Mujangga Explained

Mujangga
Office:Chief Grand Councillor
Term Start:1836
Term End:1850
Predecessor:Pan Shi'en
Successor:Qi Junzao
Office1:Grand Councillor
Term Start1:1827
Term End1:1850
Office2:Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall
Term Start2:1838
Term End2:1850
Office3:Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall
Term Start3:1836
Term End3:1838
Office4:Assistant Grand Secretary
Term Start4:1834
Term End4:1836
Office5:Minister of Personnel
Term Start5:25 December 1834
Term End5:30 August 1836
Alongside5:Tang Jinzhao
Predecessor5:Wenfu
Successor5:Keying
Office6:Minister of Revenue
Term Start6:14 July 1833
Term End6:25 December 1834
Alongside6:Wang Ding
Predecessor6:Xi'en
Successor6:Keying
Office7:Minister of Works
Term Start7:9 January 1832
Term End7:14 July 1833
Alongside7:Zhu Shiyan
Predecessor7:Fujun
Successor7:Boqitu
Term Start8:8 January 1827
Term End8:21 September 1831
Alongside8:Pan Shi'en
Predecessor8:Xi'en
Successor8:Fujun
Office9:Minister of War
Term Start9:21 September 1830
Term End9:9 January 1831
Alongside9:Shi Yizhi
Predecessor9:Songyun
Successor9:Naqing'an
Office10:Minister of Lifan Yuan
Term Start10:3 March 1824
Term End10:8 January 1827
Predecessor10:Fujun
Successor10:Yinghe
Office11:Viceroy of the Canal Transport
Term Start11:1826
Term End11:1826
Predecessor11:Chen Zhongfu
Successor11:Nergingge
Term Start12:1825
Term End12:1825
Predecessor12:Wei Yuanyu
Successor12:Chen Zhongfu
Office13:Viceroy of Zhili
Term Start13:14 April 1837
Term End13:25 July 1837
Predecessor13:Keshen
Successor13:Keshen
Birth Date:1782

Mujangga (; ; 1782–1856) was a Manchu statesman of the late Qing dynasty, belonging to the Gogiya (郭佳) clan. He belonged under the Bordered Blue Banner in the Eight Banners. In 1805, he was awarded the jinshi degree, the highest level in the imperial examination and quickly rose in the ranks of the Qing government. He became a member of the Grand Council in 1828 and gradually grew to exercise a decisive influence on the Daoguang Emperor's policies. Following the demise of Cao Zhenyong, Mujangga became the chief Grand Councillor in 1837. As tensions in Sino-British relations rose in 1839, he became one of the chief advocates of a conciliatory policy towards the British and following the outbreak of the First Opium War, he moved to dismiss Lin Zexu from his position as imperial commissioner in September 1840. Around 1845 he was President of the Hanlin Academy.[1] Mujangga's conciliatory policies created tensions with the allegedly more xenophobic heir apparent, and following his accession to the throne as the Xianfeng Emperor, Mujangga was dismissed from all his positions in 1851.

Mujangga was the teacher of Zeng Guofan — a young Chinese statesman, Confucian scholar, and future general of the Xiang Army during the Taiping Rebellion who later became a mentor to Li Hongzhang, a future diplomat of the Qing Dynasty and trade minister of the Beiyang Navy.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. The Chinese Repository, Volume 14, edited by Elijah Coleman Bridgman, Samuel Wells Willaims