Wenxiang was a member of the Gulagiya clan and a Manchu Plain Red Bannerman. He became a metropolitan degree-holder (chin-shih) in 1845 and began his career as secretary in the Board. His loyalty and diligence won him the trust of the Xianfeng emperor, who appointed him to the office of vice-president of the board of Revenue and to the Grand council in May 1858; in early 1861, he served at the Tsungli Yuamen and was in charge of foreign affairs. This paper considers him as a prominent court official and assesses his contributions to the late Qing government in three areas: input on important court decisions, judgment on major trends, and influence in government policies.