Tucked away at the highest elevation of any city in the world, Lhasa is filled with flowers bathed in warm sunlight. Whether in Barkor Street or in snaking alleys, one finds flowers in full bloom. They include the famous Galsang flower, azaleas, to be found in the mountains, Rhodiola which is used as a medicinal herb, and a kind of flower known as High Commissioner Zhang.

High Commissioner Zhang, white and pink, looks like chrysanthemum. Each grows two meters high, with dozens of flowers accompanied by long green leaves. Miraculously, the flower is easy to grow. When seeds are sown and watered, they come up in a few days. A month later, they blossom.

A Patriotic Official

Zhang Yingtang was stationed by the Qing court in Tibet as a High Commissioner.

In 1892, or the 18th year of the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu, Zhang was appointed secretary to the cabinet. Four years later, he became a consular official stationed in the United States. He was transferred to work in Spain, later. On an order from the Qing court, he negotiated with the UK on matters concerning the British invasion of Tibet in 1904 and 1906. In one of his reports submitted to the imperial court, he made a deep analysis of the situation in Tibet and suggested the court to take measures for the consolidation of Tibet.

In his cable to the Qing Board of Foreign Affairs, he said that the British had been working for a share of Tibet for a long period of time. They yearned to occupy an area extending 7,000 km from east to west and 5,000 km from south to north. As that part of land was the protective screen for the four provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai, efforts should be made to protect it from being occupied.

The Qing court appointed Zhang Yingtang High Commissioner to administer rule over Tibet. He reached Lhasa via India on October 12, 1906. Tibetan officials, monk and lay people alike, greeted him at the Officials Greeting Pavilion in the suburbs.

During his stay in Lhasa, High Commissioner Zhang witnessed how the British invaders rode roughshod over the Tibetans, and even killed many. This reinforced his determination for reform.

What he did first was to impeach You Tai (another High Commissioner) and a dozen Manchurian, Han and Tibetan officials who were all corrupt to the bone.

This was followed by working out 19 regulations including those concerning population census, taxation, organization of officials in charge of finance, education, farming, industrial and other work, raising funds to finance military drilling, construction of roads, abolition of corvee labor, establishment of banks, and reform of backward folklore.

He also had Teaching Words and Reform of Tibetan Folk Customs translated into Tibetan and distributed widely among the Tibetans.

What High Commissioner Zhang did violated the fundamental interests of the ruling class in Tibet, touching off panic and opposition. In the meantime, the British Indian government lodged a protest against Zhang. In May 1907, he left Tibet for negotiations with the British. In 1908, he worked for the Board of Foreign Affairs and later became ambassador to the United States, Peru, Mexico and Cuba. He died of illness in 1935.

Official Zhang Flower

High Commissioner Zhang was a man who loved life. He brought to Tibet varieties of flower seeds that suited the growing conditions in the region. However, only one kind of flower seeds was able to take root in the Lhasa soil.

The flower has eight petals and can withstand freezing cold. With different colors in one flower, it is fragrant, with a scent loved by the Lhasans, who gradually took to growing it. Hence, the name Official Zhang Flower.

In Chinese, Official Zhang can also read Zhang Da Ren. The Official Zhang Flower is so famous in Lhasa that many call the flower Zhang Da Ren.

If you ask your friend “Hey, what flower is that in your courtyard”

“That one It’s Zhang Da Ren!”

What Zhang Yingtang did was obviously good for China to stop the British invasion and for the Qing court to exercise rule over Tibet. However, social changes didn’t take place until 16 years after Zhang’s death when Tibet won peaceful liberation in 1951.

Form: China' Tibet Magazine
By: ZHANG XIAOPING