The Manchu official and statesman Wen-hsiang (1818-1876) was influential in China's change of policy toward the West in the 1860s and a leading figure in the Self-strengthening movement.

Wen-hsiang was born on Oct. 16, 1818, in Mukden into a Manchu family. Through the aid of his wealthy father-in-law, he purchased the rank of a student in the Imperial Academy in 1837. He passed the provincial examinations in Peking in 1840, and five years later he attained a chin-shih (the highest academic degree).

When the Taiping rebels advanced toward Peking in 1853, despite the ensuing panic, Wen-hsiang courageously remained at his post as a secretary in the Board of Works. His exemplary conduct brought him to the attention of his superiors, and he was rapidly promoted. By the end of 1855 he was chief supervisor of imperial instruction, a junior vice president of the Board of Ceremonies, and concurrently a grand councilor (one of the...