Page 108 - Sothebys Fine Chinese Art London, November 2018

Fig 4. Constantin von Hanneken (1854-1925) Fig 5. Residence of Constantin Von Hanneken, Tianjin
圖四 漢納根(1854-1925) 圖五 漢納根故居，天津

of the foreign settlement, and was instrumental in the significantly, Port Arthur (Lüshun gang). Von
construction of the City Hall, named ‘Gordon Hall’ after Hanneken was highly decorated for having
Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon. At the time of his death in established Port Arthur in 1881, eventually rising
1913, a Chinese newspaper wrote: “His Influence upon to the rank of Chinese general, and later tasked
the permanent prosperity of [Tianjin] is incalculable. with the fortification of Talienwan and Weihaiwei
We can hardly find a stage of public life in our present by Japanese forces. During the Sino-Japanese war,
society which has not been associated with the great in November 1894, the Guangxu Emperor issued
and valuable contribution made by Detring.” a decree making von Hanneken commander in
chief of China’s armies with ‘ample funds and
Constantin von Hanneken (1854-1925) power’, in the hope that a Western general could
Born in Trier on the Rhine, and described by his defeat the Japanese army. Under pressure from
family as a ‘patriot of China’, Constantin von xenophobic factions within the court, the plan was
Hanneken (fig. 4) had served as a Captain in the later reversed, eventually leading to the capturing
Prussian Field Artillery before being hired as of Port Arthur and Weihaiwei. Together Detring
one of Detring’s military advisors. He moved to and von Hanneken also oversaw the vast British
China in 1879 to take up the position and quickly controlled Kaiping Mining Company, which was
established himself as a close friend and advisor the first successful large-scale effort to introduce
to Li Hongzhang, for whom he worked until 1887. Western technology and methods into industrial
Li put von Hanneken in charge of reorganizing and production in China. Von Hanneken married
modernizing the Chinese army and in designing Detring’s eldest daughter, Elsa, in 1895, thereby
and building several naval forts including, most uniting these two prominent families.

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