seized Tsingtao and this led to the leasing of Kiaochow (March 6, 1898). Shortly thereafter Russian warships occupied Port Arthur and Talienwan (Dairen). Hsü Ching-ch'êng was then appointed special envoy plenipotentiary to Russia and arrived at St. Petersburg early in 1898 where, despite his efforts, the leasing of the two ports to Russia was confirmed by two conventions, one signed at Peking (March 27, 1898) and another at St. Petersburg (May 7, 1898). With this lease Russia obtained the right to construct a branch line of the Chinese Eastern Railway to Port Arthur and Dairen—the so-called South Manchurian Railway. A supplementary contract was signed on July 6 between the Chinese Eastern Railway Company and the Chinese envoys, Hsü Ching-ch'êng and Yang Ju. Having carried out his official mission Hsü left Russia via America, arriving at Shanghai September 20, 1898. In addition to filling other posts he served in the Tsung-li Yamen. In February 1899, when Italy demanded Sanmen Bay (Chekiang), he was one who upheld China's refusal.
During the early stages of the Boxer uprising Hsü Ching-ch'êng advocated strong measures to suppress the rebels. When the conservatives gained control in the government he was accused of being pro-foreign, and together with Yüan Ch'ang [q. v.] was executed on July 28, 1900. Early in 1901 an imperial edict acknowledged that these men had been unjustly put to death and their descendants were rewarded with offices. In 1909 Hsü was officially canonized as Wên-su 文肅.
The collected works of Hsü Ching-ch'êng, entitled 許文肅公遺稿 Hsü Wên-su kung i-kao, 12 chüan, and his diplomatic correspondence, 許竹篔先生出使函稿 Hsü Chu-yün hsien-shêng ch'u-shih han-kao, 10 chüan, were printed by his disciple, Lu Chêng-hsiang 陵徵祥 (T. 子欣, 子興, b. 1870). A supplement to his collected works, Hsü Wên-su kung wai-chi (外集), 10 chüan, including one chüan of his diary, was brought together by Shêng Yüan 盛沅 (T. 萍旨, a chin-shih of 1886) and printed in 1920.
[1/472/1b; 2/62/52a; 6/5/13a; Fêng Shu 馮恕, 庚子辛亥忠烈像贊 Kêng-tzŭ hsin-hai chung-lieh hsiang-tsan (1931); Chia-hsing hsien-chih (1908) 22/52b; Chin-shih jên-wu chih (see under Wêng T'ung-ho) p. 210; Ch'ing-chi wai-chiao shih-liao (see under I-hsin); Morse, H. B., International Relations of the Chinese Empire Vol. III; Yano Jinichi 矢野仁一, 日清役後支那外交 Nisshin-eki go Shina gaikō shi (1937).]
HSÜ Ch'iu 徐釚 (T. 電發, H. 虹亭, 拙存, 楓江漁父), 1636–1708, poet, landscape painter and man of letters, was a native of Wu-chiang, Kiangsu. In 1679 he was summoned to Peking to take the special examination known as po-hsüeh hung-tz'ŭ (see under P'êng Sun-yü). One of the successful competitors, he was made a corrector in the Hanlin Academy and a compiler of the official Ming history. Appointed in 1687 to a post outside of the capital, he resigned and returned to his home, later declining reappointment to his former position. He travelled extensively in China, visiting Kwangtung and Kwangsi three times. He is known for his critique of tz'ŭ, a type of poetry in irregular metre. One work on this subject, written in 12 chüan between the years 1673 and 1678, entitled 詞苑叢談 Tz'ŭ-yüan ts'ung-t'an, was printed in 1688 and reproduced in the Hai-shan hsien-kuan ts'ung-shu (see under P'an Chên-ch'êng). The 本事詩 Pên-shih shih, in 12 chüan, an anthology of poems of sentiment selected for their historical content from authors of the Ming and early Ch'ing periods, was completed by 1673 and printed in 1704. It was placed among the list of partially banned books in the Ch'ien-lung period. His collected poems and essays were printed in 1695 under the title 南洲草堂集 Nan-chou ts'ao-t'ang chi, in 50 chüan, with 6 chüan of supplements. A work of his containing criticisms and anecdotes of contemporary writers of tz'ŭ, entitled Nan-chou ts'ao-t'ang tz'ŭ-hua (詞話), in 3 chüan, is reprinted in the Hsüeh-hai lei-pien (see under Ts'ao Jung).
[1/489/16b; 2/71/9b; 3/119/1a; 7/38/2b; 20/1/00; Wu-chiang hsien chih (1747) 32/21a, 32b; Soochow-fu chih (1748) 65/34a; L.T.C.L.H.M., p. 226b, which attributes one scroll and two albums of landscapes to Hsü; Yeh Tê-hui (see under Chu I-tsun), Kuan-ku-t'ang ts'ang shu-mu (1916) 4/35.]
HSÜ Fang 徐枋 (T. 昭法, H. 俟齋, 秦餘山人), May 2, 1622–1694, Nov. 7, poet, scholar, and landscape painter, was a native of Wu-hsien (Soochow), Kiangsu. His father, Hsü Ch'ien 徐汧 (T. 九一, H. 勿齋, posthumous name 文靖, 1597–1645), a chin-shih of 1628,
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