RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 158 SCHWARZ, Miss M. D. * 1, Clovelly Court, 12 May Road, H.K. SCOTT, A. C. SCOTT, J. M. SELLERS, D. - SHEPHARD, A. J. SHU, Dr. H. T. SHUI, Chien-tung SIDBURY, H. SIDWA, Mrs. M. C. SIMPSON, R. F. ++ SKELSON, Mrs. M. C. - SKELSON, R. E. SMALL, C. J. SMITH, L. * SMITH, L. A. SMITH, S. H. * SOONG, N. - G = SPERRY, H. M. * - STANTON, W. T. * STANLEY, Major H. F. STARBIRD, L. R. STENTON, Prof. H. STOCK, Prof. F. E. STOKES, J. STONEY, G. S. STONEY, Mrs. G. S. University of Wisconsin, Madison 6, U.S.A, c/o H.K. & Shanghai Banking Corpn., H.K. c/o Labour Department, 22 Ice House St., H.K. c/o Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Rd., H.K. 70, Mt. Davis Road, G/F., H.K. Maryknoll Convent School, Kowloon. Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., H.K. Department of Education, The University, H.K. c/o Hong Kong Club, H.K. c/o Hong Kong Club, H.K. 34, Arundel Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 23-A, Robinson Road, H.K. 2741, SW 22nd Ave. Coconut Grove, Miami 33, Florida, U.S.A. c/o Messrs. Scott & English Ltd., P. O. Box 1555, H.K. Asia Magazine, 31 Queen's Road, Central, H.K. 2 Queen's Road, Central, H.K. Dina House, Duddell Street, H.K. Hong Kong Tourist Association, Caroline Mansion, H.K. c/o The American Consulate-General, 26 Garden Road, H.K. Department of Botany, The University, H.K. Hong Kong University, Pokfulum, H.K. c/o Education Department, Battery Path, H.K. 301, Grand View Mansion, 1 Wang Fung Terrace, H.K. 301, Grand View Mansion, 1 Wang Fung Terrace. H.K. * Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 102 A. L. Y. CHUNG Further research inside the Academy One of the functions of the Academy was to give a group of high intellectuals a further chance to conduct research in the most favourable literary surroundings of the empire, where they were helped by good libraries, sufficient subsidies and experienced advisers. The establishment of the Shu-ch'ang kuan as a sub-department of the Academy had this object in view. The lecturers in charge of the Shu-ch'ang kuan were all men of high rank. In the early years of the dynasty, they came exclusively from chancellors of the Three Inner Courts (Nei-san yüan). From 1670 onwards, the chancellors of the Hanlin Academy and senior officials of the Grand Secretariat joined the teaching staff and from 1722 onwards, presidents and vice-presidents of the Six Boards were sometimes called to serve as lecturers.3 As time went on, the need for more lecturers was felt, as their number was at no time more than four. Besides, the lecturers, mostly high dignitaries of the Empire, were occupied with their various government functions and were therefore unable to pay full attention to the teaching in the Shu-ch'ang kuan. In 1694 a number of assistant lecturers were appointed from junior members of the Hanlin hierarchy and from among the better students themselves. These assistant lecturers had more free time and were thus in a better position to help the students. They gave tests to the students twice a month.4 The students of the research institute, titled Probationers, were recruited from among the top scholars of the Civil Service Examination who, in addition, had to pass an Imperial interview before being admitted into the Shu-ch'ang kuan. Once becoming probationers, the scholars were treated as a favoured group. They were not given any definite or permanent work to do. This means that they were free to study and observe government procedure and official behaviour at the capital. The government supplied them with books and stationery for their literary pursuits, while providing them with monthly subsidies to enable them to study without financial worry. In the early years, all probationers were given lessons on the study of the Manchu language as well as the Chinese Classics.? ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 THE HANLIN ACADEMY 109 satisfy the emperor completely and at last in 1718 the Record Office was abolished.33 In the Emperor Yung-cheng's time, the Record Office was re-established and its work of recording the affairs of the state seemed to go on without much interruption from the emperor. Moreover, we see the extension of its functions from recording the Emperor's deeds to include all important government affairs. In the second year of the Emperor Yung-cheng's reign (1724), the government allowed the Record Office to record all important memorials from the government boards and courts, and edicts relating to them. The procedure was that on the last day of every month, each government department should send to the Record Office all papers containing memorials and important administrative affairs, giving the exact dates of their issue.34 During the reign of the Emperor Ch'ien-lung, the Record Office functioned smoothly as in the times of the Emperor Yung-cheng. The only innovation made by Ch'ien-lung was that in 1740, owing to the multifarious functions of the record officials, who concurrently held posts as editors at various editing-centres and examiners at the Civil Service Examinations, four assistant record officials were enlisted from among junior members of the Academy to help in the work of recording.35 The reason for the change of attitude of the Emperor Yung-cheng and the Emperor Ch'ien-lung from that of their predecessor in regard to the Record Office may be explained by the growing confidence the two emperors had in the recording agency. The Emperor K'ang-hsi, though he himself had brought about the system, was suspicious of the record officials. Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung, however, found that, given the authority to record all events of the Empire, the recorders were still docile and loyal to the Imperial cause in their writings and would note down events in an Imperial tone. Moreover, even if they dared to put down undesirable comments, the Grand Secretariat, authorized to check the work of the Record Office (since the emperor as noted above was not given access to the records), would order their deletion. There were in addition to the recorders a number of officials serving in an advisorial capacity to the emperor in the Inner Court. They were the Royal Attendants in the Inner Palace. In 1660 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 THE HANLIN ACADEMY 113 functions of a temporary nature. In executing such functions, they gained administrative experience of which they could make full use when they were later transferred to posts in other government departments. From 1726 onwards, two Hanlins with good translation ability together with two officials from the Grand Secretariat were despatched to the Colonial Office (Li-fan yuan) to assist the President of the Office with Chinese official documents concerning Mongolian affairs. Their term of service was two years, after which they were replaced by two other members from the Academy. Another special function of the Hanlins was to serve as acting secretaries at the Grand Secretariat. The main function of the secretaries (Hsüeh-shih) in the Grand Secretariat was to handle edicts and memorials. They were, however, sometimes sent on special missions to the provinces. To take their place, members of the Academy in addition to Central Government officials of third or fourth rank, who had once been admitted to the Academy, were eligible to be selected to hold the vacant posts concurrently until the return of the absent officials.49 In the event of the conferral of honours or titles to princes and princesses, the chancellors of the Academy were enlisted as deputy representatives of the delegations. When missions were sent to Korea, the Manchu Chancellor of the Academy headed the expedition, while both Manchu and Chinese Hanlins could be called on to lead missions to Vietnam and the Liu-chiu Islands.50 It may be conjectured that for cultural and geographical reasons these were the tributary states maintaining the closest relationship with Peking and were therefore specially honoured by the visits of these distinguished officials. Other functions of a temporary nature of the Hanlins were the supervision of repairs of city public works, the inspection of food distribution and ideological indoctrination in the provinces. In 1725, for example, the Emperor Yung-cheng ordered high dignitaries to select four junior members of the Academy for supervising repairs in cities of Chihli province.51 In 1726 the same emperor ordered several Hanlins to help provincial officials of the same province check the distribution of food.52 Five years ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 114 A. L. Y. CHUNG later, the Emperor Yung-cheng indicated to the Grand Secretariat that he would like to select several dozen of the elderly officials from the capital who were capable enough to give moral and ideological lectures to people in Shensi province,53 Among those selected, the majority were Hanlins. In 1743, the Emperor Ch'ien-lung followed his predecessor's example by despatching a sub-reader and a compiler of the Academy to be Instructors of Morals in a few prefectures in Anhwei and Kiangsu provinces:54 their cultural standard was considered inferior to other prefectures of the same provinces. The Hanlins needed to manage administrative affairs within the Academy itself. There were a series of clerical tasks such as accountancy, filing and translation of documents, preparation work before meetings, which could not be done properly by clerks alone. The Hanlins chose among themselves those who were good in penmanship to help perform these functions. Usually four Hanlins were chosen and they were regarded as executive officials (pan-shih kuan). They had the additional responsibility of examining clerks and subordinates of the Academy for promotion consideration before presenting their cases for approval by the Chancellor. After 1777, when a set of the Szu-ku ch’üan-shu (Complete Book of Four Treasuries) was sent to the library of the Academy, they also were called upon to look after its use by the other members of the Academy.55 Thus, we see that some Hanlins had a hand in nearly all aspects of government at the capital. With activities ranging from the administration of the secretarial affairs of the Academy itself to the managing of state affairs, from their influence on a poor scholar to their impact on the emperor, from experience gained in the capital to a widening of outlook in the provinces, from a few lines of an inscription to voluminous compilations we can see how varied were the duties of the Hanlins and how important was the Academy in the administration of the Empire in the early Ch'ing. The period after 1795 saw the gradual decline of the Ch'ing Dynasty, caused mainly by the lack of arable land and the increase of population on the one hand and the growing of foreign pressures ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 118 A. L. Y. CHUNG Appendix I Eligible Promotions and Transferences of the Hanlins Former Positions at the Academy 1. Chancellor (Rank 2B) 2. Reader, Expositor (Rank 4B) 3. Sub-Reader, Sub-Expositor (Rank 5B) 4. First-Class Compiler (Rank 6B), Second-Class Compiler (Rank 7A), Corrector (Rank 7B) Eligible Promotions and Transferences a. Grand Chancellor of the Grand Secretariat (Rank 1A) b. President of the Government Boards (Rank 1B) a. Vice President of the Government Boards (Rank 2A) b. Director of the Court of Sacrificial Worship (Rank 3A) c. Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud (Rank 3B) d. Director of the Banqueting Court (Rank 3B) e. Supervisor of Instruction in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction (Rank 4A) f. Sub-Director of the Court of Judicature and Revision (Rank 4A) g. Vice Prefects of Shun-t'ien and Feng-t'ien (Rank 4A) a. Sub-Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud (Rank 4A) b. Vice Prefects of Shun-t'ien and Feng-t'ien (Rank 4A) c. Supervisor of Instruction in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction (Rank 4A) d. Sub-Director of the Court of Sacrificial Worship (Rank 4A) e. Director of the Court of State Ceremonial (Rank 4A) f. Libationer in the Imperial College (Rank 4B) Senior and Junior Deputy Supervisors of Instruction in the Imperial Supervisorate of Instruction (Rank 5A) Librarian in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction (Rank 5B) Circuit Censor (Rank 5B) A. b. d. Tutor in the Imperial College (Rank 6A) Secretaries in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction (Rank 6A) This appendix attempts only to show the general advancement route of the Hanlins. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g BOOK REVIEWS 183 again draw back the curtain and look at what lay concealed behind it" (p.11). “At this point we must take another look behind the scenes" (p.29). On Anson's seizure of the Spanish galleon bringing treasure from Acapulco to Manila he writes that "to the weird, unreal mandarinate of China it appeared horrific". "Weird' and 'unreal' to whom? To the English at that time, or to the Chinese people, or to the author alone? There is no evidence on which to base these epithets. They have meaning only in the author's own mind. On the same page he writes of the "dastardly" opinion which the Chinese were forming of Anson, But dastardly from whose point of view? Who is justified in calling it dastardly? Next an example of the author's jocular style: "The failure of the Amherst embassy and we enter the final straight". Finally an example of the author's oracular style: “A sense that there was no turning back seeped into the till then strangely changeless atmosphere, and in the extraordinary way in which one thing led to another, both in England and China, soon practically nothing was the same.” It would be tedious to challenge the author on the many dubious statements and judgments which mar this book - it would also require a very long review. But any reader with an enquiring mind and a regard for historical accuracy will constantly find himself irritated into asking "Where is the evidence for this statement?" In some places the author is simply inaccurate. Thus, in one of his rare footnotes, he states: "Governors usually, but not always, ruled two provinces, in this case Kwangtung and Kwangsi, the Eastern and Western Kwangs; thus the Governor of the Two Kwangs". In fact there was a Governor-General (tsung-tu) for the two Kwangs and a Governor (hsün-fu) for each province. This is an elementary mistake which a knowledge of the Chinese sources would have corrected. Similarly, a greater familiarity with the Chinese scene would have saved him from writing "the Summer Palace in the Western Hills near Peking", when in fact it lies in the plain between Peking and the Western Hills. Also in the brief chapter on Lord Macartney's embassy to China he mentions that Macartney "presented to the Grand Secretary a short memorandum of the points he was authorized to raise. But which Grand Secretary? There were six members of the Grand Secretariat when Macartney was in Peking in 1793. Clearly he means Ho-shen, the favourite minister of the Emperor Ch'ien- ++ ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TSUNGLI YAMEN 45 concerning foreign countries were reported by the governors-general and governors of provinces and were collected in the Grand Council. In recent years reports on the military situation in various areas have been continuous. Foreign affairs involve many subjects. After foreign envoys start residing at the capital if there is no one in sole charge of these matters giving their full attention to handling them then their management will be dilatory, and it will be impossible to co-ordinate policy. We request that a tsung-li ke-kuo shih-wu ya-men [office for the general management of the affairs of the various countries] be established with a minister of princely rank in charge of it. Since the Grand Councillors are responsible for drafting imperial edicts we fear that if they are not concurrently in charge of its affairs there will be discrepancies. We request that they all serve concurrently as officials [of the Tsungli Yamen]. Also we request that an office be provided in order to facilitate the transaction of business, and at the same time for receiving envoys of the various countries. As regards the staff to be established we suggest that eight men should be selected from the Manchu and eight from the Chinese who are presently serving as secretaries of the Grand Secretariat, the Six Boards, the Court of Colonial Affairs and the Grand Council. They should serve in rotation. All matters should be dealt with by the same procedure as in the Grand Council in order to specify responsibilities. As soon as military operations come to an end and affairs concerning the various countries become more simple it will be abolished, and its functions will revert to the Grand Council as before so as to tally with the old system. 2. It is requested that posts for great officials be separately established at the southern and northern ports in order to facilitate the dispatch of business. We note that when trade began during the reign of Tao-kuang there were only the five ports of Canton, Foochow, Amoy, Ningpo, and Shanghai, for which an imperial commissioner was created. Now, according to the newly established treaties, in the north there are Newchwang in Fengtien province, Tientsin in Chihli, Tengchow in Shantung; in the south there are Canton, Ch'aochow and Ch'iungchow in Kwangtung, Foochow, Amoy, Taiwanfu, and Tamsui in Fukien as well as Chenkiang, Kiukiang, and Hankow on the Yangtze river. The area [covered by all these ports] is vast stretching from south to north for seven or eight thousand li. If all these ports ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h 54 J. L. CRANMER-BYNG Councillors at Jehol at this time: Mu-yin; K'uang-yüan; Tu Han; Chiao Yu-ying. Information on all these officials can be found in Hummel, Eminent Chinese, especially in the biography of Su-shun. Their power relationships are discussed in Banno, China and the West, passim, but especially 55-56. The term "minister of the imperial presence" (yü-ch'ien ta-ch'en) is rendered by Brunnert and Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization, p. 28, no. 101, as adjutant-general. II Tengchow is on the northern side of the Shantung promontory. In fact it was not opened to foreign trade which was carried on at Yen-tai near Chefoo. S. Wells Williams, The Chinese Commercial Guide, 211-212. Ch'aochow was the old name for Swatow; Ch'iungchow is in Hainan. Taiwan City and Tamsui were ports on the island of Taiwan which came under the administration of Fukien province. 12 Ch'ung-hou was appointed to this post by an edict of 20 January with the designation superintendent of trade for the Three Ports, with his headquarters at Tientsin. Hsueh Huan, governor of Kiangsu and acting imperial commissioner at Shanghai, was made responsible for the newly opened ports along the Yangtze and the coast to the south of it, by the same edict. As far back as 1844 the imperial commissioner at Canton was currently designated imperial commissioner for the Five Ports. With the addition of new ports it was made a concurrent post of the governor of Kiangsu in 1861, until 1868 when it was made a concurrent post of the governor-general of Liang Kiang residing at Nanking. In 1870 the post of superintendent of trade for the Three Ports was raised to an imperial commissionership and held concurrently by the governor-general of Chihli. It is not clear when the commonly used designations for these two posts viz: superintendent of trade for the southern ports and superintendent of trade for the northern ports were first used. Meng, The Tsungli Yamen, 40-41; Banno, China and the West, 233-5. 13 Article 3 of the Convention of Peking between Britain and China refers. See W. F. Mayers, Treaties Between the Empire of China and Foreign Powers, 8. The phrase to avoid complications arising is a euphemism for 'to avoid peculation'. 14 Tentatively we have translated the Chinese phrase hui-tan as counter-foil. Note 19 also refers. 15 The term is fuyin. See Brunnert and Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization of China, 793. 16 See Frank H. H. King, A Research Guide to China Coast Newspapers, 1822-1911. 17 Translated in collaboration with Mr. Vei-Tsen Yang. Chinese text in Ch'ow-pan wu shih-mo, Hsien-feng, 72: 2-3. A second edict was issued on the same day, and on the same subject, to the Grand Secretariat. This edict was translated by T. F. Wade along with the six-point memorandum. Note 2 above refers. 18 Not to be confused with the Russian Hostel nor with the language school for the Russians in Peking, both of which were often referred to in Chinese documents as O-lo ssu-kuan, thus making confusion likely with the Russian language school referred to here. See Meng, The Tsungli Yamen, 111, note 48. 19 Lit. 'draw up a joint document'. Glossed by T. F. Wade as a paper signed by both parties showing that the amount deducted is in due proportion to the collection'. Translation of Peking Gazette in F.O. 17/352 p. 42. 20 Presumably referring to Robert Hart, the Inspector General of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, and the westerners serving under him. On the general subject of foreigners taking part in the administration of China after the middle of the nineteenth century see Fairbank, The Chinese World Order, 273-5; also Fairbank "Synarchy under the Treaties" in Fairbank (ed.) Chinese Thought and Institutions, 204-231. Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j Appendix 1 59 Chronology of Ruan Yuan's Government Appointments 1789-1838 Appointment Location Rank Dates Hanlin Bachelor Beijing 1789/5 Proof Reader (Wu Ying Dian) Beijing 1789/5 Compiler Second Class Beijing 7A 1790/3 Imperial Diarist Beijing 1790/2 Supervisor of Instruction Beijing 4A 1791/3 Chief Supervisor of Instruction Beijing 3A 1791/11 Director of Studies (Shandong) Jinan 2B 1793/6 Director of Studies (Zhejiang) Hangzhou 2B 1795-1798 Vice President (Board of Rites) Beijing 2A 1798-1799 Acting Vice President (Board of War) Beijing 2A 1799/2 Vice President (Board of Revenue) Beijing 2A 1799/4 Assistant Examiner of Metropolitan Examination Beijing 1799 Acting Vice President (Board of Rites) Beijing 2A 1799/7 Governor of Zhejiang Hangzhou 2B 1799-1805 Vice President (Board of Revenue) Beijing 2A 1807 Vice President (Board of War) Beijing 2A 1807 Governor of Zhejiang Hangzhou 2B 1807-1809 Compiler Second Class (Hanlin Academy) Beijing 7A 1809/10 Sub-expositor (Hanlin Academy) Beijing 4B 1810/5 Imperial Diarist Beijing 1810/10 Revisor (State Historiographer's Office) Beijing 1810/11 Supervisor of Instruction Beijing 4A 1811/9 Sub-Chancellor of Grand Secretariat Beijing 2B 1812/1 Vice President (Board of Rites) Beijing 2A 1812/1 Vice President (Board of Works) Beijing 2A 1812/5 Director-General of Grain Transport Huaian 1812-1814 Governor of Jiangxi Nanchang 2B 1814-1816 Governor of Henan Kaifeng 2B 1816/8 Governor-General of Hu Guang Wuchang 2A 1817/10 Governor-General of Guangdong & Guangxi Canton 2A 1817-1826 38 3 3 3833 ================================================================================