Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/592

 under ). On winning several battles, Ming-liang again rose to senior Imperial Bodyguard and to commandant of a detachment. After annihilating a band of rebels at Hsiao-kan (August 1796), he was given the minor hereditary rank of a Ch'ing-ch'ê tu-yü. A month later he was hurriedly dispatched to Hunan to take the place of and, both of whom died in rapid succession. After the Miao region was pacified (early in 1797) the rank of a second class earl with the designation, Hsiang yung, was restored to him. As the Pai-lien-chiao rebellion spread rapidly in eastern Szechwan he and his subordinate, , were ordered to transfer their soldiers to Szechwan where the two fought together from 1797 to 1799. For errors committed in directing the campaign in 1798 Ming-liang was deprived of his hereditary rank and later was ordered to be arrested and tried. Yet, because he was urgently needed in the war, he was allowed to redeem himself under Tê-lêng-t'ai. For annihilating an important rebel army at Yün-hsi, Hupeh, in the same year (1798), he was given the title of deputy lieutenant general (see under ).

Early in 1799, when Emperor Jên-tsung took direction of the campaign, Ming-liang was made an assistant commander under, and was sent to southern Shensi. There he was ordered to co-operate with Yung-pao (see under ) and with Sun Ch'ing-ch'êng (see under ). When Lê-pao was discharged Ming-liang was for a short time appointed commander-in-chief, but he was soon accused of corruption and was blamed by Yung-pao and Sun Ch'ing-ch'êng for issuing conflicting orders which caused their defeats. The three were tried and punished and Ê-lê-têng-pao was made commander-in-chief. In 1800 Ming-liang was sentenced to death, but was pardoned by the emperor and was sent to Hupeh as a corporal to serve under. During seven or eight months of fighting in Hupeh he was gradually promoted, but late in 1800 was again degraded for concentrating his attention on small rebel bands instead of on larger units. Thereafter he won several battles in western Hupeh and repulsed the attacks of rebels in Szechwan. By the middle of 1801 Hupeh was more or less freed of rebels and Ming-liang was recalled to Peking on the score of advanced age. For about a year he held some unimportant posts, and in August 1802 was again sent to Turkestan as assistant military lieutenant-governor at Urumchi. Early in 1803, when the war against the Pai-lien-chiao Rebellion was nearly over (see under ), he was rewarded—in consideration of his services—with the hereditary rank of baron. In 1804 he was recalled to Peking and was made president of the Board of War. A year later he was raised to a viscount, and in 1809 to a third class earl. In 1810 he was made an Associate Grand Secretary, but that rank was revoked the following year on the ground that he falsified about servants gambling in his house (see under ). In 1812 he was sent to Sian as Tartar General where he served about a year. From 1813 to 1814 he served as president of the Censorate and of the Board of War, and in September 1814 again became an Associate Grand Secretary. In 1817 he was made Chief Grand Secretary and two years later, at the age of eighty-five (sui), was raised to a third class marquis with the designation, Hsiang-yung. He retired in 1821 after serving the dynasty for more than seventy years. Upon his death, in the following year, he was given many posthumous honors and was canonized as Wên-hsiang 文襄.

Ming-liang was one of the great strategists of his time and this is probably the chief reason why, after several dismissals, he was always recalled. He attained moderate skill as a calligrapher and as a painter of bamboo. He was the last descendant of Misḥan to receive high hereditary rank.

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 MISḤAN 米思翰, 1632–1675, Jan. 8, official, was a member of the Fuca clan and belonged to the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner. His family joined the forces of during the life-time of his great-grandfather who was given hereditary captaincy of a company in the Bordered Yellow Banner. Hašitun 哈什屯 (d. 1663, age 66 sui), father of Misḥan, was an illustrious soldier. As Hašitun did not join the faction of when the latter was in power, he was trusted by Emperor Shih-tsu and, after several promotions in hereditary rank, was made a baron of the first class. After the death of his father Misḥan succeeded to both the hereditary rank and the captaincy, and was made a minister of the Imperial Household. Faithful to his duties, he won the favor of Emperor Shêng-tsu and in 1668 was appointed junior vice-president of the Board of Ceremonies. In the 580