Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/373

Rh yüan of 1874), and Shên Tsêng-chih 沈曾植 . In 1897 the Yüan-shih i-wên chêng-pu was printed in 30 chüan by Lu Jun-hsiang, and later was reprinted in the Kuang-ya ts'ung-shu (see under ).

Hung Chün's term as minister expired in 1890. Upon his return to Peking he was made senior vice-president of the Board of War and was appointed to serve in the Tsung-li Yamen. In 1893 he died at the age of fifty-five (sui). In the Ch'ing-chi wai-chiao shih-liao, the collection of documents which deal with foreign relations during the years 1875–1911 (see under ), there are some of Hung Chün's memorials and reports, as well as imperial edicts and official dispatches sent to him during his stay in Europe as China's diplomatic representative. These deal in general with the international problems of the time, such as the Trans-Siberian Railway, the status of Korea, commercial relations between China and Russia, and the relative objectives of the European nations. Appended to a memorial on the mining activities of the Russians, there is a list of the Russian groups which were operating gold mines near the border city of Kiakhta.

After leaving the Hung family, Sai-chin-hua became a well-known entertainer in Shanghai, Tientsin and Peking, making the acquaintance, it seems, of many of the important political and literary figures of her time. According to one popular account, not entirely verified, she is said to have gained the ear of Count von Waldersee 瓦德西 (1832–1904) and through him to have exerted some influence in obtaining provisions and securing the protection of the Chinese populace in the turmoil resulting from the Boxer uprising. In later life Sai-chin-hua married twice, and died in Peking in 1936 in destitute circumstances at the age of sixty-two. A long poem, entitled 彩雲曲 Ts'ai-yün ch'ü, written by Fan Tsêng-hsiang (see under ), and a novel, entitled 孽海花 Nieh-hai hua, written in 1907 by Tsêng P'u 曾樸, are both based on the story of Sai-chin-hua's early life.

[1/452/7b; 2/58/51a; 6/5/11b; Chin Liang, Chin-shih jên-wu chih (see under ), p. 125; Liu Pan-nung 劉半儂, 賽金花本事 Sai-chin-hua pen-shih (1934); Chiang Jui-trao 蔣瑞藻, 小說考證 Hsiao-shuo k'ao-chêng (1919) 8/175a; The Kuo-wên Weekly, vol. 12 no. 38 and vol. 13 no. 35 凌霄一士隨筆;, Li Wên Chung kung ch'ih-tu, vols. 1–17.]

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HUNG Hsiu-ch'üan 洪秀全, 1813-1864, June, leader of the Taiping Rebellion, was a native of Hua-hsien, Kwangtung, the third son of a poor Hakka 客家 family. His childhood name was Huo-hsiu 火秀, his grandfather was known as Hung Kuo-yu 洪國游 and his father as Hung Ching-yang 洪鏡揚 (d. 1848, age 73 sui). Early in life he showed aptitude for study, and through the combined efforts of his family was able to spend his youth in school. Later he was forced by poverty to earn a living as a teacher, competing at intervals in the official examinations without success. During the provincial examination at Canton in 1836 a set of nine Christian tracts came into his hands, but he did not then examine them with care. In 1837 he again competed in the examinations at Canton and again failed. For years his relatives had been confidently expecting him to secure a degree and obtain official appointment, hoping by this means to improve the family's circumstances. Discouraged by his repeated failures, Hung became ill (1837) and was for some time confined to his bed. In this illness he professed to have had visions in which he felt himself transported to heaven into the presence of a venerable old man. The latter tearfully complained to Hung that the human race, which he had created, was worshipping demons instead of its Creator. He then gave Hung a sword with which to annihilate the demons, and a seal by which he could overcome evil spirits. During similar visitations, recurring over a period of about forty days, he often met a middle-aged man, designated by him as Elder Brother, who instructed him in the extermination of demons. For six years after his illness Hung Hsiu-ch'üan continued to teach in village schools, and it was probably at this time that he was a fortune teller, wandering through Kwangtung and Hunan. Although his manner was dignified, his remarks were often peculiar and eccentric.

In 1843 the Christian tracts which had been given Hung Hsiu-ch'üan in 1836 were borrowed by his cousin, surnamed Li. These nine tracts, bearing the general title, 勸世良言 Ch'üan-shih liang-yen, "Good Words Exhorting the Age", were written by the first Chinese Protestant convert, Liang A-fa 梁阿發 (1789–1855), and after revision by Morrison (see under ) were printed at Canton in 1832. They contained 361