Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Funinggan
FUNINGGAN 富寧安 d. 1728, general, was a member of the Fuca clan and belonged to the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner. His father, Alantai 阿蘭泰, (d. 1699), Grand Secretary for ten years (1689–1699), was unreservedly trusted by Emperor Shêng-tsu and was given the posthumous name Wên-ch'ing 文清. Funinggan obtained (1686) a minor hereditary rank from a great-uncle who died without an heir. After filling various posts he was appointed (1705) lieutenant-general of the Chinese Plain Yellow Banner, but two years later was transferred to the presidency of the Censorate. In 1708 he was made president of the Board of Ceremonies and in the following year president of the Board of Civil Office. He was lauded by the Emperor as incorruptible and cited as an example to other officials.
In 1715 reports came that a detachment of Eleuths under Tsewang Araptan [q. v.] had attacked Hami, but had been repulsed by the Chinese garrison in that region. Hami, under Mohammedan chiefs, had begun to send tribute to the Ch'ing Court after 1647. Fifty years later Abdulla Beg, then the chief of the Mohammedans at Hami, had been given the title of Jasak Darhan for surrendering the son of Galdan [q. v.]. Now the Eleuth attack on Hami in 1715 started a new war between China and the Eleuths lasting twenty years (see under Tsewang Araptan). On receiving the news Emperor Shêng-tsu at once dispatched Funinggan to the scene to direct the troops on the border. At Kan-chou, Kansu, Funinggan decided on the plan of taking the town of Turfan, to the west of Hami. During the next year military posts were established along that route and provisions for troops were stored. In 1717 Funinggan was given the title of Ching-ni Chiang-chün 靖逆將軍 with headquarters at Barkul. He was ordered to advance on Sungaria from the east while Furdan [q. v.] pressed the Eleuths from the north. After several skirmishes both armies returned to their respective bases, having achieved but little. Meanwhile the Eleuths succeeded in conquering Tibet (see under Yen-hsin). When troops were sent to recover that territory, in 1720, the armies under Funinggan and Furdan were ordered to attack Tsewang Araptan in the hope of preventing the latter from aiding his men in Tibet. Funinggan captured P'i-chan 闢展 and Turfan, and the Mohammedan Begs of those towns surrendered. In command of 17,000 men at Barkul, Funinggan requested permission to invade Sungaria, but in 1721 was ordered to await developments. Meanwhile Tsewang Araptan attempted to remove the Mohammedans of Turfan northward, but they refused to go. The Mohammedans begged the protection of Funinggan who dispatched several thousand men to Turfan and repulsed an attack of the Eleuths. When the army at Barkul was later recalled, the inhabitants of Turfan were ordered (1732) to migrate to Kansu for better protection. A large number of these Mohammedans thus settled in Kansu. As the Begs of Hami and Turfan had fought faithfully for the conquest of Sungaria and Chinese Turkestan, they were later both raised to the rank of prince.
Early in 1723 Funinggan was given the rank of a Grand Secretary, but was ordered to remain at Barkul. In 1725 he was given 20,000 taels of silver for his "circumspect conduct", probably referring to the fact that he had not aligned himself with Yin-t'i [q. v.] nor with Nien Kêng-yao [q. v.]. Late in 1726 he was recalled to Peking and, in addition to other gifts from the emperor, was made a marquis of the first class.
It appears that in some way Funinggan of-
fended the emperor, for in 1727 he was dispatched from Peking to be acting Manchu general-in-chief of the garrison at Sian, Shensi. In 1728 he was deprived, for inconclusive reasons, of his hereditary rank of marquis. A month after this humiliation he died, but was given many posthumous honors, including the name Wên-kung 文恭. In 1732 his name was entered in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen. Having no son of his own, he adopted as heir a son of his sister.
[1/256/11b; 2/12/39a; 3/12/42a; Pa-ch'i Man-chou shih-tsu t'ung-p'u (see under Anfiyanggû) 27/1a; Ch'i Yün-shih [q. v.], Huang-ch'ao Fan-pu yao-lüeh, chüan 15; P'ing-ting Chun-ko-er fang-lüeh, ch'ien-pien (see under Fu-hêng).