Niu Jian (Mandarin Chinese: 牛鉴; 1785–7 June 1858), courtesy name Jingtang (镜堂), art name Xueqiao (雪樵), was a high-ranking Chinese scholar-official and military commander of the late Qing Dynasty of China. He lived during Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng reign, and is known for being one of the Qing Dynasty's representatives in signing the Treaty of Nanking, which ended the First Opium War.
Niu Jian was born in 1785 in a declining merchant family in Wuwei, Gansu Province, Qing Dynasty. He acquired the shengyuan degree in 1800 through the county-level imperial examinations, and obtained the juren and jinshi degrees in 1813 and 1814 respectively after passing the provincial and metropolitan level examinations. He served in the Hanlin Academy for 17 years before taking on posts outside of Beijing from 1831 to 1833. In 1834, he returned to Beijing to become the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, before moving away again to Jiangsu to become the financial commissioner of the province. In 1841, he was promoted to viceroy and served as the Viceroy of Liangjiang from October 1841 to October 1842, where he participated in the Battle of Woosung as the co-commander alongside Chen Huacheng. In August 1842, he signed the Treaty of Nanking aboard the HMS Cornwallis with Qing Imperial Commissioner Keying, military commander Yilibu, and British plenipotentiary Henry Pottinger.
In his final years, he, as a military general, led Qing forces against the Taiping and Nian rebels during the Taiping Rebellion and Nian Rebellion respectively. He passed away in 1858 due to unknown causes, and was granted the posthumous name Wenduan (文端).
Early life
Niu Jian was born into a declining merchant family in Wuwei, Gansu Province, Qing Dynasty. His father died when he was young, and he was raised by his mother, who was a woman named Jia. His mother, despite being only "roughly literate", ran a small inn or cart yard (牛家车院) in the south of the city to support the family and ensure her son could receive an education. Their financial situation was precarious, but they were not destitute. At a young age, he showed academic intelligence, having started his education earlier than his peers. However, his path to success remained nothing short of difficult. In 1800, despite passing the county-level imperial examination to acquire the shengyuan rank,搜狗百科, "牛鉴," https://baike.sogou.com/v175764331.htm. Niu Jian continued suffering from poverty. From 1800 to 1814, Niu Jian continued rising through the ranks, eventually becoming a linsheng (a stipendiary student) and then a bagongsheng (a tribute student). Despite this, by 1813, Niu Jian had failed the provincial-level imperial examination fifteen times before finally passing and acquiring the juren degree, and in 1814, Niu Jian finally passed the metropolitan imperial examination to earn the jinshi degree, officially entering the Qing bureaucracy.
Early Career
Hanlin Academy
Following his entrance into the Qing bureaucracy, Niu Jian became a shujishi (庶吉士), meaning "all good men of virtue" at the prestigious Hanlin Academy. The Shujishi was a highly prestigious scholastic title awarded to top-ranking scholars of the Qing, which he was as he had placed second class fourth place in the imperial examinations. In the Hanlin Academy, Niu Jian served as a compiler, and later as a censorate (yushi) and Supervising Secretary (jishizhong). His position as a compiler meant he was tasked with editing Qing state records and writing dynastic histories, which was crucial to the dynasty as it helped preserve legitimacy of the Qing's government, history, records, and documentation. Meanwhile, his later position as a censorate, also known as an investigating censor, made him responsible for being the dynasty's supreme supervisory and anti-corruption agency, responsible for investigating misconduct and corruptions from officials for the emperor.上海图书馆开放数据平台, "牛鉴," https://data.library.sh.cn/entity/person/2srfo3xqbhn4qkkt.html.
Appointments outside of Beijing Niu Jian left the Hanlin Academy in 1831 after being appointed by the Daoguang Emperor as director of grain storage in Yunnan province. This position was a specialized circuit intendant (dao) post responsible for the province's grain administration, which was highly important and significant as Yunnan was a landlocked province that boasted substantial amounts of mountainous terrain. This meant that Yunnan uniquely suffered issues of insufficient agricultural production and grain transport difficulties due to a lack of water access and the mountainous terrain, and it's position as the southernmost frontier of the Qing meant monsoons were also extremely common compared to the rest of the dynasty, making the atmosphere less familiar to the Qing population compared to other, more northern provinces. Niu Jian was therefore responsible for managing the provincial granary system, particularly the changpingcang (ever-normal granaries), to ensure adequate grain reserves in the province for potential famine relief, military supplies, and price stabilization. Niu Jian's appointment to this position was also his first outside of Beijing, and his first as an administrator. After serving for two years in the position however, Niu Jian was relocated to be the acting provincial judge of Shandong province in 1833. This post was the second-highest governing body of the province, only below the position of Grand coordinator and provincial governor, also known as xunfu. In this post, Niu Jian served as the judicial and law enforcement officer of the province, with responsibilities in supervising all provincial-level judicial proceedings and criminal cases, managing the provincial prison system, overseeing law enforcement and public security, and reviewing capital cases before they were forwarded to the Qing imperial court for final approval. Niu Jian's appointment in this post in Shandong, a wealthy and strategically important province, signified a major promotion.
After Niu Jian's excellent performance at this post, he was promoted to Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, the prefecture that encompassed Beijing and its surrounding territories, in 1834. The post was among the most prestigious positions in the entire dynasty, and was the most prestigious prefecture-level governing position. In this post, Niu Jian's responsibilities included maintaining public order in the capital region, managing local administration, overseeing the imperial examination system in the metropolitan area, and handling all the complex administrative matters arising from the presence of the court and central bureaucracy. It was the first time Niu Jian would be governing a specific region, and it being the region that included the capital made it critical.
In 1835, Niu Jian was appointed to become the financial commissioner of Jiangsu province. Jiangsu was among the richest regions in the Qing Dynasty at the time, and Niu Jian's appointment as financial commissioner meant he was once again the second-highest governing body of the province, only below that of xunfu. The position was sometimes referred to as the fangbo (方伯) or fan tai (藩台). The Financial Commissioner's duties were wide-ranging and included managing the provincial treasury, collecting land and poll taxes, and ensuring the timely remittance of revenues to the central government, recommending appointments, promotions, and evaluations of all subordinate officials (prefects and magistrates) within the province, compiling and submitting the annual provincial census and tax registers, and overseeing the provincial granaries and the grain tribute system. Despite it looking like a setback, the financial commissioner of such a rich province had a huge responsibility, as any mistakes could result in national consequences as it would greatly impact the national economy. Niu Jian however soon clashed with the xunfu and, unable to work harmoniously with him, requested sick leave and returned to his hometown in 1837, which was a conventional way for officials to withdraw from a difficult situation in office without losing face or reputation. However, his return to his hometown was short-lived, as in 1838, he was reappointed as the Financial Commissioner of Jiangsu, and later served as the acting Governor of the same province.
Yellow River Flood In 1841, Niu Jian was serving as the Governor of Henan province when the catastrophic Yellow River flood occurred. His position meant that he was responsible for protecting the provincial capital, Kaifeng, from the flooding. He organized the city's defenses, directing the construction of barriers with the local populace. The Daoguang Emperor was so impressed by his efforts that he was personally commended and soon after promoted to the vital post of Viceroy of Liangjiang (covering Jiangsu province, Anhui province, and Jiangxi province), making him one of the most powerful officials in the empire.
First Opium War
His first promotion to viceroy in 1842 came at a crucial point during the First Opium War between the Qing and the British Empire. Being an administrator in the civil service with no prior military experience, Niu Jian was in an extremely disadvantaged position. On 16 June 1842, the Battle of Woosung took place near the Huangpu River in Jiangsu province. From Wusong, the British would only have to advance 19 kilometres to capture Shanghai. In the battle, Niu Jian demonstrated a fatal lack of military acumen. In an effort to encourage the troops, he approached the front in a grand, official procession. This made him a target for British naval guns, and the ensuing artillery fire scattered his entourage and caused a rout. Although Niu Jian was supposed to bring more supplies, the panic in his entourage prompted him to flee the battleground. As a result, the veteran commander, Chen Huacheng, with no support, was killed. Consequently, the British captured the towns of Wusong and Baoshan, which opened the way to Shanghai, which was captured with little resistance on 19 June.
After the fall of Zhenjiang, Niu Jian lost all confidence in the army. When the British fleet arrived near Nanjing, he sent desperate pleas for peace and began negotiating a surrender, sometimes acting beyond his authority.