Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/60

Rh Chang Mu was recognized as an accomplished calligrapher.

[1/490/15a; 2/73/45b; 5/73/16b; P'ing-ting chou chih (1882) 8/33b. For details on the shrine in Peking see Hummel, A. W. Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress (1937) p. 172.]

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CHANG P'ei-lun 張佩綸, 1848–1903, Feb. 4, official, was a native of Fêng-jun, Chihli, but was brought up in Anhwei and Chekiang where his father, Chang Yin-t'ang 張印塘 held office. Chang Yin-t'ang was in 1853 made provincial judge of Anhwei where in co-operation with he fought desperately against the Taipings, but died of illness in the following year. Left fatherless at the age of seven [sui], Chang P'ei-lun was forced to shift as best he could, wandering round the areas devastated by the war. But he studied diligently administrative methods, and went in 1870 to Peking where he obtained his chü-jên (1870) and chin-shih (1871) degrees. Thereafter he served in the Hanlin Academy, rising from a bachelor to a sub-reader. During the customary mourning period for his mother (1879–81) he did not take office but worked for as a private secretary on military affairs. Upon resuming his former position in the Hanlin Academy (1881) he was made deputy supervisor of Imperial Instruction, and in the following year was promoted to be acting vice-president of the Censorate. During these years he identified himself with a group of officials known as Ch'ing-liu-tang (see under ) who were in the habit of denouncing the alleged misdeeds of high officials. Chang's denunciations were effective in removing four presidents of Boards: Ho Shou-tz'ŭ 賀壽慈, of the Board of Works; Wan Ch'ing-li 萬青藜 , of the Board of Civil Appointments; Wang Wên-shao 王文韶 ; and of the Board of Revenue. Owing to his unsparing criticisms Chang was reckoned as one of the so-called Ssŭ chien-ch'ên 四諫臣 or "Four Admonishing Officials" at the close of the Ch'ing period—the others being, and.

A die-hard in his attitude toward foreign powers, Chang P'ei-lun severely criticized for his ineffectual diplomacy with Russia. When Franco-Chinese relations became acute in 1882, he asked the Emperor to take decisive action—recommending as a commander and pleading that efforts be made to win Liu Yung-fu (see under ) to the side of the Ch'ing army. Late in the following year, shortly after the Ch'ing forces were dispatched to Annam, he was ordered to serve in the Office of Foreign Affairs. When French naval units threatened the South China coast, he was appointed (May 8, 1884) commander-in-chief of the Fukien Squadron (see under ). On July 13, six days after he took over his new post, a battleship of the French fleet under the command of Admiral Courbet (see under ) appeared in Fukien waters, and three days later the fleet threatened the mouth of the Min River. Chang appealed to the Peking authorities to send more naval vessels to strengthen the defense in Fukien, but Li Hung-chang and, recognizing the inability of the Chinese navy to cope with the French squadron, rejected his proposal. Nevertheless Chang's forces constructed several coast batteries and warded off the French fleet for about a month. Meanwhile a temporary Chinese victory at Kelung (see under ) induced the Peking authorities to take more positive action. Realizing the disadvantage of dividing his force, Courbet concentrated on the Fukien coast and attacked Foochow on August 23. The battle began at 1:56 P.M., and within less than an hour all of the eleven Chinese warships were disabled or sunk by the French fleet of twelve men-of-war. Chang P'ei-lun, who watched the battle from the top of a hill, fled to a suburb only to meet the insults of the villagers. His report of the battle was so flowery and so adroitly worded that the actual outcome was not immediately apparent to Peking. The Emperor ordered that Chang be rewarded, but when a few days later the truth became known, he was deprived of his rank and his position, and was banished to the northern frontier where he remained about three years.

In his twenties and thirties Chang P'ei-lun married three times. His third wife, a daughter of Pien Pao-ch'üan 邊寶泉, died soon after Chang was banished. Upon his return to Peking in 1888 Chang was invited by Li Hung-chang to be his secretary, and soon after 48