People · Shanghai daotai, Jiangsu governor, Qing official
Xue Huan
薛焕Xuē Huàn · 1815–1880
Qing official, Shanghai daotai from 1857, who handled foreign affairs in the Taiping years and ordered a foreign-rifle corps raised in 1860.
Xue Huan (薛焕, Xuē Huàn) was the Qing official who served as Shanghai daotai from 1857 and then managed relations with foreign powers in Shanghai through the Taiping years. The daotai was the senior Chinese official who dealt with the foreign consuls.
He began as a county magistrate in 1850 and became prefect of Songjiang in 1854, when he led Sichuan troops against the Small Sword uprising in Shanghai. Appointed daotai in October 1857, he went on to serve as Jiangning financial commissioner and Jiangsu governor, handling foreign affairs in Shanghai throughout.
In 1860, acting as Viceroy of Liangjiang, he ordered Wu Xu (吴煦, Wú Xù) and Yang Fang to organise a foreign-rifle corps to stop the Taiping advance on the city. When Li Hongzhang (李鸿章) arrived with the Anhui army in 1862, Xue stayed on as imperial commissioner in Shanghai. He later held posts at the Ministry of Rites and the Zongli Yamen, and in 1877 travelled to Yunnan to deal with the Margary case.
Timeline
- 1850Appointed magistrate of Jinshan county1
- 1854Promoted to prefect of Songjiang; helped put down the Small Sword uprising1
- 1857Appointed Shanghai daotai1
- 1860As acting Viceroy of Liangjiang, ordered Wu Xu and Yang Fang to organise the foreign-rifle corps1
- 1877Sent to Yunnan to deal with the Margary case1
Connections
- Wu Xu吴煦Directed Wu Xu to organise the foreign-rifle corps, 1860