Family

Xu was born in a prestigious gentry family from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, historically Panyu county of Guangzhou prefecture. His grandfather Xu Baiting was a salt trader who acquired the status of gentry with the grace of the Jiaqing Emperor. His uncle Xu Xiangguang supported and financed Hong Kong's military resistance against the British empire as well as the construction of Kowloon Walled City.

Viceroy of Min-Zhe

During the Boxer Rebellion, Xu was the viceroy of Minzhe. Xu, along with Li Hongzhang, viceroy of Liangguang, Liu Kunyi, viceroy of Liangjiang, Zhang Zhidong, viceroy of Huguang, Sheng Xuanhuai, director of the Court of Judicature and Revision, and Yuan Shikai, governor of Shandong, signed the Mutual Protection of Southeast China agreement, openly defying the proclamation of war declared by the imperial court in Beijing against Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia, with the aim of preserving peace in their provinces.

As a viceroy, Xu Yingkui was aware of the weaknesses of China when it faces the outer world. He accepted the suggestion of an American diplomat and established the Gulangyu International Settlement. Under the circumstances of a potential Japanese occupation of the island of Gulangyu, Xu started negotiations with the British who were interested in the military value of Gulangyu. To counterbalance the Japanese, Xu was willing to yield the island as an international public settlement. The British government wanted complete separation of the island from Chinese administration, whereas China hoped to maintain nominal sovereignty of the island. The disagreement was eventually taken to the viceroy. Xu waived the sovereignty conditionally, obliging every country which partook in the settlement to provide military protection for the city of Xiamen. The Qing imperial court reviewed his proposal and deleted the article concerning Xiamen, fearing it would open the gates of Xiamen to the foreign powers. On 10 January 1902, the constitution of Gulangyu International Settlement was signed by China, Japan, Britain, the U.S., Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.

After his retirement, Xu intended to construct a large and luxurious private garden in Guangzhou but died before the plan was carried out.

生平

道光二十九年（1849年）中己酉科廣東鄉試舉人，次年聯捷庚戌科進士。選庶吉士，散館授檢討。歷任翰林院侍講、侍讀、左右庶子、甘肅學政、詹事府少詹事、內閣學士、兵部左侍郎、吏部右侍郎、吏部左侍郎、順天府學政、倉場侍郎等職，升左都御史。光緒二十二年（1896年）調工部尚書。次年，任總理各國事務衙門大臣、禮部尚書。光緒二十四年（1898年）四月，李鴻章、許應騤與英國駐華公使竇納樂簽訂《展拓香港界址專條》。七月十九日，以抑格言路，首違詔旨，奪禮部尚書懷塔布、許應騤，侍郎堃岫、徐會灃、溥頲、曾廣漢等職。最後戊戌變法失敗，九月，擢為閩浙總督。光緒二十六年（1900年）庚子拳亂引發八國聯軍時，參與兩廣總督李鴻章、兩江總督劉坤一、湖廣總督張之洞、山東巡撫袁世凱、四川總督奎俊等人的東南互保。光緒二十九年（1903年）解職。

註釋