Ronglu (榮祿) | 24 Histories

Overview

Ronglu was an official and Grand Councilor.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Zhonghua	仲華	Zhonghua
Posthumous name	Wenzhong	文忠	Wenzhong

Life and dates

Death

AD 1903 二十九年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 35

Attested activity

AD 1903 二十九年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 35
AD 1900 二十六年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 437, passages 27-31; Draft History of Qing 467, passages 88, 92
AD 1898 二十四年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 437, passages 21-23; Draft History of Qing 464, passages 183, 205
AD 1898 二十四年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 465, passages 200-201
AD 1894 二十年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 16
AD 1900 光緒二十六年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 468, passage 28

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AD 1875 光緒元年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 11
AD 1878 光緒四年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 195, passages 65, 69
AD 1862 同治初
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 5
AD 1900 拳亂作
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 470, passage 182
AD 1896 明年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 52
AD 1895 to AD 1911 歷任總督
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 316
AD 1875 to AD 1908 論曰
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 239

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Descendant of Tasgha (塔斯哈)
grandfather 祖 · paternal line · 2 generations · Through Changshou (長壽)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 2
Child of Changshou (長壽)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 2

Key source chapters

Origins and identity

Ethnicity Manchu 滿洲
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 1
Manchu 滿
Strongly inferred · Draft History of Qing 195, passage 69
Lineage Guwalgiya clan 瓜爾佳氏
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 1

Career and standing

governor-general of Zhili 直隸總督
AD 1898 二十四年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 21
Grand Councilor 樞廷
AD 1898 二十四年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 465, passage 201
Grand Councilor 軍機大臣
AD 1898 二十四年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 23
Metropolitan Infantry Commander 步軍統領
AD 1875 光緒元年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 11
Manchu Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate 都察院滿左都御史
AD 1878 光緒四年戊寅 · Appointed
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 195, passage 69
wing commander, Shenji Camp 神機營翼長
AD 1862 同治初 · Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 5

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Associate Grand Secretary 協辦大學士
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 19
expectant circuit intendant in Zhili 直隸候補道
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 4
general at Xi'an 西安將軍
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 15
Left Censor-in-Chief 左都御史
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 12
Minister of War 兵部尚書
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 19
secretary, Ministry of Works 工部主事
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 3
superintendent of the Imperial Household Department 總管內務府大臣
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 7
vice minister of Works 工部侍郎
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 7
Governor-General 總督
Held · Jurisdiction Zhili 直隸
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 316
General of Fuzhou 福州將軍
Held
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 205
Governor of the metropolitan region 督畿輔
Held
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 183
Grand Secretary 大學士
AD 1898 二十四年 · Promoted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 21
commander of the Left Wing 左翼總兵
Promoted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 6
Minister of Works 工部尚書
Promoted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 12
vice director 員外郎
Promoted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 3
vice minister of Revenue 戶部侍郎
Transferred
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 7
posthumous Grand Tutor 太傅
Bestowed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 35
first-class baron 一等男爵
Advanced
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 35
Entered
Demoted · Detail demoted two ranks for bribery impeachment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 15

Places and affiliations

Qing 清
Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 195, passage 69; Draft History of Qing 464, passage 52
Polity Qing 清 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 1
Polity Qing 清 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 316; Draft History of Qing 465, passage 201
Organization Plain White Banner 正白旗 · Relation Member of
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 1

Learning and skills

Held
Credential yinsheng 廕生
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 3

Works and attributed material

Memorial · Author · About opposed Cixi selecting palace eunuchs
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 13

Events and relationships

Could not restrain Boxer attacks on legations
Military · Official
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passages 28-29
Established Wuwei Army
Military · Organizer
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 25
Fled to Baoding
Flight · Companion · With Chongqi (崇綺)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 468, passage 28
Helped restore empress dowager regency and suppress reformers
Political · Actor · With Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧皇太后), Yang Chongyi (楊崇伊), Kang Youwei (康有為), Tan Sitong (譚嗣同)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 23
Transferred
AD 1878 光緒四年戊寅 · Personnel · Officeholder
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 195, passage 69
Relation Appointed · Person Xie Baosheng (謝寶勝) · Context ordered him to command a rear battalion
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 470, passage 182

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Relation Recommended by · Person Wenxiang (文祥)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passage 7
Relation Recommender of · Person Chen Baozhen (陳寶箴)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 52
Relation Predecessor of · Person Yulu (裕祿)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 465, passage 201
Relation Patron of · Person Lin Xu (林旭)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 464, passage 205
Relation Treated with respect · Person Lou Chunfan (婁春蕃)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 452, passage 316

Assessments and attributes

Assessment enjoyed unmatched favor and trust of the empress dowager · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 437, passages 36-37

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 195, passage 69; Draft History of Qing 452, passage 316

References in the histories

Search passages

History

27 passages

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 195Volume 195 Tables 35: Ministers of Boards and Courts Chronological Table 9 Lower · 1 passage

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全慶三月癸亥遷。恩承左都御史。五月辛亥遷。榮祿左都御史。癸亥遷。文煜左都御史。十二月癸卯遷。崇厚左都御史。志和署。 On the guihai day of the third month, Quanqing was transferred. Encheng: Left Censor-in-Chief. On the xinhai day of the fifth month, was transferred. Ronglu: Left Censor-in-Chief. On the guihai day, was transferred. Wenyu: Left Censor-in-Chief. On the guimao day of the twelfth month, was transferred. Chonghou: Left Censor-in-Chief. Zhihe served in an acting capacity.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 437Volume 437 Biographies 224: Rong Lu, Wang Wenshao, Zhang Zhidong, Qu Hongji · 15 passages

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榮祿，字仲華，瓜爾佳氏，滿洲正白旗人。 Rong Lu, whose courtesy name was Zhonghua, belonged to the Guwalgiya clan and was a Manchu of the Plain White Banner.

榮祿以廕生賞主事，隸工部，晉員外郎。 Through hereditary privilege as a yinsheng, Rong Lu received appointment as a secretary in the Ministry of Works and was later promoted to vice director.

榮祿言於恭親王，乃請頒詔，俟嗣皇帝有子，承繼穆宗。 Rong Lu urged Prince Gong to seek an edict providing that when the new emperor should have a son, that son would carry on Emperor Muzong's succession.

慈禧皇太后嘗欲自選宮監，榮祿奏非祖制，忤旨。 Empress Dowager Cixi once wanted to select palace eunuchs herself; Rong Lu submitted that this violated ancestral practice and thereby drew her displeasure.

會學士寶廷奏言滿大臣兼差多，乃解尚書及內務府差。 When Academician Bao Ting reported that Manchu ministers were holding too many concurrent appointments, Rong Lu was stripped of his ministry posts and his Imperial Household superintendency.

日本構釁，恭親王、慶親王督辦軍務，榮祿參其事。 When Japan provoked war, Princes Gong and Qing were put in charge of military affairs, and Rong Lu assisted them.

榮祿不自安，御史楊崇伊奏請太后再垂簾，於是太后复臨朝訓政，召榮祿為軍機大臣，以世凱代之，命查拿康有為，斬譚嗣同等六人於市，以上有疾，詔徵醫； Uneasy at these developments, Rong Lu watched as Censor Yang Chongyi asked the empress dowager to resume regency behind the curtain; the empress dowager then took up government again, recalled Rong Lu as a Grand Councilor, put Yuan Shikai in his former post, ordered Kang Youwei arrested, and had Tan Sitong and five others executed in public; because the emperor was said to be ill, physicians were summoned by edict;

復命榮祿管兵部，仍節制北洋海陸各軍。 Rong Lu was again put in charge of the Ministry of War and retained overall command of Beiyang land and naval forces.

榮祿乃奏設武衛軍，以聶士成駐蘆臺為前軍，董福祥駐薊州為後軍，宋慶駐山海關為左軍，世凱駐小站為右軍，而自募萬人為中軍，駐南苑。 Rong Lu then proposed the Wuwei Army: Nie Shicheng at Lutai as the Front Army, Dong Fuxiang at Jizhou as the Rear Army, Song Qing at Shanhaiguan as the Left Army, Yuan Shikai at Xiaozhan as the Right Army, while he personally raised ten thousand men for the Central Army at the Southern Park.

時太后議廢帝，立端王載漪子溥俊為穆宗嗣，患外人為梗，用榮祿言，改稱「大阿哥」。 The empress dowager then considered deposing the emperor and naming Prince Duan's son Pujun as heir to Muzong's line; fearing foreign interference, she followed Rong Lu's counsel and styled the boy "Great Elder Brother" instead.

榮祿不能阻，載漪等益橫，京師大亂，駢戮忠諫大臣。 Rong Lu could not restrain them; Prince Duan's faction grew ever more arrogant; the capital descended into chaos, and loyal ministers who remonstrated were slaughtered in groups.

榮祿踉蹌入言，太后厲色斥之。 Rong Lu stumbled in to remonstrate, but the empress dowager sharply rebuked him.

榮祿請赴行在，不許，命為留京辦事大臣。 Rong Lu asked to join the traveling court but was refused and appointed minister left in Beijing to manage affairs.

榮祿久直內廷，得太后信仗。 Rong Lu had long served at the inner court and enjoyed the empress dowager's full trust.

榮祿屢參大變，文韶久達世務。 Rong Lu took part repeatedly in great crises; Wenshao had long mastered affairs of state.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 452Volume 452 Biographies 239: Hong Rukui, Yang Zonglian, Shi Pu, Shi Kekuan, Shen Baojing, Zhu Qiang Younger Brother: Qi Zhao, Zong Yuanhan, Xu Qingzhang, Xu Zhen, Kuai Guangdian, Chen Yusheng, Pan Minbiao, Yan Zuolin, Tang Xijin, Lou Chunfan · 1 passage

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歷任總督如王文韶、榮祿、袁世凱、楊士驤、端方、陳夔龍等，皆敬禮之。 Governors-general from Wang Wenshao and Ronglu to Yuan Shikai, Yang Shixiang, Duan Fang, and Chen Kuilong all treated him with respect.

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 · 3 passages

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明年，以榮祿薦，擢湖南巡撫。 The following year, on Ronglu's recommendation, he was made Governor of Hunan.

時榮祿督畿輔，袁世凱以監司練兵天津。 At the time Ronglu governed the metropolitan region, and Yuan Shikai, as a surveillance commissioner, trained troops at Tianjin.

榮祿先為福州將軍，雅好閩士，及至天津，延旭入幕。 Ronglu, formerly General of Fuzhou, had long favored Fujian scholars; when he went to Tianjin he brought Xu onto his staff.

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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會徵榮祿入樞廷，遂代之督直隸。 When Ronglu entered the Grand Council, Yu Lu replaced him as viceroy of Zhili.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 467Volume 467 Biographies 254: Li Bingheng, Wang Tingxiang, Nie Shicheng, Luo Rongguang, Shou Shan Zu Sun : Rui Chang, Feng Xiang, Chong Yu · 1 passage

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榮祿慮激變，馳書慰解之，士成覆書曰：「匪害民，必至害國！ Ronglu feared provoking a crisis and sent a letter to calm him; Shicheng replied: "These bandits harm the people and will surely harm the state!

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 468Volume 468 Biographies 255: Chong Qi Son: Bao Chu Deng, Zhi Jun, Yan Mao Younger Brother: Yan Zhi, Se Pu Zheng E, Wang Yirong, Xi Yuan, Zong Shibaofeng, Zong Shishoufu Younger Brother: Shou Fandeng, Song Chengxiang, Wang Tieshan · 4 passages

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事敗，隨榮祿走保定，居蓮池書院，自縊死。 When the movement collapsed, he fled with Rong Lu to Baoding, took lodging at the Lotus Pond Academy, and hanged himself.

榮祿以聞，賜奠醊，入祀昭忠祠，諡文節。 Rong Lu reported his death; the court granted libation offerings, enshrined him in the Shrine of Manifest Loyalty, and gave him the posthumous title Wenjie.

及拳亂起，乃上書榮祿，言董福祥軍宜託故令離畿甸，然後解散拳民，謂「董為禍根，拳其枝葉耳」。 When the Boxer uprising broke out, he wrote to Rong Lu urging that Dong Fuxiang's army be sent away from the capital on some pretext before disbanding the Boxers, declaring: 'Dong is the root of the calamity; the Boxers are only its branches and leaves.'

榮祿不省。 Rong Lu paid no heed.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 470Volume 470 Biographies 257: Zhi Rui, With: Liu Congde, Chun Xun, Liang Bi, Zong Shizaimu, Wan Xuan With: De Pei, Tong Yuan, Wen Rui With: Cheng Yan, Ke Meng E, Heng Ling With: De Pei, Pu Shou, Xie Baosheng, Yao Aiyun, Huang Zhonghao, Yang Rang Li Cong Zi Xu : Chen Qi · 1 passage

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拳亂作，柴洪山統武衛護軍，榮祿檄領前路後營，已留河南，更名精銳軍，領左營，尋筦豫北軍。 When the Boxers rose, Chai Hongshan commanded the Wuwei Guard. Ronglu ordered Baosheng to lead a rear battalion in Henan; the unit was renamed the Elite Army, and he soon took command of forces in northern Henan.