Wenking 文慶

WÊN-ch'ing 文慶 (T. 篤生, H. 孔修), Apr. 30, 1796-1856, Dec. 13 ?, official, came from the Feimo 費莫 clan which belonged to the Manchu Bordered Red Banner. His great-grandfather, Wên-fu (see under A-kuei), was a Grand Secretary who had two illustrious sons, Lê-pao [q.v.] and Yung-pao (see under Lê-pao). Wên-ch'ing, a grandson of Yung-pao, became a chin-shih in 1822 and was selected a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Made a compiler in 1823, he was promoted to be a sub-expositor in 1824, a subreader in 1825, libationer of the Imperial Academy in 1829, and a sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat in 1832. In the meantime he conducted two provincial examinations: in Shantung in 1825 and in Fukien in 1831. In February 1833 he was made junior vice-president of the Board of Ceremonies, but a month later was reprimanded for confusing at an audience the order of presentation of the envoys from the Loochoo Islands and Korea. A few months later, owing to a serious error which he made in a memorial, he was punished by being made to wear the decorations of a third-grade official, though he was allowed to remain in office. His decorations were restored in 1834 and early in 1835 he was transferred to the Board of Civil Appointments. In the meantime he served concurrently as a deputy lieutenant-general of one or another Banner, as supervisor of the Imperial Academy, and as director of the Imperial Printing Press. Early in 1836 he was transferred to the Board of Revenue, and a few months later was sent with T'ang Chin-chao [q.v.] to investigate cases of corruption in Shensi and Szechwan. In the course of the return journey he investigated similar cases in Honan. After his return to Peking, late in 1836, he was promoted to be senior vice-president of the Board of Revenue and assumed the concurrent office of a minister of the Imperial Household. In 1837 he was made concurrently a probationary Grand Councilor, and a year later full Grand Councilor. However, early in 1840 he was discharged from the Grand Council, ostensibly for involvement in a case of corruption; but he retained all his other offices. Late in 1840, after conducting the provincial examination at Nanking, he was charged with irregularities and mistakes in the examination and was deprived of all his ranks and offices.

In 1842, after the first Anglo-Chinese War, many discharged officials were recalled, and Wên-ch'ing was given the rank of an Imperial Bodyguard to serve as the Imperial Agent at Urga. Recalled in 1843, he was made a vice-president of the Board of Civil Appointments, and a year later was made president of the Censorate. Promoted to be president of the Board of Civil Appointments, he served concurrently as commandant of the Peking Gendarmerie and as a minister of the Imperial Household. In the meantime he again served on the Grand Council for a year (1847–48). In 1850, a few months after Emperor Hsüan-tsung died, Wên-ch'ing was charged with failure to apprehend a priest who was guilty of sorcery, and also of paying the priest for charms to cure his own illness. Consequently he was again deprived of all ranks and offices.

In 1851 Wên-ch'ing was given the decorations of a fifth grade official and had a share in building the tomb of Emperor Hsüan-tsung. In 1852 he was again promoted to be a sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat, and late in the same year was made president of the Board of Revenue. By 1855 he was again a Grand Councilor, and was promoted to be an Associate Grand Secretary. Early in 1856 he was made a full Grand Secretary, but died late in the same year. He was given posthumously the title, Grand Guardian; the name, Wên-tuan 文端; and his memory was celebrated in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen.

According to Hsüeh Fu-ch'êng [q.v.], Wên-ch'ing realized the necessity of granting power to able Chinese officials if the declining dynasty were to be rejuvenated. Though himself a Manchu, he was a statesman who put the welfare of his country above racial matters. He was conscious of the incompetence of the Manchu officials and brought that fact to the attention of Emperor Wên-tsung. At the same time he used his influence to promote the power and position of such Chinese officials as Tsêng Kuo-fan, Hu Lin-i, Yüan Chia-san and Lo Ping-chang [qq.v.], and so made easier the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, with their help. Wên-ch'ing had a relative who admired him greatly—namely, Wên-k'ang 文康 (T. 鐵仙, H. 悔盦), a grandson of Lê-pao. Wên-k'ang's brother (or cousin) had succeeded to the family hereditary rank of marquis, thus making it necessary for Wen-k'ang himself to attain rank by other means. He competed in the examinations, but was apparently unsuccessful. Registering as a student of the Imperial Academy, he purchased an official rank in the Li-fan yüan, or Court of Colonial Affairs. After serving for some time as an assistant director in the Judiciary Department (Li-hsing ssŭ) of the Court, he was selected, early in 1824, to serve concurrently as one of the chief editors of the collected institutes of the Court, entitled Li-fan yüan tsê-li (則例), completed in 1825 and printed in 1827. This work was revised during the years 1833–41, the new edition being printed in 1843. For his services in connection with the compilation and revision of the work, Wên-k'ang was rewarded with the rank of a department director and in 1842 was appointed intendant of the Tientsin Circuit, a post which he held for two years. It seems that for some reason he was degraded, for in 1851 he went to Anhwei and for three years (1851–54) served as second-class sub-prefect of Fêng-yang-fu.

Some sources assert that he once served as prefect of Hui-chou-fu, Anhwei, that he was promoted to the rank of an intendant, and that after retiring for some time owing to the death of a parent, he was named Imperial Agent at Lhasa but was prevented by illness from going. None of these statements are confirmed in the gazetteers or in official documents. We only know that Wên-k'ang was still living in the eighteen-sixties, and that during his last years his sons squandered the family fortune. While enduring poverty at home, he spent his time writing about an ideal family which prospered because its members did not contravene the moral law. The result was a novel, entitled 兒女英雄傳 Êr-nü ying-hsiung chuan, 41 chapters, in which many incidents in the life of the author's illustrious relative, Wên-ch'ing, were doubtless drawn on to depict the hero. Written in the clear Peking colloquial, this novel has in recent years become very popular. It must have gained some notice even before its first printing in 1878, for Tung Hsün [q.v.] was a great admirer of it and made notes and comments on a copy which then was perhaps circulating in manuscript. In 1880 another edition appeared, with Tung Hsün's comments and notes. This edition was reprinted lithographically in 1888 with five illustrations added. The novel is historically interesting because of its vivid portrayal of the thoughts and activities of the inhabitants of North China, particularly the Bannermen, in that day.

[1/392/1a; 2/40/10a; 5/4/4a; Sun K'ai-ti, "Concerning the Êr-nü ying-hsiung chuan" (in Chinese), Bulletin of the National Library of Peiping, vol. 4, no. 6 (1930); Fêng-yang fu-chih (1908) 6/hsia/17a; Hu Shih wên-ts'un (see bibl. under Li Ju-chên), third series, 6/741–65; Tientsin hsien-chih (1931), 3/33/24b; 壬午同年齒錄 Jên-wu t'ung-nien ch'ih-lu, reprint of 1833, 2/190.]

Fang Chao-ying

Feimo Wenqing 費莫文慶 《清代人物生卒年表》定其生卒年為嘉慶1年~咸豐6年。 【參考《清代人物生卒年表》#2271.】

《清史稿》卷386

文慶，字孔修，費莫氏，滿州鑲紅旗人，兩廣總督永保之孫也。道光二年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。五遷至詹事。歷通政使、左副都御史、內閣學士。十二年，授禮部侍郎，兼副都統。十三年，總理孝慎皇后喪儀，會奏軍民薙髮及停止宴會期限疏中，誤引「百姓如喪考妣，四海遏密八音」語，下諸臣嚴議。宣宗以文慶翰林出身，隨聲附和，獨重譴，褫副都統，降三品頂戴。尋復之，歷吏部、戶部侍郎。十六年，偕尚書湯金釗赴陝西、四川按劾巡撫楊名颺、布政使李羲文，並下嚴議，尋復按名颺被訐事，褫其職。金釗留署陝西巡撫。文慶又按河南武陟知縣趙銘彝貪婪狀，劾褫職。調戶部侍郎。十七年，命在軍機大臣上學習行走，兼右翼總兵。命赴熱河，偕都統耆英按歷任總管虧短庫款，褫職追繳。十九年，以查辦熱河虧空案內擬罪未晰，召問，奏對失實，下部議，罷直軍機。二十年，典江南鄉試，以上下江中額有誤，又私攜湖南舉人熊少牧入闈閱卷，議褫職。二十二年，予三等侍衛，充庫倫辦事大臣。二十三年，召授吏部侍郎、內務府大臣，連擢左都御史、兵部尚書。二十五年，命赴四川，偕總督、將軍按前任駐藏大臣孟保、鍾芳等濫提官物，劾罷之。二十七年，復命為軍機大臣，解內務府事務。尋署陝甘總督，道經河南，命察賑務，劾玩誤之知縣四人。 二十八年，召授吏部尚書，兼步軍統領、內務府大臣，罷直軍機處、兼翰林院掌院學士。三十年，充內大臣。薛執中者，甘肅河州人，以符咒惑眾。至京師，藉術醫病，朝貴多與往來。遂妄議時政，談休咎，行蹤詭祕，為巡城御史曹楙堅捕治，中外大臣牽連被譴者眾。文慶曾延治病，文宗斥其身為步軍統領，不能立時捕究，有乖職守，褫職。咸豐元年，予五品頂戴，辦理昌陵工程。二年，起授內閣學士，尋擢戶部尚書，復為內大臣、翰林院掌院學士。五年，復為軍機大臣、協辦大學士。題孝靜皇后神主，加太子太保，拜文淵閣大學士，晉武英殿大學士，管理戶部，充上書房總師傅。

文慶醇謹持大體，宣宗、文宗知之深，屢躓屢起，眷倚不衰。時海內多故，粵匪猖熾，欽差大臣賽尚阿、訥爾經額先後以失律被譴。文慶言：「當重用漢臣，彼多從田間來，知民疾苦，熟諳情偽。豈若吾輩未出國門、懵然於大計者乎？」常密請破除滿、漢畛域之見，不拘資格以用人。曾國藩初任軍事，屢戰失利，忌者沮抑之。文慶獨言國藩負時望，能殺賊，終當建非常之功。曾與胡林翼同典試，深知其才略，屢密薦，由貴州道員一歲之間擢至湖北巡撫，凡所奏請，無不從者。又薦袁甲三、駱秉章之才，請久任勿他調，以觀厥成。在戶部，閻敬銘方為主事，當採用其議，非所司者亦諮之。後卒得諸人力以戡定大難。端華、肅順漸進用事，皆敬憚其嚴正焉。六年，卒。遺疏言各省督撫如慶端、福濟、崇恩、瑛棨等，皆不能勝任，不早罷，恐誤封疆。文宗深惜之，優詔賜卹，嘉其人品端粹，器量淵深，辦事精勤，通達治體，贈太保，賜金治喪。及親奠，見其遺孤幼稚，特詔加恩入祀賢良祠，命其子善聯俟及歲引見；弟文玉，以罪遣戍，即釋回。予諡文端。善聯，官至福州將軍。