Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition
The Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition (Médaille commémorative de l'expédition de Chine de 1860) was a military award of the Second French Empire to reward soldiers and sailors who participated in the Anglo-French expedition to China during the Second Opium War. It was created by imperial decree on 23 January 1861, by Napoleon III. The British Empire had been engaged in an ongoing conflict with the Qing Dynasty since 1856 over legalizing the opium trade, expanding coolie trade, opening all of China to British merchants, and exempting foreign imports from internal transit duties. Following the 1857 general election in the United Kingdom, the new parliament decided to seek redress from China based on the report about the Arrow Incident submitted by Harry Parkes, British Consul to Guangzhou.
Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition
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- Name
- Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition
- Period
- 1861
- Region
- Second French Empire
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Documentary summary
The Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition (Médaille commémorative de l'expédition de Chine de 1860) was a military award of the Second French Empire to reward soldiers and sailors who participated in the Anglo-French expedition to China during the Second Opium War. It was created by imperial decree on 23 January 1861, by Napoleon III. The British Empire had been engaged in an ongoing conflict with the Qing Dynasty since 1856 over legalizing the opium trade, expanding coolie trade, opening all of China to British merchants, and exempting foreign imports from internal transit duties. Following the 1857 general election in the United Kingdom, the new parliament decided to seek redress from China based on the report about the Arrow Incident submitted by Harry Parkes, British Consul to Guangzhou.
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In this article
Overview
Overview
The French Empire, the United States, and the Russian Empire received requests from Britain to form an alliance. France joined the British action against China, prompted by the execution of a French missionary, Father August Chapdelaine ("Father Chapdelaine Incident"), by Chinese local authorities in Guangxi province. The conflict concluded with the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin finally ratified by the emperor's brother, Yixin, the Prince Gong, in the Convention of Peking on 18 October 1860.
La Médaille_de_l'expédition_de_Chine appartenant à de Vassoigne.
G.Garitan
Certificat délivré à Martin Siegel accompagné de la Médaille Commémorative
Crossair1819
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition • Type — Campaign medal • Campaign — Anglo-French expedition to China • Clasps — none • Established — 23 January 1861 • Total Awarded — 8000 • Related — Médaille commémorative de l'expédition de Chine (1901) • Caption2 — Ribbon of the Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition • Illustration — Reverse of the Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition • Illustration — General Élie de Vassoigne, a recipient of the Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition
Notable recipients (partial list)
Notable recipients (partial list)
• Admiral Benjamin Jaurès • Admiral Henri Rieunier • General Élie de Vassoigne • Colonel Charles-Louis Du Pin • Lieutenant (N) Francis Garnier
Identity
Identity
Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition is associated with Second French Empire.
Chronology
Dated record
Chronology
The full dated record · 2 entries
1860
Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition is associated with Second French Empire.
1860
Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition first recorded.
Award description
The Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition was a 30 mm in diameter circular silver medal designed and engraved by Albert Désiré Barre. Its obverse bore the left profile of Emperor Napoleon III crowned with a laurel wreath surrounded by the relief inscription "NAPOLEON III" "EMPEREUR" (English: "NAPOLEON III" "EMPEROR"). A 4 mm wide relief laurel wreath ran along the entire circumference of both the obverse and reverse of the medal. On the reverse, within the laurel wreath, the circular relief inscription EXPÉDITION DE CHINE 1860 (English: CHINA EXPEDITION 1860). At the centre, the relief inscription on four lines of the campaign's major battles TA-KOU, CHANG-KIA-WAN, PA-LI-KIAO, PE-KING. The medal was suspended from a 36 mm wide silk moiré yellow ribbon, at its center, the name of the city of Peking woven in blue Chinese characters.
Award statute
The Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition was awarded by the Emperor to all who served in the China Expedition on propositions of the minister overseeing the service in which the potential recipient served. All recipients also received a certificate of award. A later imperial decree dated 25 March 1861 confirmed that all recipients were to adhere to the code of conduct as set by the Imperial decree of 18 March 1852 under the authority of the Grand chancellor of the Legion of Honour.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3332251: Commemorative medal of the 1860 China ExpeditionWikidata
Secondary witnessreference work
“Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further readingWikipedia
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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