Wu Ting-fang

Ng Choy (Wu Tingfang)
Chinese Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
In office 1880–1882
Appointed by	Sir John Pope Hennessy
Succeeded by	Wong Shing
Premier of State Council of the Republic of China
In office 23–28 May 1917
President	Li Yuanhong Feng Guozhang
Preceded by	Duan Qirui
Succeeded by	Li Jingxi
Personal details
Born	1842 Malacca, Straits Settlements
Died	23 June 1922 (aged 80) Canton, Kwangtung, China
Political party	Progressive Party
Children	Wu Chaoshu
Alma mater	St. Paul's College University College London Lincoln's Inn
Profession	Lawyer Diplomat Calligraphist

Wu Ting-fang
Chinese	伍廷芳
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wŭ Tíngfāng Wade–Giles Wu3 T'ing2-fang1
Ng Choy
Chinese	伍才
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Ng Choy

Wu Tingfang (Chinese: 伍廷芳; pinyin: Wŭ Tíngfāng; Wade–Giles: Wu³ T'ing²-fang¹, also known as Ng Choy (Chinese: 伍才; pinyin: Wŭ Cái; Wade–Giles: Wu³ Ts'ai²)) (born 1842 in Malacca, Straits Settlements; died 23 June 1922) was a Chinese diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and briefly as Acting Premier during the early years of the Republic of China.

Biography

1908 photograph

Wu studied at the Anglican St. Paul's College, in Hong Kong where he learned to read and write in English. After serving as an interpreter in the Magistrate's Court from 1861 to 1874, marrying Ho Miu-ling (sister of Sir Kai Ho) in 1864, he studied Law in the United Kingdom at University College London and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn (1876). Wu became the first ethnic Chinese barrister in history. After being called to the bar in England, he returned to Hong Kong in 1877 to practise law. Later, Wu became the first ethnic Chinese Unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (appointed 1880).

The former residence of Envoy Wu and the Office of the Qing Legation to the United States, located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

He served under the Qing Dynasty as Minister to the United States, Spain, and Peru from 1896 to 1902 and from 1907 to 1909. In this role he lectured widely about Chinese culture and history, in part working to counter discrimination against Chinese emigrants by increasing foreign appreciation of their background. To further this end, he published America, through the spectacles of an Oriental diplomat in English in 1914 (published by Stokes).

Wu is mentioned several times in the diaries of Sir Ernest Satow who was British Envoy in China, 1900-06. For example on 21 November 1903: "Wu Tingfang came in the afternoon, and stopped talking for an hour and a half about his commercial code and connected subjects. His idea is to draft also a new criminal code, and put both into force at the outset in the open ports."

He supported the Xinhai Revolution and negotiated on the revolutionaries' behalf in Shanghai. He served briefly in early 1912 as Minister of Justice for the Nanjing Provisional Government, where he argued strongly for an independent judiciary, based on his experience studying law and travelling overseas. After this brief posting, Wu became Minister of Foreign Affairs for the ROC. He served briefly in 1917 as Acting Premier of the Republic of China.

He joined Sun Yat-sen's Constitutional Protection Movement and became a member of its governing committee. He advised Sun against becoming the "extraordinary president" but stuck with Sun after the election. He then served as Sun's foreign minister and as acting president when Sun was absent. He died shortly after Chen Jiongming rebelled against Sun.

References

Further reading

• Pomerantz-Zhang, Linda. (1992) Wu Tingfang (1842-1922): reform and modernization in modern Chinese history. ISBN 962-209-287-X.

External links

• Works by Wu Tingfang at Project Gutenberg
• America, through the spectacles of an Oriental diplomat, by Wu Tingfang at Project Gutenberg