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 administration of the province. Especially notable was his reform of the salt administration which accounted for more than half of the revenue of the provincial government. The salt produced in Szechwan was sold not only locally but also in Kweichow and parts of Yunnan and Hupeh. Every year merchants with hereditary rights in the salt monopoly paid the government a fixed price for salt and for the right to sell it in specified areas. But they had to transport the salt to those areas and pay exhorbitant bribes to officials en route, so that the retail price often rose to ten times that paid to the government. During the years of unrest in Kweichow and elsewhere, transport was interrupted and merchants became bankrupt through the purchase of salt which they could not sell. In general, Ting's plan was for the government itself to transport the salt to the markets and permit the salt merchants to retail it there. In this way the price to the consumer would be lowered, the quantity sold and the revenue to the government would be increased, and hard-pressed merchants would be benefited. The plan was approved in Peking in 1877, and Ting appointed to head the bureau for the transport of salt to Kweichow. The plan was successfully carried out, but many officials who had profited by the old corrupt salt administration used all the influence they could muster to have Ting removed from his post. Accusations were hurled at him, and every reform he introduced was severely criticized. Mistakes in his administration were duly exaggerated and brought to the attention of the throne. Though several times reprimanded or lowered in rank, he was nevertheless permitted to continue in office and was encouraged by edicts to proceed with his reforms of the salt administration.

Reports on the salt administration of T'ang Chiung for the years 1877 and 1878 were printed in 1881 under the title, 四川官運鹽案類編 Ssŭ-ch'uan kuan-yün yen an lei-pien, 27 + 1 chüan. Reports for the years 1879–81 were printed later under the title, Ssŭ-ch'uan kuan-yün yen an hsü-pien (續編), 15 chüan. Those for the year 1882 bear the same title, and comprise 4 chüan. In the meantime Ting authorized the compilation of a record of the salt administration in Szechwan. This work, entitled Ssŭ-ch'uan yen-fa chih (鹽法志), 40 chüan, was completed in 1882 and was printed shortly after. It contains illustrations showing the process of mining and manufacturing salt from wells, the machinery used, and the methods of transportation.

In 1884 Ting Pao-chên's protégé, Tang Chiung, was arrested in connection with the controversy with France over Annam. Ting pleaded for T'ang's release and for this was punished by being degraded, but he was allowed to retain his post. In 1885 he was stricken with paralysis, but despite repeated requests, was not allowed to retire. Early in 1886 he was granted three months' sick leave. Shortly after resuming his duties, he died. In his last memorial to the throne he requested the Emperor to pay attention to the army and navy and to remember that peace treaties with Western powers were not to be trusted. He was canonized as Wên-ch'êng 文誠 and was celebrated in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen in Peking and also in special temples erected to his memory in Shantung, Kweichow, and Szechwan.

During some thirty years of public service, Ting Pao-chên worked hard to reform the corrupt administrations of Shantung and Szechwan. He was highly respected by his colleagues, and by the Court, as upright, self-denying, and public-spirited. Sometimes he was accused of being quick-tempered and harsh, but this treatment probably applied only to the inefficient. He was faithful and considerate of his friends, and by his help many able men, such as, and Tang Chiung, rose to positions of great influence. A collection of his memorials, entitled Ting Wên-ch'êng kung tsou-kao (公奏稿), 26 chüan, was printed in 1893; and a few of his poems and short articles in prose were printed in 1894, under the title Ting Wên-ch'êng kung i-kao (遺稿) or 十五弗齋詩文存 Shih-wu-fu chai shih wên ts'un. Both the memorials and the literary collection were edited and printed by his brother's son-in-law, Ch'ên K'uei-lung 陳虁龍. Ch'ên was a chin-shih of 1886 who served as governor-general of Hunan and Hupeh (1908–09) and of Chihli (1909–11), and since the fall of the Ch'ing dynasty has lived in Shanghai.

[1/453/1a; 2/54/15a; 5/28/16b; P'ing-ting Kuei-chou Miao-fei chi-lüeh (see under );, Ting Wên-ch'êng kung nien-p'u; Wên-hsien ts'ung-pien (see bibl. under ), nos. 19, 20; 凌霄一士隨筆 in Kuo-wên chou-pao (see bibl. under ), vol. 12, no. 41 (Oct. 21, 1935); Hsien T'ung Kweichow chün-shih shih (see bibl. under ).]

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