Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/604

 Ch'êng-liang, and died while fighting for him in the siege of Gure.

In any case, Nurhaci developed a bitter enmity against Nikan Wailan as having been the indirect cause of his father's death, and demanded of the Chinese that he be turned over to him for punishment. The Chinese generals at the border replied by threatening to install Nikan Wailan as head of all the Jurjen tribes; and this led many tribal chieftains, including some of Nurhaci's own clansmen, to curry favor with their prospective ruler. In spite of the disapproval of his relatives, Nurhaci gathered a few friends and, after fitting them out in thirteen suits of armor left by his father, attacked Nikan Wailan in his stronghold of Turun 圖倫. Nikan Wailan fled to Giyaban 嘉班 where he was pursued by Nurhaci and driven to seek refuge with the Chinese at Fushun. As the Chinese refused to harbor him, he fled northward to the town of Elehun 鄂勒渾. Here he remained until 1586 when Nurhaci, having subdued the tribes that lay between them, appeared again in pursuit of revenge. Nikan Wailan abandoned the city and entrusted himself to the Chinese frontier garrison. The Chinese held him prisoner and, although unwilling to hand him over to his enemies, permitted Nurhaci to send two men to execute him. This episode is set down in the official Ch'ing history as the origin and justification of all of Nurhaci's subsequent wars—the cooperation of the Chinese with Nikan Wailan in the murder of Nurhaci's ancestors being the chief ground for his campaign against the Ming.

[Ming-shih 238; Hauer, K'ai-kuo fang-lüeh, chap. I.]

2em

NING Wan-wo 寧完我, d. 1665, Chinese bannerman of the Plain Red Banner, was a native of Liao-tung. Having pledged his allegiance to the Manchus under, he served with , third son of , until 1629. In that year, hearing of his ability as a scholar, invited him to serve in the Literary Office (Wên-kuan 文館). Given the rank of lieutenant colonel, Ning Wan-wo was with the Manchus who took Yung-p'ing in 1630. On this occasion Abahai ordered him to mount the city wall with a flag and reassure the people. Later he commissioned Ning and to issue pacifying proclamations. After the taking of Yung-p'ing, Ning Wan-wo and were left to garrison the city. Later Ning followed Abahai in the battle of Ta-ling-ho (see under ), after which he was called upon to bring about the submission of the Chahars of Inner Mongolia. Because of these exploits he was given a minor hereditary rank.

When the Six Boards were established (1631) it was Ning Wan-wo who fixed the official regulations and determined distinctions in official costumes. In 1631 he memorialized on the importance of the Censorate, on the wisdom of identical official costumes for both Chinese and Manchus in order to avoid discrimination, and on the expediency of appointing Chinese to the Literary Office. His memorial was approved. In 1632 Ning Wan-wo,, and Ma Kuo-chu 馬國柱 (d. 1664) presented a plan for attacking China. In 1633 Ning advocated among other measures, the gradual adoption of the Chinese system of government, and the use of the examination system as a means of procuring talented men for the administration of new territories. In the same year he recommended for official appointment and Ch'ên Chin (see under ), both of whom proved useful to the Manchus in the later campaigns in China. In 1635 Ning Wan-wo was given the hereditary rank of colonel and on six different occasions was granted lands and retainers. Formerly impeached for gambling at the garrisoning of Yung-p'ing, he had been reprimanded by Abahai but pardoned. In 1635, however, he gambled again with a colonel who had surrendered at Ta-ling ho. As a result he was discharged and all his estates and slaves were confiscated. These indiscretions debarred him in the same year from becoming one of the first four Grand Secretaries of the Manchu nation, to which posts three of his friends in the Literary Office were appointed (see under ). Ning Wan-wo returned to the service of Sahaliyen where he remained for ten years.

On the accession of Shih-tsu to the throne of China in 1644, Ning Wan-wo was recalled and made sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat. In the following year he was elevated to the post of Grand Secretary, being concurrently director-general of the Bureau which initiated, but did not complete, the compilation of the History of the Ming dynasty (Ming-shih). Three times during the years 1645–49 he acted as chief examiner for the metropolitan examinations. 592