May 29, 2020 <Back to Index>
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Guan Tianpei (simplified Chinese: 关天培; traditional Chinese: 關天培; 1781 – 26 February 1841) was a Chinese admiral of the Qing Dynasty who served in the First Opium War. His Chinese title was "Commander - in - Chief of Naval Forces". In 1838, he established courteous relations with British Rear - Admiral Frederick Maitland. Guan fought in the First Battle of Chuenpee (1839), the Second Battle of Chuenpee (1841), and the Battle of the Bogue (1841). A British account described his death in the Anunghoy forts during the Battle of the Bogue on 26 February 1841:
The following day, his body was claimed by his family and
a salute of minute - guns was fired from HMS Blenheim
in his honor. Guan Tianpei was born in 1781 in Shanyang county (now
Huai'an County) in Jiangsu province. His courtesy name is
Zhongyin (仲因). In the eighth year of the Emperor Jiaqing
(1803), he passed the imperial examination for military
service, and he was successively assigned to the Bazong
(把总), Qianzong (千总), Shoubei (守备), Youji (游击), Canjiang
(参将) and vice general (参将), these being the military ranks
during the Qing dynasty. In the sixth year of the Emperor
Daoguang (1826), he was assigned to the vice-general of
the Taihu camp in Jiangsu province. In 1827, Guan was
assigned to the army officer in Susong county in Jiangnan.
In the thirteenth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1833),
Guan was assigned to the military commander of the
Jiangnan area. In the fourteenth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1834),
Guan was assigned to the navy commander of the Guangdong
province. When he arrived at Guangdong, he devoted himself
to strengthening the coastal defenses. In the nineteenth
year of the Emperor Daoguang (1839), Lin Zexu was
appointed imperial commissioner in charge of prohibiting
the use of opium in Guangzhou. When Lin arrived, Guan was
influenced by Lin. Guan mobilized his navy and coordinated
with Lin to prohibit the Opium trade. They captured about
20,000 chests of opium from the British merchants. In 1839, British warships attacked the Qing navy in
Chuenpi, Guan Tianpei commanded his navy and fought back,
British warships were heavily damaged by Guan's navy. In
the twentieth year of the Emperor Daoguang (1840), Lin
Zexu was dismissed by the Emperor Daoguang. Qishan
replaced Lin. Qi gave orders to remove Guan's coastal
defenses by reducing the number of navy soldiers, and this
gave the British forces the chance to invade. Many
Guangdong local government officials hoped to make peace
with the British forces. But Guan Tianpei was not swayed,
and he was preparing to fight the British forces. Before
the battle started, he dispatched a soldier to take his
old clothes and tooth back to his hometown to give to his
relatives. |