Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/379

Rh 國曆法考訂 T'ai-p'ing T'ien-kuo li-fa k'ao-ting (1937), pp. 75–7.]

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 HUNG Jên-kan 洪仁玕 (known in Western sources as "Hung-Jin", original ming 謙益 H. 吉甫), Feb. 18 or 20, 1822–1864, Nov. 23, a native of Hua-hsien, Kwangtung, was prime minister and regent of the Taiping Kingdom. He was a relative of the Taiping leader,. From youth on he took an interest in history and astronomy but failed in the official examinations. In 1843 he professed conversion to Christianity and was baptized by Hung Hsiu-ch'üan. At this time he was teaching in a village school and continued to teach until 1846. In the following year he went with Hung Hsiu-ch'üan to Canton to study Christian doctrine with the American missionary, Reverend Issachar J. Roberts (see under ). Engaged thus about a month, he returned to his native district where he taught school and studied medicine.

In July 1850 the Taiping Rebellion broke out in Kwangsi. Hung Hsiu-ch'üan sent word to Hung Jên-kan and some fifty other relatives inviting them to join the revolt. As they approached the abode of the God Worshippers (see under ) they heard that the latter had broken camp and had marched elsewhere and that government officials were seizing and executing all persons connected with the movement. After several futile attempts to reach the insurgents Hung Jên-kan returned to Kwangtung where it was already known to the magistrates that Hung Hsiu-ch'üan and Fêng Yün-shan (see under ) had begun an insurrection in Kwangsi. The police had visited Hung Hsiu-ch'üan's birthplace in Hua-hsien, seized his relatives and neighbors, and demolished his ancestral tomb. Hung Jên-kan, no longer safe at his home, sojourned with friends in a neighboring district and twice more attempted to penetrate to Kwangsi, but both times was foiled by the vigilance of government officials. At last (1852) he became involved in a small local riot and was taken prisoner. Through the negligence of his captors he managed to escape and fled to Hongkong in April 1852.

In Hongkong Hung Jên-kan was introduced to the Reverend Theodore Hamberg （韓山文, 1819–1854) with whom he studied Christian doctrine. Hamberg was astonished to hear Hung's animated narrative about the early life of Hung Hsiu-ch'üan and other Taiping chiefs. After giving his oral account, Hung was asked to put the facts on paper, and this became the basic information in Hamberg's book, The Vision of Hung-Siu-Tshuen and Origin of the Kwang-si Insurrection (Hongkong 1854). In order not to disclose his identity, Hung Jên-kan's name is given in this book as "Hung-Jin". After a short stay at Hongkong Hung obtained an appointment as teacher in a village school in the district of Tungkuan, Kwangtung. In November 1853 he again visited Hamberg and at this time he was baptized.

Early in 1854, on his way from Hongkong to Nanking, Hung Jên-kan disembarked at Shanghai where he found the city largely in the hands of local rebels known as the Small Sword Society (see under ). Unacknowledged by the Small Sword Society as the relative of the Celestial King, Hung Jên-kan, for lack of funds, was forced to return to Hongkong In the meantime Hamberg had died. Hung was received by some members of the London Missionary Society and was employed by them in the years 1855–58 as a catechist and preacher. At the same time he spent his leisure pursuing the study of astronomy. His literary attainments and his personality were highly commended by the members of the mission and by the Chinese Christians connected with it. In June 1858, again with the financial support of his Western friends, Hung, disguised as an itinerant physician, tried to go to Nanking. After a difficult journey he succeeded in reaching Nanking on April 15, 1859.

In Nanking Hung Jên-kan was warmly welcomed, and placed in a high position by the Celestial King whose chief aids, the five kings, owing to internal dissention (1856), either had been killed or were out of favor (see under ). Subsequently Hung Hsiu-ch'üan relied on none but his own close relatives to look after state affairs. But as none of these relatives were competent, he depended much upon his gifted relative, Hung Jên-kan. Soon after the latter reached Nanking he was made Kan Wang (干王, Shield King) and generalissimo, and before long was appointed prime minister.

As prime minister of the Taiping administration Hung Jên-kan was criticized by his political opponent, as incompetent to make any valuable contributions to the Taiping state. When the Shield King gave an audience to on November 19, 1859, Jung made several proposals about creating a modern army and navy and establishing 367