Sengge Rinchen was a Mongol

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

 nobleman and general during the Qing dynasty, who is mainly known for his role during the Second Opium War

Second Opium War

The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...

 and the suppression of the Taiping

Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...

 and Nian

Nien Rebellion

The Nien Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with Taiping Rebellion in South China...

 rebellions.

Background

Sengge Rinchen came from the Horchin Left Rear Banner in Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

 and belonged to the Borjigin

Borjigin

Borjigin , also known as the Altan urug , were the imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors....

 clan, which could trace its origins back to Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

's brother Hasar. His personal name consists of the Tibetan

Tibetan language

The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...

 words for "lion" and "treasure" respectively. In 1825, he became an imperial prince of the second degree (郡王).

Military role

Sengge Rinchen is mainly known for his role in a number of military campaigns in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1853, Sengge Rinchen stopped the northern expedition of Taiping army and captured one of its leaders, Li Kaifang. In 1855, Sengge Rinchen's status was elevated to Prince of the First Degree in recognition of this.

Four years later during the Second Opium War, he was appointed imperial commissioner in charge of leading the campaign against the British

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 and French

French colonial empire

The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...

 invasion. In 1859, he defeated the British and French forces at the Taku Forts

Taku Forts

The Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...

. However, only one year later he slipped away to Peking with 150 cavalrymen, leaving his garrison at Taku Forts to fend for themselves against a second, larger force composed of 11,000 British and 7,000 French. When only one of the Taku Forts resisted, while the rest surrendered without a fight, Sengge fell back to defend Peking with 30,000 "invincible" Manchu cavalry combined with an entrenched garrison of 20,000 Chinese army. The Manchu cavalry was shy 28,000 men from its reputed strength, while his garrison ran away in face of artillery fire. Once Peking fell, Senge was subsequently transferred to fight against the Nian rebellions, which he fought successfully and earned him back all his former titles and ranks. In 1865, during a campaign against the Nian Shandong

Shandong

' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

, Sengge Richen was ambushed by a group of Nian rebels and killed. The Nian rebellion

Nien Rebellion

The Nien Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with Taiping Rebellion in South China...

 was finally suppressed in 1868.

Legacy

Following his death, the imperial court canonized Sengge Rinchen in recognition of his service to the Qing dynasty and made his rank as imperial prince hereditary under the name of the "loyal prince" (忠親王). In 1889, Empress Dowager Cixi

Cixi

Cixi may refer to:*Empress Dowager Cixi , empress of the Qing Dynasty*Cixi City, in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China...

 ordered that a shrine be erected in his memory under the name Xianzhongci (顯忠祠), which still stands in the Dongcheng District

Dongcheng District, Beijing

Dongcheng District is an urban district in Beijing covering the eastern half of Beijing's urban core. It is 24.7 square kilometres in area and has a population of 535,558 . Dongcheng District covers several important parts of Beijing...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

.

In official history works in the People's Republic of China's, Sengge Rinchen's Qing loyalist stance is interpreted as an expression of his Chinese patriotism, and in 1995, the local government of Tongliao

Tongliao

Tongliao is a prefecture-level city in eastern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. It borders Jilin province to the east, Liaoning to the south, Chifeng to the southwest, the Xilin Gol League to the west, and the Hinggan League to the north. The city was the administrative centre of the...

in Inner Mongolia opened a Sengge Rinchen memorial museum.

External links

• Baidu Baike article (in Chinese)
• On Sengge Rinchen's memorial shrine (in Chinese)