Leading official of the 洋务运动 (Self-Strengthening Movement) who built the Beiyang Fleet and signed the 马关条约 (1895) and the 辛丑条约 (1901) for the Qing court.
Li Hongzhang signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki on behalf of the Qing government.
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A famous jibe puns on his hometown: 宰相合肥天下瘦, 'the chancellor from Hefei grows fat while the realm grows thin', reading 合肥 as 'getting fat'. At Shimonoseki in 1895 a Japanese gunman shot him in the face in the middle of the talks.
