Tong Guogang

In this Chinese name, the family name is Tong.
First Class Duke

Tong Guogang
Bornc. 1634?[1]
Died3 September 1690
Ulan Butung (in today's Hexigten Banner, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China)
AllegianceQing dynasty Qing Dynasty
Service / branchHan Chinese Plain Blue Banner (until 1688)
Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner (since 1688)
Battles / warsChahar Rebellion (1675)
Dzungar–Qing Wars
Tong Guogang
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese佟國綱
Simplified Chinese佟国纲
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTóng Guógāng
Manchu name
Manchu scriptᡨᡠ᠋ᠩ ᡤᡠᠸᡝ ᡬᠠᠩ
Romanizationtung guwe g῾ang

Tong Guogang (died 3 September 1690) was a Qing dynasty official. He was a maternal uncle of Kangxi Emperor.

Tong Guogang was the first[2] (or the second[1]) son of Tulai. According to the Comprehensive history of Eight Banners (欽定八旗通志), The Tong (佟) family from Fushun was a sinicized Jurchen clan, they were incorporated into the Han Chinese Plain Blue Banner.[3] However, Pamela Kyle Crossley stated that they were actually Han Chinese and falsely claimed to be related to the Manchu Tunggiya (佟佳) clan of Jilin, using this false claim to get themselves transferred to a Manchu banner in the reign of the Kangxi Emperor.[4]

In 1662, Tong Guogang succeeded to the hereditary rank Third class jinkini hafan and appointed the deputy commander of the imperial bodyguard (內大臣). In 1675 he assisted Oja (鄂扎) in the suppression of the rebellion of the Chahar Mongols led by Bürni (布爾尼) and was designated North Pacifying General (安北將軍).[2] In 1677, Tong Tulai was granted the hereditary rank First class Duke (一等公) posthumously, Tong Guogang inherited this rank in the same time.[5]

Tong Guogang was one of the members of the mission to Russia in 1688 led by Songgotu, which was dedicated to resolving border disputes between China and Russia.[2] In the next year a border treaty was signed in Nerchinsk, the signatories were Songgotu on behalf of the Chinese emperor and Fyodor Alexeyevich Golovin on behalf of the Russian tsars. Songgotu's signature was followed by those of Tong Guogang, Langtan (郎坦), Bandarša (班達爾沙), Sabsu (薩布素), Mala (瑪喇) and Unda (温達).[6][7]

Tong Guogang was killed in action by Dzungars in the Battle of Ulan Butung. He was given the posthumous name Zhongyong (忠勇) by Kangxi Emperor. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, Tong was awarded posthumous appointment of Grand Tutor (太傅).[5]

Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei were said to believe in Christianity, though their political lives prohibited their formal conversions. They maintained close relationships with two Jesuit missionaries, Lodovico Buglio and Gabriel de Magalhães.[8]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference axjlzpw was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Hummel, Arthur W. Sr., ed. (1943). "T'ung Kuo-kang" . Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period. United States Government Printing Office.
  3. ^ Works related to 欽定八旗通志/卷135 at Wikisource (Comprehensive history of Eight Banners, Volume 135)
  4. ^ Crossley, Pamela (June 1983). "restricted access The Tong in Two Worlds: Cultural Identities in Liaodong and Nurgan during the 13th-17th centuries". Ch'ing-shih Wen-t'i. 4 (9). Johns Hopkins University Press: 21–46.
  5. ^ a b Works related to 清史稿/卷281 at Wikisource (Draft History of Qing Volume 281)
  6. ^ Hummel, Arthur W. Sr., ed. (1943). "Songgotu" . Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period. United States Government Printing Office.
  7. ^ "TREATY OF NIBUCHU (1689)†" (PDF).
  8. ^ Litian Swen. "Privileges for Being Slaves: Christian Missionaries in the Early Qing Court".