Li Fu 李紱

Li Fu 李紱 (T. 巨來 H. 小山 (穆堂), Apr. 5, 1675-1750, official and scholar, was a native of Lin-ch'uan, Kiangsi, where his father who migrated from Shê-hsien, Anhwei, had settled after marrying into a family named Wu 吳. In his youth Li Fu was poor, and sometimes traveled hundreds of miles on foot to cities like Hui-chou (Anhwei) or Soochow in search of work. Despite these handicaps he managed to carry on with his studies. Fortunately he made the acquaintance of Lang T'ing-chi [q.v.] who gave him financial assistance. In 1708 Li Fu passed first in the provincial examination, and in the following year became a chin-shih. He was selected a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and later became a compiler. In 1717 he was placed in charge of the provincial examination of Yunnan, and three years later held the same post in Chekiang. Early in 1719 he was sent to Canton to represent the Emperor in offering sacrifices to the "Gods of the South Seas" 南海之神). In 1720 he was made a sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat and early in the following year, vice-president of the Censorate. After serving as examiner in the metropolitan examination of 1721, he was accused of unfairness to students, and was deprived of his ranks and offices, but was given a chance to return to official life by being asked to aid in conservancy work of the Yung-ting River.

Early in 1723, soon after Emperor Shih-tsung ascended the throne, Li was summoned to Peking and appointed acting vice-president of the Board of Civil Office. In July of that year he was sent to Shantung and Kiangsu to speed up the shipment of grain which, as revenue, was annually transported by canal to Tungchow (east of Peking) where it was stored in granaries. In the later years of the K'ang-hsi reign-period this movement of grain was retarded through lack of water, and frequently boats had to winter in the vicinity of Tungchow and Tientsin. Even after the ice in the canal thawed, the boats were often delayed in returning to the south on account of the northward movement of grain for the ensuing year. Li Fu, who in the meantime was given the rank of junior vice-president of the Board of War, succeeded in remedying the difficulty. But fearing there would still not be sufficient time for the boats to return before the canal froze, he suggested that the grain should be stored in Tientsin instead of at Tungchow, thus shorten ing the distance to be traveled that year. Many officials at court regarded the plan as impractical, but Li volunteered to carry it out. The grain was held in Tientsin for the winter as projected, thus enabling the boats to return south before the canal froze. In the spring the grain was transported to Tungchow before the next fleet of boats from the south arrived. This feat won for Li Fu considerable gratitude and applause. About the end of April 1724 Li was appointed governor of Kwangsi, a post he held for more than a year. There he put down a local uprising and initiated the compilation of the 廣西通志 Kwangsi t'ung-chih, which was printed about 1726 in 200 chüan, by the provincial judge, Kan Ju-lai 甘汝來 (T. 耕道 H. 遜齋, posthumous name 莊恪, 1684-1739). In 1725 Li was promoted to the post of governor-general of Chihli, assuming office in April of the following year, with headquarters at Paoting. Two months later he was secretly ordered by Emperor Shih-tsung to detain at Paoting the latter's brother, Yin-t'ang [q.v.], who had been arrested in Sining, Kansu, and was being transferred to Peking on a charge of insubordination and conspiracy. According to documents recently published, Li had Yin-t'ang placed in solitary confinement with hands and feet shackled, and caused food to be sent to him over the wall by means of pulleys. Yin-t'ang survived three months of this treatment, but died in September 1726. A report spread far and wide that Li had murdered Yin-t'ang at the Emperor's behest. Accused of having recommended persons unfit for office and of having falsely blamed the Emperor's favorite, T'ien Wên-ching [q.v.], of murder, Li was removed from his post, early in 1727, and appointed junior vice-president of the Board of Works. Charged two months later with having mishandled, during his term as governor of Kwangsi, two cases involving aborigines of Kwangsi, he was forced to return to that province to settle the cases. There he was arrested on the charge of misjudgment and misconduct. Tried in Peking on twenty-one counts, he was sentenced to execution and confiscation of property, but at the last moment was pardoned by the Emperor and ordered to redeem himself by serving on the editorial board for the compilation of the first edition (1739) of the general history of the Manchu Banner system, 八旗通志 Pa-ch'i t'ung-chih. He labored eight years on this work which is said to be largely his own contribution. In the meantime he compiled and edited three works on the philosophical school of Lu Chiu-yüan 陸九淵 (T. 子靜 H. 象山, 1139-1193) and Wang Shou-jên (see under Chang Li-hsiang). During the K'ang-hsi period this school had been forced into comparative obscurity by that of Chu Hsi (see under Hu Wei). Li Fu, who was born near Lu's native place, undertook to defend the Lu-Wang school by expanding Lu's chronological biography 陸子年譜 Lu-tzu nien-p'u, in 3 chüan, and by issuing a work on Lu's philosophy, entitled Lu-tzu hsüeh-p'u (學譜), in 20 chüan. In his 朱子晚年全論 Chu-tzu wan-nien ch'uan-lun, in 8 chüan, Li reinforced with more material Wang Shou-jên's Chu-tzu wan-nien ting-lun (定論) which maintains that during his last days Chu Hsi was converted to Lu's philosophy. These works were printed in the seventeen thirties and were later given notice in the Ssŭ-k'u Catalogue (see under Chi Yün).

In 1735 the new emperor, Kao-tsung, restored to Li Fu his rank, and not long after appointed him senior vice-president of the Board of Revenue. But in the following year Li was reprimanded for recommending too many new chin-shih to official posts, and was degraded. Early in 1737 he was appointed a vice-director of the Board which edited a collection of commentaries on the Three Rituals, entitled San Li i-shu (see under Fang Pao). In the same year he was sent to Shaohsing, Chekiang, to offer sacrifices at the tomb of the legendary Emperor Yu 禹, after which he returned to his native place to mourn the death of his mother. In 1741 he was appointed director of the Banqueting Court and was sent to Nanking as examiner of the Kiangnan provincial examinations. Later in the same year he was again promoted to the post of subchancellor of the Grand Secretariat. He retired in 1743 and died at his home in Lin-ch'uan seven years later. His epitaph was written by his devoted disciple, Chüan Tsu-wang [q.v.].

Li Fu was a famous writer in his day, both in prose and poetry. The first collection of his literary works, entitled 穆堂初稿 Mu-t'ang ch'u kao, in 50 chüan, was printed in 1740. A second collection, containing his later efforts, entitled Mu-t'ang pieh-kao (別稿) also in 50 chüan, appeared in print about the year 1747, By an edict of 1768 these collections were burned and the printing blocks destroyed, ostensibly because they contained two poems commemorating a gathering at which Tai Ming-shih [q.v.] was present. But in view of the fact that the gathering took place before Tai's case came to the attention of the throne (1711) Li's descendants were not punished. A combined reprint of both collections appeared in 1831, under the title Li Mu-t'ang shih-wên ch'üan-chi 李穆堂詩文全集, with alteration and omission of such passages as might provoke censorship. According to Wang Ching-ch'i [q.v.], Li was ungrateful to those who helped him to fame and wealth during his early years of distress and poverty.

One of Li's grandsons, Li Yu-t'ang 李友棠 (T. 苕伯 H. 西華, 適園, d. 1798), was a chin-shih of 1745. He was appointed associate director of the editorial board of the Ssu-k'u ch'üan-shu in 1773, and later in the same year was made a vice-president of the Board of Works. In 1774 he was made Commissioner of Education of Chekiang, but was removed three years later for having written a poem in praise of the dictionary 字貫 Tzŭ-kuan, which became the subject of an inquisition and resulted in the execution of the compiler, Wang Hsi-hou [q.v.].

[ 1/299/la; 3/70/la; 9/15/18b; Kwangsi t'ung-chih (1801) 212/18a; Palace Museum, Peiping 文獻叢編 Wên-hsien ts'ung-pien, vol. 2; Ch'ing-tai wên-tzu-yü tang (see bibliography under Huang T'ing-kuei), vol. 2; Li Fu, Memorials in 硃批諭旨 Chu-p'i yü-chih; Wang Ching-ch'i [q.v.], Hsi-chêng sui-pi, p. 28b; Lin-ch'uan hsien-chih (1870) 39/18a.]

FANG CHAO-YING

《清史稿》卷293

李紱，字巨來，江西臨川人。少孤貧，好學，讀書經目成誦。康熙四十八年，成進士，改庶吉士，散館授編修。累遷侍講學士。五十九年，擢內閣學士，尋遷左副都御史，仍兼學士。六十年，充會試副考官。出榜日，黃霧風霾，上語大學士等曰：「此榜或有亂臣賊子，否亦當有讀書積學之士不得中式，怨氣所致。」命磨勘試卷，劣者停殿試。又賜滿洲舉人留保、直隸舉人王蘭生進士。下第舉子群聚紱門，投瓦石喧鬨。御史舒庫疏劾，下部議，責紱匿不奏，奪官，發永定河工效力。雍正元年，特命復官，署吏部侍郎，赴山東催漕。尋授兵部侍郎。上令截留湖南等省漕糧於天津收貯，旋又命估價出糶。二年四月，授廣西巡撫。奏言：「廣西賀縣大金、蕉木二山產礦砂，五十里外為廣東梅峒汛，又數里為宿塘寨，礦徒盤據，時時竊發。臣方擬嚴禁，聞總督孔毓珣條陳開採，因而中止。將來或恐滋事。」毓珣奏同時至，廷議寢其事。上命以諭毓珣者示紱，令協力禁止。紱疏陳練兵，列舉嚴賞罰、演陣法、習用鎗砲、豫備帳房鑼鍋諸事，上嘉其留心武備。康熙中，巡撫陳元龍奏請開捐，都計收穀百十七萬石有奇，石折銀一兩一錢，而發州縣買穀石止三錢，不足以糴。至紱上官，尚虧四萬餘石，紱奏請限一月補足。會提督韓良輔條奏墾荒，下紱議，紱請以桂林、柳州、梧州、南寧四府收貯捐穀動支為開墾費。上曰：「朕觀紱意，不過借開墾以銷捐穀。當時陳元龍等首尾不清，朕知之甚詳。應令元龍等往廣西料理。」並諭紱詳察，毋隱諱瞻徇，自承虧空。尋紱奏察出督撫、司道、府廳分得羨餘銀八十二萬有奇，勒限分償，上嘉紱秉公執正。紱在吏部時，年羹堯子富等捐造營房，下部議敘，不肯從優，為羹堯所嫉；及上命天津截漕估糶盈餘銀五千交守道桑成鼎貯庫，紱至廣西，成鼎使齎以畀紱。紱具摺送直隸巡撫李維鈞會奏。維鈞匿不上，紱乃奏聞。先是，羹堯朝京師，入對，舉此訐紱，謂紱乾沒。上以問維鈞，維鈞言紱取數百金治裝，餘尚貯庫。紱奏至，上謂維鈞與羹堯比，欲陷紱。諭獎紱，命留充公用。三年六月，紱奏言：「太平、思恩府界流言安南內亂。有潘騰龍者，自言為莫姓後，其黨黃把勢、陳亂彈等煽誘為亂。嚴飭將吏捕治。」上諭曰：「封疆之內，宜整理振作。至於安邊柔遠，最忌貪利圖功，當慎之又慎！」九月，奏：「瑤、僮頑梗，修仁十排、天河三疃為尤甚，常出劫掠。臣遣吏入十排，捕得其渠。三疃阻萬山中，所種田在隘外。臣發兵守隘，斷其收穫。其渠今亦出自歸。」上獎其辦理得宜。旋授直隸總督。四年，紱入覲。初，左都御史蔡珽薦起其故吏知縣黃振國授河南信陽知州，忤巡撫田文鏡。文鏡馭吏嚴，尤惡科目，劾振國貪劣。紱過河南，詰文鏡胡為有意蹂踐士人。入對，因極言文鏡貪虐，且謂文鏡所劾屬吏，如振國及邵言綸、汪諴皆枉，振國已死獄中。文鏡因紱語，先密疏聞，謂紱與振國同年袒護。紱疏辨，上不直紱，而振國實未死，逮至京師，上更謂紱妄語。良輔奏雲南、廣西所屬土司與貴州接壤者，皆改歸貴州安籠鎮節制，命紱往與雲貴總督高其倬會勘，疏請循舊制，從之。紱還直隸，時上譴責諸弟允禩、允禟等，更允禟名塞思黑，幽諸西寧，復移置保定，命胡什禮監送。紱語胡什禮：「塞思黑至，當便宜行事。」胡什禮以聞，上以為不可，命諭紱，紱奏初無此語。塞思黑至保定，未幾，紱以病聞，尋遂死。是冬，御史謝濟世劾文鏡貪虐，仍及誣劾振國等。上奪濟世官，下大學士九卿會鞫，戍濟世阿爾泰軍前。上以濟世奏與紱語同，疑紱與為黨，召紱授工部侍郎。紱在廣西捕亂苗莫東旺置天河縣獄，獄未竟，紱移督直隸去。久之，蠻、僮集眾破獄，劫東旺去。五年春，良輔署廣西巡撫，奏聞。上以詰紱，下部察議。會都察院奏廣西州判程旦詣院訴土司羅文剛掠村落抗官兵，上責紱與繼任巡撫甘汝來逡巡貽害，命紱與汝來至廣西捕治，不獲，當重譴。紱至廣西，東旺聞而自歸，文剛亦捕得。直隸總督宜兆熊劾知府曾逢聖、知縣王游虧空錢糧，上以逢聖、游皆紱所薦，命詰紱。戶部議覆，紱在直隸奏報懷來倉圮，穀為小民竊食，當下直隸總督詳察。上曰：「穀至六千餘石，豈能竊食至盡？明係紱市恩，為縣吏脫罪。當責紱償補，以成其市恩。」兆熊又劾知縣李先枝私派累民，上以先枝亦紱所薦，責紱欺罔，奪官；下刑部、議政大臣等會鞫，紱罪凡二十一事，當斬。上諭曰：「紱既知悔過，情詞懇切，且其學問尚優，命免死，纂修八旗通志效力。」七年，又以順承郡王錫保奏濟世在阿爾泰供言劾文鏡實受紱及珽指，下紱等刑部。會曾靜、張熙獄起，上召王大臣宣諭，並命紱入，諭曰：「朕在藩邸，初不知珽、紱姓名。有馬爾濟哈者，能醫。朕問：『更有能醫者否？』以珽對。召珽來見，珽謂不當與諸王往來，辭不至，以是朕重之。年羹堯來京，亟稱珽，朕告以嘗招之不來，羹堯以語珽，珽復辭不至，以是朕益重之。及出為四川巡撫，詣熱河行在，始與相見，為朕言李紱。朕知紱自此始。既即位，延訪人才，起紱原官。旋自侍郎出撫廣西，至為直隸總督，徇私廢公，沽名邀譽，致吏治廢弛，人心玩愒。又如塞思黑自西大通調回，令暫住保定。未幾，紱奏言遘病，不數日即死。姦黨遂謂朕授意於紱，使之戕害。今紱在此，試問朕嘗授意否乎？塞思黑罪本無可赦，豈料其遽死？紱不將其病死明白於眾，致生疑議，紱能辭其過乎？田文鏡公忠，而紱與珽極力陷害，使濟世誣劾，必欲遂其私怨。此風何可長也？」復下紱刑部嚴鞫，獄上，請治罪，上寬之。高宗即位，賜侍郎銜，管戶部三庫，尋授戶部侍郎。乾隆元年，方開博學鴻辭科，紱所舉已眾，又以所知囑副都御史孫國璽薦舉，事聞上，上詰紱，紱自承妄言，上謂「紱乃妄舉，非止妄言，避重就輕」。降授詹事。二年，以母憂歸。六年，補光祿寺卿，遷內閣學士。紱偉岸自喜。其論學大指，謂朱子道問學，陸九淵尊德性，不可偏廢，上聞而韙之。八年，以病致仕，入辭，上問：「有欲所陳否？」紱以慎終如始對，賜詩獎及之。十五年，卒。