Hu Zhongzao (胡中藻) (1712-1755), sobriquet Jianmosheng (坚磨生), was a Qing dynasty scholar who was a disciple of the Manchu politician Ortai. During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, Ortai and all his political allies were implicated, and Hu Zhongzao and his entire family were sentenced to death for treason and literary crimes.[1][2][3]

Background

Hu Zhongzao was the son of Hu Dazhi (胡大祉) and was from Xinjian County, Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province (江西南昌府新建县).[4]

In October of the fourth year of Qianlong, Hu Zhongzao was 29 years old, so he was born in the 51st year of Kangxi (1712) at the latest.[5]

Career

In February of the 20th year of Qianlong, the Qianlong Emperor secretly told Wei Zhezhi (卫哲治), the governor of Guangxi, to inspect all the exam questions, poems, and evil deeds committed by Hu when he was studying politics in Guangxi, and strictly check Hu's performance.[3] On March 13th, the same year, Qianlong denounced Hu Zhongzao for "complaining" about "things humankind should not have".[6]

Scholar Han Zhanke (翰詹科) said that Hu violated the law and should be sentenced to lingchi.[7]

Hu escaped the more severe sentence of lingchi, but was beheaded in 1755. At this time, Hu Zhongzao's father, son, wife, concubine, and daughter-in-law died one after another. Their property was confiscated, but they had little money at home: only 3,000 taels of silver and 70 stones. The case was tied back to Ortai as Hu Zhongzao was Ortai's disciple, and Ortai's memorial tablet was ordered to be withdrawn from Xianliang Temple on charges of forming "private cliques" (私立朋党). Ortai's nephew, Ocang (鄂昌), was forced to commit suicide. Generally, historians believe that the Hu Zhongzao case was a means to crack down on private cliques.

Hu Zhongzao's poem "A handful of hearts are turbid and clear" (“一把心肠论浊清”) was used as evidence of his rebellion as he put the character zhuo (浊), meaning 'murky', before Qing (清), the same character referring to the Qing dynasty.[1][2]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Fang 2017, pp. 454–456
  2. 1 2 Guy 1987
  3. 1 2 Qingdai wenziyu dang 1931: “将胡中藻任广西学政时所出试题及与人唱和诗文并一切恶迹，严行察出速奏。”
  4. ↑ Zhu 1920, p. 2
  5. ↑ "第十冊，第四百八十六卷，第二十至二十三頁". Qing Gaozong Chun Huangdi Shilu 《清高宗純皇帝實錄》 [Veritable Records of the Pure Qing Emperor Gaozong]. 清實錄.
  6. ↑ Qingdai wenziyu dang 1931: “诋讪怨望”，“非人类中所应有”
  7. ↑ Man Qing yeshi 1916: “胡中藻违天逆道，覆载不容，合依大逆，凌迟处死。”

Sources

  • Fang, Chao-ying (2017) [1943]. "Ortai". In Hummel, Arthur, Sr (ed.). Eminent Chinese of the Qing Period (Revised ed.). Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 9781614728498.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  • Guy, R. Kent (1987). The Emperor's Four Treasuries: Scholars and the State in the Late Ch'ien-lung Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Archivists of the Palace Museum, ed. (2011) [1931]. "胡中藻《坚磨生诗钞》案". Qingdai wenziyu dang 清代文字獄檔 [Qing dynasty literary crime dossiers]. Vol. 1. Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House. ISBN 9787545803167.
  • "康雍乾間文字之獄". Man Qing yeshi 滿清野史 [Unofficial History of the Manchu Qing]. Wenqiao Publishing. 1972 [1916].
  • Zhu Ruzhen (朱汝珍) (1920). 词林辑略 [Abridged Collection of Words]. Vol. 4. Beijing: Central Classics Engraving House.
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