Zhou Youde

Zhou Youde (also romanised as Chou Yu-te; Chinese: 周有德; pinyin: Zhōu Yŏude; Wade–Giles: Chou¹ Yu³-te; died 1680), courtesy name Yichu (Chinese: 彝初; pinyin: Yíchú),[1] was a Chinese official active in the early Qing dynasty as governor of various provinces. As Viceroy of Liangguang, he contributed significantly towards repealing the Great Evacuation edict, together with Wang Lairen. Widely venerated as a respectable civil servant, or a "benevolent official", Zhou was deified after his death in 1680 and shrines bearing his image were established throughout China.

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Zhou.

Zhou Youde (Chou Yu-te)
Temple mural of Zhou Youde, Guangdong
Personal details
Died	1680
Full name	Surname: Zhōu (周) Given name: Yŏude (有德) Courtesy name: Yíchú (彝初)

Zhou Youde
Chinese	周有德
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōu Yŏude Wade–Giles Chou^1 Yu^3-te

Early life and career

Zhou Youde was born in the late Ming period. He enrolled in the Hongwen Institution (宏文院) in around 1644 and studied prose-editing and poetry, graduating in 1661, the first year of Kangxi's reign.[2] Thereafter he enlisted as a banner-man in the Qing military and served under the Bordered Red Banner (镶红旗).[3] In 1663, he was appointed Governor of Shandong and became the ninth person to take the helm.[4] In 1665, Zhou successfully petitioned the Kangxi Emperor to reduce taxes on the locals because they were experiencing sustained periods of drought and famine.[4] He also sought for maritime trade bans to be lightened, following the capture or destruction of several Portuguese trading vessels.[5] A year later, he spearheaded the modification of an abandoned German government palace into a prison hospital, rallying scores of villagers to assist in the construction with the promise of food;[4] some officials and workers had to travel approximately 150 kilometres to Qingzhou to procure some of the necessary construction materials, including wood and stones.[6] The compound is now referred to as "Pearl Springs" (珍珠泉) and is a historic landmark in Shandong. It is described as Zhou's "greatest contribution to Shandong".[4]

As Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, a role he held from January 1668 to February 1670,[7] taking over Qu Jinmei,[8] Zhou and fellow official Wang Lairen (王來任) jointly wrote a petition to the Kangxi Emperor, urging him to abolish the Great Clearance, a "forceful relocation of coastal communities inland to cut off the supply lines of Ming loyalists."[9] Zhou had personally witnessed the suffering of the victims and had long been a vocal opponent of the ban.[10] As he observed, "(the evacuation) resulted in an imbalance of demographics, and it plunged many into unemployment."[lower-alpha 1][11] The edict was officially lifted on 16 December 1668,[12] some seven years after it had been implemented.[13] His successor as Liangguang (兩廣) governor-general was Quan Guangzu.[8] In 1679 he became the governor of both Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. Zhou also served as Governor of Sichuan from 1674 to 1679.[14][2] Zhou's career was not without controversy – in one instance he was accused of not providing supplies to the Qing military during the Revolt of the Three Feudatories while in another he was criticised for being unfilial by calling for the construction of a "grand residence when he was in a mourning period."[15] Zhou Youde died of illness in 1680.[4][14]

Legacy

Left: The Lords Zhou and Wang Memorial Study Hall, Kam Tin; Right: An idol of Zhou Youde.

19th-century illustration of "Feng the Carpenter" from Xiangzhu liaozhai zhiyi tuyong (Liaozhai Zhiyi with commentary and illustrations; 1886)

Following their successful petition to repeal the Great Evacuation edict, Zhou and Wang became celebrated officials revered especially by Tang clan members and have since been memorialised throughout China. As Ng (2015) writes, "(the) requests made by Zhou Youde and Wang Lairen for the wellbeing of a large number of people in the coastal areas won them high respect. The sign of their esteem is demonstrated by the wide scope of worshipping activities and associated excessive quantities of steles dedicated to them throughout Guangdong province."[16] Notably, the Lords Zhou and Wang Memorial Study Hall in Kam Tin was established by the Tang clan in 1684 as a tribute to Zhou and Wang Lairen.[17] Similarly, the Temple for Two Dukes (二公祠) in Guangzhou was built in honour of Zhou and Wang.[15] The Hongsheng temple in Chaolian contains imagery of Zhou; the displaced villagers had allegedly been given divine indication, after worshipping at the temple, that they would "return home after 1,800 days", a prediction which roughly came true following Zhou's efforts.[9] Zhou and Wang were also deified at the Temple to Famous Officials in Nantou.[18] Zhou is likewise treated like a deity by Chaoshan residents, who seek advice and divine help from him; this phenomenon is dismissed as "dross superstition" by a Chaoxue[lower-alpha 2] scholar.[19]

Zhou is a prominent figure in Hong Kong folklore, referred to as a "benevolent official".[20] Descendants of the resettled villagers observe the Chou Wong Yi Kung festival at the start of the sixth lunar month annually, as a means of expressing their gratefulness towards Zhou and Wang.[21]

Zhou is briefly mentioned in "Feng the Carpenter" (冯木匠),[22] a short story implicitly criticising the Qing government by Pu Songling in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.[23] The tale makes reference to the "remodeling of a former prince's residence into an office for various government ministries". In reality, Zhou had indeed commissioned the construction of a provincial yamen on the abandoned premises of the Prince of Jinan's former residence.[24][25] According to Sondergrad (2014), "Pu inserts him (Zhou) obliquely into his story knowing that Zhou's reputation would not be tarnished by a fiction, while the mere mention of his name would help to keep his legacy alive."[23]

Relics such as imperial documents mentioning Zhou and seventeenth-century biographies of him are housed at the Qing section of the National Palace Museum in Shilin, Taipei. The collection also includes official records recognising Zhou as a governor of virtue, most notably a "monumental biography" highlighting Governor Zhou's requesting tax reductions for the famine-stricken villagers of Shandong.[2]

See also

•  China portal
• Media related to Zhou Youde at Wikimedia Commons

References

Notes

1. In Chinese: "比外界迁入内地之民，颇苦失业 (...)"[11]
2. A niche area of Chinese studies revolving around the Teochew culture and history (Chinese: 潮学).

Citations

1. Zhou 2009, p. 151.
2. "(明–清)周有德 [Ming to Qing – Zhou Youde]" (in Chinese). Taiwan: Palace Museum. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
3. Wu 1991, p. 524.
4. "中国清代历史上的几位山东巡抚 [A few of Shandong's historical governors]" (in Chinese). Jinan Government. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
5. Souza 2004, p. 201.
6. "珍珠泉200年 [200th anniversary of Pearl Springs]". QL Weekly (in Chinese). 21 August 2010. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012.
7. Qi 1986, p. 94.
8. "China Provinces and Administrative Divisions". World Statesmen. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
9. Tagliacozzo 2015, p. 80.
10. Huang 2014, p. 204.
11. Liu, Fengyun. "清康熙朝的禁海、开海与禁止南洋贸易 [Maritime and trade bans by the Kangxi administration]" (in Chinese). History China.
12. Fu 1996, p. 43.
13. Ho 2002, p. 50.
14. Dan 2006, p. 1683.
15. Ng 2015, p. 104.
16. Ng 2015, p. 102.
17. Ng 2015, p. 99.
18. Baker 1968, p. 194.
19. Cai, Qixian (2013). "对潮学研究的几点看法 [A few points on Chaoxue research]" (PDF) (in Chinese). Institute of Chaozhou Culture at Hanshan University.
20. Watson 2004, p. 433.
21. "First Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory of Hong Kong" (PDF). Heritage Museum Hong Kong. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
22. Sondergrad 2014, p. 2057.
23. Sondergrad 2014, p. 14.
24. Zeitlin 2007, p. 113.
25. Wang 2005, p. 126.

Bibliography

• Tagliacozzo, Eric (2015). Asia Inside Out. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674286344.
• Baker, Hugh (1968). A Chinese Lineage Village: Sheung Shui. Stanford University Press.
• Fu, Lo-shu (1966). A Documentary Chronicle of Sino-Western Relations, 1644–1820: Translated texts. Arizona University Press.
• Yin Lee, Ho (2002). A tale of two villages: the story of changing village life in the New Territories. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195928594.
• Wang, Dewei (2005). Dynastic Crisis and Cultural Innovation: From the Late Ming to the Late Qing and Beyond. Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 9780674017818.
• Ng, Pak-sheung (2015). Indigenous Culture, Education and Globalization: Critical Perspectives from Asia. Springer. ISBN 9783662481592.
• Sondergrad, Sidney (2014). Strange Tales from Liaozhai. Jain Publishing Company. ISBN 9780895810519.
• Zeitlin, Judith T. (2007). The Phantom Heroine: Ghosts and Gender in Seventeenth-century Chinese Literature. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824830915.
• Souza, G.B. (2004). The Survival of Empire: Portuguese Trade and Society in China and the South China Sea 1630–1754. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521531351.
• Watson, James (2004). Village Life in Hong Kong: Politics, Gender, and Ritual in the New Territories. Chinese University Press. ISBN 9629961008.
• Huang, Jialiang (2014). 藏在古蹟裡的香港 [Hong Kong: Shrouded in history] (in Chinese). Sanlian Books. ISBN 9789620435324.
• Wu, Zhongkuang (1991). 满汉名臣传 [Complete records of Han Chinese] (in Chinese). University of California. ISBN 9787207013880.
• Qi, Jialin (1986). 台灣史 [Taiwanese history] (in Chinese). University of California. ISBN 9787544335775.
• Zhou, Shujia. 香港諸神——起源、廟宇與崇拜 [Deities in Hong Kong] (in Chinese). China Bookstore Publishing (Hong Kong). ISBN 9628931105.
• Dan, Bo (2006). 中华万姓谱 [Thousand Chinese Surnames] (in Chinese). 2. Chinese Archives Press. ISBN 780166681X.

Government offices
Preceded by Qi Jinmei	Viceroy of Liangguang 1668 – 1670	Succeeded by Quan Guangzu
Preceded by Eshan	Governor of Yunnan 1678 – 1680	Succeeded by Zhao Liangdong