A study of the life and career of Chen Yan (1846-1905) = 陳言(1846-1905)的生平與事業研究

Abstract

Chen Yan, also known as Chun Ayin, Chun Oi-ting, and Chun Shen Yin, was a prominent Chinese elite in nineteenth-century Hong Kong. He received an English education at St. Paul’s College and was employed first as an interpreter and later as a clerk at the Police Magistrate’s Court. Throughout his life, Chen made significant contributions in the areas of journalism, Chinese diplomacy, and industrialization. In journalism, Chen launched the remarkable Chinese newspaper Chinese Mail (Huazi Ribao) in 1872. It was the first Hong Kong newspaper under Chinese direction and management, marking a new era of journalism in China. Chen went on to form the Chinese Printing and Publishing Company and founded another Chinese newspaper, Xunhuan Ribao, in 1874. His second contribution was to work toward the protection and support of overseas Chinese. To this end, he leveraged his newspaper to create public support for the suppression of the illegal and cruel coolie trade. Later, as the Consul of Matanzas and Consul General of Cuba from 1879 to 1889, he provided consular protection to Cuban Chinese. His efforts were greatly extolled by the local Chinese community. Chen’s third contribution was to advance industrialization under the Qing government. In 1892, he was appointed as the Managing Director of the Kaiping Mines. He implemented measures to improve the system of coal production and helped Kaiping become one of the most successful enterprises in China. Chen then joined the Imperial Chinese Railway Administration responsible for railway loan contract negotiation. A determined and skillful bargainer, he negotiated four loan contracts totaling 87,320,000 taels to protect the interests of the China railway. He was also elected as the Chief Director of three railways: the Canton-Hankou Railway, the Shanghai-Wusong Railway, and the Shanghai-Naning Railway. During the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, he assisted Sheng Xuanhuai (1844-1916) to liaise with foreign consuls in Shanghai to ensure the implementation of the Mutual Defense Pact of the Southeastern Province. Because of his great diplomatic skill, he was assigned to help Sheng in the negotiation of the Mackay Treaty. The treaty was praised as the most successful commercial agreement of the late Qing period. Chen’s life and career is an extraordinary historical case in the study of the Chinese of Hong Kong. It also demonstrates how Hong Kong talent shaped the modernization movement in China. Regrettably, current scholarship on Chen is brief, partial, and based on outdated information. Important materials such as the Chinese Mail and Sheng Xuanhuai archives have not been utilized. The aim of this study is to examine the life and career of Chen in the areas of journalism, diplomacy, industrialization, and treaty negotiation to gain a full appreciation of his contributions to Hong Kong and mainland China.