Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/259

 ,, and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (see under ), were also mentioned in the edict as eligible for an audience. This so alarmed the conservatives that they began to maneuver for key positions (see under ) and to effect the discharge of Wêng T'ung-ho. On the 15th an edict was issued charging Wêng with mismanagement of state affairs, and with displaying temper in the presence of the throne. On these vague charges he was ordered to retire and return to his native town. The edict was doubtless written by the Empress Dowager, and the Emperor was powerless to countermand it. Thus at the beginning of his attempts at reform Emperor Tê-tsung was deprived of the only intimate friend he had at Court who might have carried his policies to a successful conclusion. After Wêng left, the Emperor still worked hopefully for his program, but three months later the conservatives struck, the movement collapsed, and the Empress Dowager and the conservatives returned to power. Some reformers were executed or exiled (see under ). On December 4, Wêng was denounced for having recommended K'ang Yu-wei to the throne. He was punished by being deprived of all his ranks and was confined to his home under the surveillance of local officials. He died in 1904. In 1909, the year after Empress Hsiao-ch'in died, the gentry of Kiangsu succeeded in persuading the Court to return posthumously to Wêng all his former ranks, aud to canonize him as Wên-kung 文恭.

Though Wêng T'ung-ho was much occupied with affairs of state, it seems likely that he was by nature a scholar and man of letters. His perseverance in the field of letters is clear from the diaries he kept continuously for forty-six years from 1858 until a few days before his death. This valuable document was reproduced (ca. 1925) in facsimile in forty volumes, entitled 翁文恭公日記 Wêng Wên-kung kung jih-chi. It contains much information, especially concerning the government in Peking before 1898, though it is claimed by some that sections of it relating to his share in the reform movement were in part re-written. From this and similar diaries Chin-liang 金梁 compiled his important record of men and events of the late Ch'ing period, entitled 近世人物志 Chin-shih jên-wu chih, printed in 1934. A collection of Wên's poems, entitled 瓶廬詩稿 P'ing-lu shih-kao, 8 chüan, was printed in 1919. Two years later there appeared a supplement, (P'ing-lu shih-pu 補), in 1 chüan, with collation notes and a collection of poems in irregular meter (tz'ŭ). Besides exhibiting some skill as a painter of landscapes, Wêng T'ung-ho achieved fame as a calligrapher, particularly in the k'ai 楷 style which was favored in the examinations. Examples of his calligraphy, which underwent changes in later years, may be observed in his printed diary and in several collections of correspondence which also were reproduced in facsimile. One such collection, entitled 翁松禪相國真蹟 Wêng Sung-ch'an hsiang-kuo chên-chi, 12 volumes, was reproduced in 1920. Another, entitled Wêng Sung-ch'an shou-cha (手札), 10 volumes, was compiled by a nephew and was reproduced in the years 1908–11.

[1/442/3a; 2/63/56a; 6/1/4b; 19 hsin hsia 13b; 26/4/15a; Chin-shih jên-wu chih (see above) p. 1; Chiu-ching wên-ts'un 1/1a and Shih-shih ko jên-kuei shih-ts'un 6/30b (for both see ); Richard, Timothy, Forty-five Years in China, pp. 242–64; see bibl. under .]

2em

 WO-jên 倭仁, d. June 8, 1871, official, a Mongol of the Plain Red Banner, was born in Honan where his family, of the Wu-ch'i-ko-li 烏齊格里 clan, was a part of the garrison forces in that province. Wo-jên, however, being interested in literary pursuits, became a chin-shih in 1829 and was selected a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Made a compiler in 1832, he was quickly promoted through various offices until in 1844 he was made director of the Court of Judicature and Revision. In the meantime, he served as an examiner in the metropolitan examinations of 1835 and 1836, and as director of the provincial examination of Fukien in 1837. In 1850, in response to a decree of the newly-enthroned Emperor Wên-tsung soliciting suggestions on the conduct of government, Wo-jên submitted a memorial in which he advised the Emperor to study hard, and order his mind so that he could differentiate clearly between good and bad officials. Wo-jên characterized the good as likely to be clumsy in speech, generous, farsighted, unaggressive yet unbending, and predisposed to argue with and admonish the Emperor, whereas the bad could be known by their cleverness and their use of flattery. Significantly enough, the memorial was well received. It is worth noting that, who in response to the same request laid emphasis on ability rather than on high ethical conduct, was 861