Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/168

 by Manchu forces. Tsu held it through a siege of eighty days, from September 2, to November 21, under appalling conditions of famine and misery. When he finally surrendered, with two-thirds of the population dead, he asked guarantees for the safety of his wife and family, then in Chin-chou. received him in audience with all courtesy, and suggested that he prepare a plan for taking the city. Tsu thereupon proposed that he himself should simulate a retreat toward Chin-chou, and after being received into the city, should attempt to hand it over. Although recognizing the possibility of duplicity, Abahai determined to adopt this plan, and on November 22, Tsu was permitted to "escape" to Chin-chou. His sons who remained with the Manchus were treated with the utmost consideration.

Tsu stayed in Chin-chou for the next ten years, either unable or unwilling to carry out the plan for handing over the city. Although at first suspected by the other generals, he was in complete command by the year 1635. To communications from Abahai reminding him of his promises he returned no answer, continuing to repel attacks of the Manchus, and defeating at Chung-hou-so in 1638. The Manchus settled down in 1641, after earlier unsuccessful attempts, to a determined siege of Chin-chou. With the help of propaganda they brought about the defection of the Mongol troops associated with the Chinese, and gained entrance to the outer city. Tsu, however, continued to hold the citadel, even against the pleading of his own sons who had risen to high positions on the Manchu side. After withstanding the siege for a year, he was convinced by news of the fall of Sung-shan (see under ), on March 19, 1642, of the hopelessness of his position, and on April 8 he surrendered. Having respect for Tsu's fidelity to the Ming cause, Abahai received him again with courtesy and consideration, attaching him to the Chinese division of the Plain Yellow Banner of which two of Tsu's sons were leading officers. Tsu appears to have taken little part in subsequent affairs. He died in Peking and was buried with honors. Several members of his family held hereditary ranks, two of them becoming viscounts.

[1/240/15b; 2/78/37b; Hauer, Erich, Huang-Ts'ing k'ai-kuo fang-lüeh, pp. 261–84, 376 f, 511–543, et passim.]

2em

 TS'UI Shu 崔述, Sept. 19, 1740–1816, Mar. 4, historian, was a native of Wei-hsien in the prefecture of Ta-ming, Chihli (present Hopei). When the River Chang inundated Wei-hsien in 1757 that city was abandoned and incorporated (1758) with Ta-ming, and for that reason Ts'ui Shu is often listed as a native of the latter place. His remote ancestors lived in Ta-ning-wei in present Jehol province. There, at the beginning of the Ming period, members of the family gained repute in military affairs and some of them became chieftains of local clans. Later they migrated to Hsin-an in the prefecture of Paoting, Chihli; and in the Shun-chih reign-period (1644–62) a certain Ts'ui Hsiang-hua 崔向化 was the first of the family to move to Wei-hsien. A son of Ts'ui Hsiang-hua, named Ts'ui Wei-ya 崔維雅, who is often referred to by Ts'ui Shu by his official title, Hsien Pu-chêng Kung 先布政公, belonged to an honored collateral branch of the family. He, too, was born in Hsin-an, but lived later in Wei-hsien. He achieved distinction as director of schools in Chün-hsien and as magistrate of I-fêng, both in Honan. During the years 1660–61 he was active in flood control in that province and left a work on the subject, entitled 河防芻議 Ho-fang chu-i, 6 chüan, which was given notice in the Imperial Catalogue, or Ssŭ-k'u ch'üan-shu ts'ung-mu t'i-yao (see under ). He became prefect of Ningpo and held other important posts. An account of his life appears in Ts'ui Shu's collected works.

Ts'ui Shu's great-grandfather, Ts'ui Chi-lin 崔緝麟, was a nephew of Ts'ui Wei-ya. He, too, was born in Hsin-an, moved with the family to Wei-hsien, and for many years accompanied his uncle, Ts'ui Wei-ya, to various parts of China on official duties. During the years 1713–15 he was director of schools in Ta-ch'êng, Chihli, and as such was highly respected by students. His advice on matters of river control was sought by the Grand Secretary,. In his own community Ts'ui Chi-lin was respected for his upright conduct, his scholarly tastes, and his skill in calligraphy in which he excelled up to the time of his death at the age of eight-two (sui). He left a collection of prose and verse which, according to fragments which have survived, show him to have had unusually fine sensibilities. Unfortunately his manuscripts were lost in the great flood of 1757. In 1788 Ts'ui Shu and his brother, Ts'ui Mai 770