164
WEI PEH-T'I
Governor-General of Yunnan and Kweichow. By this time he was over sixty, a venerated official who had served three reigns. He was an author and scholar of distinction. He had a solid reputation abroad as a pragmatic and honest official. His family was large and despite the loss of a young daughter under tragic circumstances in 1823, by his own assessment he was pleased with his Canton years. The grain storage was full. Fortifications and new examination facilities were constructed. Other public buildings and historical sites were restored, and, of course, the famous Hsueh-hai-t'ang Academy was a reality. The seas were free of foreign war vessels, and at least on the surface, and for the time being, foreign traders and hong merchants were under control. It was not until more than a dozen years later that British commercial interests were able to garner support from their government to challenge the Canton system by force.
1
NOTES
J. K. Fairbank, Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast, (Cambridge, Mass., 1953), p. 55.
2
The Chia-ch'ing Emperor's accusations were communicated to Juan Yuan through court letters. See, for instance, Kung-chung-tang – CC 019639 (Palace Memorials, hereafter referred to as KCT). Similar charges were levied against Juan Yuan by the Tao-kuang Emperor in KCT – TK 000013. Both emperors were angry at Juan Yüan because they felt that he was not doing enough to suppress secret society activities in the provinces under his jurisdiction. J. K. Fairbank, op. cit. p. 20; on the other hand, cited Juan Yüan as an example of the "intellectual unpreparedness for Western contact" on the part of Chinese officials of the early nineteenth century.
May, 1818. H. B. Morse, The Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China 1635–1834, (Taipei reprint edition), III, 316.
Select Committee Reports on the East India Company and Trade with China 1821-321, Parliamentary Papers, (Irish University Press edition), 36:540.
5 Chinese Repository, II: 71–72 (June, 1835).
7
Draft Biography, Palace Museum No. 1266(1)
Lei-t'ang an-chu ti-tzu chi, 5:106-11 (Chronological account of Juan Yuan's life by his students) hereafter referred as Ti-tzu chi.
8 Hsin-hui hsien-chih (Local gazetteer of Hsin-hui district) 12:16. This is a rather liberal translation.
10
9
Yen-ching shih-chi, (1820) compiled by Juan Yüan, II:7:24-25b.
I am grateful to Father Benjamin Videira Pires of Macau, who took me to visit the fort in December 1979, just as the fort was being converted into a tourist hotel. Father Videira is the author of “As Fortalezas de Cidada, em 1741”, in Comunidade, a newspaper published in Macau.
164
WEI PEH-T'I
Governor-General of Yunnan and Kweichow. By this time he was over sixty, a venerated official who had served three reigns. He was an author and scholar of distinction. He had a solid reputation abroad as a pragmatic and honest official. His family was large and despite the loss of a young daughter under tragic circumstances in 1823, by his own assessment he was pleased with his Canton years. The grain storage was full. Fortifica- tions and new examination facilities were constructed. Other public buildings and historical sites were restored, and, of course, the famous Hsueh-hai-t❜ang Academy was a reality. The seas were free of foreign war vessels, and at least on the surface, and for the time being, foreign traders and hong merchants were under control. It was not until more than a dozen years later that British commercial interests were able to garner support from their government to challenge the Canton system by force.
1
NOTES
J. K. Fairbank, Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast, (Cambridge, Mass., 1953), p. 55.
2
The Chia-ch'ing Emperor's accusations were communicated to Juan Yuan through court letters. See, for instance, Kung-chung-tang – CC 019639 (Palace Memorials, hereafter referred to as KCT). Similar charges were levied against Juan Yuan by the Tao-kuang Emporor in KCT – TK 000013. Both emperors were angry at Juan Yüan because they felt that he was not doing enough to suppress secret society activities in the provinces under his jurisdiction. J. K. Fairbank, op. cit. p. 20; on the other hand, cited Juan Yüan as an example of the "intellectual unpreparedness for Western contact" on the part of Chinese officials of the early nineteenth century.
May, 1818. H. B. Morse, The Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China 1635–1834, (Taipei reprint edition), III, 316.
Select Committee Reports on the East India Company and Trade with China 1821-321, Parliamentary Papers, (Irish University Press edition), 36:540.
5 Chinese Repository, II: 71–72 (June, 1835).
7
Draft Biography, Palace Museum No. 1266 (1)
Lei-t'ang an-chu ti-tzu chỉ, 5:106-11 (Chronological account of Juan Yuan's life by his students) hereafter referred as Ti-tzu chi.
8 Hsin-hui hsien-chih (Local gazetteer of Hsin-hui district) 12:16. This is
a rather liberal translation.
10
9
Yen-ching shih-chỉ, (1820) compiled by Juan Yüan, II:7:24-25b.
1 am grateful to Father Benjamin Videira Pires of Macau, who took me to visit the fort in December 1979, just as the fort was being coverted into a tourist hotel. Father Videira is the author of “As Fortalezas de Cidada, em 1741”, in Communidade, a newspaper published in Macau.
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