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Liang Cheng
Liang Cheng KCMG KCVO (November 30, 1864 – February 3, 1917), courtesy name Liang Chentung, also known as Liang Pi Yuk, and later as Chentung Liang Cheng, was a Chinese ambassador to the United States during the Qing dynasty. He was primarily responsible for negotiating the return payment of all the US share of the Boxer Indemnity for the establishment of Tsinghua University and the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program.
Liang was born in Panyu, Guangdong Province. At the age of 12, he was sent to study in the United States as part of the Chinese Educational Mission in 1876. He studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, but returned to China in 1881 when the program was canceled.
One of the reasons for the cancellation of the mission was that the students were adopting too many American customs, and Liang was no exception. While at Phillips, he became a star baseball player for the school, most famously in a game against Phillips Exeter Academy in 1881, where he batted in three runs with two extra base hits.
After returning to China, Liang joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Beginning in 1885, he followed Zhang Yinhuan and served in the Chinese embassy to the United States, Spain, and Peru (one embassy served all three countries). He, along with Zhang, also participated in the negotiations for the Treaty of Shimonoseki, following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War.
In 1897, again as part of Zhang's legation, he was in London for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (60th anniversary of her accession to the British throne), and was named an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. It was at this time that he placed his courtesy name ahead of his given name and became knighted as Sir Chentung Liang Cheng.
During the Boxer Rebellion, Liang accompanied Prince Chun to Germany where the latter was to personally apologize to Kaiser Wilhelm II for the murder of Baron Clemens von Ketteler. The Kaiser wanted to have the Prince kowtow before him as a form of humiliation, but Liang was able to negotiate a compromise and the Prince merely bowed before the Kaiser in a private audience.
On July 19, 1902, Liang was appointed the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Spain, and Peru (this later was changed to ambassador to the United States and Mexico, and in late 1903, to just the United States), replacing Wu Tingfang. Shortly after assuming his post, Liang met with President Theodore Roosevelt, who asked him about his Phillips Academy days. As the story goes, Roosevelt asked who Liang thought was the best player on the team. Forgoing the usual Chinese cultural habit of modesty, Liang replied that he was. "From that moment the relations between President Roosevelt and myself became ten-fold stronger and closer," said Liang.
The Boxer Protocol signed at the conclusion of the Boxer Rebellion specified that China was to pay war reparations to the Eight-Nation Alliance in silver, but seven of the countries demanded payment in gold instead. The United States was amenable to silver, but changed its mind in order to preserve unanimity with the rest of the alliance. During those discussions in early 1905, US Secretary of State John Hay had mentioned to Liang that he felt the amount of the indemnity to be paid was too high, and Liang saw an opportunity to have the US return some of that money. Negotiations were initially successful, except that China did not want to reveal what it would do with the returned funds. The US was wary of political corruption and demanded that the funds would be used in "establishing educational institutions and financing foreign study". The Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuan Shikai put forth a counter-proposal that would allocate the money to building roads instead, but the Qing government did not want to present it for fear that the US would want to "interfere out of suspicion" later.
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Liang Cheng
Liang Cheng KCMG KCVO (November 30, 1864 – February 3, 1917), courtesy name Liang Chentung, also known as Liang Pi Yuk, and later as Chentung Liang Cheng, was a Chinese ambassador to the United States during the Qing dynasty. He was primarily responsible for negotiating the return payment of all the US share of the Boxer Indemnity for the establishment of Tsinghua University and the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program.
Liang was born in Panyu, Guangdong Province. At the age of 12, he was sent to study in the United States as part of the Chinese Educational Mission in 1876. He studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, but returned to China in 1881 when the program was canceled.
One of the reasons for the cancellation of the mission was that the students were adopting too many American customs, and Liang was no exception. While at Phillips, he became a star baseball player for the school, most famously in a game against Phillips Exeter Academy in 1881, where he batted in three runs with two extra base hits.
After returning to China, Liang joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Beginning in 1885, he followed Zhang Yinhuan and served in the Chinese embassy to the United States, Spain, and Peru (one embassy served all three countries). He, along with Zhang, also participated in the negotiations for the Treaty of Shimonoseki, following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War.
In 1897, again as part of Zhang's legation, he was in London for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (60th anniversary of her accession to the British throne), and was named an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. It was at this time that he placed his courtesy name ahead of his given name and became knighted as Sir Chentung Liang Cheng.
During the Boxer Rebellion, Liang accompanied Prince Chun to Germany where the latter was to personally apologize to Kaiser Wilhelm II for the murder of Baron Clemens von Ketteler. The Kaiser wanted to have the Prince kowtow before him as a form of humiliation, but Liang was able to negotiate a compromise and the Prince merely bowed before the Kaiser in a private audience.
On July 19, 1902, Liang was appointed the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Spain, and Peru (this later was changed to ambassador to the United States and Mexico, and in late 1903, to just the United States), replacing Wu Tingfang. Shortly after assuming his post, Liang met with President Theodore Roosevelt, who asked him about his Phillips Academy days. As the story goes, Roosevelt asked who Liang thought was the best player on the team. Forgoing the usual Chinese cultural habit of modesty, Liang replied that he was. "From that moment the relations between President Roosevelt and myself became ten-fold stronger and closer," said Liang.
The Boxer Protocol signed at the conclusion of the Boxer Rebellion specified that China was to pay war reparations to the Eight-Nation Alliance in silver, but seven of the countries demanded payment in gold instead. The United States was amenable to silver, but changed its mind in order to preserve unanimity with the rest of the alliance. During those discussions in early 1905, US Secretary of State John Hay had mentioned to Liang that he felt the amount of the indemnity to be paid was too high, and Liang saw an opportunity to have the US return some of that money. Negotiations were initially successful, except that China did not want to reveal what it would do with the returned funds. The US was wary of political corruption and demanded that the funds would be used in "establishing educational institutions and financing foreign study". The Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuan Shikai put forth a counter-proposal that would allocate the money to building roads instead, but the Qing government did not want to present it for fear that the US would want to "interfere out of suspicion" later.
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