Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/276

Rh fended the emperor, for in 1727 he was dispatched from Peking to be acting Manchu general-in-chief of the garrison at Sian, Shensi. In 1728 he was deprived, for inconclusive reasons, of his hereditary rank of marquis. A month after this humiliation he died, but was given many posthumous honors, including the name Wên-kung 文恭. In 1732 his name was entered in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen. Having no son of his own, he adopted as heir a son of his sister.

[1/256/11b; 2/12/39a; 3/12/42a; Pa-ch'i Man-chou shih-tsu t'ung-p'u (see under ) 27/1a;, Huang-ch'ao Fan-pu yao-lüeh, chüan 15; P'ing-ting Chun-ko-er fang-lüeh, ch'ien-pien (see under ).

2em

FURDAN 傅爾丹, 1683–1753, Jan. 15, general, belonged to the Gûwalgiya clan and was a member of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner. As a great-grandson of, he inherited in 1681 the rank of duke of the third class as well as the captaincy of the company to which his family belonged. After filling several posts, he was appointed in 1709 a chamberlain of the Imperial Bodyguard. Six years later he was discharged for feigning illness to escape official duties and was ordered to lead a thousand Tumed soldiers in the cultivation of land at Ulan Gum 烏蘭固木 (north of Khobdo). Reinstated in 1717 to the rank of chamberlain of the Imperial Bodyguard, he was given the title of General Chên-wu (振武將軍) and appointed commander of the army in the Altai region (western Mongolia) to fight against the Eleuth King,. was simultaneously in command of the main army at Barkul which planned to attack from the East. As Tsewang Araptan was reported to have invaded Tibet, Funinggan and Furdan were ordered to enter Tsewang Araptan's territory in the hope of releasing the pressure on that region. But they made little headway and returned after several skirmishes.

Later Furdan was entrusted with the building of forts in western Mongolia to consolidate the positions already acquired and to protect the Mongols from further raids by the Eleuths. One of the forts, Chakan Sor 察汗搜爾 situated a little south of the present Uliasutai, was an important military base for guarding the route to the Altai region. In 1720, when troops were dispatched to recover Tibet (see under ), other armies invaded Tsewang Araptan's territory to prevent him from aiding his troops in Tibet. Furdan, in command of one of these armies, captured several hundred Eleuths. In 1725 he was recalled, and from 1726 to 1727 served as the military governor of Heilungkiang. For several months in 1728 he was acting president of the Board of Civil Office.

Preparations for a new campaign against the Eleuths were under way. The death of Tsewang Araptan and the succession to power of his son, Galdan Tseren (see under ), was taken by Emperor Shih-tsung as an opportune time to put an end to conflict in the northwest. Most of Shih-tsung's courtiers advised against war, but supported the emperor and recommended Furdan as one of the commanders of such a campaign. In 1729 Furdan was given the title Ching-pien Ta Chiang-chun 靖邊大將軍 and placed in command of the northern route army operating in the Altai region, while commanded another army at Barkul on the Lanchow-Hami route. Furdan was seen off by the emperor in person and was granted all the honors appropriate to such an undertaking. But in 1730 Galdan Tseren begged for peace and the war was stayed for a time, although the Eleuths later attacked the Barkul army on several occasions. In 1731 Furdan built a fort at Khobdo which he used as his headquarters. Meanwhile, to his family hereditary dukedom was prefixed the designation, Hsin-yung 信勇. He had among his assistants nobles and high officials who were veterans of many wars, but he refused to listen to their advice. A report, perhaps purposely fabricated by the Eleuths to draw Furdan from his base, asserted that a small detachment of their vanguard was near. On July 12, 1731 Furdan set off with ten thousand soldiers towards the northwest of Khobdo in the hope of crushing the Eleuths before they could concentrate. But after winning a minor skirmish, he found himself (July 23) face to face with the enemy's main division which lay in wait for him in the mountains. After a day of fighting at Hoton Nor he realized his error and began to withdraw, but it was too late. When he reached Khobdo it transpired that nearly all his generals had either committed suicide or had been killed in action and that he had lost four-fifths of his men.

This defeat set back China's advance in the northwest for more than twenty years, and the 264