Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/251

 Wên-ch'ing had a relative who admired him greatly—namely, Wên-k'ang 文康, a grandson of Lê-pao. Wên-k'ang's brother (or cousin) had succeeded to the family hereditary rank of marquis, thus making it necessary for Wen-k'ang himself to attain rank by other means. He competed in the examinations, but was apparently unsuccessful. Registering as a student of the Imperial Academy, he purchased an official rank in the Li-fan yüan, or Court of Colonial Affairs. After serving for some time as an assistant director in the Judiciary Department (Li-hsing ssŭ) of the Court, he was selected, early in 1824, to serve concurrently as one of the chief editors of the collected institutes of the Court, entitled Li-fan yüan tsê-li (則例), completed in 1825 and printed in 1827. This work was revised during the years 1833–41, the new edition being printed in 1843. For his services in connection with the compilation and revision of the work, Wên-k'ang was rewarded with the rank of a department director and in 1842 was appointed intendant of the Tientsin Circuit, a post which he held for two years. It seems that for some reason he was degraded, for in 1851 he went to Anhwei and for three years (1851–54) served as second-class sub-prefect of Fêng-yang-fu.

Some sources assert that he once served as prefect of Hui-chou-fu, Anhwei, that he was promoted to the rank of an intendant, and that after retiring for some time owing to the death of a parent, he was named Imperial Agent at Lhasa but was prevented by illness from going. None of these statements are confirmed in the gazetteers or in official documents. We only know that Wên-k'ang was still living in the eighteen-sixties, and that during his last years his sons squandered the family fortune. While enduring poverty at home, he spent his time writing about an ideal family which prospered because its members did not contravene the moral law. The result was a novel, entitled 兒女英雄傳 Êr-nü ying-hsiung chuan, 41 chapters, in which many incidents in the life of the author's illustrious relative, Wên-ch'ing, were doubtless drawn on to depict the hero. Written in the clear Peking colloquial, this novel has in recent years become very popular. It must have gained some notice even before its first printing in 1878, for was a great admirer of it and made notes and comments on a copy which then was perhaps circulating in manuscript. In 1880 another edition appeared, with Tung Hsün's comments and notes. This edition was reprinted lithographically in 1888 with five illustrations added. The novel is historically interesting because of its vivid portrayal of the thoughts and activities of the inhabitants of North China, particularly the Bannermen, in that day.

[1/392/1a; 2/40/10a; 5/4/4a; Sun K'ai-ti, "Concerning the Êr-nü ying-hsiung chuan" (in Chinese), Bulletin of the National Library of Peiping, vol. 4, no. 6 (1930); Fêng-yang fu-chih (1908) 6/hsia/17a; Hu Shih wên-ts'un (see bibl. under ), third series, 6/741–65; Tientsin hsien-chih (1931), 3/33/24b; 壬午同年齒錄 Jên-wu t'ung-nien ch'ih-lu, reprint of 1833, 2/190.]

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 WÊN-hsiang 文祥, Oct. 16, 1818–1876, May 26, official, came from the Gûalgiya 瓜爾佳 clan in Mukden. His family belonged to the Manchu Plain Red Banner, he being born in Liaoyang while his father was serving as clerk in the military commandant's office. He had a wealthy father-in-law by whose assistance he purchased, in 1837, the rank of a student of the Imperial Academy. In 1840 he went to Peking to take the provincial examination, and became a chü-jên. In 1845 he became a chin-shih and was given the rank of an expectant secretary in the Board of Works, but waited four years before receiving appointment. In 1853, when the Taiping armies took Nanking and pressed northward, Peking was alarmed; banks were closed and many officials in the capital asked leave to remove to other places. But Wên-hsiang remained at his post, and for this was highly regarded by his superiors. He was named concurrently chief of the secretariat under the emergency committee for the defense of Peking, and also inspector of the armories. In 1854 he was promoted to be an assistant department director and a year later a department director. In the meantime he served as a secretary to the mission sent to Szechwan under to investigate a case of corruption (1854), and again as a secretary to the commission sent to Tientsin to receive the grain transported by the sea route. His services were appreciated by his superiors and he was awarded the rank of an intendant of a Circuit. Late in 1855 he was given the higher rank of an official of the third grade.

At this time many officials in the central government preferred to take provincial posts because of the higher stipends, but Wên-hsiang expressed a desire to remain in Peking in order 853