Prosper Giquel
Prosper Marie Giquel (20 November 1835 – 19 February 1886) was a French naval officer who played an important role in the modernization of 19th century China. His Chinese name was 日意格 (). Career Prosper Giquel first arrived in China in 1857 as part of the allied assault forces of the Arrow War. Taking the opportunity that service in the Guangzhou (Canton) occupation force allowed, Giquel began the study of Chinese. In late 1861 he joined the Imperial Maritime Customs Service under Robert Hart, as the director of the Ningbo office and remained there until the city was captured by the forces of the Taiping Rebellion in December 1861. He was again the Commissioner of Customs for Ningbo in 1864. Taiping Rebellion After spending the following spring working in the coordinated French and English campaign to drive the rebels from Shanghai, Giquel returned to Ningbo to organize the force which eventually became the Ever Victorious Army, also known as the "Franco-Chinese force". The force numbered between 2,000 and 3,000 men. On 15 March 1863, the force, under the command of Ensign Paul d'Aiguebelle captured the city of Shaoxing from the Taiping rebels. Giquel took command of the "Franco-Chinese force" when