Xu Yanxu (徐延旭) | 24 Histories

Overview

Xu Yanxu was a Military commander and governor.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Xiaoshan	曉山	Xiaoshan

Life and dates

Death

AD 1884 光緒十年
Cause Illness · At the capital 都
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 55
AD 1884 光緒十年
At Beijing 京師
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 472, passage 177

Attested activity

AD 1884 光緒十年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 37-38, 40, 45, 55
AD 1860 咸豐十年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 2
AD 1877 光緒三年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 5
AD 1882 光緒八年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 6-7
AD 1883 光緒九年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 8-10, 19, 25-26
AD 1870 同治九年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 4

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AD 1884 光緒八至十年間
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 160
AD 1884 光緒十年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 472, passage 175
AD 1884 十年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 192
AD 1884 十年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 463, passage 22
AD 1882 徐延旭
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 113
AD 1883 to AD 1884 法越構釁
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 444, passages 121, 141

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Xu Fang (徐坊)
father 父
son 子
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 472, passage 173; Draft History of Qing 458, passage 56

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Magistrate of Rong County 容縣知縣
AD 1860 咸豐十年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 2
Supervisor of Coastal Defense 督辦海防
AD 1882 光緒八年 · Appointed · Privilege authorized to memorialize directly
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 6
Governor 巡撫
AD 1883 光緒九年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 9
Prefect of Wuzhou 梧州知府
AD 1870 同治九年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 4
Circuit Intendant 道員
Held
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 141
Guangxi Provincial Treasurer 廣西布政使
AD 1882 光緒八年 · Promoted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 6

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Prefect 知府
Promoted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 3
An-Xiang-Jing-Yun Circuit Intendant 安襄荊鄖道
AD 1877 光緒三年 · Transferred
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 5
Arrested and interrogated
AD 1883 to AD 1884 法越構釁 · Arrest · Cause Loss of territory
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 121
Arrested and tried
AD 1884 光緒十年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 53
Dismissed but retained
AD 1884 光緒十年 · Authority Guangxu Emperor (光緒帝)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 46
Sentence commuted
AD 1884 光緒十年 · From decapitation after imprisonment · To exile in Xinjiang
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 53
arrest, imprisonment, ordered exile to Xinjiang 逮問，下刑部獄，戍新疆
AD 1884 光緒十年 · Suffered
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 472, passages 175, 177
impeached and removed 被劾得罪去
Suffered
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 121

Places and affiliations

Polity Qing · Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 1
Polity Qing 清 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passages 121, 192
At Linqing, Shandong 山東臨清
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 1

Learning and skills

Earned
AD 1860 咸豐十年 · Credential Presented Scholar (jinshi) 進士
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 2

Works and attributed material

AD 1884 光緒十年
Memorial · Author · Subject reported subordinates' deception and requested punishment for himself
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 45
AD 1884 光緒十年
Military report · Author · Subject incorrect assurance that Bac Ninh remained secure · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 38
AD 1883 光緒九年
Memorial · Author · Subject defensive deployments on the Guangxi and Yunnan frontiers
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 10-17
AD 1883 光緒九年
Memorial · Author · Subject Vietnamese peace negotiations and continued military readiness
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 19-22
AD 1883 光緒九年
Submission · Forwarder · Subject Vietnamese accession embassy, treaty articles, and Huang Zuoyan's report
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 23-24
AD 1883 to AD 1884 光緒九年至十年之間
Memorial · Author · Subject six requests for permission to engage the enemy
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 35

Events and relationships

Advanced into Vietnam, based at Lang Son, and ordered attacks toward Hai Duong and Gia Lam
AD 1883 其冬（光緒九年） · Military · Commander · With Huang Guilan (黃桂蘭), Zhao Wo (趙沃)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 26-28
Disciplined troops, prohibited abuse of civilians, and punished payroll fraud
Administrative · Administrator
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 30, 50
Earned merit when government forces captured Xunzhou
Administrative · Participant
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 3
His army was subordinated to Cen Yuying
AD 1884 光緒十年 · Military · Commander · With Cen Yuying (岑毓英)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 40
Lost territory and armies
AD 1884 十年 · Military · Commander
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 192
Ordered to guard Zhennan Pass and plan its defense
AD 1883 光緒九年 · Military · Commander · With Huang Guilan (黃桂蘭), Zhao Wo (趙沃)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 8

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Placed Tang Jingsong over the remnants and ordered them to Tunmei
AD 1884 光緒十年 · Military · Commander · With Tang Jingsong (唐景崧)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 48
Recommendation by Peilun led to Peilun dismissal
Political · Recommended person · With Zhang Peilun (張佩綸)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 160
Relation Recommended by · Person Zhang Zhidong (張之洞)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 7
Relation Recommended by · Person Zhang Peilun (張佩綸)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 141; Draft History of Qing 458, passage 7
Relation Commander of · Person Wang Debang (王德榜)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passage 25

Assessments and attributes

Assessment defeated and driven back to Guangxi within ten days of the Franco-Vietnamese conflict · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 177-178
Assessment knows warfare and fit for frontier affairs · Mode named-person-report Source Person Id Zhang Peilun (張佩綸)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 141
Assessment lost territory and armies · Mode named-source-report Source Person Id Deng Chengxiu (鄧承修)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 192
Assessment recklessly risked frontier affairs but escaped execution · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 458, passages 180-182

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 444, passage 160

References in the histories

Search passages

History

28 passages

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 437Volume 437 Biographies 224: Rong Lu, Wang Wenshao, Zhang Zhidong, Qu Hongji · 2 passages

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因薦唐炯、徐延旭、張曜材任將帥。 He recommended Tang Jiong, Xu Yanxu, and Zhang Yao as capable commanders.

朝旨因就加永福提督、景崧五品卿銜，炯、延旭亦皆已至巡撫，當前敵，被劾得罪去，並坐舉者。 The court then made Liu Yongfu a provincial commander and gave Tang Jingsong fifth-rank noble rank; Tang Jiong and Xu Yanxu, already governors, were impeached after failures at the front and removed, and those who had recommended them were punished too.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 444Volume 444 Biographies 231: Huang Tifang, Zong Shibaoting, Zong Shishengyu, Zhang Peilun, Deng Chengxiu, Xu Zhixiang · 4 passages

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法越構釁，徐延旭'唐炯坐失地逮問，盛昱言：「逮問疆臣而不明降諭旨，二百年來無此政體。」 When the Sino-French conflict erupted, Xu Yanxu and Tang Jiong were arrested for losing territory. Sheng Yu wrote: "To seize and interrogate frontier officials without a clear imperial edict—in two hundred years there has been no precedent for such a procedure."

又薦道員徐延旭、唐炯知兵堪任邊事，其招致劉永福黑旗兵為己用。 he also recommended Circuit Intendants Xu Yanxu and Tang Jiong as military men fit for frontier duty, and urged them to enlist Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army for their own forces.

時已坐薦唐尚、徐延旭褫職，至是再論戍。 He had already been dismissed for recommending Tang Shang and Xu Yanxu; now he was sentenced to exile again.

十年，越事益壞，首劾徐延旭、唐炯失地喪師，趙沃、黃桂蘭擁兵僨事，宜肅國憲。 In the tenth year, as Vietnam deteriorated, he was first to impeach Xu Yanxu and Tang Jiong for losing territory and armies, and Zhao Wo and Huang Guilan for misusing troops and ruining the campaign—urging that national law be enforced.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 458Volume 458 Biographies 245: Xu Yanxu, Tang Jiong, He Jing, Zhang Zhaodong · 16 passages

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徐延旭，字曉山，山東臨清人。 Xu Yanxu, whose courtesy name was Xiaoshan, came from Linqing in Shandong.

延旭上部署防守狀，略云：「固廣西邊疆，必守北寧； Yanxu memorialized the court with a plan for the defense, stating in brief: 'To hold the Guangxi border secure, Bac Ninh must be defended;

延旭奏言：「越人倉卒議和，或謂因故君未葬，冀緩須臾； Yanxu reported: 'The Vietnamese rushed into peace talks. Some said they hoped only to buy time because the late king had not yet been buried;

左宗棠檄前布政使王德榜募勇扼桂邊，朝命受延旭節度。 Zuo Zongtang ordered former Provincial Treasurer Wang Debang to raise troops and hold the Guangxi frontier, and the court placed him under Yanxu's command.

適山西陷，延旭猶慮兵力薄，復遣使入關募勇，通舊五十餘營，厚集於此。 Son Tay had just fallen, and Yanxu still feared his forces were too few. He sent men back through the pass to raise troops and gathered more than fifty former battalions in strength there.

上命延旭罷登壇，或囚而殺之，延旭以力不能制而止。 The throne ordered Yanxu to remove Dengtan, or to imprison and execute him, but Yanxu desisted because he lacked the power to enforce it.

桂蘭復希風指，侈談部下能戰，延旭益信之，遂六上書請戰。 Huang Guilan again tried to read his commander's mind and boasted of his men's fighting power. Yanxu believed him all the more and six times memorialized asking permission to give battle.

李鴻章電奏失守，延旭猶上言：「西聯滇軍，東防江口，北寧斷無他虞。」 Li Hongzhang telegraphed that the position had been lost, yet Yanxu still reported: 'With the Yunnan army on our west and the river mouth guarded on the east, Bac Ninh is surely in no danger.'

會岑毓英抵保勝，部署邊外各軍，遂命延旭軍屬之。 When Cen Yuying reached Baosheng and took charge of the frontier armies, Yanxu's forces were placed under his command.

初，延旭之任西撫也，未及兩月，亦知桂蘭等未可恃。 When Yanxu first took up the governorship of the western provinces, he had known within two months that Huang Guilan and his like were not to be trusted.

延旭上其欺飾狀，並自糾請治罪。 Yanxu reported their deceit and filed a confession of his own, asking to be punished.

延旭以景崧護軍收殘兵，更約束，令駐屯梅。 Yanxu put Jingsong in charge of gathering the shattered troops, restoring discipline, and posting them at Tunmei.

延旭鑑覆轍，嚴禁防軍向越官索夫米，有伐一草一木者斬，越民仍不知感。 Learning from past disasters, Yanxu strictly forbade frontier troops to demand porters and grain from Vietnamese officials and ordered death for anyone who so much as cut grass or wood, yet the Vietnamese still showed no gratitude.

適德榜至，勸延旭勉自支振，圖再舉。 Wang Debang then arrived and urged Yanxu to rally himself and plan a fresh campaign.

延旭未出都，病卒。 Yanxu died of illness before he could leave the capital.

未及旬日，延旭敗退廣西，炯棄關外新安行營。 Within ten days Yanxu had been defeated and driven back to Guangxi, and Jiong had abandoned his headquarters beyond the border at Xin'an.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 463Volume 463 Biographies 250: Tang Jingsong, Liu Yongfu · 2 passages

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景崧輕騎入諒山，與徐延旭量戰守。 Jingsong rode lightly into Lang Son to consult Xu Yanxu on how to attack and defend.

回諒，謂延旭曰：「寇深矣！ Back in Lang Son he told Yanxu: "The enemy has penetrated deep!

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 472Volume 472 Biographies 259: Lu Runxiang, Shi Xu, Yi Ketan, Liang Dingfen, Xu Fang, Lao Naixuan, Shen Cengzhi · 4 passages

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徐坊，字梧生，山東臨清州人，巡撫延旭子。 Xu Fang, whose courtesy name was Wusheng, came from Linqing prefecture in Shandong; he was the son of Governor Yan Xu.

光緒十年，法陷諒山，延旭逮問，下刑部獄。 In the tenth year of Guangxu, when the French took Langshan, Yan Xu was arrested and questioned and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice.

坊侍至京師，入則慰母，出則省延旭於獄，橐饘之事，皆自任之，布衣蔬食，言輒流涕。 Fang followed him to the capital; at home he comforted his mother, abroad he visited Yan Xu in prison; he undertook all the work of carrying provisions himself, wore coarse cloth and ate plain food, and wept whenever he spoke.

延旭戍新疆，未出都卒，坊扶柩歸葬，徒行泥淖中，道路嘆為孝子。 Yan Xu was to be exiled to Xinjiang; before leaving the capital he died, and Fang carried the coffin home for burial, walking through mud and mire—travelers on the road marveled at him as a filial son.