Liu Tongxun

Liu Tongxun (1698-1773), born in Pangge Village, Gaomi (originally belong to Zhucheng) with courtesy name of Yanqing or Erdun, had been one of the scholars of the Grand Secretariat and minister of the Ministry of Justice.

In 1724(the 2nd year of Emperor Yongzheng`s reign), he became jinshi, thus started his political career. In 1729, he became principal examiner in the provincial examinations in Hubei. In 1736, he was promoted as one of the scholars of the Grand Secretariat and served as Right Shilang of the Ministry of Justice, and the following year as Left Shilang. In Sep. 1741, he was further promoted to Right Censor-in-chief.

In March, 1746, as general inspector, he was temporally in charge of transporting grain to the capital by ship and returned in September. In 1724, he worked as principal examiner in the provincial examinations in Shuntianfu (the district of Beijing). In March 1748, he, together with the grand secretary Gao Bin, was sent to Shandong to deal with the relieving business there. In May, they successively went to Shaomaying in Dezhou, Jinan, the section of the canal`s east bank in Dongchang and Liaocheng, the dam by Dai Village in Dongping, Tai`an and Jiangfeng Outlet on the west bank of Yi River, and gained marvelous achievements in altering dams and dredging waterways. In Dec. 1749, he was appointed as minister of the Board of Works, as one of the scholars in the Imperial Academy at the same time, and later served as minister of the Ministry of Penalty. In 1752 he was relieved of his post but still retained it because he made a mistake in calculating the amount of grain in the storehouse.

In Sep. 1753, when the Yellow River burst its bank near Tongshan, he presented to the emperor measures of dispersing people to prevent damage, and even drew a draft to show how to do it. According to the draft, the court ordered him to freely make plans to stop the crack. Soon the Yellow River regained its course, which earned him the court`s reward, and he was promoted together with Celeng and Shuhede. He explored river banks for ten times, rebuilt seawalls twice, and presented dozens of memorials to the emperor, all of which hit the spot, helping to rejecting accumulated defects and benefiting the people. For this, people in Henan built a memorial temple on the south bank of the Yellow River in his honor. 

In 1754, Liu Tongxun was promoted as the prince`s Grand Mentor and was assigned to help in the governor`s business in the area of Shanxi and Gansu, for which he was bestowed a peacock’s feather to be borne on his cap, a symbol for a very high position. Then when he was sent to inspect the garrisons in Balikun and Hami, he witnessed the harassment of Ili by soldiers under Quiersana, chief of the Hui nationality. Yongchang, the Dingxi general, had to withdraw from Mulei to Balikun. For this Liu presented a memorial persuading the emperor to give up Balikun and defend Hami. The emperor, getting very angry with him, deprived him of his post and had him sent back to Beijing as a criminal. His son was also captured by the Ministry of Penalty and all their property was confiscated. Before long, he regained his post owing to the emperor`s mercy and was ordered to help in the military affairs, thus having the chance to make amends for his wrong. In 1756, he was again appointed minister of the Ministry of Justice and the confiscated proper was returned.

In May, 1757, he was sent to investigate the case in which Guo Yiyu, the travelling inspector in Yunnan, instigated Governor Hengwen to purchase a gold royal stove. When the crime was proved true, the emperor ordered Hengwen to commit suicide and had Yiyu sent to Juntai (a military spot) to make amends for his wrong. In December, Liu was promoted as the prince`s tutor. Early next year, he was appointed minister of the Ministry of Civil Office. In Feb. 1759, he was sent to investigate the case in which General Dulai in Xi`an had pocketed some of the soldiers` pay; soon the accused was beheaded according to the law. Later he went to Guihua, Shanxi together with the traveling inspector Ta Shuining, to deal with the case in which General Baode and an official called Shitu were accused of misappropriating public funds. When it was proved true, Baode was put to death.

In 1761, he was appointed as grand secretary of the East Cabinet and simultaneously to be in charge of the business in the Ministry of Rites and later also in the Ministry of War. In 1763, he was also in charge of the Royal Academy as General Master. In 1765, he also dealt with the affairs of the Ministry of Justice and served as chief manager of the Library of National History.

In Dec. 1768, at the age of 70, Emperor Qianlong bestowed him a horizontal inscribed board with the emperor`s own calligraphy of praising Yuanjiejing. In 1773, he became general manager of the Complete Library in Four Divisions. He died in November at the age of 75. He had a son called Yong and a grandson named Huanzhi. His work was published as Master Wenzheng`s Poetry.

His family once owned acres of fields and a simply-built house. During his service in the court for 50 years, the old property did not get increased at all. Emperor Qianlong felt extremely sad toward his death so that the emperor went to pay his last tribute to Liu and bestowed on him the title Taifu (Grand Master). He was also bestowed a state funeral, offered sacrifices in Xianlian Temple (a place for the able and virtuous), and given the name Wenzheng after his death. Before his bier arrived at his home village, all the officials along the way within ten kilometers were ordered to offer their condolence in front of his catafalque.