Peking and north of the present campus of Yenching University. In February 1898 he was made acting presiding controller of the Imperial Clan Court, but he died soon after. His passing was mourned by Empress Hsiao-ch'in and he was eulogized for his great contributions to the empire. He was canonized as Chung 忠 (Loyal) and his name was celebrated in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen.
I-hsin had four sons but the two younger ones died young. The eldest, Tsai-ch'êng 載澂 (posthumous name 果敏, 1858–1885), was made (1862) a prince of the third degree, but left no male heir. The second, Tsai-ying 載瀅 (T. 湛甫, H. 雲林居士, b. 1861), was for a time the adopted son of his uncle, I-ho (see under Min-ning), and inheritor of a third-degree princedom. In 1900 Tsai-ying was deprived of all his ranks because of his pro-Boxer activities. Early in 1897, by order of Empress Hsiao-ch'in, Tsai-ying's eldest son, P'u-wei 溥偉 (T. 紹原), was appointed the adopted son of the long deceased Tsai-ch'êng. Thus in 1898 P'u-wei inherited the princedom and became the second Prince Kung. I-hsin's eldest daughter, Princess Jung-shou 榮壽公主 (1854–1911), was adopted by Empress Hsiao-ch'in (probably early in 1862) and was brought up in the Palace. In 1866 she married Chih-tuan 志端 (d. 1871), a descendant of Ming-jui [q. v.]. After her husband's death Princess Jung-shou lived in the Palace as adopted daughter and companion to the Empress Dowager. In 1881 she was given the privilege of riding in a yellow sedan chair with imperial equipage.
I-hsin, as founder of the Tsungli Yamen and as its head for twenty-seven years (1861–84, 1894–98), conducted China's foreign affairs on a basis of conciliation. Owing perhaps to the experience he had gained in 1860, he knew what it meant to be defeated, to face internal rebellion and foreign invasion with no troops he could rely on, attended moreover by officials who gave him only half-hearted support. He had learned to make all necessary concessions in order to maintain peace. The less enlightened courtiers could not understand him and attacked him on the ground that he was weak. After his removal in 1884 China entered unprepared on the path of war and soon found herself embroiled with France and, ten years later, with Japan. When he was called on in 1894 to direct the Sino-Japanese war it was already too late. Had he been in power during the years 1884 and 1894, the disputes with France and Japan might have taken different courses. In any case he probably would have prevented the Empress Dowager from spending on the Summer Palace funds meant for the navy, and kept her from other follies which directly or indirectly led to the disasters of 1900.
I-hsin left two collections of verse: one entitled 樂道堂詩集 Lo-tao t'ang shih-chi, another 萃錦吟 Ts'ui-chin-yin. The former is in six series, each with its own title, variously printed from 1856 to 1867. The latter, in 18 chüan, was printed about 1893. His prose collection is entitled Lo-tao t'ang wen (文) chi, 5 chüan. He headed the commissions for the compilation of the following two official works, both completed in 1872: 剿平粵匪方略 Chiao-p'ing Yüeh-fei fang-lüeh, 420 + 2 chüan, containing edicts and memorials relating to the Taiping Rebellion in the years 1850–66; and Chiao-p'ing Nien (捻) fei fang-lüeh, 320 + 1 chüan, relating to the suppression of the Nien bandits during the years 1851–68. The former should not be confused with the P'ing-ting (平定) Yüeh-fei chi ( 紀) lüeh, 18 + 4 chüan, printed about 1865 by Kuan-wên [q. v.]. I-hsin also supervised the editing of the official documents in these works which were completed in 1896, namely: 平定雲南回匪方略 P'ing-ting Yün-nan Hui-fei fang-lüeh, 50 chüan, concerning the Mohammedan uprising in Yunnan (see under Ts'ên Yü-ying) between 1855 and 1879; 平定貴州苗匪紀略 P'ing-ting Kuei-chou Miao-fei chi-lüeh, 40 chüan, on wars with the Miao in the years 1855–79; and P'ing-ting Shan, Kan, Hsin-chiang (陝甘新疆) Hui-fei fang-lüeh, 320 chüan, on the Mohammedan rebellions in the northwestern provinces (see under Tso Tsung-t'ang) from 1855 to 1889. I-hsin's own memorials appear in these works and also in the collections of documents relating to foreign affairs in the Hsien-fêng and T'ung-chih periods, known as: 籌辦夷務始末 Ch'ou-pan I-wu shih-mo, Hsien-fêng ch'ao, 80 chüan, completed in 1867, covering the years 1850–61; and the Ch'ou-pan I-wu shih-mo, T'ung-chih ch'ao, 100 chüan, completed in 1880, covering the years 1861–75. These two works, together with the Ch'ou-pan I-wu shih-mo, Tao-kuang ch'ao, 80 chüan, covering the years 1836–50, were printed by the Palace Museum, Peking, in 1929–31. I-hsin's memorials also appear in the 清季外交史料 Ch'ing-chi wai-chiao shih-liao, documents on foreign relations in the last two reigns (1875–1911) of the Ch'ing dynasty, compiled by Wang Yen-wei 王彥威 (T. 弢夫 H. 藜盦,
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