represent the empress. The Walters Art Museum
Portrait of Empress Xiaozheyi, also known as the Jiashun Empress and "Lady Arute", who had the approval of Empress Dowager Ci'an but never Cixi's. It is widely speculated that the Empress was pregnant with the Tongzhi Emperor's child and that Cixi orchestrated the empress's demise.
Portrait of the Tongzhi Emperor doing his coursework. Cixi's high expectations of him may have contributed to his strong distaste for learning.
Empress Dowager Cixi (front middle) poses with her court attendants and the Guangxu Emperor's empress (second from left), who was also her niece
Empress Dowager Cixi holds hands with the fourth daughter of Prince Qing (to her left) and chief palace eunuch Li Lianying (to her right). The lady standing in the background is Consort Jin (later Dowager Consort Duankang).
Consort Zhen, the Guangxu Emperor's most beloved consort, was initially liked, but eventually hated by Cixi.
Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor holding court, drawing by Katharine Carl
Empress Dowager Cixi and women of the American legation. Holding her hand is Sarah Conger, the wife of U.S. Ambassador Edwin H. Conger.
Empress Dowager Cixi, by Katharine Carl, 1904, commissioned by the Empress Dowager Cixi for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis World's Fair) and later given to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, transferred to the Smithsonian Museum of American Art collections and later the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution.
Entrance to the burial chamber in Cixi's tomb
Memorial tower of the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi
Photograph of Cixi
Katharine Carl oil portrait painted for exhibit at St. Louis World's Fair of 1904
The plaque hanging above Cixi is inscribed with her title in full
The Empress Dowager was a devoted Buddhist and seized every opportunity to dress up as Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin), the goddess of mercy. This photograph shows her sitting on a barge on Zhonghai. The white smoke forms the character for longevity, and on top of the smoke was her Buddhist name "Guangrenzi" (literally Universal Benevolence).

Although Cixi refused to adopt Western models of government, she supported technological and military reforms and the Self-Strengthening Movement.

When it was first developed by Empress Dowager Cixi, the Beiyang Fleet was said to be the strongest navy in East Asia.