I.1 Palace memorial from Yu-tai and Zhao Bingyan, DG 21.12.16

The first section here is the memorialists' summary in the five lines from wei 為 to shi 事. These two can be translated (unnecessarily) as "In the matter of … " The next section is introduced by qie 竊, which signifies that the memorialists are about to present the details covered in the summary or (in other contexts) present their own views. If translated at all, qie may be rendered as "we find that" or "we venture to report or observe that …".

Note that the sequence of documents summarized or cited begins with the report of the Wuchang prefect et al (from ju 據 at p. 1, line 6 to bing-bao 稟報 at p. 2, line 1). This report in turn cites a report received from the Chongyang county magistrate (jie-ju 接據 at p. 2, line 2, to bing-cheng 稟稱 "report stating" at p. 2, line 3), who begins by referring to an incident or "case" of the previous year (shang-nian 上年 at p. 2, line 3, to yi-an 一案 at p. 2, line 5). The above illustrates how all information is attributed to a source who can be held responsible for it.

Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei, memorials, 4769; reproduced by permission.


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Glossary

裕泰 - Yu tai - personal name (Locate the authors of this joint memorial.)

崇陽縣 - Chongyang xian - place name  (Locate this county on a map. What prefecture was it subject to in Qing times?)

奏 - zou - to memorialize; a (palace) memorial

wei…shi - 為…事 - "regarding the matter of . . ." (The passage ending with shi (lines 1 through 5) summarizes the subject of the memorial.)

聚眾 - juzhong - assemble a crowd

滋擾 - zi rao - cause a disturbance

縣城 - xian cheng - the county seat

搶刦 - qiang jie - pillage, rob

倉庫 - cang ku - granary

監獄 - jianyu - jail

綑縛 - kunfu - tie up

派委 - pai wei - depute

文武 - wenwu - civil and military (civil always precedes)

先徃 - xian wang - proceed (to the scene)

兜拏 - dou na - arrest, seize

即 - ji - right away; forthwith

起程 - qi cheng - set forth

馳 - chi - hurry

赴 - fu - go

督辦 - du ban - manage, supervise

驛 - yi - imperial post system (as opposed to private couriers)

恭摺具奏 - gongzhe juzou - respectfully submit a memorial, respectfully memorialize

仰祈聖鑒 - yangqi shengjian - respectfully asking Your Majesty's perusal (conventional salutation in a memorial)

先後 - xian hou - one after another

據...稟報 - ju...bing bao - received reports from (always scan down the line to find the document referred to by ju)

署 - shu - acting (provisional or temporary appointment)

該府 - gaifu - said prefect (note that fu here is used metonymously to mean the prefect, not the prefecture, just as xian is sometimes used to mean the magistrate rather than the county)

前徃 - qianwang - proceed to...

查勘 - chakan - inspect

堤 - di - an embankment or dike

途次 - tuci - a stop (on the journey)

稟稱 - bingcheng - "the report says" (What follows is probably an abbreviated quote. However, on line 13, where you would expect a close-quote deng-yu 等語, there is none. See Reference Notes 2, Documentary Signposts.)

前縣 - qianxian - the former magistrate

任內 - ren'nei - during the period when Zhe Jin-yuan was serving in that post (ren)

刁徒 - diaotu - troublemaker, hooligan, ruffian, "bad element"

拆毀 - chaihui - demolish; destroy

有怨之家 - youyuan zhijia - "a family against which he had a grievance"

挾制 - xiezhi - to compel; intimidate, coerce, pressure

錢糧 - qianliang - the land and "tribute" grain taxes; tax revenue; land tax

章程 - zhangcheng - regulations

一案 - yi'an - that case

屢經 - lüjing - repeatedly

飭拿 - chi'na - orders to arrest

未獲 - weihuo - was not caught

亥刻 - haike - the interval between 9-11 p.m (Note the care taken to report the exact time of day. Why might this be necessary?)

風聞 - fengwen - it was learned that... (i.e., county magistrate Shi learned, through unspecified channels. Note that we are still within the quote of Shi's report).

查拏嚴緊 - chana yanjin - "efforts to arrest him were rigorous"

其戚 - qiqi - his relative by marriage

主使 - zhushi - instigate, cause, initiate the affair

糾眾 - jiuzhong - gather a mob

將 - jiang - (same as colloquial ba 把 construction)

原告 - yuangao - original accuser (i.e., the person who first lodged a complaint against Zhong Ren-jie)

正...間 - zheng...jian - just when...

辰刻 - chenke - 7-9 a.m.

來蒲 - lai Pu - come to Puqi

面稟 - mianbing - report in person

黨羽 - dangyu - gang

拒殺 - jusha - seize and kill

家丁 - jiading - personal servants (of the magistrate)

伊父 - yifu - his father

綑綁 - kunbang - tie up

伊 - yi - he

齎送 - jisong - bring (to an equal or superior)

各等情 - ge deng qing - refers way back to line 6 in Document I.1. (How do we know that?)

不勝駭異 - busheng haiyi - shocked beyond end

cha - 查 - "looking into the matter" -- introduces the memorialists' comments on the case

山陬 - shanzou - a remote mountainous location

包庇 - baobi - protect

程中和 - Cheng Zhonghe - personal name

挖煤 - wamei - to mine coal (an activity forbidden without government license)

圖利 - tuli - to (illicitly) seek profit

擬徒配逃 - ni tupei tao - sentenced to exile, (but) escaped

縱 - zong - even though, granted that

民人 - minren - commoners

挾有夙嫌 - xieyou suxian - harbor an old grudge

何至 - hezhi - "how could it result in" (refers back to 縱 in previous line)

狂悖 - kuangbei - wild and seditious (acts)

殊堪髮指 - shukan fazhi - "makes one furious" (lit., "particularly causes one's hair to stand on end")

恐 - kong - probably

釁端 - xin duan - cause for hostility; occasion for conflict

辦理不善 - ban li bu shan - "if that magistrate has mismanaged"

或...所致 - huo...suo zhi - "whether it was caused by …"

亟須 - ji xu - urgently requires...

嚴拏懲辦 - yanna chengban - arrest and punish

以伸國法 - yi shen guo fa - to manifest the Dynasty's laws

當即 - dang ji - thereupon immediately…

飭委 - chi wei - order (somebody to do something)

Omitted text: the Hubei provincial judge, Guo Xiong-fei and others have been sent toward Chong-yang with troops. Yu-tai himself is setting forth with part of the Wu-chang garrison. How large is that garrison? Where would you look to find out?

拜摺 - bai zhe - sending off the memorial (lit. bowing to it)

相機 - xiang ji - in accordance with the circumstances

總期 - zongqi - generally expecting that…

處以鎮靜 - chuyi zhenjing - "handle the situation with composure"

出示 - chu shi - issue a proclamation

曉諭 - xiaoyu - clearly order (note that yu 諭 can be a command at any level; compare shang-yu 上諭)

附和 - fu he - adhere

解散 - jiesan - disperse (usual effort to separate leaders from followers)

剋日 - ke ri - an early date; soon (here 剋＝刻)

悉數 - xi shu - all

捦獲 - qinhuo - seize (捦＝擒)

究明 - jiuming - investigate

起釁根由 - qixin genyou - the roots of the conflict

盡法 - jinfa - to the limits of the law

痛懲 - tong cheng - severely punish

斷不 - duan bu - definitely not

稍涉 - shao she - slightly involve, cross into

張皇 - zhang huang - panic, act rashly (short for 張皇失錯, "act rashly and make an error")

致滋擾累 - zhi zi rao lei - to the point of stirring up trouble or false implication [of innocent people]

除 - chu - besides, apart from (refers forward to wai 外 two lines ahead. From here to the zai 再 on line 3 of the next page is a conventional closing format. Note the two actions: carrying out administrative tasks, and memorializing the throne about the whole affair. Compare the introductory passage).

鄰封 - lin feng - adjoining jurisdictions

暨 - ji - and

移咨 - yi zi - to send a lateral communication (i.e., to another official)

屬 - shu - subordinate officials

一體協拏 - yi ti xie na - "all work together to arrest" (implies without regard to particular jurisdictions or specialized duties)

防堵 - fang du - defend and blockade

以免 - yi mian - to avoid, obviate

竄越 - cuan yue - escape (across borders?)

所有。。。緣由 - suo you … yuan you - all the factors concerning …

理合 - li he - as is appropriate

恭摺具奏 - gong zhe ju zou - respectfully submit a memorial, respectfully memorialize

乞皇上聖鑒 - qi huang shang sheng jian - "awaiting Your Majesty's perusal" (Compare the similar phrase earlier on.)

再 - zai - on another subject (actually a related subject in this case)

省署 - sheng shu - [Yu-tai's] office in the provincial capital

照例 - zhao li - "in accord with the [appropriate] substatute" [of the Board of Civil Office]

檄委 - xi wei - depute

藩司 - fan si - provincial treasurer

代行代印 - dai xing dai yin - act (and) employ the seal, in the capacity of a substitute

包封 - bao feng - wrap up and seal

遞至途次 - di zhi tu ci - "forward to [Yu-tai's] stops enroute"

合併 - he bing - (this), together with (the previous matters)

陳明 - chen ming - state clearly

另有旨 - ling you zhi - "There is a separate decree."