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I just (07-26-2024) saw again the 4th episode of the Doctor Who story "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" from 19 March 1977. The story is set in late Victorian London, in the late 1880s or the 1890s.

In that episode the Doctor and Le H'sen Chang talk. Le H'sen Chang tells how when he lived in China "Weng-Chiang" appeared in his vehicle and crashed and how Le H'sen Chang nursed him back to health and hid him from the soldiers of ____.

And I didn't quite catch the name of whose soldiers Le H'sen Chang hid "Weng-Chiang" from.

So does anyone remember the name of the leader who Le H'sen Chang hid "Weng-Chiang" from? I presume it was some Chinese war lord of the time, but maybe "Weng-Chiang" expected his enemies might be coming after him, and instructed Le H'sen Chang to hide him from followers of his enemies.

Added July 27, 2024. The answers by Guybrush McKenzie and Valorum were quite helpful and I don't know which to accept.

Guybrush Mckenzie's answer had a link to transcripts of the episodes.

http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/14-6.htm

So here are quotes from the transcript:

In Litefoot's house:

LITEFOOT: What were you saying when I came in? Something about a madman?

DOCTOR: Yes, he's probably got the key.

LITEFOOT: Who?

DOCTOR: Well, presumably he's calling himself Weng-Chiang.

LITEFOOT: Weng-Chiang was one of the ancient Chinese gods.

DOCTOR: I know that, Professor, I know. And he probably arrived in this contraption.

LITEFOOT: It was a gift to Mama from his highness, T'ung-Chi. We came home in seventy three, so it's been in the family quite some years now.

DOCTOR: Then you're very lucky, Professor, that he hasn't traced it before now.

LITEFOOT: Weng-Chiang?

DOCTOR: Weng

And later in Weng's laboratory:

DOCTOR: Well, as an accomplice to murder, the police shouldn't hold you up long. Tell me about Weng-Chiang. Where did he go?

CHANG: Perhaps back to his great palace in the sky. I failed him. He was displeased with me.

LEELA: His mind is broken.

DOCTOR: Li H'sen, you know he's not a god, don't you.

CHANG: He came like a god. He appeared in a blazing cabinet of fire. I saw him and helped him. He was tired from his journey.

DOCTOR: Go on.

CHANG: He was ill for many months. I was but a humble peasant, but I gave him sanctuary while the soldiers searched. I nursed him.

DOCTOR: The cabinet. What happened to the cabinet?

CHANG: Soldiers of T'ung-Chi took it. Ever since, we have searched for the great cabinet of Weng-Chiang. The god will not be made whole until it is recovered.

Since Chinese names can be spelled different ways in the Latin alphabet I find it quite plausible that T'ung-Chi was an alternate spelling of Tongzhi. In the Ming and Qing dynasties there was only one era name per reign, so the rulers were known by their era names. The Tongzhi Emperor was born 1856, became Emperor in 1861, and died in 1875 age 18. His personal name was Aisin-Gioro Zaichun, his era name was Tongzhi, his posthumous name was Yidi, and his temple name was Muzong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongzhi_Emperor

There were several Chinese civil wars and revolts overlapping with his reign. The Taiping Rebellion which killed at least 10 million people from 1850-1864, the Dungan Revolt 1862-1877 which killed millions, the Panthay Rebellion 1856-1873, etc.

So obviously if imperial troops came looking for a magical object which fell from the sky, people in war zones might be afraid of them.

Since Litefoot probably called Queen Victoria "Her Majesty", it seems quite disresectful of him to call a Huangdi merely "his higness".

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  • Tʻung-Chi would indeed be a valid transliteration in Wade–Giles or Postal Romanisation of what in Pinyin would be Tongzhi (e.g., the emperor 同治). I also don’t think there’s any disrespect in calling Tongzhi ‘your highness’ – off the top of my head, I can’t recall any instance of a Chinese emperor – or indeed anyone but a European-style monarch – being addressed (in English or in English translation) using the word ‘majesty’.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 27 at 19:56

2 Answers 2

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According to Chrissie’s fan transcript, and hers are very reliable, Chang refers to “soldiers of T'ung-Chi”. This likely refers to Emperor Muzong of Qing, the Tongzhi Emperor.

Though he was very young and his reign coincided with the start of Empress Dowager Cixi‘s control of China, he was recognised as Emperor. The timeframe of the 1860s and 1870s is about right for this to have happened some years before Chang and Greel came Europe and arrived in London.

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  • Thank you. And of course the mid 19th century in China didn't suffer from a lack of civil wars.
    – M. A. Golding
    Commented Jul 27 at 5:59
  • Or possibly they were just a garrison in a peaceful place and responded to reports of something strange and magical falling from the sky.
    – M. A. Golding
    Commented Jul 27 at 16:18
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Like pretty much all of the old serials, this episode was novelised from the original script. The heavies are identified as 'soldiers of the Emperor'.

Chang's voice became a chant. 'He came like a god, in a glowing cabinet of fire. He came forth and collapsed, weakened by his journey. I was only a humble peasant, but I gave him sanctuary in my hut.'

'What about the Time Cabinet?'

'The soldiers of the Emperor came upon it by chance. They took it away, while my lord was still sick.

Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang

The book goes on to identify said emperor as T'ungchi.

'Yes. Weng-Chiang. He's probably got the key.'

'Weng-Chiang? He was one of the ancient Chinese gods.'

'This Weng-Chiang's no god. He must have arrived in your Time Zone in this contraption.' The Doctor tapped the Cabinet. 'What do you know of its history?'

'It was a gift to Mama from His Highness, T'ungchi. Been in the family for years.'

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