Baoting 寶廷

Pao-t'ing 寶廷 (T. 仲獻 H. 難齋, original ming 偶齋, T. 寶賢 H. 少溪, 竹坡), Feb. 17, 1840-1890, Dec. 24, member of the Imperial Clan, was one of the so-called Four Admonishing Officials (see under Chang P'ei-lun) at the close of the Ch'ing period. He was a descendant of Jirgalang [q.v.] in the eighth generation, and his family belonged to the Bordered Blue Banner. His father, Ch'ang-lu 常祿 (T. 蓮溪, d. 1869), was a chin-shih of 1832 who rose to a sub-readership of the Hanlin Academy. Pao-t'ing spent most of his boyhood in the Western Hills of Peking, where his father had retired in 1848. In 1856, soon after the family returned to Peking, the ancestral residence was destroyed by fire and the family fortune declined. Pao-t'ing was therefore forced to study under straightened circumstances. Graduating as chü-jên in 1864 and as chin-shih in 1868, he served seven years (1868-75) in the Hanlin Academy, rising to a readership in 1873. Though he was degraded in 1875 to a secretaryship in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction owing to poor grades in his examinations, he was promoted several times in the ensuing years and finally (late in 1881) was made junior vice-president of the Board of Ceremonies, a position he held until early in 1883. In 1882 he served as chief examiner of the Fukien provincial examination. Among his selections for chü-jên was Chêng Hsiao-hsü 鄭孝胥 (T. 太夷 H. 蘇龕, 1859-1938) who later became the first prime minister of Manchukuo.

During his official career Pao-t'ing was a leader of the group of officials in Peking who were known as Ch'ing-liu tang 清流黨. In the eighteen-seventies this group made a point of denouncing the unfair practices of high officials and exercised a strong influence on the Peking government. Though patriotic and anxious to strengthen the country, most of them were conservatives and were ignorant of foreign affairs. They did much for the enforcement of strict official discipline but obstructed the work of progressive officials, such as Li Hung-chang and Kuo Sung-tao [qq.v.]. Copies of twenty-eight memorials of Pao-t'ing preserved by his sons were edited and printed in 2 chüan by Kao Fêng-ch'i 高鳳岐 (T. 嘯桐 H. 媿室 1858-1909, chü-jên of 1882), under the title 竹坡侍郎奏議 Chu-p'o shih-lang tsou-i. Kao's preface is dated 1901. This work was reprinted in 1901 by Hsia Chên-wu 夏震武 (T. 伯定 H. 滌庵, original ming 震川, 1853-1930) as a part of the 嘉定長白二先生奏議 Chia-ting Ch'ang-pai êr hsien-shêng tsou-i. It has a nien-p'u of Pao-t'ing, compiled by his eldest son, and memorials of Hsü Chih-hsiang 徐致祥 (T. 季和, 1838-1899) who rose in his official career to educational commissioner of Chekiang (1894-99).

Unlike many of his fellow officials, Pao-t'ing was indifferent to wealth and had no desire to possess rare books, ancient bronzes, inscribed stones, or other objects of antiquity. He led an unconventional life and was not free from the moral failings which characterized some of his prominent contemporaries. In 1860 he married a Manchu woman who was a distant relative. About a decade later he kept three Chinese concubines, one of them represented as an entertainer in Hangchow where he spent gay months in 1873 serving as assistant provincial examiner of Chekiang. Late in 1882, when he returned from Foochow, he took back with him a woman from one of the Chiang-shan ch'uan 江山船, or pleasure-boats on the Ch'ien-t'ang River. Before reaching Peking, however, he sent to the throne a memorial in which he purposely denounced his own disgraceful behavior. In consequence of this memorial he was deprived of his position. Thereafter he lived in retirement, diverting himself by writing poems and visiting the Western Hills, whose natural beauty he much enjoyed. His death is said to have been hastened by heavy drinking. His poems were edited and printed in 36 chüan by his sons, under the title 偶齋詩草 Ou-chai shih-ts'ao.

The eldest son of Pao-t'ing, Shou-fu 壽富 (T. 伯茀 H. 菊客, 1865-1900), obtained his chin-shih degree in 1898. In the same year he became an assistant professor in the Peking Imperial University (see under Sun Chia-nai) and made a tour of inspection in Japan. Upon his return he presented to the throne his report, entitled 日本風土記 Jih-pên fêng-t'u chi, 4 chüan, in which he advocated the modernization of China on the pattern of Japan. Soon after, however, the coup d'état of the Empress Dowager took place (see under T'an Ssŭ-t'ung), and he was forced to retire. When the Boxer Rebellion broke out (1900) Shou-fu advised Jung-lu [q.v.] to force the Kansu army, under the command of Tung Fu-hsiang (see under Jung-lu), to evacuate Peking so that these troops would not come into conflict with those of the foreign powers. Jung-lu, however, did not follow this advice, and when Tung's army attacked the Legations, the Allied forces threatened the capital. In this crisis Shou-fu's father-in-law, Lien-yüan 聯元 (T. 仙蘅, 1838-1900, chin-shih of 1868), urged the inadvisability of resisting the foreign troops, but his opinion was disregarded and he was executed (August 11, 1900) by influential conservatives, on the charge of treason. On August 14, the Allied forces entered Peking, and three days later when a foreign contingent approached his residence, Shou-fu and his brother, Shou-fan 壽蕃 (T. 仲茀, original ming 富壽, 1869-1900), and his two younger sisters, took poison. But before the poison could take effect they hanged themselves. Shou-fu's wife and her two infants survived.

[ 1/450/2a; Nien-p'u (see above); Fan-t'ien lu ts'ung-lu (see bibl. under Hsiao-ch'in) chüan 7; Chên-chün 震鈞, 天咫偶聞 T'ien-chih ou-wên (1907) 5/14b; Hsüeh-ch'iao shih-hua (see under Shêng-yü), first series, 12/62b; Chin-liang (see under Wêng T'ung-ho), Chin-shih jên-wu chih (1934), p. 276; for Shou-fu, 1/474/3a; 6/33/16a; Hsi-hsün hui-luan shih-mo (see bibl. under Jung-lu) 3/26a.]

HIROMU MOMOSE

字仲獻 號竹坡 又號偶齋 行二 鑲藍旗四品宗室 甲子科舉人 宗室第一名貢士 翰林院庶吉士

著有《尚書持平》

《清史稿》卷444

宗室寶廷，字竹坡，隸滿洲鑲藍旗，鄭獻親王濟爾哈朗八世孫。同治七年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。累遷侍讀。光緒改元，疏請選師保以崇聖德，嚴宦寺以杜干預，覈實內務府以節糜費，訓練神機營以備緩急，懿旨嘉納。大考三等，降中允，尋授司業。是時朝廷方銳意求治，詔詢吏治民生用人行政，寶廷力抉其弊，諤諤數百言，至切直。晉、豫飢，應詔陳言，請罪己，並責臣工。條上救荒四事，曰：察釐稅，開糧捐，購洋米，增糶局。復以災廣賑劇，請行分貸法。畿輔旱，日色赤，市言訛駴，建議內嚴防範，外示鎮定，以安人心。歷遷侍講學士，以六事進，曰：明黜陟，專責任，詳考詢，嚴程限，去欺蒙，慎赦宥，稱旨。五年，轉侍讀學士。

初，德宗繼統嗣文宗，懿旨謂將來生有皇子，即繼穆宗為嗣。內閣侍讀學士廣安請頒鐵券，被訶責。至是，穆宗奉安惠陵，主事吳可讀堅請為其立後，以尸諫，下廷臣議。寶廷謂：「恭繹懿旨之意，蓋言穆宗未有儲貳，即以皇上所生之子為嗣，非言生皇子即時承繼也，言嗣而統賅焉矣。引伸之，蓋言將來即以皇上傳統之皇子繼穆宗為嗣也。因皇上甫承大統，故渾涵其詞，留待親政日自下明詔，此皇太后不忍歧視之慈心，欲以孝弟仁讓之休歸之皇上也。廣安不能喻，故生爭於前；吳可讀不能喻，故死爭於後。竊痛可讀殉死之忠，而又惜其遺摺之言不盡意也。可讀未喻懿旨言外之意，而其遺摺未達之意，皇太后早鑒及之，故曰『前降旨時即是此意』也。而可讀猶以忠佞不齊為慮，誠過慮也。宋太宗背杜太后，明景帝廢太子見深，雖因佞臣妄進邪說，究由二君有自私之心。迺者兩宮懿旨懸於上，孤臣遺疏存於下，傳之九州，載之國史，皇上天生聖人，必能以皇太后之心為心。請將前後懿旨恭呈御覽，明降諭旨，宣示中外，俾天下後世咸知我皇太后至慈，皇上至孝至弟至仁至讓，且以見穆宗至聖至明，付託得人也。如是，則綱紀正，名分定，天理順，人情安矣。因赴內閣集議，意微不合，謹以上聞。」

又奏：「廷臣謂穆宗繼統之議，已賅於皇太后前降懿旨之中，將來神器所歸，皇上自能斟酌盡善，固也。然懿旨意深詞簡，不及此引伸明晰，異日皇上生有皇子，將繼穆宗為嗣乎，抑不即繼乎？不即繼似違懿旨，即繼又嫌跡近建儲。就令僅言繼嗣，不標繼統之名，而臣民亦隱以儲貳視之，是不建之建也。而此皇子賢也，固宗社福；如其不賢，將來仍傳繼統乎，抑舍而別傳乎？別傳之皇子，仍繼穆宗為嗣乎，抑不繼乎？即使仍繼穆宗，是亦不廢立之廢立也，豈太平盛事乎？至此時即欲皇上斟酌盡善，不亦難乎？廷議之意，或以皇上親政，皇子應尚未生，不難豫酌一盡善之規。然國君十五而生子，皇子誕育如在徹簾之前，又何以處之乎？與其留此兩難之局以待皇上，何如及今斟酌盡善乎？且懿旨非皇上可改，此時不引伸明晰，將來皇上雖斟酌盡善，何敢自為變通乎？此未妥者一也。廷議又謂繼統與建儲，文義似殊，而事體則一，似也。然列聖垂訓，原言嗣統之常，今則事屬創局，可讀意在存穆宗之統，與無故擅請建儲者有間，文義之殊，不待言矣。今廷議不分別詞意，漫謂我朝家法未能深知，則日前懿旨『即是此意』之謂何，臣民不更滋疑乎？此未妥者又一也。」疏入，詔藏毓慶宮。其他，俄使來議約，朝鮮請通商，均有所獻納。

七年，授內閣學士，出典福建鄉試。既蕆事，還朝，以在途納妾自劾罷，築室西山，往居之。是冬，皇太后萬壽祝嘏，賞三品秩。十六年，卒。

子壽富，庶吉士。庚子，拳匪亂，殉難，自有傳。