29 Facts About Yinchang

Yinchang or In-ch'ang was a Chinese military official, ambassador to Germany, and educational reformer in the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China.

Yinchang was appointed the nation's first Minister of War in the late Qing dynasty.

Yinchang was ethnic Manchu, and his family belonged to the Plain White Banner Clan of the Manchu Military Organization ; he held the title of Prince of the Plain White Banner Clan; at court he was addressed as Wu-lou.

Originally Yinchang was a student of the Guozijian, and by 1872 he was studying German at the Tongwen Guan, Beijing.

Yinchang studied military science at the same time as fellow student Crown Prince Wilhelm II.

Yinchang became an enthusiastic adherent of the Viennese way of life.

Yinchang was recalled to China in 1884 and initially assigned to the Tianjin Naval Academy; however in December he was summoned to Beijing to serve as translator for the German military envoy to the Emperor.

Yinchang was summoned to negotiate German claims on the region of Kiaochow Bay and the port of Qingdao.

Yinchang turned Prince Heinrich's mission into a diplomatic rather than military success, by making him the first foreign potentate to be received by the Imperial Court.

Yinchang's negotiations became part of the Boxer Protocol, signed on September 7,1901, in Beijing.

Additionally, in September 1901, by Imperial Edict, Yinchang was charged with accompanying Prince Chun to Germany with the special mission to convey China's regret to Kaiser Wilhelm II for the murder of Baron Clemens von Ketteler during the Boxer Rebellion.

Also during this time, Yinchang was asked to step in as ambassador to the Netherlands for a term.

Since Yinchang had cut his hair, he attached a wig braid to his official hat worn during his frequent summons at court, much to the disapproval of the old bureaucrats.

Yinchang began his campaign for modernization first by changing the traditional uniforms of the Chinese Army to uniforms modeled on those of the German Army.

Yinchang was a leading advocate for the abolition of the Imperial Examination, which he thought was essential to the modernization of China.

In September 1906 Yinchang became Commander-in-Chief in northern Jiangsu province, and two months later, became Army Chief of Staff.

Yinchang pleaded on Yuan Shikai's behalf and Prince Chun commuted his sentence which was to be exile from Beijing.

In 1910 Yinchang was recalled to China to take up the position of acting President of the Board of War.

In September 1910 Yinchang became the Chief of Staff of all the Army divisions stationed in the vicinity of Beijing.

Three months later, Yinchang was appointed the first Minister of War in Prince Qing's Cabinet and he consolidated the different branches of the military under his aegis.

Yinchang succeeded in fostering a sense of patriotism throughout the Army as evidenced by a new respect and pride in the military profession.

Yinchang wanted to create a sense of patriotism by making the military a subject in schools, and the Imperial University added a military course to the curriculum.

Yinchang required military drills and instruction as well as physical education included in the curriculum of middle and primary schools.

In May 1911 Yinchang attained the rank of full general but remained in the Cabinet.

Yinchang took on the responsibility of special envoy between the small court at the palace and the Beiyang Republic.

Yinchang, following the cautionary example of other officials of the Empire, felt the need to purchase property in German controlled Qingdao in 1913.

When on the morning of July 1,1917, the royalist general Zhang Xun's army entered Beijing and proclaimed the restoration of Puyi as Emperor of China, Yinchang resigned from the Republic and entered the Forbidden City to become Commander of the Imperial Guard.

In 1922 on the 21st of October, Yinchang, representing the Republic, attended Emperor Puyi's wedding to Princess Wanrong of Gobulo House of the Plain White Banner Clan.

Yinchang was commissioned to publicly convey the official congratulations of the Republic to the Emperor and present him with the special gift of President Li Yuanhong.