The Belgian Mandarin

Book excerpt: The life of the poor Brussels orphan who became an honored mandarin in China may sound more like fiction than a true biography, but Paul Splingaerd really did walk this earth. The four decades that he spent in China were during the pivotal post-Opium Wars years when China's doors were being pried open for trade with the West. Paul explored all regions of the "Middle Kingdom" with renowned German geologist Ferdinand von Richthofen, and established a fur trading business in Mongolia before being appointed customs inspector in China's far west by powerful viceroy Li Hongzhang. Find out what brought Splingaerd to China, and learn how he earned recognition from his king, King Leopold II, who made him a "Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Couronne." Read about Paul's role in the construction of the first iron bridge across the venerable Yellow River at Lanzhou. Splingaerd's perspective on China's interaction with the West during the late nineteenth century, offers the reader many intriguing insights into the roots of China's dynamism in the twenty-first century. Masterfully authored by Splingaerd's great-granddaughter, Anne Splingaerd Megowan, The Belgian Mandarin is one unforgettable read, a well-researched and richly illustrated account of the life of this truly exceptional individual.