Shen-kuang-szu Incident
The Shen-kuang-szu Incident (Chinese: 神光寺事件;
Background
Following the footsteps of the
The Incident
When Jackson and Welton brought with them a letter from the bishop of Hong Kong to the consul in June 1850, expressing their desire to reside within the city, Dr. William Raymond Gingell, who was the then consular interpreter in Fuzhou, provided assistance. Having formerly been informed about the availability of a temple on Wu-shih-shan called Shen-kuang-szu (神光寺), Gingell arranged a meeting with the county magistrate Xinglian (兴廉) to discuss about its rental opportunities. Without putting much detailed thought into the matter, Xinglian placed his seal on the agreement.
The Chinese, however, were not pleased with the outcome of the meeting, protesting that foreigners other than consular officers should not be permitted to reside within the walled city. Two days after the conclusion of the rental agreement, Gingell began receiving urgent communications from Xinglian and other Chinese officials requesting to undo the rental agreement at Shen-kuang-szu. Gingell refused, taking the position that foreigners had the
By the time the missionaries had moved into the Shen-kuang-szu premises, the tensions soon escalated to a large outburst of protesting amongst the students and gentry which lasted for weeks. This protest took many forms: a public letter from the gentry and people of Fuzhou to the British consular officers, petitions to the
The Fuzhou authorities were then in a dilemma: on one hand, to compromise with the foreigners was to add fuel to the flames of xenophobia and enrage the common people who might carry out further violence; on the other hand, to deny the foreigners what they considered as their treaty rights could also provoke
Caught between the demands of the Fuzhou gentry and the stubbornness of the foreigners, Xu Jiyu offered the two English missionaries another temple on Wu-shih-shan known as Tao-shan-kuan (道山观) in November 1850. Tao-shan-kuan had at one stage been rented as a residence for the interpreter of the British consulate, and this had not been objected to by the Fuzhou gentry. By December 13 Welton had decided to accept the exchange, and by January 21, 1851, the two missionaries relinquished Shen-kuang-szu.[3]
Meanwhile, Lin Zexu, together with other Chinese officials outside of Fuzhou, submitted
Consequences
With Xu Jiyu having placed his official seal on the Tao-shan-kuan rental agreement, Fuzhou became the first Chinese
References
- ISBN 978-9971-4-9019-5
- ^ Stock, Eugene (1890), The Story of Fuh-Kien Mission of the Church Missionary Society
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-30735-3
- ^ Biography of Xu Jiyu Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)