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Rh designating any of his other sons as heir-apparent and declined to comply with the advice of the officials on the matter (see under ). In consequence, princes and courtiers aligned themselves into factions, plotting against each other. In his last years, Hsüan-yeh showed definite signs of favoring his fourteenth son, [禵, q.v.], who was sent to Sining (1718) to conduct the campaign against the Eleuths.

Late in 1722 Hsüan-yeh died in the Ch'ang-ch'un-yüan. Official accounts give the impression that he had been ill for several days, but it seems that very few expected his death to come so soon. His fourth son,, supported by , the commander of the Peking Gendarmerie, ascended the throne. Some writers allege that Yin-chên murdered his father in order to grasp the throne before his brothers could do so, and that he perhaps forced the issue to save his own life. However that may be, his accession was hotly contested and those who had opposed him were compelled later to endure his wrath. Of the fifteen older sons of Hsüan-yeh who might have aspired to the throne, Yin-chên became Emperor; three brothers who had favored him, namely Yin-li 胤禮 (Prince Kuo 果親王, posthumous name, I 毅 1697–1738), and ; lived prosperously; two, namely, Yin-ch'i 胤祺 (Prince Heng 恆親王, posthumous name, Yun 韞, 1680–1732), and Yin-t'ao 胤祹 (Prince Li 履親王, posthumous name, I 懿 1686–1763), were only tolerated; two, namely, Yin-yu 胤祐 (Prince Ch'un 淳親王, posthumous name, Tu 度, 1680–1730), and Yin-wu 胤𣕃 (Prince Yü 愉郡王 posthumous name, K'o 恪, 1693-1731), seemed indifferent to the struggle; five others, namely,  禔,, , , and , died in prison; and two, namely, Yin-t'i 禵 and Yin-ê (see under ), who were imprisoned until 1735, were released only after Yin-chên had died. At least two of the five who died in prison endured much suffering.

Hsüan-yeh was given by his successor the posthumous name, Jên Huang-ti 仁皇帝, and the temple-name, Shêng-tsu 聖祖. His tomb was named Ching-ling 景陵. Concerning his life and times, there are the usual Shih-lu (see under ), in 303 chüan, compiled by and others, and a collection of imperial instructions, Shêng-hsün 聖訓, in 60 chüan. The following works are attributed to Hsüan-yeh but some parts of them were doubtless written by courtiers: four collections of prose, three printed in 1711, making a total of 150 chüan; the fourth printed in 1733 in 36 chüan; three collections of verse printed in 1704 by and, comprising a total of 28 chüan; and poems about the Kêng-chih t'u. Hsüan-yeh is also reported to have been a good calligrapher, but recent reproductions of authentic specimens of his handwriting do not exhibit unusual calligraphic skill. According to the Memoirs of Father Ripa, "The emperor supposed himself to be an excellent musician and a still better mathematician, but though he had a taste for the sciences and other acquirements in general, he knew nothing of music and scarcely understood the first elements of mathematics....." However exaggerated may have been the accounts of Hsüan-yeh's attainments he nevertheless showed an unusual love of learning, and it is this that marks him as one of the most admirable emperors in Chinese history.

[1/6-8; Tung-hua lu, K'ang-hsi; Ch'ing Huang-shih ssŭ-p'u (see under ); Bouvet, Portrait historique de l'empereur de la Chine (1697); Pfister, Notices, passim; Memoirs of Father Ripa (London, 1844), pp. 72, 88; Mêng Sên 孟森, 清代三大疑案考實 Ch'ing-tai san ta i-an k'ao shih; 故宮殿本書庫現存目 Ku-kung tien-pên shu-k'u hsien-ts'un mu; Malone, C. S., History of the Peking Summer Palaces under the Ch'ing Dynasty (1934), pp. 19-44; 庭訓格言 T'ing-hsün ko-yen, p. 86a; Du Halde, Description de l'empire de la Chine (1736), vol. I, pp. xxxvi–lix; 康熙與羅馬使節關係文書 K'ang-hsi yü Lo-ma shih-chieh kuan-hsi wên-shu (1932); 清畫傳輯佚三種 Ch'ing hua-chuan chi-i san-chung p. 19.]

2em

 HSÜEH Fu-ch'êng 薛福成, Apr. 12, 1838–1894, July 21, official and diplomat, was a native of Wu-hsi, Kiangsu. His father, Hsüeh Hsiang 薛湘, was a chin-shih of 1845 who died while officiating as magistrate of Hsin-ning, Hunan. In 1857 both Hsüeh Fu-ch'êng and his younger brother, Hsüeh Fu-pao 薛福保, obtained the hsiu-ts'ai degree. After their father's death the spread of the Taiping Rebellion caused the family to move to a village in the Pao-ying district, Kiangsu, where they resided for about six years. In 1867 Hsüeh Fu-ch'êng became a senior licentiate. In 1865 when was charged with the task of sub- 331