Liu Guangdi (劉光第)

Overview

Liu Guangdi was an official and Reform Martyr.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Peicun	裴村	Peicun

Life and dates

Death

AD 1898 二十四年
Execution
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 168
Execution
Strongly inferred · Draft History of Qing 473, passage 94

Attested activity

AD 1898 二十四年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 464, passages 155, 159; Draft History of Qing 473, passages 73, 82
AD 1883 光緒九年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 150

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Fourth-rank ministerial title / Grand Council secretary 四品卿軍機章京
AD 1898 二十四年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 135
Ministry of Punishments secretary 刑部主事
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 150

Places and affiliations

Qing 清
Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 150
At Fushun, Sichuan 四川富順
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 149

Learning and skills

Earned
Credential Presented Scholar 進士
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 150
Skill Rites scholarship 周官禮及大小戴禮記 · Level versed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 154

Works and attributed material

Jiebaitang shiwenji 介白堂詩文集
Relation Author
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 169
AD 1898 二十四年
Speech · Speaker
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passages 156, 158, 160-162

Events and relationships

Surrendered and executed
Legal · Victim
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passages 159-160
Relation Friend of · Person Yang Rui (楊銳)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 153

Assessments and attributes

Assessment incorruptible · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 152

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 473, passage 56
Six Gentlemen 六君子
Statement One of the Six Gentlemen executed the same day
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 222

References in the histories

Search passages

History

14 passages

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 · 13 passages

Open chapter

李端棻徐致靖子仁鑄陳寶箴黃遵憲曾鉌楊深秀楊銳劉光第譚嗣同唐才常林旭康廣仁李端棻，字苾園，貴州貴筑人。 Li Duanfen, Xu Zhijing, his son Renzhu, Chen Baozhen, Huang Zunxian, Zeng He, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, Tang Caichang, Lin Xu, and Kang Guangren. Li Duanfen, whose courtesy name was Biyuan, came from Guizhu in Guizhou.

寶箴素慕曾、胡薦士，因上言楊銳、劉光第、譚嗣同、林旭佐新政。 Baozhen had long admired how Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi recommended men, and therefore memorialized that Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, and Lin Xu should assist the new policies.

又以陳寶箴薦，與劉光第、譚嗣同、林旭並加四品卿，充軍機章京，參新政。 Again through Chen Baozhen’s recommendation, he, together with Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, and Lin Xu, was given fourth-rank ministerial title, appointed a Grand Council secretary, and took part in the new policies.

爾與劉光弟、譚嗣同、林旭等詳悉籌議，必如何而後能進用英達，使新政及時舉行，又不致少拂聖意，即具奏，候朕審擇，不勝焦慮之至！」 You, together with Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, Lin Xu, and the others, must deliberate carefully on how to advance able men so that the new policies may proceed in good time without the least offense to the Empress Dowager's wishes. Memorialize at once for my review. My anxiety is beyond words!"

銳既下獄，自揣實無罪，謂即訊不難白，次日，遽詔與光第等同棄市。 Once imprisoned, Rui believed himself innocent and thought he could easily clear his name under interrogation, but the next day an edict suddenly ordered him executed in the marketplace together with Guangdi and the others.

劉光第，字裴村，四川富順人。 Liu Guangdi, whose courtesy name was Peicun, came from Fushun in Sichuan.

惟時言路宏啟，臣民奏事日數百計，竟日批答，簽識可否，以待上裁。 Memorial channels were then wide open, with hundreds of submissions arriving daily; Guangdi spent entire days drafting replies and marking what should stand or fall, all for the emperor's final ruling.

未一月而禍作，光第自投獄。 Less than a month later the disaster broke out, and Guangdi surrendered himself to prison.

臨刑，協辦大學士剛毅監斬，光第詫曰：「未訊而誅，何哉？」 At the execution, Associate Grand Secretary Gangyi supervised the beheading, and Guangdi cried out in astonishment, "To execute a man without trial--why?"

令跪聽旨，光第不可，曰：「祖制，雖盜賊，臨刑呼冤，當復訊。 He was ordered to kneel and hear the edict; Guangdi refused, saying, "By ancestral law, even a thief who cries injustice at execution must be interrogated again.

獄卒強之跪，光第崛立自如。 The jailers tried to force him to his knees, but Guangdi stood straight and unmoved.