Kuai Guangdian (蒯光典)

Overview

Kuai Guangdian was a scholar and Official.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Liqing	禮卿	Liqing

Life and dates

Death

AD 1910 宣統二年
At Jiangning 江寧
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 217

Age

8
Reckoning Sui · Activity composed poetry
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 176

Attested activity

AD 1894 to AD 1895 中東兵起
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 183-186
AD 1906 光緒三十二年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 203-212
AD 1908 光緒三十四年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 214-216
AD 1883 光緒九年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 176, 180
AD 1898 光緒二十四年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 187-193
AD 1910 宣統二年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 217

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Kuai Demo (蒯德模)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 175-176

Career and standing

lecturer at Zunjing Academy 尊經書院講席
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 184
supervisor of students in Europe 赴歐洲監督留學生
AD 1908 光緒三十四年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 214
Hanlin reviser 檢討
AD 1883 光緒九年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 180
fourth-rank metropolitan official awaiting appointment 四品京堂候補
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 216
head of the capital school supervision bureau 京師督學局長
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 216
head of Yizhan 主儀棧
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 197, 199-200

Show 12 more source-backed claims

superintendent of the Liang-Hu Academy 兩湖書院監督
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 186
circuit intendant 道員
AD 1898 光緒二十四年 · Dispatched · At Jiangnan 江南
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 187
inspector of the Huai-Yang coastal circuit 按淮揚海道
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 203
chief examiner of the Guizhou provincial examination 典貴州鄉試
Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 181
chief map compiler of the Collected Statutes Bureau 會典館圖繪總纂
Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 182
head of the Zhengyang Pass salt distribution bureau 正陽關督銷局
Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 193
additional rank of provincial judge 按察使銜
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Granted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 203
recorded merit for Collected Statutes labor 敘會典館勞
AD 1898 光緒二十四年 · Received
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 187
Entered
AD 1894 to AD 1895 中東兵起 · On leave
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 183
Entered
AD 1908 to AD 1909 光緒三十四年後歲餘 · Resigned
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 215
Entered
Resigned in protest
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 190
corrupt clerk who incited looting 猾胥
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Arrested and punished · At Yangzhou 揚州
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 206

Places and affiliations

Polity Qing 清 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 180, 187
At Hefei 合肥 · Region Anhui 安徽
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 174
AD 1908 光緒三十四年
At Europe 歐洲 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 214
AD 1898 光緒二十四年
At Jiangnan 江南 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 187
AD 1910 宣統二年
At Jiangning 江寧 · Relation Died at
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 217
At Gaoyou 高郵 · Relation Traveled to
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 208

Show 7 more source-backed claims

At Guizhou 貴州 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 181
At Jiangnan 江南 · Relation Resided as youth
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 176
At Yancheng 鹽城 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 191
At Zhengyang Pass 正陽關 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 193
Organization Collected Statutes Bureau 會典館 · Relation Member of
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 182, 187
Organization Liang-Hu Academy 兩湖書院 · Relation Superintendent of
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 186
Organization Zunjing Academy 尊經書院 · Relation Lecturer at
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 184

Learning and skills

At Jiangnan 江南 · followed his father in office; teachers and friends were leading scholars
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 176
Earned
AD 1883 光緒九年 · Credential metropolitan graduate 進士
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 180
Skill poetry 詩 · Level composed at age eight
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 176
Skill bibliography and historical lore 目錄掌故 · Level especially versed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 178
Skill Six Scripts and Nine Numbers 六書、九數
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 177
Skill strong memory and debate 強記、口辯
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 178-179

Works and attributed material

Collected Statutes maps 會典館圖繪
Relation Chief compiler
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 182, 187
AD 1894 to AD 1895 中東兵起
Memorial · Author · Paraphrased
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 183
Conversation · Speaker · With Gangyi (剛毅) · blunt discussion of national affairs
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 188
Policy argument · Speaker · With Zhang Zhidong (張之洞)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 195
Policy proposal · Author · broad cash relief rather than soup kitchens in Huai-Hai
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 211

Events and relationships

Admonished and dispersed famine looting
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Legal · Mediator · At Baoying 寶應
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 204-205
Argued in vain against abolishing the higher school then left
Political · Advocate · With Gangyi (剛毅)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 189-190
Delayed opening canal sluices to protect harvest
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Disaster response · Supervisor · At Gaoyou 高郵 · Outcome Six lower river counties obtained their harvest
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 208-210
Expanded anti smuggling force and founded school and factories
Military · Trainer · At Shierwei 十二圩
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 202
Founded school
AD 1898 光緒二十四年 · Scholarly · Founder · At Jiangning Higher School 江寧高等學堂
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 187
Increased official salt sales
Administrative · Salt administrator · At Zhengyang Pass 正陽關 · Outcome Annual official salt sales increased by more than a million
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 193

Show 11 more source-backed claims

Increased Yizhan output and revenue
Administrative · Salt administrator · Outcome Tickets up by more than 100,000; yearly tax and likin up more than 1.5 million taels in three years
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 201
Intervened so the people were spared further prosecution
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Legal · Advocate · At Yangzhou 揚州
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 207
Private discussion of state affairs
AD 1898 光緒二十四年 · Political · Interlocutor · With Gangyi (剛毅)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 188
Stationed steamships and suppressed smugglers
Administrative · Salt administrator · At Yangtze key points: Jin and Jiao, Sanjiang Mouth, Shamanzhou 金、焦、三江口、沙漫洲
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 200
Submitted unanswered memorial then took leave
AD 1894 to AD 1895 中東兵起 · Political · Memorialist
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 183
Summoned to capital to discuss official system reform and left post
AD 1906 光緒三十二年 · Political · Participant
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 212
Surveyed reed marshes into arable land
Administrative · Surveyor · At Yancheng 鹽城 · Outcome 75,000 qing cultivable; large reclamation fees
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 191-192
Urged military training of talented youths
Political · Advisor · With Zhang Zhidong (張之洞)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 185-186
Went to direct the industrial exposition
AD 1910 宣統二年 · Administrative · Director · At Nanyang / Jiangning 南洋／江寧
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 217
Relation Student of · Person Zhang Zhidong (張之洞)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 185
Relation Disagreed with · Person Jichang (繼昌)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 212

Assessments and attributes

Assessment criticized for arrogance as examiner yet praised for selecting true talent · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 181
Assessment Jiangnan's foremost salt administrator · Mode named-source-report Source Person Id Zhang Zhidong (張之洞)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 197
Assessment later Jiangbei relief shortages and waste matched his warning · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 213
precocious; formidable memory and oral debate
Character
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passages 176, 178

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 174

References in the histories

Search passages

History

13 passages

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 452Volume 452 Biographies 239: Hong Rukui, Yang Zonglian, Shi Pu, Shi Kekuan, Shen Baojing, Zhu Qiang Younger Brother: Qi Zhao, Zong Yuanhan, Xu Qingzhang, Xu Zhen, Kuai Guangdian, Chen Yusheng, Pan Minbiao, Yan Zuolin, Tang Xijin, Lou Chunfan · 13 passages

Open chapter

蒯光典，字禮卿，安徽合肥人。 Kuai Guangdian, styled Liqing, came from Hefei in Anhui.

光典幼慧，八歲能詩，隨父官江南，所師友多當代名儒，聞見日擴，名亦日起。 Precocious as a child, he was writing poetry at eight. Following his father to a post in Jiangnan, he studied with many leading scholars of the day, and his reputation grew steadily.

光典念國勢弱，在列諸人惟鄂督張之洞有大略，又嘗所從受業師也，因往說之洞慎選才俊，習武備，為異日革新庶政之用。 Seeing the nation's weakness, Guangdian judged that only Hubei Governor Zhang Zhidong—once his teacher—had a broad vision, and went to urge him to select talented youths and train them in military affairs for future reform.

之洞韙之，卒不果，而聘為兩湖書院監督。 Zhang approved the plan but it never came to fruition; he nevertheless appointed Guangdian superintendent of the Liang-Hu Academy.

大學士剛毅按事江南，司道百餘人同詣謁，獨延光典密室縱談國事，語切直。 When Grand Secretary Gangyi inspected Jiangnan, more than a hundred officials paid their respects together; he alone took Guangdian into a private room for a frank discussion of national affairs.

光典力爭，不能得，拂衣去。 Guangdian argued in vain and resigned in protest.

光典謂增新釐則病商，毋寧整齊鹽課。 Guangdian argued that new transit dues would hurt merchants and that it would be better to reform the salt tax.

光典為江南治鹽第一，督正陽既有績，請使主儀棧。 Guangdian is Jiangnan's foremost salt administrator; having succeeded at Zhengyang, I ask that he be put in charge of Yizhan.

光典既蒞事，以輪船駐大江三要區，首金、焦，次三江口，次沙漫洲，輔以兵艇，私梟斂跡。 Once in office he stationed steamships at three key points on the Yangtze—Jin and Jiao, Sanjiang Mouth, and Shamanzhou—backed by patrol boats, and private salt smugglers vanished.

適光典舟至，剴切諭解之。 Guangdian happened to arrive by boat and earnestly talked the crowd into dispersing.

大吏怒，將窮其獄，以光典言得免。 Superior officials were furious and meant to prosecute the case to the end, but Guangdian's intervention spared the people further punishment.

運河盛漲，光典先分檄河員增修堤，而自泊舟高郵守視。 When the Grand Canal flooded, he ordered river officials to raise the dikes while he moored at Gaoyou to supervise.

後江北賑事款絀而費糜，一如光典言。 Later northern Jiangsu relief funds ran short while expenses were wasted, exactly as Guangdian had predicted.