Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/348

 he was allowed to redeem himself by fighting the Nien bandits in Northern Anhwei (see under ).

After two years of active service he was given, in 1857, the rank of director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. In June 1858 he went to Hsü-chou in northern Kiangsu to ward off an eastward thrust of the Nien bandits, and two months later succeeded Shêng-pao (see under ) as commander of the armies fighting the Nien bandits. Early in 1859 he was released from his responsibility on the ground that he had made little progress in the war. In May he was appointed acting director-general of Grain Transport at Huai-an, Kiangsu, and in September was again given command of troops fighting the bandits. Two months later he was made Imperial Commissioner for military affairs in Anhwei. Early in 1860 his troops recovered Lin-huai and Fêng-yang on the Huai River, and for these victories he was decorated with the Yellow Jacket. His attempt to recover more territory was frustrated by the onslaught of the Taiping army under. In the meantime the Taiping armies in southern Kiangsu won spectacular victories (see under ). Early in 1861 Miao P'ei-lin (see under ) rebelled from the government forces, and the whole of central Anhwei was again lost to the rebels. While worrying over these reverses, in the summer of 1861, Yüan was stricken with fever. Nevertheless he held desperately to his position in northern Anhwei, and only late in 1862, after Lu-chou had been recovered, was he granted his repeated requests for a rest. He retired to Hsiang-ch'êng early in 1863 and died a few months later. He was canonized as Tuan-min 端敏, and temples were erected to his memory at Ch'ên-chou, Honan, and at Huai-an. His collected works, entitled Tuan-min kung chi, is included in the Hsiang-ch'êng Yüan-shih chia-chi (see below).

The mother of Yüan Chia-san (née Kuo 郭, 1777–1875) survived him by twelve years. The elder of his two sons, Yüan Pao-hêng 袁保恆, chin-shih of 1850 and a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, assisted his father in many campaigns in Anhwei. In 1868 this son began to serve on the staff of, and from 1869 to 1875 was in charge of the supplies for Tso's armies. He thus materially helped Tso in the campaigns against the Moslem rebels in Shensi, Kansu, and Turkestan. From 1876 to 1878 he served as vice-president of the Board of Punishments.

After his death he was canonized as Wen-ch'êng 文誠. The younger son, Yüan Pao-ling 袁保齡, a chü-jên of 1862, served for seven years (1882–89) under , supervising the construction of defensive works at Lu-shun (Port Arthur). The elder brother of Yüan Chia-san, named Yüan Shu-san 袁樹三, had two sons: Yüan Pao-chung 袁保中 and Yüan Pao-ch'ing 袁保慶. The latter won various rewards for his military exploits and died while serving as acting salt intendant at Nanking. Having no son who grew to maturity, Yüan Pao-ch'ing adopted (ca. 1866) the fourth son of Yüan Pao-chung. This adopted son was Yüan Shih-k'ai 袁世凱 who later became President of the Chinese Republic.

Yüan Shih-k'ai rose to high office from humble beginnings. In 1880, after purchasing the title of an expectant secretary in the Grand Secretariat, he joined the staff of General Wu Ch'ang-ch'ing (see under ), who was then stationed at Têngchow, Shantung. Two years later this general with three thousand men was sent to Korea to put down a rebellion. In cooperation with Admiral Ting Ju-ch'ang (see under ) and Ma Chien-chung 馬建忠, he arrested the leader of the rebellion, the Tai Wön Kun (see under ), who was the father of the Korean king and was opposed to the party in power, led by the queen. The Tai Wön Kun was taken to Paoting where he was held for three years on the supposition that his removal from Korea would restore peace to that country. All the officials who had a part in this venture were rewarded, including Yüan Shih-k'ai who, for his part, was made an expectant sub-prefect.

From 1882 to 1894 China took an interventionist attitude toward Korea, in the hope of warding off aggressive measures of other Powers. The forces of General Wu were stationed in Korea, as were certain officials who were sent to look after the customs and foreign affairs. On December 4, 1884, a pro-Japanese faction in Seoul initiated a coup which forced the king to summon the Japanese Legation guards to the Palace. Two days later Yüan Shih-k'ai, who was then chief of staff of the Chinese garrison, was requested by Korean officials to intervene. He marched toward the Palace with some two thousand men to rescue the king, and thus 950