Yan Jingming (閻敬銘)

Overview

The translated histories identify Yan Jingming as an administrator, official, and statesman. This record brings together 22 passages from 5 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Yan Jingming	閻敬銘	Yan Jingming
Courtesy name	Danchu	丹初	Danchu
Given	Jingming	敬銘	Jingming
Title	Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent	太子少保
Posthumous name	Wenjie	文介	Wenjie
Surname	Yan	閻	Yan
Personal name	Yan Jingming	閻敬銘	Yan Jingming

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:423:s0015, qingshigao:438:s0003, qingshigao:440:s0085, qingshigao:465:s0086
Sex: male
Explicit · qingshigao:464:s0109

Roles

Administrator
Official
Statesman

Life and dates

Death

Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十八年 · Western Year: AD 1892
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0063

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 光緒三年 · Western Year: AD 1877
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0052, qingshigao:438:s0053, qingshigao:438:s0054
Source Date: Text: 光緒九年 · Western Year: AD 1883
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:438:s0058
Source Date: Text: 光緒五年 · Western Year: AD 1879
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:465:s0086
Source Date: Text: 光緒元年 · Western Year: AD 1875
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:440:s0075, qingshigao:440:s0085
Source Date: Text: 光緒八年 · Western Year: AD 1882
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0055, qingshigao:438:s0056
Source Date: Text: 光緒十一年 · Western Year: AD 1885
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0059, qingshigao:438:s0060, qingshigao:438:s0061
Source Date: Text: 光緒十三年 · Western Year: AD 1887
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0062
Source Date: Text: 光緒十八年 · Western Year: AD 1892
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0063
Source Date: Text: 同光以後 · Western Year: AD 1862
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:438:s0209, qingshigao:438:s0212, qingshigao:438:s0213
Source Date: Text: 同治三年 · Western Year: AD 1864
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0017
Source Date: Text: 同治五年 · Western Year: AD 1866
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:438:s0044, qingshigao:438:s0045, qingshigao:438:s0047, qingshigao:438:s0049, qingshigao:438:s0050
Source Date: Text: 同治元年 · Western Year: AD 1862
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0008, qingshigao:438:s0009
Source Date: Text: 同治六年 · Western Year: AD 1867
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0051
Source Date: Text: 同治初 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1862 · End: AD 1864
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:464:s0109
Source Date: Text: 同治四年 · Western Year: AD 1865
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0039, qingshigao:438:s0040
Source Date: Text: 同治至光緒初 · Western Year: AD 1870
Explicit event contextual date · qingshigao:423:s0223
Source Date: Text: 咸豐九年 · Western Year: AD 1859
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0005
Source Date: Text: 道光二十五年 · Western Year: AD 1845
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0004

Family

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

Child of Father of Yan Jingming
Kinship Term: biological father / 本生父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: father
Kinship Term: biological father / 本生父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Career and standing

Label: Grand Councilor / 軍機大臣 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒九年 · Western Year: AD 1883
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0058
Label: minister of Revenue / 戶部尚書 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒八年 · Western Year: AD 1882
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0055
Label: Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion / 東閣大學士 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十一年 · Western Year: AD 1885
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0059
Label: governor of Shandong / 巡撫 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同治三年 · Western Year: AD 1864
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0017
Label: acting provincial treasurer of Hubei / 署布政使 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同治元年 · Western Year: AD 1862
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0008
Label: bachelor of the Hanlin Academy / 庶吉士 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 道光二十五年 · Western Year: AD 1845
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0004
Label: acting governor of Shandong / 擢署巡撫 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0009
Label: acting minister of War / 兼署兵部 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0056
Label: acting Shandong salt transport commissioner / 署山東鹽運使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0009
Label: associate grand secretary / 協辦大學士 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0058
Label: commissioner of the Zongli Yamen / 總理衙門行走 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0058
Label: principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue / 戶部主事 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0004
Label: provincial judicial commissioner of Hubei / 湖北按察使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0007
Label: head of Ministry of Revenue / 掌戶部 · Action: held
Explicit · qingshigao:465:s0086
Label: vice minister / 侍郎 · Action: held
Explicit · qingshigao:440:s0085
Label: vice minister of Works / 工部侍郎 · Action: offered
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0051
Label: Grand Councilor / 軍機大臣 · Action: resigned
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0060
Label: yellow riding jacket / 黃馬褂 · Action: granted
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0059
Label: Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent / 太子少保 · Action: posthumously-granted
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0063
Status: rank-restored · Action: entered · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒十三年 · Western Year: AD 1887
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0062
Status: retirement · Action: entered · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同治六年 · Western Year: AD 1867
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0051
Status: retirement · Action: entered
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0062
Status: stripped-of-rank-retained · Action: entered
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0061
Label: impeachment for embezzling relief funds / 奏劾侵帑 · Action: initiated · Other Person Id: Duan Dingyao (段鼎耀)
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0053

Places and affiliations

Label: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:438:s0004, qingshigao:438:s0055
Label: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Explicit · qingshigao:464:s0109
Polity: Qing / 清 · Relation: served
Explicit · qingshigao:465:s0086
Place: Chaoyi, Shaanxi / 陝西朝邑
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0003
Place: Hubei / 湖北 · Relation: posted-to · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 咸豐九年 · Western Year: AD 1859
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0005

Learning and skills

Credential: Presented Scholar / 進士 · Action: earned · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 道光二十五年 · Western Year: AD 1845
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0004
Skill: financial administration / 理財 · Level: renowned
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0065

Works and attributed material

Kind: memorial · Role: author · Quoted: true
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0019, qingshigao:438:s0020, qingshigao:438:s0021, qingshigao:438:s0022, qingshigao:438:s0023, qingshigao:438:s0024, qingshigao:438:s0025, qingshigao:438:s0026, qingshigao:438:s0027, qingshigao:438:s0028, qingshigao:438:s0029, qingshigao:438:s0030, qingshigao:438:s0031, qingshigao:438:s0032, qingshigao:438:s0033, qingshigao:438:s0034, qingshigao:438:s0035
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0013, qingshigao:438:s0037

Events and relationships

Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: captured · Place: Zichuan / 淄川 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同治元年 · Western Year: AD 1862
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0011
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: defeated-rebels · Place: Yellow River and Grand Canal region / 黃運 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同治五年 · Western Year: AD 1866
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0049
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: destroyed · Other Person Id: Zhang Jizhong (張積中) · Place: Huangya, Feicheng / 肥城黃崖 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 同治五年 · Western Year: AD 1866
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0050
Kind: legal · Role: accuser · Action: impeached · Other Person Id: Encheng (恩承)
Explicit · qingshigao:440:s0085
Kind: administrative · Role: inspector · Action: inspected-relief · Place: Shanxi / 山西 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 光緒三年 · Western Year: AD 1877
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0052
Kind: administrative · Role: commissioner · Action: organized-famine-relief
Explicit · qingshigao:464:s0109

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: blunt integrity led to early retirement · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0067
Assessment: hoped to serve a ruler directing state affairs but was constrained · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0213
Assessment: plain, incorruptible, looked like an elderly Confucian scholar · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · qingshigao:438:s0064

References in the histories

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

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 423Volume 423 Biographies 210: Zong Jichen, Yin Gengyun, Wang Zheng, Mu Jixianga, You Baichuan, Shen Huai · 1 passage

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疏劾戶部主事楊鴻典攬權納賄，下刑部逮治，僅以小過議鐫級，及閻敬銘為尚書，始奏劾譴黜。 He impeached Revenue director Yang Hongdian for grasping power and taking bribes. The case went to the Ministry of Justice, but Yang was only lightly demoted until Yan Jingming became minister and secured his dismissal.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 438Volume 438 Biographies 225: Yan Jingming, Zhang Zhiwan, Lu Chuan Lin, Lin Shaonian · 18 passages

Open chapter

閻敬銘張之萬鹿傳霖林紹年 Yan Jingming, Zhang Zhiwan, Lu Chuanlin, and Lin Shaonian

閻敬銘，字丹初，陝西朝邑人。 Yan Jingming, whose style was Danchu, was a native of Chaoyi in Shaanxi.

林翼請病，复疏薦敬銘才，授湖北按察使。 When Hu Linyi fell ill and requested leave, he again memorialized recommending Jingming's ability, and Jingming was appointed provincial judicial commissioner of Hubei.

同治元年，嚴樹森繼為巡撫，亦推敬銘湖北賢能第一，署布政使。 In the first year of Tongzhi, Yan Shusen succeeded him as governor and likewise ranked Jingming first among Hubei's able men, appointing him acting provincial treasurer.

敬銘既受任，檄總兵保德等進剿，而自督軍規淄川，克之。 Once Jingming had taken up his post, he ordered Brigade General Baode and others to advance in suppression while he personally directed the army against Zichuan and captured the city.

已革參將宋景詩引降眾屯東昌，复叛，飭按察使丁寶楨討之。 The dismissed deputy general Song Jingshi had led surrendered troops to encamp at Dongchang and rebelled again; Jingming ordered provincial judicial commissioner Ding Baozhen to suppress him.

景詩竄莘，敬銘檄軍防運河，令之曰：「使一匪潛渡者，殺無赦！」 Jingshi fled to Shen. Jingming ordered troops to guard the Grand Canal and instructed them: "If even a single bandit slips across in secret, execute without mercy!"

敬銘言：「東省變故頻仍，亂甫定，降眾未必革心。 Jingming said: "Shandong has suffered repeated upheavals. The rebellion has only just been suppressed, and the surrendered masses may not yet have truly changed their hearts.

敬銘言：「斂鄉里之財以為餉，集耕種之民以為兵，於事有害無益，不如力行堅壁清野之法。」 Jingming said: "To levy village wealth for pay and gather farming folk as soldiers is harmful rather than helpful. It would be better to carry out vigorously the policy of strengthening walls and clearing the countryside."

敬銘督師東昌，還軍御之，增設砲劃防河，賊折而東。 Jingming directed operations at Dongchang, brought his army back to resist them, added batteries to defend the river, and the rebels turned eastward.

敬銘方臥疾，強起視師東平。 Jingming was then ill in bed but forced himself up to take command at Dongping.

敬銘赴濟寧，會曾國籓商定分扼黃、運之議。 Jingming went to Jining and met with Zeng Guofan to work out a plan for dividing control along the Yellow River and Grand Canal.

有張積中者，結寨肥城黃崖，集眾自保，以不受撫，夷之。 A man named Zhang Jizhong had fortified a stockade at Huangya in Feicheng and gathered followers for self-defense. Because he refused to submit to pacification, Jingming destroyed him and his followers.

時上意將修圓明園，而敬銘論治以節用為本，會廷議錢法，失太后旨，因革職留任。 At the time the court intended to restore the Old Summer Palace, while Jingming's governing principle was frugality. When deliberations on currency reform offended the Empress Dowager, he was stripped of rank but kept in his post.

十八年，卒，贈太子少保，諡文介。 In the eighteenth year he died. He was posthumously granted the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous name Wenjie.

敬銘質樸，以潔廉自矯厲，雖貴，望之若老儒。 Jingming was plain and unassuming, holding himself to strict standards of integrity. Though he rose to high rank, in appearance he still looked like an elderly Confucian scholar.

敬銘質樸，之萬練達，傳霖廉約，紹年勁直，其任封疆、治軍旅多有績，而立朝不復有所建樹。 Jingming was plain, Zhiwan seasoned, Chuanlin frugal, and Shaonian forceful and upright. Each achieved much in frontier posts and military affairs, yet at court they accomplished little of lasting note.

敬銘初欲得君專國政，為勢所限，終不能行其志，世尤惜之。 Jingming had once hoped to serve a ruler who would personally direct state affairs, but circumstances prevented him from realizing his aims, and the age especially regretted it.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 440Volume 440 Biographies 227: Ying Gui, Zong Shizailing, En Cheng, Zong Shifukun, Chong Li, Yu De · 1 passage

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復命赴雲南查辦事件，以侍郎閻敬銘劾恩承入川時失察家人需索，部議革職留任。 He was again ordered to proceed to Yunnan to investigate affairs. When Vice Minister Yan Jingming impeached En Cheng for failing to detect extortion by his household staff during his mission to Sichuan, the ministry deliberated dismissal from office with retention in post.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 464Volume 464 Biographies 251: Li Duanfen, Xu Zhijingzi, Ren Zhu, Chen Baozhen, Huang Zunxian, Ceng He, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong With: Tang Caichang, Lin Xu, Kang Guangren · 1 passage

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假歸，值晉大饑，閻敬銘銜命籌賑，深秀條上改革差徭法，困少蘇。 While on leave he encountered the great famine in Shanxi; Yan Jingming, charged with organizing relief, received Shenxiu's detailed plan to reform corvée and labor levies, and the people's distress was somewhat relieved.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 465Volume 465 Biographies 252: Xu Tong With: Yu Shi, Yu Shi Son: Cheng Yu, Gang Yi, Zhao Shuqiao, Qi Xiu, Ying Nian, Yu Lu With: Ting Yong, Yu Xian With: Li Tingxiao · 1 passage

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東省練新軍，倚餉京師，閻敬銘掌戶部，方規節帑，未應也。 Eastern provinces were raising new armies and depended on Beijing for pay; Yan Jingming at the Ministry of Revenue was cutting expenses and had not yet approved the funds.