Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/706

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary 687


in twenty-four honrs. They entered a city and purposely smashed some ware of a crockery-seller, thereby ensuring that their presence should be known to the officials. By this ruse they were enabled to establish an alibi as their defence to the charge of homicide. Sun's family was so poor that he had to work hard all day collecting firewood, and could only study at night. In 1713 he graduated as chin shih and rose by 1730 to be President of the Board of Punishments, but was degraded for disrespect in taking up the Emperor's pencil to write with. GhHen Lung however restored him to office; and after holding various posts, in 1741 he became Viceroy of Hu-Euang, where he introduced the system of subsidised chiefs , in order to keep the aborigines under control. He got into difficulties, and was recalled to be President of the Gensorate in 1744. In 1745 he retired, but resumed office and rose to be President of the Board of Civil Office in 1752, leaving behind him the reputation of a just and honest man. Canonised as ^ ^ •

Sun Chia-kn ^^^^ A native of Anhui, who graduated as 1797 chin shih in 1856 and was a senior clerk in the Tsung-li Tam^n when appointed in 1869 to be Co-Envoy with Mr. Anson Burlingame, then United States Minister at Peking, on a friendly ipission to foreign countries. It was as a forecast of the results of this mission that Mr. Burlingame announced the speedy appearance of *'a shining cross on every hiir' in the Middle Eangdom. In 1871 he was made TaoVai at Ichang, and in 1879 Judge in Chehkiang. In 1882 he was recalled to Peking to await employment. Sun Chien -^ M (T. ;^^)- Died A.D. 192. A native of 1798

Fu-ch*un in Chehkiang. In early youth he was a yamSn servant, but at the age of seventeen he distinguished himself in an affiray with pirates on the ChHen-t'ang river in Chehkiang and was appointed to a petty official post. The rebellion of the Yellow Turbans soon gave him an opportunity of displaying his great