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• 1 2021-09-19T11:32:07-04:00 I.10 Wei Yuan, funerary essay on Shi Changzhi 1 plain 2021-09-19T11:32:07-04:00

  
  
  I.10 Wei Yuan, Funerary essay on Shi Changzhi

  Wei Yuan, Funerary essay on Shi Changzhi, in Guweitang waiji 古微堂外集 1878, 4: 33-36. This essay, originally composed as a eulogy for the slain magistrate, Shi Changzhi, was written by the noted Qing scholar Wei Yuan 魏源 (1794-1857). As you will see, it was essentially a tract on a major contemporary political question and stands as a good example of the uses of unofficial writings and biographical sources for historical research. 
  
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  Glossary

  墓誌銘 - muzhiming - a standard form of funerary essay, consisting of a biographical section (zhi 志) in prose and a final epitaph (ming 銘) in prose or verse

  生員 - shengyuan  - licentiates, holders of the lowest examination degree. As "students", they were under the supervision of the county academy

  偪 - bi - advance on

  刼 - jie - coerce; seize, rob, plunder 

  死事 - sishi - died in the line of duty

  遂 - sui - then, subsequently

  陷 - xian - captured

  遇害 - yuhai - to be murdered; come to harm

  始末 - shimo - beginning and end; i.e., the whole story

  詔 - zhao - proclaim; imperial decree (can be used both as a verb and a noun)

  賜卹如例 - cixu ruli - bestow posthumous rewards in accordance with the (appropriate) substatute

  部議 - buyi - the board has recommended

  雲騎尉 - yunqiwei - a hereditary honorary title, "commandant of the fleet-as-clouds cavalry"

  君 - jun - the gentleman (a polite reference to Shi Chang-zhi)

  故 - gu - formerly

  源 - Yuan - Wei Yuan, the author

  同鄉試 - tongxiangshi - same provincial examination

  官內閣 - guan neige - hold office in the Grand Secretariat

  獲交 - huojiao - have the honor to be acquainted with

  前海州知州 - qian Haizhou zhizhou - former Department Magistrate of Haizhou

  亮采 - Liangcai - personal name. This man is also surnamed Shi

  其歸葬也 - qiguizangye - "when his remains had been brought home for burial"

  海州 - Haizhou - refers to Shi Liangcai

  志 - zhi - relate, record

  銘 -ming - to record; inscribe, engrave

  幽 - you - grave, gravesite, tomb (abbreviation of 幽石, 幽矌, 幽宮)

  僅為君歎悼哉 - jin wei jun tandao zai - "Is it only over Shi that we grieve?"

  圜 - huan - encircled

  胥役 - xuyi - county clerks and yamen runners

  故...亦... - gu...yi... - certainly..., (but) also... (故＝固)

  虎而冠 - hu'erguan - "wear caps (of office) but behave like tigers"

  催徵 - cuizheng - collect ("urge" payment of) taxes

  錢糧 - qianliang - tax revenue; land tax

  漕米 - caomi - tribute grain tax

  魚肉 - yurou - feed off the people (lit. "(treat as) fish and meat")

  生員 - shengyuan - licentiates, holders of the lowest examination degree. As "students", they were under the supervision of the county academy

  起而 - qi'er - appeared on the scene, emerged to ...

  包攬 - baolan - proxy remittance of taxes (or engrossment of any unauthorized local function, such as writing legal briefs)

  輸納 - shu'na - payment of taxes

  驟富 - zoufu - became wealthy rapidly 

  角立 - jiaoli - stand opposed to

  折錦元 - She Jinyuan - personal name

  憒 - kui - muddle-headed

  一惟 - yiwei - entirely go along with, approve of

  致 - zhi - eventuate in

  鬨漕 - hongcao - (civilians) riot (over) tribute grain taxes

  伍長華 - Wu Changhua - personal name

  批 - pi - endorsement, comment; a written instruction in response to a subordinate's communication

  造戶冊（扁） - zao huce - compile registers (The characters hu and ce are combined here into a single character, evidently a conventional abbreviation)

  毀 - hui - destroy

  差房 - chaifang - the clerks' office

  明竣 - Mingjun - personal name

  調停 - tiaoting - mediate

  姑息 - guxi - temporize, handle indulgently (i.e., inappropriate to the case)

  姦民 - jianmin - evildoers, or evil people (in the general sense)

  日 - ri - increasingly (day by day)

  肆 - si - act outrageously

  劾罷 - heba - to impeach to cashier/to impeach and (the emperor) cashiered/to impeach and resulted in the cashiering of

  金雲門 - Jin Yunmen - personal name

  往署 - wangshu - go (there) and assume acting duties

  禽 - qin - arrest (禽＝擒)

  獄 - yu - jail; a case (as in, civil disturbance, court case, or scandal)

  勢 - shi - the general situation

  戢 - ji - abated

  上游 - shangyou - superior officials

  檄捕 - xibu - warrants for arrest

  仇 - chou - nemesis, longstanding enemy

  蔡紹勳 - Cai Shaoxun - personal name

  主使 - zhushi - incite, instigate, or mastermind

  篡 - cuan - illegally

  至則 - zhize - "when he got there, then..."

  遁 - dun - escape

  焚 - fen - burn

  廬 - lu - house

  率 - shuai - to lead

  躡逐 - niezhu - to follow in pursuit

  鼎沸 - dingfei - in an uproar

  諭之，不退 - yuzhi, butui - "ordered them (to disperse but) they did not withdraw"

  役 - yi - labor, service, military service; yamen underlings or runners

  相持 - xiangchi - held each other at bay/to confront

  竟夜 - jingye - for the whole night

  質明 - zhiming - at dawn

  踰缺 - yuque - crossing over an opening in the city wall

  大索 dasuo search for . . . all around

  執 - zhi - seize

  迫令申狀 - poling shenzhuang - (tried to) force him to submit a petition (to superior officials)

  倡義 - changyi - volunteered (as a public service), aid in the name of righteousness

  上司 - shangsi - superior officials

  釋 - shi - release

  以事 - yishi - for some reason (on public business)

  懷印 - huaiyin - carrying the official seal

  潛 - qian - secretly

  彈壓 - tanya - suppress (the mob)

  益 - yi - increasingly

  張 - zhang - bold

  罵賊死 - mazeisi - died, cursing the rebels (a stock phrase in accounts of this sort)

  殉之 - xunzhi - died (in a noble or sacrificial manner, as a martyr)

  莅任 - liren - assume office, succeed to a post

  甫 - fu - just (in the recent past), only just

  耗羨 - haoxian - "meltage" surcharge

  無可歸罪 - wuke guizhi - could not put blame (I.10 - on Shi Changzhi)

  乃 - nai - therefore

  槥 - hui - a kind of coffin

  斂 - lian - dress a corpse for burial and then place within coffin (斂＝殮）

  哭祭之 - ku jizhi - mourning, sacrificed to him

  報仇 - baochou - getting revenge (as in a feud)

  倉卒 - cangcu - in the excitement; or, too hastily

  事不獲已 - shi buhuoyi - the matter could not be helped (=不得已)

  刦庫獄 - jie ku yu - broke open the treasury and the jail

  散倉粟 - san cangsu - distributed grain from the granary

  幟械 - zhixie - flags and weapons

  境內 - jingnei - within the borders

  堡 - bu - village (also postal station, where it is pronounced pu)

  若干 - ruogan - a certain number

  不從者 - bucongzhe - any who fails to obey

  烏合 - wuhe - like a flock of crows (i.e. disorganized)

  使...而... - shi...er... - if (only)...but...(counterfactual)

  散黨禽渠 - sandang qinqu - scatter the followers and seize the leaders

  夷寇 - yikou - the barbarian marauders

  調 - diao - transferred

  江浙 - Jiang-Zhe - Jiangsu and Zhejiang

  無幾 - wuji - not many

  俟 - si… - wait until.. .

  脅 - xie - coerce, force

  幸 - xing - fortunately

  挫之蒲圻城外 - cuozhi Puqi chengwai - defeated (held) them outside the walls of Puqi

  張 -zhāng - literally, set up traps to capture animals

  疑兵 - yibing - a diversionary force, a feint

  進剿 - jinjiao - advance to annihilate

  瓦解 - wajie - scattered (like tiles in a wind)

  窮蹙 - qiongcu - hard-pressed, at the end of his rope

  就縛 - jiufu - to accept arrest

  請帑 - qingtang - request (funds from government) treasuries. The unit is not given, but presumed to be taels of silver.

  文武生員 - wenwu shengyuan - civil and military licentiates (i.e., the lower-gentry leaders)

  國家 - guojia - the reigning dynasty (not "nation" as in modern usage)

  轉漕 - zhuancao - levy (lit. "transport") grain tribute

  載 - zai - year

  幫費 - bangfei - grain-transport surtax. (Originally levied to defray expenses of the labor-gangs (bang) that hauled grain up the Grand Canal. See Reference Notes 6.1)

  銀價 - yinjia - the value of silver (relative to copper)

  昂 - ang - to rise

  本色折色 - bense zhese - tax in kind and tax commuted to money payment

  浮 - fu - excessive

  以困于是 - yikun yushi - (and the state) is trapped in this situation

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

  生監 - shengjian - shengyuan and jiansheng (holders of lower degrees; the latter is purchased.)

  侵漁 - qinyu - to fleece (our metaphor involves a different animal)

  書役 - shuyi - clerks and runners

  交相為難 - jiaoxiang weinan - plague one another

  各執一詞 - gezhi yici - "each maintains his own position"

  弱肉強食 - ruorou qiangshi - the strong prey upon the weak

  如圜無端 - ruhuan wuduan - a vicious circle

  及其癰潰 - jiqi yongkui - till the boil bursts

  俱傷兩敗 - jushang liangbai - everybody is injured

  善者 - shanzhe - good persons, i.e. innocent of wrongdoing

  末如何 - moruhe - cannot do anything about it

  或 - huo - may

  代受其禍 - daishou qihuo - may even bear the brunt of the disaster

  若 - ruo - like, for instance

  歸安 - Gui'an - place names

  大獄 - dayu - a major incident (involving illegality and punishment)

  不寧惟是 - buning weishi - not only this; and that is not all

  耒陽 - Leiyang - place name

  錢漕浮勒 - qiancao fule - "land and grain taxes were excessive and extortionate"

  激 - ji - incite

  大吏 - dali - high officials

  至 - zhi - even had to; as for (refers to a passage in Yu-tai's memorial of DG 21.12.4)

  瓦子山曾波州 - Wazishan, Zengbozhou - place names

  彌月 - miyue - a whole month

  俘 - fu - capture

  歐陽大鵬 - Ouyang Dapeng - (an error for Yang Dapeng; He went to the capital to present a petition)

  京師 - Jingshi - the capital, Beijing

  論功行賞 - lungong xingshang - determine merit and distribute rewards

  一轍 - yizhe - just the same (in the same track)

  己卯科 - jimao ke - the examination quota for the year jimao

  順天鄉試 - Shuntian xiangshi - the provincial examination held in Shun-tian prefecture (i.e., Beijing)

  妻...氏 - qi...shi - his wife (whose surname the author evidently does not know)

  以奉母 - yi fengmu - because she was taking care of their (can be Shi's or Shi's wife's)  mother, in other words, Shi's mother or mother-in-law

  不與其難 - buyu qinan - did not share his fate

  某原 - mouyuan - a certain cemetery (原 = 塬，a plateau form that is unique to Northwestern China)

  銘曰 - mingyue - the epitaph reads

  食與戎 - shi yu rong - economic and military affairs

  窮 - qiong - exhausted

  肇兵 - zhaobing - outbreak of war, commence hostilities

  激舂 - jichong - set off an incident

  豪 - hao - powerful (implies illegitimate power)

  蠧同 - dutong - both resemble vermin

  蚌鷸 - bangyu - mussel and snipe

  吁 - xu - bewail, bemoan

  恫 - tong - grief

  維 - wei - even

  三代公 - sandai gong - duke of the three ages

  大刑 - daxing - great punishments (military suppression)

  屢修 - lüxiu - repeatedly applied/practiced/(initiated to) correct

  劑窮 - jiqiong - help the poor

  易爻 - yiyao - the yao elements in an Yijing hexagram

  訟 - song - hexagram meaning "fighting"

  師 - shi - hexagram meaning "war"

  繼 - ji - follow (referring to the succession of hexagrams)

  需 - xu - hexagram meaning "food supply"

  蒙 - meng - hexagram meaning "education"

  膠庠 - jiaoxiang - school in Zhou dynasty; schools in general; here, refers to the county school system and the sheng-yuan under it

  獄 - yu - jail; a case (as in, civil disturbance, court case, or scandal)

  功 - gong - merit, fruit (as in good result; in I.10 used ironically)

  法 - fa - law; also, methods (of governance, as in bianfa)

  匪變 - feibian - 'When bandits revolt', but also 'without revolt'.

  胡通 - hutong - how can it be satisfactorily solved?

  漕賦 - caofu - the grain tribute system

  安所終 - an suozhong - How can it be ended?