Zaize, born Zaijiao, courtesy nameYinping, was a Manchu noble of the Qing dynasty. He is best known for supporting reforms and advocating the adoption of a constitutional monarchy system in the final years of the Qing dynasty.
Life and service under the Qing dynasty
Zaize was born in the Aisin Gioro clan as a descendant of Yunxu, the 15th son of the Kangxi Emperor. His father, Yicheng, held the title of a second class fuguo jiangjun. Yixun, the fourth son of Mianyu, had no male heir to succeed him, hence he adopted Zaize as his son. In 1877, Zaize inherited his adoptive father's title as a feng'en fuguo gong. In 1894, he married Jingrong of the Yehenara clan. Jingrong was the eldest daughter of Guixiang, a younger brother of Empress Dowager Cixi. Jingrong's younger sister, Jingfen, married the Guangxu Emperor. After his marriage, Zaize was promoted from feng'en fuguo gong to feng'en zhenguo gong. In 1901, Zaize was appointed as the dutong of the Plain Blue Banner of the Eight Banners. In 1905, Zaize, Xu Shichang, Duanfang, Dai Hongci and Shaoying were commissioned by the Qing government to visit Europe, Japan and the United States to learn more about their political systems. Before leaving China, he was injured in an assassination attempt by Wu Yue, a revolutionary, at the Beijing railway station, hence his trip was delayed. When he returned to China a year later, he wrote a memorial to the imperial court, proposing that they follow in the footsteps of Japan and Germany by converting the Qing Empire into a constitutional monarchy. In 1907, he was appointed as the shangshu of the Ministry of Finance. A year later, he was made an acting beizi even though nominally he remained as a feng'en zhenguo gong. Zaize served as Minister in Charge of Naval Affairs in 1909. A year later, he was reassigned to be Minister in Charge of Drafting Constitutional Law. In 1911, he was appointed to the newly established Imperial Cabinet headed by its first Prime Minister, Prince Qing. He served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Salt Policy in the Imperial Cabinet. However, he was not on good terms with Prince Qing. He also actively urged the Qing government to execute the general Yuan Shikai.
Life after the Qing dynasty
Zaize resigned from his ministerial appointments when the Xinhai Revolution broke out in October 1911. Even after the revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China, Zaize still secretly plotted with some former nobles and others to restore the monarchy. In 1917, he supported the general Zhang Xun, who tried to put Puyi, the Last Emperor who abdicated in 1912, back on the throne. In July 1928, the warlord Sun Dianyinglooted the Eastern Mausoleum, where the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi was located. Zaize, acting on behalf of the former Qing dynasty nobles, visited the empress dowager's tomb and tried to restore it. He died in poverty and misery in Beijing in June 1929. Zaize's former residence, the Ze Gong Fu, is located at 89Di'anmenEast Street in Beijing.
