Wenxiang born October 16, 1818 in Liaoyang

Liaoyang

Liaoyang is a city in China, Liaoning province, located in the middle of the Liaodong Peninsula. The city is situated on the T'ai-tzu River and forms with Anshan a built up area of 2,057,200 inhabitants in 2010....

, died May 26, 1876). Manchu

Manchu

The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...

 statesman during the late Qing dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

. Wenxiang hailed from the Gûwalgiya clan and belonged to the Plain Red Banner in the Eight Banners

Eight Banners

The Eight Banners were administrative divisions into which all Manchu families were placed. They provided the basic framework for the Manchu military organization...

 in Mukden. In 1845, he obtained the highest degree (jinshi) in the imperial examinations and four years later he was appointed to the Board of Works. He advanced through the ranks and in 1858, he was appointed vice president to the Board of Rites and also became a member of the Grand Council

Grand Council

The Grand Council or Junjichu was an important policy-making body in the Qing Empire. It was established in 1733 by the Yongzheng Emperor...

, the highest policy-making organ in the Empire. He subsequently held a number of prominent posts in the central government and became a key player in court politics.

As foreign troops invaded Beijing 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 Xianfeng emperor fled to Chengde

Chengde

Chengde , previously known as Jehol or Re He , is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China, situated northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by the Qing emperors as summer residence...

, Wenxiang remained in the capital and took part in negotiating with the British and French. Following the peace settlement, he became one of the founders of the new Qing foreign office, the Zongli Yamen

Zongli Yamen

Zongli Yamen was the government body in charge of foreign affairs in imperial China during the late Qing dynasty. It was established by Prince Gong in 1861, following the Convention of Peking. It was abolished in 1901 and replaced with a Foreign Office of ministry rank.The former site of the...

. He was one of the architects behind the Self-strengthening movement

Self-Strengthening Movement

The Self-Strengthening Movement , c 1861–1895, was a period of institutional reforms initiated during the late Qing Dynasty following a series of military defeats and concessions to foreign powers....

and was instrumental in devising the Qing government's cooperative policy towards the Western powers in the period 1861-76.