I.11 Memorial, Mujangga (Mu-zhang-a) et al., DG 22.4.28

The original of this memorial has not been found. This version is reproduced, by permission, from the Grand Council record book known as Shangyu fangben 上諭檔方本 Record of edicts, square volumes, First Historical Archives of China, Beijing.

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Glossary

穆彰阿等 - Mu-zhang-a deng - personal name. (See the end of this document for the complete list of signatories. Consult the tables in Reference Notes 3.6 to determine which units were represented on this special tribunal.) 穆彰阿 was formerly a 漕運總督, and he held the appointment of 戶部尚書 and the title of 太子太保 when he submitted this memorial

穆彰阿等 - Mu-zhang-a deng - personal name

會同 - huitong - act in concert; jointly

按律 - an-lü - according to the statute (in the Qing Code)

定擬 - ding-ni - render a judgment (in a criminal case)

押解 - yajie - escort under arrest; arrest, apprehend

章京司員 - zhangjing siyuan - secretaries, subordinate officials of the boards.

提犯 - tifan - bring a criminal before a court

積慣 - jiguan - habitual

訟棍 - songgun - pettifogger, someone who encourages others to file lawsuits and from this seeks profit

供詞 - gongci - depositions

狡猾 - jiaohua - crafty; cunning (but not necessarily mendacious)

情節 - qingjie - the details of the matter

諉 - wei - put blame on...

已...金青茂 - yi...Jin Qingmao - Jin Qing-mao, who already … ("already": time referent is the present, i.e., when this memorandum is being written)

被眾脅迫 - beizhong xiepo - coerced by the mob

無奈 - wunai - could not but...

投首 - toushou - give oneself up to the authorities

等語 - dengyu - (signifies end of summary of depositions)

希圖 - xitu - hoping to...

輕減 - qingjian - lighten and reduce

罪名 - zuiming - sentence (in criminal case)

迨...始 - dai...shi - only when..., then...

該省 - gaisheng - the provincial authorities concerned

原審 - yuanshen - the original trial (at provincial level)

供招 - gongzhao - confessions

逐層 - zhuceng - one by one

辭 - ci - excuses

親提嚴鞫 - qinti yanju - personally interrogate (the criminals)

偽示 - weishi - falsely displayed

質證 - zhizheng - confront with evidence

俯首 - fushou - bow their heads (to confess)

緣 - yuan - "to wit, …", namely (there follow the facts of the case, as the tribunal has determined them)

已正法 - yi zhengfa - already executed

代各堡 - dai ge pu - on behalf of all the villages/towns

開徵 - kaizheng - begin the collection of taxes

花戶 - huahu - taxpaying households

需索 - xusuo - extort

耗銀樣米 - haoyin yangmi - meltage fee and "sample" rice (two much-abused surtaxes)

吵鬧 - chaonao - dispute, raise a ruckus

呈控 - chengkong - present a legal plaint (about...)

積弊 - jibi - accumulated malpractices; longstanding abuses

具呈 - jucheng - draw up a legal plaint

控告 - konggao - file a formal complaint

提省 - tisheng - brought before the provincial court (for trial)

責革 - zege - reprimand and dismiss from office

完案 - wan'an - close the case

唆讼 - suosong - instigate lawsuits

慫恿 - songyong - egg on; incite

把持 - bachi - dominate, control (unauthorized); to lay hold of illegally, take over (public functions)

暗中 - anzhong - secretly

勒索 - lesuo - extort

藉 - jie - when, on the occasion of...

娶親 - quqin - hold a wedding

指為 - zhiwei - accuse of...

拐帶 - guaidai - abduct, kidnap

稟官 - bing'guan - inform the authorities

究治 - jiuzhi - investigate and punish

邀集 - yaoji - assemble

看押 - kanya - take into custody

奏參 - zoucan - impeach (by secret or routine memorial)

撤任 - cheren - relieve from duties

業經 - yejing - already (time-referent is the present: i.e., when this memorandum is being written)

述及 - shuji - relate

恐 - kong - fears that …

審出 - shenchu... - investigation would reveal that...

問罪 - wenzui - investigate or accuse (as a criminal)

託 - tuo - entrust to

設法 - shefa - devise means

甫經 - fujing - had just...

念及 - nianji - thinking that...

審輸 - shenshu - lose a legal case

以...等詞 - yi..dengci - using...as basis for litigation

准理 - zhunli - accepted for adjudication

商令 - shangling - conferred with...and had him...

挾制 - xiezhi - to compel

息訟 - xisong - give up the litigation

已正法 - yi zhengfa - already executed

比及 - biji - by the time that...

(Omitted text: they arrived at the county seat, but the gate was already closed. The next morning, upon learning that Jin Qing-mao had assembled a crowd to cause trouble, Magistrate Shi kept the gate closed. Jin and the crowd were unwilling to disperse. On the twelfth, they entered the city through a gap in the west wall.)

逼令 - biling - coerce

發稟 - fabing - issue a petition (to higher authorities)

維時 - weishi - just at that time

復 - fu - furthermore; and further...

擺列 - bailie - set up

帥臺 - shuaitai - marshal's platform

令旗 - lingqi - banners of command

轉邀 - zhuanyao - recruit

裹脅 - guoxie - force to join up; coerce into joining

開碾倉谷 - kainian cang'gu - prepare grain (lit. open the granary and husk grain) (谷＝穀）

未允 - weiyun - did not accede (to their request)

素與有讐 - suyu youchou - person against whom one has long harbored a grudge

躲避 - duobi - to hide; go into hiding

抵禦 - diyu - defend

偽稱 - weicheng... - falsely entitle oneself...

(Omitted text: Zhong Ren-jie sent forces against Pu-qi County, but after many had been killed by government troops, the rebels’ morale fell)

誘令 - youling - entice (and thus cause...); to lure

凌遲 - lingchi - to execute by slow slicing

斬梟 - zhanxiao - to decapitate and publicly display the head (as a warning)

發遣 - faqian - banish

審悉 - shenxi - reach a judicial finding

前情 - qianqing - the aforementioned circumstances/facts

(Omitted text: Upon investigation, the tribunal found that there had been no long-matured plot, nor had Shi Chang-zhi or his predecessor incited the rebellion by oppressive government. The origins of the uprising were as set forth above)

核之 - hezhi - investigating (the matter) in...., confront with

原審 - yuanshen - the original trial (at provincial level)

情節 - qingjie - the details of the matter

一節 - yijie - that portion (of the evidence, just preceding)

堅不承認 - jian buchengren - firmly denies

與...稍有參差 - yu...shaoyou cenci - differs somewhat from...

堪以髮指 - kanyi fazhi - enough to make one's hair stand on end

到案 - dao'an - brought to trial

翻異 - fanyi - retract testimony

迨...即 - dai...ji - only when...thereupon...

駁斥 - bochi - expose an error or untruth (駮＝駁）

無可置辨 - wuke zhibian - render speechless

轉予稽誅 - zhuanyu jizhu - result in delaying the execution

擬結 - nijie - render judgment

律載 - lü-zai - the statute specifies that...

謀反...等語 - moufan...dengyu - "All persons convicted of high treason, whether as principals or as accessories, are liable to execution by slicing."

(Omitted text: Zhong, Chen, and Wang were bad sheng-yuan who engaged in proxy remittance of taxes, and for that reason got involved in lawsuits with the revenue clerks, then broke into the city, killed the magistrate, assumed bogus titles, seized cities, etc., (i.e., all the facts recounted above), and in view of these facts...)

依...律 - yi … lü - in accordance with the statute that says …

市曹 - shicao - execution ground

以彰國憲 - yizhang guoxian - to manifest our Dynasty's laws

家屬 - jiashu - dependents

照例緣坐 - zhaoli yuanzuo - be punished as guilty by association, according to the substatute

善後事宜案內 - shanhou shiyi an'nei - cleaning up the residual affairs of the case

嚴行革除 - yanxing gechu - strictly abolish

以安閭閻 - yi'an lüyan - to bring peace to the villages (a stock phrase)

肅法紀 - su faji - respect the laws; purify the laws

(Omitted text: The governor-general should investigate the cause of Cai De-zhang (named in depositions as the instigator of attacks against the clerks), who is still in jail.)

定擬 - dingni - render a verdict

緣由 - yuanyou - the details; reasons

理合 - li he - as is appropriate; it is appropriate that...