Wu Dacheng (吳大澂) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Wu Dacheng as a calligrapher, diplomat, general, and official. This record brings together 30 passages from 3 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Wu Dacheng	吳大澂	Wu Dacheng
Given	Dacheng	大澂
Given	Dacheng	大澂	Dacheng
Courtesy	Qingqing	清卿	Qingqing
Surname	Wu	吳	Wu

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:195:s0138, qingshigao:460:s0119
Sex: male
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0147

Roles

Calligrapher
Diplomat
General
Official
Scholar
Writer

Life and dates

Death

Age: Value: 68 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 二十八年 · Western Year: AD 1902
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0213

Age

Age: 68 · Reckoning: sui
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0213

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 七年 · Western Year: AD 1881
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0179
Source Date: Text: 二十一年 · Western Year: AD 1895
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0205
Source Date: Text: 二十八年 · Western Year: AD 1902
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0213
Source Date: Text: 二十四年 · Western Year: AD 1898
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0212
Source Date: Text: 光緒三年 · Western Year: AD 1877
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0158
Source Date: Text: 光緒六年 · Western Year: AD 1880
Explicit · qingshigao:460:s0119
Source Date: Text: 光緒十一年 · Western Year: AD 1885
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0140, qingshigao:195:s0148
Source Date: Text: 光緒十三年 · Western Year: AD 1887
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0161, qingshigao:195:s0169
Source Date: Text: 光緒十二年 · Western Year: AD 1886
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0151, qingshigao:195:s0159
Source Date: Text: 光緒十五年 · Western Year: AD 1889
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0183, qingshigao:195:s0191
Source Date: Text: 光緒十四年 · Western Year: AD 1888
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0172, qingshigao:195:s0180
Source Date: Text: 光緒十年 · Western Year: AD 1884
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0129, qingshigao:195:s0138
Source Date: Text: 六年 · Western Year: AD 1880
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0165
Source Date: Text: 十一年 · Western Year: AD 1885
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0188
Source Date: Text: 十二年 · Western Year: AD 1886
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0191
Source Date: Text: 十八年 · Western Year: AD 1892
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0202
Source Date: Text: 十四年 · Western Year: AD 1888
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0195
Source Date: Text: 十年 · Western Year: AD 1884
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0181
Source Date: Text: 同治元年秋 · Western Year: AD 1862
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0148, qingshigao:450:s0149
Source Date: Text: 四年 · Western Year: AD 1878
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0161

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Child of Mother of Wu Dacheng
Kinship Term: mother / 母 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: mother · Object Role: son

Origins and identity

Label: Han Chinese / 漢
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:195:s0138

Career and standing

Label: Chinese Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate / 都察院漢左副都御史 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十年甲申 · Western Year: AD 1884
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0138
Label: Yellow River commissioner / 河道總督 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 十四年 · Western Year: AD 1888
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0195
Label: assistant in Jilin border affairs / 佐吉林邊務 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:460:s0119
Label: educational commissioner of Shaanxi and Gansu / 陝甘學政 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0154
Label: governor of Guangdong / 廣東巡撫 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0191
Label: governor of Hunan / 湖南巡撫 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0202
Label: Hanlin compiler / 編修 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0152
Label: intendant of the Hebei Circuit / 河北道 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0161
Label: Left Vice Censor-in-Chief / 左副都御史 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0181
Label: minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud / 太僕寺卿 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0179
Label: third-rank ministerial status / 三品卿銜 · Action: granted
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0165
Label: Chinese Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate / 都察院漢左副都御史 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十一年乙酉 · Western Year: AD 1885
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0148
Label: Chinese Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate / 都察院漢左副都御史 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十三年丁亥 · Western Year: AD 1887
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0169
Label: Chinese Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate / 都察院漢左副都御史 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十二年丙戌 · Western Year: AD 1886
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0159
Label: Chinese Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate / 都察院漢左副都御史 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十四年戊子 · Western Year: AD 1888
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0180
Title: first-rank hat finial / 頭品頂戴 · Action: granted
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0198
Status: permanently-barred · Action: received · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 二十四年 · Western Year: AD 1898
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0212
Status: dismissed-retained · Action: received
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0210

Places and affiliations

Label: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Explicit · qingshigao:195:s0138
Place: Wu County in Jiangsu / 江蘇吳縣
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0147

Learning and skills

Credential: Presented Scholar / 進士 · Action: earned · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 後六年 · Western Year: AD 1868
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0152
Skill: seal and bronze script / 篆籀 · Level: accomplished
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0214

Works and attributed material

Work: bronze pillar inscription / 銅柱銘 · Relation: author
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0189
Work: collected prose and poetry / 齋詩文集 · Relation: author
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0215
Work: Hengxuan's Record of Ancient Bronzes / 恆軒古金錄 · Relation: author
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0215
Work: Inquiry into Ancient Jade / 古玉圖考 · Relation: author
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0215
Work: Inquiry into Weights and Measures / 權衡度量考 · Relation: author
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0215
Work: Supplement to Ancient Seal Script / 古籀補 · Relation: author
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0215
Kind: memorial · Role: author · Topic: elevate Prince Chun honors · Other Person Id: Yiyi (奕枻)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0199
Kind: memorial · Role: author · Topic: frugality and integrity
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0150, qingshigao:450:s0151
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Other Person Id: Han Xiaozhong (韓效忠)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0174
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quote: I truly cannot command troops
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0209

Events and relationships

Kind: ritual · Role: proposer · Action: added-to-sacrificial-canon · Other Person Id: Cangjie (倉頡)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0154
Kind: public-works · Role: commissioner · Action: closed-Zhengzhou-breach
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0196
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: defeat-and-attempted-suicide
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0208, qingshigao:450:s0209
Kind: diplomatic · Role: negotiator · Action: discovered-Russian-encroachment · Place: Hunchun Hundingzi / 琿春黑頂子
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0166, qingshigao:450:s0167
Kind: relief · Role: commissioner · Action: famine-relief · Place: Shanxi and Shaanxi
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0158, qingshigao:450:s0159
Kind: military · Role: officer · Action: garrisoned · Place: Leting and Changli / 樂亭、昌黎
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0180
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: led-Hunan-army · Place: Haicheng / 海城
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0204, qingshigao:450:s0205
Kind: political · Role: remonstrator · Action: memorialized-to-cut-wedding-costs · Other Person Id: Emperor Muzong (穆宗)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0153
Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: persuaded-surrender · Other Person Id: Han Xiaozhong (韓效忠)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0173, qingshigao:450:s0174, qingshigao:450:s0175, qingshigao:450:s0176, qingshigao:450:s0177, qingshigao:450:s0178
Kind: diplomatic · Role: boundary-commissioner · Action: restored-encroached-border · Other Person Id: Yike Tang'a (伊克唐阿)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0188, qingshigao:450:s0189, qingshigao:450:s0190
Kind: diplomatic · Role: envoy · Action: settled-Korea-disorder · Other Person Id: Xuchang (續昌)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0182, qingshigao:450:s0183, qingshigao:450:s0184, qingshigao:450:s0185, qingshigao:450:s0186, qingshigao:450:s0187
Kind: personnel · Role: officeholder · Action: transferred · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十五年己丑 · Western Year: AD 1889
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:195:s0191
Relation: recommended-by · Person Id: Zeng Guoquan (曾國荃)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0160
Relation: recommended-by · Person Id: Li Hongzhang (李鴻章)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0160
Relation: friend-of · Person Id: Yiyi (奕枻)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0198
Relation: subordinate-of · Person Id: Tu Zongying (塗宗瀛)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0163, qingshigao:450:s0164
Relation: recommended-by · Person Id: Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0160
Relation: colleague-of · Person Id: Ming'an (銘安)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0165
Relation: patron-of · Person Id: Dai Zongqian (戴宗騫)
Explicit · qingshigao:460:s0119, qingshigao:460:s0125
Relation: recommender-of · Person Id: He Ruilin (賀瑞麟)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0155
Relation: recommender-of · Person Id: Yang Shuchun (楊樹椿)
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0155

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: famous for river control but ruined by empty arrogance in military affairs · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · qingshigao:450:s0219

Source notes

Historicity: historical
Explicit · qingshigao:195:s0138

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 195Volume 195 Tables 35: Ministers of Boards and Courts Chronological Table 9 Lower · 6 passages

Open chapter

陳蘭彬免。八月乙亥吳大澂左副都御史。沈源深署。陳蘭彬 was removed from office. On the yihai day of the eighth month, 吳大澂: Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief. 沈源深 served in an acting capacity.

吳大澂沈源深仍署。 Wu Dacheng; Shen Yuanshen continued to serve in an acting capacity.

吳大澂吳大澂.

吳大澂遷。二月丁亥薛福成左副都御史。五月己酉病解。六月戊寅徐致祥左副都御史。吳大澂 was transferred. On the dinghai day of the second month, 薛福成: Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief. On the jiyou day of the fifth month, was relieved due to illness. On the wuyin day of the sixth month, 徐致祥: Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 450Volume 450 Biographies 237: Li Henian, Wen Bin, Ren Daorong, Xu Zhenyi, Wu Dacheng · 21 passages

Open chapter

吳大澂，字清卿，江蘇吳縣人。 Wu Dacheng, styled Qingqing, was a native of Wu County in Jiangsu.

大澂方為諸生，入都應京兆試。 Dacheng was then a common student and had come to the capital for the metropolitan district examination.

時詔修頤和園，大澂復言時事艱難，請停止工作。 When the court ordered repairs to the Summer Palace, Dacheng again argued that times were hard and asked that the work be halted.

惟大澂能判決如巡撫恉。 Only Dacheng enforced the governor's policy as intended.

大澂週曆要隘，始知琿春黑頂子地久為俄人侵占。 Touring the strategic passes, Dacheng discovered that the Hundingzi territory of Hunchun had long been occupied by Russia.

大澂單騎抵其巢，留宿三日，勸效忠出，效忠猶豫，意難之。 Dacheng rode alone into their stronghold, stayed three days, and urged Xiaozhong to surrender; Xiaozhong hesitated, troubled by the request.

大澂曰：「我不疑若，若乃疑我耶？」 Dacheng said: "I do not doubt you — do you doubt me?"

大澂挺以自任，遂與效忠出，奏給五品頂戴，子七品，孫登舉有平寇功，授參將。 Dacheng pledged to take personal responsibility, and Xiaozhong came out with him; the court granted Xiaozhong a fifth-rank hat finial, his son seventh rank, and his grandson Dengju, credited with pacifying the bandits, the rank of brigade commander.

大澂謂續昌曰：「是蔑我也！」 Dacheng said to Xuchang: "This is an insult to me!"

大澂持不可，條上駁議，不報。 Dacheng objected and submitted a detailed rebuttal, but received no response.

十四年，鄭州河再決，上震怒，褫河督李鶴年職，以大澂代之。 In 1888 the Zhengzhou breach opened again; the emperor was furious, dismissed river commissioner Li Henian, and replaced him with Dacheng.

是年冬，河工合龍，大澂力居多。 That winter the breach was closed, and Dacheng's contribution was the largest.

大澂盛負時譽，會海軍議起，以醇親王奕枻為總理。 Dacheng enjoyed great contemporary renown; when plans for a navy were raised, Prince Chun Yixuan was placed in charge.

大澂素與王善，治河功成，實授河道總督，加頭品頂戴。 Dacheng had long been on good terms with the prince; after the river works succeeded he was formally appointed Yellow River commissioner and granted the first-rank hat finial.

大澂遂疏請尊崇醇親王稱號禮節。 Dacheng then memorialized requesting elevated titles and ceremonial honors for Prince Chun.

大澂幾得嚴譴，以母喪歸，乃已。 Dacheng nearly faced severe punishment, but returned home for his mother's mourning, and the affair ended there.

大澂因自請率湘軍赴前敵，優詔允之。 Dacheng volunteered to lead Hunan troops to the front, and the throne graciously approved.

大澂憤湘軍盡覆，拔劍欲自裁，王同愈在側，格阻之，同愈以編修參大澂軍事也。 Enraged that the Hunan army had been wiped out, Dacheng drew his sword to kill himself; Wang Tongyu, who was serving on his staff as a Hanlin compiler, was at his side and stopped him.

光燾請申軍法，大澂歎曰：「餘實不能軍，當自請嚴議。」 Guangtao asked that military law be applied; Dacheng sighed and said: "I truly cannot command troops; I should request severe punishment myself."

大澂善篆籀，罷官後，貧甚，售書畫、古銅器自給。 Dacheng was accomplished in seal and bronze script; after leaving office he was desperately poor and sold calligraphy, paintings, and ancient bronzes to support himself.

大澂治河有名，而好言兵，才氣自喜，卒以虛憍敗，惜哉！ Dacheng was famous for river control, yet loved to talk of military affairs, took pride in his own talent, and in the end was ruined by empty arrogance—a pity indeed!

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 460Volume 460 Biographies 247: Zuo Baogui Younger Brother: Bao Xian, Yong Shan, Deng Shichang, Liu Buchan, Lin Taiceng, Dai Zongqian · 3 passages

Open chapter

光緒六年，中俄失和，吳大澂被命佐吉林邊務，奏宗騫自隨。 In the sixth year of Guangxu, when relations with Russia broke down, Wu Dacheng was ordered to assist in Jilin border affairs and memorialized that Zongqian accompany him.

大澂兼攝屯政，宗騫為治道路，築砲台，設江防，徙直、東流民，假予產業，分部護之。 Wu also took charge of frontier colonization; Zongqian built roads, erected forts, organized river defenses, resettled refugees from Zhili and the east, lent them land and tools, and posted guards to protect them by district.

大澂上其績狀，遷知府。 Wu reported his achievements and he was promoted to prefect.