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Abstract The Daoguang reign period is not only the starting point of modern Chinese history but also a crucial juncture when the Qing Dynasty began to decline from its prosperity. Among the series of crises faced by the Qing court, issues related to official governance and finance were particularly prominent. However, previous case studies that explored the crises during the Daoguang reign mostly adopted the approach of specialized historical research on finance or politics. There has been a scarcity of studies that regard these crises as an integrated feature within the historical evolution of the Qing Dynasty. The experience of Ji Zhichang maybe serves as a case.
The foundation for Ji Zhichang’s smooth early career path stemmed from Emperor Daoguang’s appreciation of his literary talents. Moreover, Mu Zhang’a, a Grand Councilor at that time, also showed great favor towards Ji, which propelled Ji’s official career to rise rapidly. In the late years of his reign, Emperor Daoguang followed the principle that governing the law should prioritize governing people. He pinned his hopes on promoting a group of “capable officials” to promote benefits and eliminate disadvantages, and to transform the political atmosphere. However, the main body of this group of “capable officials” selected by Emperor Daoguang were still the officials who had used literature as the steppingstone to their official careers, and these were precisely the kind of officials that he had preferred to appoint in the past. Judging from the reality and results of the financial rectification carried out by these officials who “excel in literature”, the practical abilities of most of them are limited and they are not capable enough to resolve the financial dilemma of the Daoguang reign. This precisely reflects the situation of the civil official system during the Daoguang reign, which lacks capable personnel and is rife with corruption and inefficiency. However, they at least put forward plans for rectifying the official governance and finance, which fulfilled Emperor Daoguang's aspiration to reverse the prevailing ethos. As a result, they won the favor and promotion from Emperor Daoguang. Ji Zhichang was a representative figure among them.
During the transition from the Daoguang reign to the Xianfeng reign, significant adjustments took place in the power structure of the central government of the Qing Dynasty. Mu Zhang’a and Qi Ying were dismissed from their positions, while figures such as Qi Junzao and Du Shoutian became important ministers in the new regime. This adjustment not only involved the reckoning of the political responsibilities for the Opium War in the previous reign but also signified that the Qing Dynasty's attitude towards foreign affairs began to change after the transition from the Daoguang reign to the Xianfeng reign. Like his father, Emperor Xianfeng also attributed the root cause of the difficulties to the problem of official governance. In the late years of the Daoguang reign, although the capable officials who were promoted and appointed to high-level positions had connections with Mu Zhang’a and others, Emperor Xianfeng’s fundamental approach was not to deal with the so-called “Mu Zhang’a’s faction”. Instead, he aimed to establish a new diplomatic stance and officialdom atmosphere through personnel changes. Therefore, even Ji Zhichang, who had a close relationship with Mu Zhang’a, was not dismissed from his post by Emperor Xianfeng. Instead, he was dispatched to serve as a local governor to observe his future performance.
After ascending the throne, Emperor Xianfeng’s high-level personnel adjustments, which aimed to “employ the virtuous and expel the evil”, failed to address the root cause of corruption in the officialdom. With the outbreak of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom revolution, a new round of financial crisis thoroughly exposed all kinds of drawbacks of the Qing Dynasty to the ruling class. This group of “capable officials” who were renowned for their “diligence and prudence” as well as “literary talents” found themselves at a loss in the face of the new situation. The fundamental reason why Ji Zhichang retired from his post as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang was that he was unable to cope with the social and economic crisis in these areas.
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Published: 24 September 2025
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