Wu Ting-fang

Ng Choy (Wu Tingfang) JP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1921–1922
Preceded by	Lou Tseng-Tsiang
Succeeded by	Wang Daxie
Premier of State Council of the Republic of China Acting
In office 23 May 1917 – 28 May 1917
President	Li Yuanhong Feng Guozhang
Preceded by	Duan Qirui
Succeeded by	Li Jingxi
Ambassador of Qing Empire to the United States
In office 8 March 1908 – 12 August 1909
Monarchs	Guangxu Emperor Xuantong Emperor
Preceded by	Zhou Ziqi
Succeeded by	Zhang Yintang
In office 23 November 1896 – 12 July 1902
Monarch	Guangxu Emperor
Preceded by	Yang Yu
Succeeded by	Liang Cheng
Chinese Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
In office 1880–1882
Appointed by	Sir John Pope Hennessy
Personal details
Born	30 July 1842 Malacca, Straits Settlements
Died	23 June 1922(1922-06-23) (aged 79) Canton, Kwangtung, Republic of China
Political party	Republican 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 Wǔ Tíngfāng Wade–Giles Wu3 T'ing2-fang1 IPA [ù tʰǐŋfáŋ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Ng Tìhng-fōng
Ng Choy
Chinese	伍才
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wǔ Cái Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Ng Chói

Wu Tingfang (Chinese: 伍廷芳, also known as Ng Choy or Ng Achoy (Chinese: 伍才; pinyin: Wǔ Cái); 30 July 1842 – 23 June 1922) was a Straits Settlements-born 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.

Education and career in Hong Kong

Wu was born in the Straits Settlement, now modern day Malacca in 1842 and was sent to China in 1846 to be schooled. He 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. He was admitted as a barrister in Hong Kong in a ceremony before Chief Justice John Smale welcomed him to the bar and said:

In England every office becomes open to talent without favour of affection. A distinguished American statesman has become, and now is an ornament of the English bar, and all the Bar will gladly hail the time when a Chinaman shall distinguish himself as much as the eminent counsel to whom I refer. I have seen stranger things happen.

Later, Wu became the first ethnic Chinese Unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (appointed 1880).

Service under the Qing Dynasty

Wu photographed in 1908

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

Wu being interviewed by journalist Marguerite Martyn in this sketch she made in 1909

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 wrote 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."

Wu had an opportunity to implement his ideas about Chinese law reform between 1903-1906, when he (together with Shen Jiaben) were put in charge of reforming the Qing imperial code. His efforts included modernising the criminal code and abolish inhumane methods of capital punishment such as death by a thousand cuts, decapitation and posthumous execution, and use of torture in interrogations. He also reformed the governmental structure for the administration of justice, ending the traditional combined approach. Sun Yat-sen praised Wu's contributions, saying that he began a "new epoch" for Chinese criminal law.

Service post Xinhai Revolution

He supported the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 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 modernisation in modern Chinese history. ISBN 962-209-287-X.

External links

• Works by Wu Ting-fang at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Wu Ting-fang at Internet Archive
• America, through the spectacles of an Oriental diplomat, by Wu Tingfang at Project Gutenberg