HIEN FLING, hyen lung. or HSIEN PENG,. syim fem.!. The name of the period during which f-chu. the seventh Emperor of the present Man chu dynasty of China, ruled; hut the name is commonly transferred from the period to the Em peror himself. He was the fourth son of the Emperor Tao-Kwang. was born in 1831, and suc ceeded to the throne in 1850. but his reign. ac co•ding to custom. dates only from the following year. lie proved to be a weakling. At the be ginning of his•reign the Taiping Rebellion broke out in Canton Province: hordes of fanatics and lawless persons joined the standard of the 'Prince of Peac•.' as the leader, Hung styled himself; half the country was devastated. and twenty millions are said to have been put to the sword. The rebellion would have taxed a .stronger man. but able and erals arose, and in 1504 this greatest of all rebellions was crushed. 'Meanwhile a war with Great Britain had been precipitated in 1857 by an outrage on the British tlag. Canton was for a second time taken by British troops. the Taku forts at the mouth of the Peiho were ca p• tared. and a treaty was concluded in 1858 open
ing more new ports. throwing the country open to travelers, permitting the preaching and the prac tice of Christianity, and calling for more indem nity. In the following year, as the British envoy war on his way to Peking to exchange ratification as previously arranged. he was filed upon, and his party driven back. This made another expedi tion ill 1 si'M another army ( Franco Joining) ant fleet took the Taku forts a second time, captured Tientsin. and proceeded to Peking. Hien Fong fled to dello! (1i.v.), will he tiled in the year, (caving his brother, Prince to negotiate a new treaty of peace, which in the circumstances was mon. rigorous than that of 185st. Additional ports were to be opened, and it was agreed that heneeforth a Brit ish envoy or ambassador was to be shelved to 11....1141t. at Peking, and in connection with this a Department of Foreign Airairs—the Tsung-li Yaini•—VV:ls. established, Prince hung becoming its first president.