Portrait of Chen Ying
Photo courtesy of Chen Yao Memorial Hall in Qingduan Garden, Leizhou, Guangdong
Guangdong Leizhou Qingduan Garden Chen Ying Memorial Hall. Courtesy of Qingduan Garden
● Huang Chuxuan Guo Shan
In Tainan City, Taiwan Province, there is a magnificent Confucius Temple, which was completed in the 20th year of the Ming Dynasty (1666), which is the earliest Confucius Temple in Taiwan. Entering the Confucius Temple from Dacheng Gate, there are famous eunuch shrines and xiangxian ancestral halls along the way, and there are Minglun Hall and Wenchang Pavilion, which basically follow the ancient system. And all this is inseparable from a Cantonese man who donated money to rebuild it, Chen Yao, who repaired the Confucius Temple according to the standard system when he was the county commander of Taiwan from the forty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1702) to the forty-third year (1704).
Chen Yao (1656-1718), also spelled Wenhuan, was a native of Haikang, Guangdong (present-day Leizhou, Guangdong). He went to Taiwan three times to take charge of administrative affairs, successively serving as the governor of Taiwan's ZhiXian County, Taixia Province, and Fujian Province, and most of his career in the past twenty years was rooted in Taiwan, and he was one of the most prominent officials in the early Qing Dynasty in governing Taiwan. During his term of office, he worked diligently, promoted the advantages and eliminated the disadvantages, clarified the rule of officials, paid attention to indoctrination, was deeply loved by the people, especially known for his integrity and honesty, and enjoyed the reputation of "honesty is the most" (Qing Zhangxiong," "Monument to the Merits of Chen Gonggong of Yihou"). The "Reconstruction of the Chronicle of Taiwan Province" praised him as "honest and upright, Ru Shui Clean and Clean", and promoted him as "the first person to govern the sea frontier", and the Kangxi Emperor also highly praised him as "the country's auspicious rui", "the outstanding person in sincerity and honesty", and "the person who has never seen such a person from the ancient Qing officials".
Love the people and eliminate the corrupt officials
Chen Ye's family was poor since childhood, his parents died early, and his livelihood was embarrassing, so he earned a living by teaching early. Although his life was hard, he was still generous and often distributed the rewards he received from teaching to relatives and friends in difficulty.
In the thirty-third year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1694), Chen Yao, who had failed many attempts, finally entered high school at the age of 38, and for five years he continued to teach in his hometown. Leizhou was plagued by the tide because it was adjacent to the ocean, and looking at the embankment that had been washed away by the tide, Chen Yu rushed to appeal, collected donations and silver, and also wrote to the new prefect of Leizhou, pleading with the government to build a seawall, but with little success. Disappointed, Chen Made a Wish to Be the Ruling Party in the Future and Will Certainly Benefit the People.
In the thirty-ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1700), Chen Washi was sent to Gutian, fuzhou province, to serve as a zhi county. Gutian County is located in the mountains, the natural environment is harsh, and has always been regarded as a fear by officials. After arriving in office, he found that the number of land taxes in this area was confused, the county owed tens of thousands of taxes, the severity of the service was uneven, the people were overwhelmed, or moved to other places, or forced to flee to the mountains, or even fell into the grass, the situation was not optimistic.
At the beginning of his term of office, Chen Yu frankly stated in the "Letter of Sending Sons" written to his son that although it was not easy to be an official in Gutian, he believed that a gentleman should serve the country with his own example and perform his duties conscientiously. He told his son that since embarking on his career, he had long since given up the idea of making profits in the so-called "good places" and would never be discouraged by the difficulties of Gutian governance.
After taking office, Chen Yao first faced such a difficult problem: The number of grass-roots office personnel in the government was not only seriously inflated, but also corrupt and wantonly disturbed the people; "sent servants to the countryside, searched separately like arresting a big prison," and often ransacked the people's property under the guise of official affairs everywhere they went, and even endangered the lives and safety of the people. In this regard, he held public examinations, eliminated redundant officials, and strictly disciplined the remaining personnel, sweeping away years of maladministration and paving the way for the next governance.
At the same time, Chen Yu also found out that the rich and powerful people in Gutian had concealed a large amount of land they owned, colluded with the officials, and imposed on the people the enslavement that should have been undertaken by the landlords. To this end, Chen Yao cleaned up and screened according to the books, personally scrutinized the money and grain cases, and punished many lawbreakers (see "Please Exempt the Measure of the Bow Operator").
Chen's efforts to govern have won the support of the local people. He mentioned in his family letter that when he went to the townships to carry out tax work, he was highly cooperative with the villagers, and the crowd "cheered and climbed and greeted with incense." He also dressed lightly and obediently, personally went up to the mountain to collect grain, and "went through the dangers of Sichuan and Rock", which lasted nearly a month, and settled the tax money and grain that Gutian County had accumulated for many years.
In addition, Chen Ye also did many practical things for the people in such areas as teaching and rejuvenating education, caring for orphans and helping the poor, relieving disaster victims, and donating money to repair the city. Due to his outstanding performance in Gutian, Chen Was entrusted with important duties by the imperial court and transferred to the order of Taiwan County.
Eliminating Accumulated Maladies And achieving remarkable results
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty's recovery of Taiwan, how to deal with the particularities of Taiwan and Xinjiang and guard this "coastal defense barrier" was very important at that time.
In the forty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1702), Chen Was transferred to Zhi County, Taiwan, which was then the seat of Taiwan Prefecture (present-day Tainan, Taiwan), and was the political, economic, and cultural center of Taiwan. Chen Yao, who went to Taiwan for the first time, put forward a number of governance measures in the "Matters Concerning The Taiwan County of Tiao Chen", which not only involved popularizing indoctrination, developing production, improving customs, and maintaining public order, but also included a number of suggestions for prohibiting grass-roots officials from blackmailing, extorting, and exploiting the poor people. These measures were also implemented in Fengshan and Zhuluo counties, laying the foundation for peaceful rule of Taiwan.
In the forty-ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1710), Chen Yu was promoted to Taixia Province, the full name of Taixia Province, "Taiwan, Xiamen Bingbei Road and Rational Administration", and was the highest administrative officer established in Taiwan by the imperial court in the early Qing Dynasty. This gave Chen Yao, who considered himself a "humble origin", a great impetus, prompting him to "swear to repay the country with one death" ("Please Ban The Rice Seller to go to the Sea to Overseer Qi"), and soon after taking office, he drastically cleaned up and eliminated dozens of accumulated defects, effectively deterring the local magnates.
At that time, some corrupt officials colluded with outsiders to transport grain to the interior to sell and make huge profits from it, causing a shortage of grain in Taiwan, while some officials serving in Taiwan simply waited for the expiration of their term of office and promotion, allowing the rice nobles to be sick and doing nothing. With regard to these phenomena of perverting the law by corrupting the law and not doing anything for officials, Chen Yao, while severely criticizing them, did not appease the officials of all sizes to rectify them.
For another example, at that time, Taiwan's land was sparsely populated, and officials who came to Taiwan leased the land of "Guanzhuang" to peasants for cultivation, and used the land rent income as a subsidy for yamen funds, but later it became what officials called "raising incorruptible silver", which was much higher than ordinary Feng Lu. Chen Yao, in his favoritism to the imperial court, bitterly criticized Chen's "guanzhuang" ten harms, holding that this measure had deviated from the original intention of reclamation and colonization in actual operation, and had become a means for many officials to be greedy and self-enriching, "benefiting the officials but harming the people," which was not conducive to Taiwan's agricultural production in the long run. Therefore, he called for the abolition of "official villages", the rectification of discipline, and the use of rice millet, sugar and other crops previously produced as military salaries.
After being transferred to fujian, Chen Ye continued to make painstaking efforts in Taiwan's construction and management, and achieved remarkable results in rectifying the administration of officials, developing agriculture, and consolidating coastal defense. In addition to his official duties, he also attached great importance to moral indoctrination, and once donated money to build Minglun Hall and ZhuZi Ancestral Hall in Tainan and other places, repaired the Confucius Temple, and set up school fields to support students in need. Despite his busy work, he still presided over the study and administration for a long time, regularly inspected the academic and moral conduct of Taiwanese scholars, and established a good style of study. Chen Yao served in Taiwan for several years, changing Taiwan from "common knowledge" to "people's knowledge and courtesy", which was highly respected by the Taiwanese people (Qing Guzhen's "Chen Qingduan Public Biography").
Qing Jie Gong Prudent advocated frugality and luxury
Before and after his appointment to Taixia Province, Chen Also served as the Viceroy of Sichuan and the Inspector of Hunan. No matter what position he held, Chen Yao never took any money in vain, and in his opinion, if he "got a piece of paper, it would be the end of the incorruptibility" (Kangxi's Imperial Sacrifice Text). Chen Yu believes that "greed is not much, one or two non-cents, it is like millions." ("Chen Qingduan's Public Biography") Even if it is a small corruption, it is necessary to strictly rectify it as soon as possible to prevent microaggressions.
When he was the viceroy of Sichuan, Chen Yu was known as "Qing Jie Gong Prudent", which was in stark contrast to the illegal and corrupt practices of some officials of the same period, and the Kangxi Emperor specifically issued an edict to set him as an example for officials.
Some officials have also set their minds on "burning silver" in order to enrich their own pockets. The so-called "fire consumption of silver" is a name for the collection of taxes by the government at that time, which refers to the depreciation when broken silver is melted and recast into silver ingots. If the "fire consumption" levied is greater than the actual "fire consumption", the difference between the two can be used to "make a fortune". Chen Yao resolutely opposed this unhealthy trend of abusing power for personal gain, and he always tried to reduce the "fire consumption" as much as possible in the place where he held office, and personally practiced to curb corruption in the official arena.
For Feng Lu and other legitimate income, Chen Yu also often refrained from self-denial and donated his own silver for other purposes. During his tenure at Taixia Road, he used the 30,000 taels of silver he deserved for the repair of facilities such as forts, schools, and official offices; when he was the inspector of Fujian, he was also the governor of the printing service, and the silver he deserved was not received.
For twenty years as an official, Chen Ying was alone, did not bring his wife and children, did not extend the invitation to the guests, the family was thousands of miles apart, rarely saw each other, there were only a few old servants around him, and the three meals were often mainly vegetables and fruits. Even in his later years, he was still "dressed in cloth and had no taste for food", only diligent in government affairs, "chickens chirping, night without sleep", although life was hard, but he was comfortable. In his view, bitterness exists in the mind of others, not in the level of official position.
The "Huguang Tongzhi" also records such an anecdote about Chen Yao: When he took office as the governor of Hunan, his subordinates had greeted him in the middle of the border, but what was waiting was the news that Chen Yao had already arrived at the official office. It turned out that Chen Yao was dressed in frugal clothes, accompanied by only three old servants, carrying several worn-out wooden boxes, so that his subordinates did not recognize him. After taking office, he put forward a number of suggestions in Shangshu, such as "advocating frugality to cherish the people's wealth," "strict prohibition of extravagance," and "not accepting gifts from prefectures and counties," and severely punished officials who were corrupt and harbored and connived.
In the fifty-fourth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1715), when the Kangxi Emperor summoned Chen Yao alone, he asked him in detail about his history of shizhi in Taiwan, Hunan, Fujian and other places. The Kangxi Emperor saw that Chen Yao's face was not good and his clothes were thin, so he specially gave a mink coat and attached poems such as "Kuan Hong's officials should hold the Fa and recuperate and recuperate and make all the civil affairs" to express his praise for Chen Yao.
In the fifty-seventh year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1718), Chen Yu died of illness while serving as the Governor of Fujian. Before his death, he charged more than 13,000 yuan of feng lu's income as a soldier's expenses, leaving no penny. Chen Julong, the eldest son of Chen Yao, helped the mourners to return to Guangdong, and all the officials and people along the way were grateful for all the gifts. Many officials and people specially came to greet the memorial, and the people mourned like the loss of their parents.
In the "Indications of the Pros and Cons of Visiting", Chen Yao once showed his deeds as an official: "Today, with one official and one yi, everyone can do their best to make the hungry get food, the cold get clothing, and the clothed and those who have food and clothing know the etiquette and righteousness and be honest, and gradually put the people's hearts and customs of Yiyi in ancient places, and the prison lawsuits will decay." In Chen Yao's career, no matter how big or small his official position, he established a life for the people, and achieved both "honesty" and "honesty"; no matter how much he earned, he did not take much, so that he could "thin in himself and fat in the people" ("Chen Qingduan Gongwen Collection"). The subtleties are seen in the true chapter, and Chen Yao's persistence in the details is still of enduring significance today.
【Comment on Chen Ying】
"Greed is not much, and one or two non-cents is like millions." Among the countless discussions on corruption, I most appreciate this sentence of Hikvision Chen.
The reason is very simple: to judge whether an official is greedy or clean, it depends on whether he has extended his hand and whether the income is "non-divided"; this is a principled distinction; if it is exceeded, the nature changes. As for the amount of "non-points" - whether it is "one or two dollars" or "millions", there is no essential difference. This quote is enough to transcend time and space. Chen Kangqi's "Lang Qianji Wen Chubi" exclamated while admiring Chen Yao: "When a scholar is not a soldier, his body is not strict, but the official can write about it with incorruptibility." Those who blindly boil down to the "reaching out" of the system are really ashamed.
In Taiwan, Sichuan, Hunan, Fujian, etc., in the past two decades of her eunuch career, Chen Has served in many places. No matter where he is, he can always be clean and honest, "the official kitchen takes melons and vegetables as a constant meal, and its clean and bitter is unbearable for people." When he was transferred to Fujian, the Kangxi Emperor once said to his courtiers: "When you see him and check his demeanor and speech, he is really a clean official." It grows on the seashore, is not a family family, has no protégés and is old, and the world is called its Qing. How can it be so unless it is practiced? It is auspicious for the country to have such people. He jokingly called Chen Yao an old ascetic monk, and even asserted: "From the ancient Qing officials, there is no one who has exceeded the plan." Whether this conclusion is absolutely not to discuss it, there is no doubt that Chen Ying has won the recognition of the upper and lower levels.
The Qing officials in history, on closer inspection, were able to grasp themselves well in their understanding of "greed is not much", which was also the premise that they were talked about at that time and in later generations. Wang Youguang's "Wuxia Proverb Lian" mentions that Lu Longqi, the Marquis of Jiadingyi, who was at the same time as Chen Yao, left office, the people "helped the old and the young, and cried and climbed the alleys", and people evaluated him with "having an official who is poor as if he had no official day, and when he went to Ren Rongyue to take office", when he was an official, his family property was no different from when he was not an official. Lu Longqi did not get a penny of "non-penny" because he was always strict with himself like Chen Yao. In the eyes of the people, because there is "capital" to obtain "non-penny" and not used, there is no reason not to show respect.
In our building of a clean and honest government today, we should do more educational articles on "greed is not too much," and cadres at all levels really understand the meaning of "non-cents," and only in reality can they not go beyond the thunder pond by half a step.
- Tide white