Hong Jun

Hong Jun (; 1839–1893) was a Chinese diplomat. From 1887 to 1890 he had served as a special emissary of the Qing dynasty government to Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria.

Biography Hong was born in 1839. At age 30, he became a zhuangyuan. In 1887 Hong Jun, by then a major Chinese official, met Sai Jinhua ("Prettier Than Golden Flower" ) while he visited Suzhou. At the time Hong Jun was in mourning due to his mother's death. Hong Jun made Sai Jinhua his concubine one year after meeting her. In April of that year, Sai Jinhua went to Beijing with Hong Jun.

Empress Dowager Cixi appointed Hong Jun as the Chinese envoy to Europe, and so Hong Jun traveled to Russia, Austria, the Netherlands, and Germany as part of his diplomatic duties. Sai Jinhua, with Hong Jun, lived in Europe for three years. He did begin wearing European socks after initial vehemence against doing so when he discovered their comfort.

David Der-wei Wang wrote that Hong Jun was dismissed from his position "for allegedly settling boundary disputes on the basis of twelve Russian maps of the Chinese border area that turned out to be faulty and thus made China lose land to Czarist Russia." In 1894 Sai Jinhua became a prostitute again because Hong Jun's relatives did not support her financially.

Legacy The character Jin Jun (Jin Wenqing) in A Flower in a Sinful Sea (Niehai Hua) is based on Hong Jun.