Hong Jun (; died 1893) was a Chinese diplomat. From 1887 to 1890 he had served as a special emissary of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

government to Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria. Wang, David Der-wei, p
103

History

In 1887 Hong Jun, then a major Chinese official, met

Sai Jinhua Sai Jinhua (; "Prettier Than Golden Flower"; Chang, Jung. ''Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China'' (eBook). Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2013. eBook . p. 118. "Her minister to Berlin, Hung Jun, was quite the opposite of Guo ...

("Prettier Than Golden Flower") while he visited

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

.Zhang, Wenxian, p
423
At the time Hong Jun was in mourning due to his mother's death. Hong Jun made Sai Jinhua his concubine one year after meeting her. In April of that year, Sai Jinhua went to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

with Hong Jun.Wan, p
182

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...

appointed Hong Jun as the Chinese envoy to Europe, and so Hong Jun traveled to Russia, Austria, the Netherlands, and Germany as part of his diplomatic duties. Sai Jinhua accompanied him because Hong Jun's wife was not willing to travel with him.Cheng, Joyce.
Who is Sai Jinhua?

Archive
'' gbtimes''. Wednesday September 11, 2013. Retrieved on November 26, 2013. Sai Jinhua, with Hong Jun, lived in Europe for three years. In Berlin Hong Jun mostly stayed in his residence when not attending his duties. When he did go outside, he went on walks on the Tiergarten. In Berlin Hong Jun did not allow Sai Jinhua to attend most of his parties, including those that he held at his residence. Hong Jun was opposed to European customs, especially those involving females and males associating with one another. Chang, Jung. '' Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China'' (eBook).

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, New York, 2013. eBook . p. 118. (quote marking the area around p. 118-120: "Her minister to Berlin, Hung Jun, was quite the opposite of Guo ..) - Hardcover He did begin wearing European socks after initial vehemence against doing so when he discovered their comfort. Chang, Jung. '' Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China'' (eBook).

, New York, 2013. eBook . p. 120. (quote marking the area around p. 118-120: "Her minister to Berlin, Hung Jun, was quite the opposite of Guo ..) - Hardcover

David Der-wei Wang David Der-wei Wang (; born November 6, 1954) is a literary historian, critic, and the Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University. He has written extensively on post-late Qing Chinese fiction, comparative literary the ...

wrote that Hong Jun was dismissed from his position "for allegedly settling boundary disputes on the basis of twelve Russian maps of the Chinese border area that turned out to be faulty and thus made China lose land to

Czarist Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

." Hong Jun's term finished. After the end of the diplomatic tour, the couple moved to Beijing. There, Hong Jun was held a post in the Foreign Office (''zongli yamen'') and concurrently received an appointment to being the senior vice-minister of the Ministry of War. Sai Jinhua gave birth to her daughter Deguan () in 1890. Hong Jun became sick and died in 1893, shortly after his return to their home at 29 Xuanqiao Lane,

Pingjiang Road Pingjiang Road (), historically known as Shiquan Li (Chinese:十泉里), is a street and historic district in Gusu District (formerly the Pingjiang District), northeastern Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. It is a well-preserved area and is part of the so ...

, Suzhou. In 1894 Sai Jinhua became a prostitute again because Hong Jun's relatives did not support her financially. Sai Jinhua and Deguan traveled to Suzhou with the coffin of Hong Jun as his body was moved there.

Views on race

After receiving insults from White Europeans at a church, Hong Jun said that

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

was a Jew. He argued that like himself, Jesus had black hair and black eyes. Therefore, he accused them of insulting a fellow man of Jesus.Zhou, Xun, p
232

Legacy

The character Jin Jun (Jin Wenqing) in '' Niehai Hua'' is based on Hong Jun.

References

* Wan, Xianchu (translation: Poon Shuk Wah). "Sai Jinhua." In: Lee, Lily Xiao Hong and A. D. Stefanowska (editors of entire work). Ho, Clara Wing-chung (The Qing Period Editor). ''Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women'' () ''The Qing Period, 1844-1911''. M.E. Sharpe, January 1, 1998. , 9780765618276. * Wang, David Der-wei. '' Fin-de-siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849-1911''.

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...

, 1997. , 9780804728454. * Zhang, Wenxian. "Sai Jinhua." In: Ditmore, Melissa Hope (editor). ''Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, Volume 2''.

Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...

, January 1, 2006. , 9780313329708. * Zhou, Xun. "Jews in Chinese Culture: Representations and Realities." In: Gilman, Sander L. and Milton Shain (editors). ''Jewries at the Frontier: Accommodation, Identity, Conflict''.

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...

, January 1, 1999. Start page 224. , 9780252067921. *

Notes

External links

Jun Hong’s calligraphic hanging scroll - 洪鈞墨寶
Tse-Tsung Chow Collection of Chinese Scrolls and Fan Paintings (),

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Jun Qing dynasty diplomats Qing dynasty politicians from Jiangsu 1893 deaths Year of birth missing Politicians from Suzhou Ministers of Zongli Yamen