Ministers › Provincial Governors
Deng Tingzhen
Qing governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi who worked with Lin Zexu to seize and destroy opium in 1839 and was later exiled to Ili
A walled hilltop city with a tall brick gate tower stands above a pine-covered cliff, its wall running along the ridge, while a long wooden bridge crosses a wide river below and plains, islets and layered mountains stretch into the distance, with no person in view.
Also known as Zi Weizhou · Zi Xiejun
- Roles
- Provincial Governors
Deng Tingzhen, known as Xiejun, came from Jiangning in Jiangsu; he passed the metropolitan examination in 1801, entered the Hanlin Academy, and rose through prefectural and judicial posts. Governor of Anhui from 1826 for ten years, he became governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi in 1835. At first he favoured legalising opium, but he turned to strict prohibition, and after Lin Zexu arrived in Canton the two worked together to seize the opium on British receiving ships and destroy it at Humen, punishing smugglers and driving off British vessels in several clashes. Moved in 1840 to be governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang, he strengthened the defences of Xiamen, but in 1841 he and Lin were dismissed over the Canton affair and exiled to Ili. Released in 1843, he later became governor of Shaanxi and died in office in 1846. A scholar of phonology, he wrote a study of alliterating and rhyming words in the Shuowen dictionary and a volume of notes.
Life and times
Dates 1776 CE–1846 CE