This retelling of events -- "A complete account of wrongful imprisonment in Chongyang" -- is attributed to a servant in the household of magistrate Shi Changzhi, named Yin Zaisheng 殷再生 (almost certainly a pseudonym). The text is in the collection of the Shanghai Municipal Library.

Yin himself called this account "The fact of the Chongyang rebels" 崇逆事實. (p.1)

Page 4

屬. . .所轄 - shu . . . suo xia - to fall under the jurisdiction of . . .

巔崕 -dianya - steep cliff

峻嶺 - junling - lofty range of mountains

丸泥可封 - wanni kefeng - lit., "with a small lump of clay you can seal off the strategic pass" -- an idiom which expresses strategically located and difficult to access terrain

板片 - banpian - wooden block

Page 5

火攻 - huogong - to launch a live-fire attack/attack by setting fire to enemy camp/ here 'to smoke out of a cave'?

一輿 - yi yu - one cart

側讓其半 - ce rang qi ban - to yield up to one half of the cart by leaning (i.e. running or propping the cart on the surrounding cliff-face)

峯 - feng - variant for 峰

撾 - zhua - strike

積竊 - jiqie - habitual thief (Note: the 竊 is written in the document with 耒 in the lower left corner)

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

稔知 - renzhi - know well, familiar with

冒認 - maoren - falsely claim under someone else's name

屍親 - shiqin - relatives of deceased

傳播 - chuanbo - The 播 in the document is written with 米 in the upper right corner

Page  6

嘵嘵不休 - xiao xiao bu xiu - continuously quarrel, argue endlessly

心懸 - xinxuan - to be on edge, to be anxious

膽落 - danluo - panic stricken, be scared out of one's wits

迨至 - daizhi - by the time

書差 - shuchai - clerk in charge of documents

飽其蠧 - bao qi du - seek illicit profit(by taking advantage of their job),line their own pockets

串 - chuan - collude with

嚇逼 - hebi - intimidate and coerce

賄和 - huihe - settle (disputes) using money

覆辙 - fuzhe - the track of an overturned cart,the experience of failure

踵 - zhong - follow

荆棘 - jingji - thistles and thorns, (issues or situations that are) troublesome, difficult to deal with

兇毆 - xiong'ou - fierce fight

索詐 - suozha - extort

買休賣休 - mai xiu mai xiu - annulment of a marriage through monetary transaction

賣姦 - maijian - prostitution

拐帶 - guaidai - abduct, kidnap

戒飭 - jiechi - admonish

撲責 - puze - cane

客寓 - keyu - inn

Page 7

腴肉 - yurou - fat meat

串唆 - chuansuo - to team up to instigate

搆訟 - gousong - to bring about litigation

樂利 - leli - are pleased and benefit

文生 - wensheng - see also 武生 - they were both 生员 in the two branches

命盗 - mingdao - homicide and robbery

訟事 - songshi - litigation

撞騙 - zhuangpian - find opportunities to swindle

壟斷 - longduan - monopolize

經承 - jingcheng - Assignee (servant personnel in government agency)

抝 - ao - to bend the rules; character variant for 拗

原被 - yuanbei - plaintiff and defendant

廉明 - lianming - upright

Page 8

錢漕 - qiancao - tax grain transported by water

獘 - bi - malpractice

毫釐包分 - hao li bao fen - to round up hao and li to fen

科歛 - kelian - to levy according to certain provision

羨餘 - xianyu - additional taxes levied by local officials to present to higher authority

櫃書 - guishu - financial clerical subofficial

掣 - che - to extract

畸零 - jiling - As for the rest; note that the right part of 畸 was written as 竒 in the original text

鎔解 - rongjie - melting

徵漕 - zhengcao - to collect grain tax

水脚 - shuijiao - charges for water transport

不敷 - bufu - insufficient

窵遠 - diaoyuan - distant

擔負 - danfu - to shoulder and to carry on the back

歇家 - xiejia - agent (specializing in business managing, employment service, credit guarantee, litigation, etc.)

折色 - zhese - paying equivalent money instead of tax grain

Page 9

斂忍 - lianren - to restrain and endure

羨票 - qianpiao - remaining notes, money

糧戶 - lianghu - commoner households that paid the land tax

含恨難洩 - han hen nan xie - full of hatred, but no outlet

啟 - qi - begin; to open

上控之隙 - shang kong zhi xi - opportunity from appeal

役 - yi - labor, service, military service

畸 - ji - irregular

收墊 - shoudian - to receive in advance

驢腳 - lujiao - literal translation: donkey's feet

擲 - zhi - to throw

緣宗 - Yuan Zong - name of a monk

甚熾 - shenchi - very intense

藉縱 - jiezong - to allow (disorder)

Page 10

督撫 - dufu - governor-general and governor; Two Magnates

文生 - wen sheng - see also 武生 - they were both 生员 in the two branches

差 - chai - as in 坐里之差; bailifs or runners for the court (similar to 差役)

啟 - qi - begin; to open

革生 - ge sheng - removed from the examination (see also 革流徒生员)

上控 - shang kong - take to trial

櫃書 - guishu - financial clerical subofficial

浮收糧 - fu shou liang - received grain taxes in excess

周天爵 - Zhou Tianjue - then governor-general of Hubei and Hunan

票錢 - piao qian - fixed amount of money in excess of taxes owed by a family, which the 書差 pocketed

漕 - cao - the transport by water of grain, esp. tax grain

畸零 - jiling - As for the rest; note that the right part of 畸 was written as 竒 in the original text

包分 - bao fen - to round up (and pocket the difference); stratagem used by 書差 to extract more money

催之不理 - cui zhi bu li - their pressures were ignored

Page 11

書差 - shuchai - clerk in charge of documents

無損 - wusun - harmless

錢漕 - qiancao - tax grain transported by water

挾制 - xiezhi - to compel

舊規- jiu gui - former regulations

金太和 - Jin Taihe - personal name

除蠧 - chudu - to eliminate corruption

枵腹 - xiaofu - empty stomach

錢糧 - qianliang - tax revenue

乆困圄囹 - jiu kun yu ling - long imprisoned

開倉 - kaicang - to open a granary to provide relief

傀儡 - kuilei - distress, bitterness

Page 12

剔除 - tichu - to reject, to discard

讐怨 - chouyuan - hatred and desire for revenge (a yitizi of more common 仇怨)

燈節 - dengjie - the Lantern Festival (the 15th of the first lunar month)

器械 - qixie - instrument, weapon

搶掠 - qianglue - loot, sack

兩儀 - liangyi - heaven and earth, yin and yang

公牘 - gongdu - official document

避匿 - bini - avoid, elude

刁難 - diaonan - to make things difficult

天爵 - tianjue - refers to Zhou Tianjue, then governor-general of Hubei and Hunan

斷案 - duan'an - to judge/settle a lawsuit

通判 - tongpan - an official sent to supervise the workings of local governments

Page 13

書差 - shuchai - clerk in charge of documents

催科 - cuike - dun for taxes

拘票 - jupiao - arrest warrant

繽紛 - binfen - in riotous profusion

平色－pingse - weight and purity of silver

棘手- jishou - thorny

補委 - buwei - appoint to fill in a post

候補 - houbu - candidate (for vacancy)

餙 - shi - character variant for 飾

奇貨可居 - qihuo keju - rarities that can be hoarded for better prices

嘵嘵 - xiaoxiao - shout, argue noisily

彌縫 - mifeng - to cover up mistakes

歛 - lian - character variant for 敛

接踵 - jiezhong - follow on someone's heels

寮左 - liaozuo - subordinates (of an official)

邀集 - yaoji - invite to meet together

Page 14

消弭 - xiaomi - to terminate (a case); to prevent

不甘 - bugan - be unwilling

池魚之殃 - chi yu zhi yang - disasters suffered by outsiders or innocents

白適 - boshi - this seems to be a variant of 白事, "to explain a matter"

同寅 - tongyin - fellow officials of the same office

精明強幹 - jing ming qiang gan - sagacious and efficient; intelligent and capable

發落 - faluo - deal with (an offender)

盤川 - panchuan - traveling expenses

繳舊換新 - jiao jiu huan xin - turn in something old in exchange for a new one

定例 - dingli - routine practice

Page 15

民輸 - minshu - taxes paid by ordinary people

水脚 - shuijiao - charges for water transport

徴 - zheng - to levy (e.g. taxes)

文 - wen - measure word for copper coins

敷 - fu - to be sufficient

漕 - cao - the transport by water of grain, esp. tax grain

部司府道 - bu si fu dao - ministries, bureaus, prefectures and circuits

地丁 - diding - combined term for land tax and corvee labor

羨餘 - xianyu - additional taxes levied by local officials to present to higher authority

廉俸 - lianfeng - supplements to the base salaries paid to Qing officials designed to prevent corruption

攤捐派捐 - tan juan pai juan - apportion and impose taxes

修餔 - xiubu - likely a mistake for 修補, to repair

囚糧 - qiuliang - food for prisoners

虛懸 - xuxuan - existing only in name

不肯 - buken - to be unwilling to

為人作嫁 - wei ren zuo jia - to work selflessly for others, with no benefit for oneself

逺圖 - yuantu - plan for the long-term, 逺 is a variant of 遠

久長 - jiuchang - long term, permanent

擬 - ni - intend

辦竣 - banjun - finish making arrangements

盈虧 - yingkui - profit and loss

擺脫 - baituo - to cast off or throw off

開倉 - kaicang - to open a granary to provide relief

陳寶銘 - Chen Baoming - personal name

金恢先 - Jin Huixian - personal name

金貴子 - Jin Guizi - personal name

糧戶 - lianghu - commoner households that paid the land tax

作俑 - zuoyong - to set a precedent, usually used in a derogatory sense

自斛 - zihu - provide one's own measurement (hu is an old measuring unit for grain)

踴躍 - yongyue - enthusiastically, eagerly

漕糧 - caoliang - tax grain transported by water

絡繹 - luoyi - come and go unceasingly

目覩 - mudu - to see with one's own eyes, 覩 is a variant of 睹

省垣 - shengyuan - provincial capital

憲 - xian - promulgate

Additional notes for pages 20-25 References to earlier events: For further details concerning Jin Taihe's legal situation, see pg 14 line 2 (不應罪）; pg 15 line 12 (提禁保押) For details on the arrival of the 委員 and the resulting rumors, see pg 12 line 12 (he arrives and inspects burned houses); pg 16 line 7-11 (rumors abound, including 金太和複收府禁之謠言); pg 18 line 7-11 (more rumors, including that Jin Taihe has been ordered placed back into custody and will be promptly executed) For details on Zhong Renjie's location during these events, see pg 17 line 8-9 (remains at 白霓橋, where after burning Cai Shaoxun's house and tying up his family, he is slaughtering pigs and enjoying a meal) In understanding this section, it may be helpful to cross reference the eyewitness account of these events starting at page 33. In particular, you may find the following sections of that account helpful in clarifying ambiguous/difficult parts of the present section: pg 36 line 3 (方幕友's attempt to recruit local gentry to communicate with Zhong Renjie - phrasing significantly clearer than in present section) pg 36 line 5 (洞壁而入, clarifies the ambiguous phrasing of "穿"壁而入 in this section's account of how the Zhong Renjie gang broke into the temple) pg 37 line 4 (describes that the 箱籠 were moved to the temple - explains what is otherwise a confusing reference to them in present section) pg 38 line 1-2 (Zhong Renjie here gives an almost identical speech before killing Shi Changzhi, but uses the familiar 教 character instead of the odd combination of 口 and 斗 character used in the present account; Shi Changzhi's death speech is likewise almost identical, but he uses 黎民 instead of 良民, making even clearer he is referring broadly to the people of Chongyang)

Page 20

魚貫 - yuguan - one following the other; in single file

女墙 - nǚ-qiáng - parapet

讐 - chou - variant of 讎

轎夫 - jiaofu - sedan-chair bearer

幕友 - muyou - private secretary

方幕友 - Fang muyou - personal name: Secretary Fang

致仕 - zhishi - retired officer (usually because of old age)

程千戶 - Cheng qianhu - personal name: Battalion Commander Cheng; Chiliarc Cheng

爆竹 - baozhu - firecracker

支觧 - zhijie - dismember (觧 is a variant of 解)

甥徒 - shengtu - sister's daughter; niece

烏合之眾 - wu he zhi zhong - rabble; mob; a disorderly band

壆板 - xueban - stiff (floor-)boards (or jue-ban, cracks in the floorboards)

囊 - nang - bag

星散 - xingsan - to scatter far and wide

Page 21

復振 - fuzhen - to restore order

凂 - mei - ancient variant for 浼, to request, ask the favor of

因由 - yinyou - reason

旋 - xuan - before long

捕廳 - buting - officials charged with arrest of criminals

保候 - baohou - guarantee a prisoner and have them stay at home while awaiting subpoena (傳訊) by local authorities

人犯 - renfan - suspects

籲請 - yuqing - to plead and request

方 - fang - only then; only when (才)

收捐 - shoujuan - to collect taxes

心悅誠服 - xin yue cheng fu - be completely convinced; feel a heartfelt admiration

發落 - faluo - deal with (an offender)

交保 - jiaobao - release on bail

星使 - xingshi - honorific title for an envoy

黌門 - hongmen - school

寸磔 - cunzhe - dismemberment, or sometimes used for 凌遲

滅族 - miezu - extermination of an entire family

臥碑 - wobei - stela listing prohibitory regulations, specifically for the official schools part of the exam system

Page 22

厫 - ao - variant for 廒; granary

簷 - yan - variant of 檐; eaves

弋獲 - yihuo - to catch criminals

畆 - mu - variant of 畝

推收 - tuishou - procedure for making transfer of property and associated tax obligations official

黎民 - limin - common people

Page 23

鄙俚 - bili - vulgar

殷顧二丁 - Yin Gu er ding - Yin Zaisheng and Gu Fudeng, the two servants of Shi Changzhi

潜遁 - qiandun - abscond; slip away

彌縫 - mifeng - to cover up mistakes

鈐 - qian - seal; affix a seal to

凝思 - ningsi - be lost in thought; ponder

聲色俱厲 - sheng se ju li - harsh in tone and severe in expression

反戈 - fan ge - to turn on one's former allies

Page 24

按捺 - an'na - to restrain/control

肉顫 - rouchan - shivering

飡刀 - candao - knife used for cutting meat

名垂竹帛 - ming chui zhu bo - to leave a name in bamboo slips and silk (for writing historical records)

徒死無益 - tu si wu yi - there is no sense in a useless death

廨 - xie - government office

挨 - ai - press, squeeze

衣庄店 - yi zhuang dian -clothes store

Page 25

觧 - jie - variant for 解

襖褲 - aoku - quilted trousers

Page 26

舖戶 - puhu - store, shop (鋪=舖)

襖褲 - aoku - quilted trousers

Page 27

浮厝 - fucuo - to place a coffin in a temporary shelter

噬脐莫及 - shi qi mo ji - idiom meaning despite regret it is to late to help matters

Page 28

雲梯 - yunti - scaling ladder

落膽 - luodan - scared stiff

Page 29

摃 - kang - variant of 扛

Page 33

積蠧 - jidu - longstanding malpractice (蠹=蠹)