acting on orders from Emperor Wên-tsung, held as prisoners the British secretaries, Harry S. Parkes (see under Yeh Ming-ch'ên) and Henry B. Loch (1827–1900), who had been sent as negotiators. In all, twenty-six British and thirteen Frenchmen were seized. This spurred the allies to fight, and on September 21 they won the battle of Pa-li-ch'iao (see under Sêng-ko-lin-ch'in), thus preparing the way for the advance on Peking. On the 22nd Emperor Wên-tsung fled from the Summer Palace (Yüan-ming Yüan) to Jehol. On the preceding day he had entrusted to I-hsin the onerous task of making peace with the allies. On the one hand the emperor continued to issue positive orders, as for example the execution of Parkes; and on the other hand the allies insisted on the release of the prisoners as a condition of peace. Though the allies were then short of ammunition and supplies, I-hsin and Sêng-ko-lin-ch'in were not cognizant of that fact and worked on the supposition that they must negotiate peace. After the allies had obtained the necessary supplies they advanced on Peking, reached the Yuan-ming yüan on September 26, and for three days pillaged the Summer Palace. I-hsin who had up to this time been living in his garden near the Summer Palace now fled to Lu-kou-ch'iao 蘆溝橋. The city of Peking was thus left to the mercy of the allies.
I-hsin, of course, was in a precarious position. He had no soldiers under his command and only a few officials remained to assist him. Moreover, never having had contact with foreigners, he had to rely on the advice of Kuei-liang and Hêng-ch'i 恆祺 (T. 子久, posthumous name 勤敏, 1802?–1867, Jan. 30). In fact it was Hêng-ch'i who carried on the negotiations with the British and who on October 8 effected the release of the prisoners who survived. The Allies entered Peking on October 13 and, in retaliation for the death of thirteen British and eight French prisoners, burned the Yüan-ming Yüan (October 18). In the meantime I-hsin had moved on the 14th to the monastery, T'ien-ning-ssŭ 天寧寺, west of Peking, in order to be nearer the city. On October 24 he entered the city, exchanged with Lord Elgin the texts of the British Treaty of Tientsin and signed the Convention of Peking in nine articles. The next day the French treaty of ten articles was signed, and the texts of the Treaty of Tientsin were exchanged. The Conventions of Peking of 1860 guaranteed permanent residence for foreign envoys in the capital, named Tientsin as a treaty port, and granted an increase in indemnities. The British obtained the lease of Kowloon, and the French a promise that all the confiscated property of Catholic missions in China would be restored to the owners.
In the crisis of 1860 Russia took the part of peacemaker. Her envoy, General Ignatieff (see under I-shan), asserted that the peace was made possible by his efforts, and so obtained from I-hsin the signature (November 14) of the Russian treaty of fifteen articles by which China ceded to her all the territory east of the Ussuri River. The demarcation of the boundaries took place in 1861 (see under I-shan).
I-hsin, as signer of these treaties, became responsible for their execution. In his previous contact with foreigners he had shown toward them an attitude of disdain mingled with hatred and fear. But after the conclusion of the Conventions of Peking in 1860 his attitude seems to have changed. As he understood the British better he began to show appreciation of them, if not outright admiration. His confirmation of H. N. Lay as inspector-general of customs and the trust he put in Lay's successor, Robert Hart (see under Chang Chih-tung), are indications of his altered point of view. On January 20, 1861 I-hsin's proposal to establish an office to take charge of foreign affairs was approved by the Emperor with the result that the Tsung-li ko-kuo shih-wu ya-mên 總理各國事務衙門, commonly abbreviated as Tsungli Yamen came into existence, and for some forty years played an important rôle in the modernization of China. I-hsin was placed in charge of this new organization with Kuei-liang and Wên-hsiang [q. v.] as his assistants. In order to train young men as interpreters, the Tung-wên kuan (see under Tung Hsün and Li Shan-lan) was established in 1862 as a subordinate office to the Tsungli Yamen.
After the Allied troops evacuated Peking, I-hsin repeatedly requested his half-brother, the Emperor, to return to the city, but the latter preferred to remain away and so avoid embarrassing audiences with foreign envoys. In addition, the Emperor shrank from viewing the ruins of his once lovely gardens. In August 1861 he died, having willed his throne to his son (Emperor Mu-tsung), with a regency during the son's minority, composed of the two Dowager Empresses, Hsiao-ch'in and Hsiao-chên, and eight officials (see under Hsiao-ch'in). But the empresses found the eight officials intractable and so conspired with I-hsin to remove them.
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