Study On Chen Peng Nian Ideas And Practices Of Official Management

Chen Pengnian(1663?1723)was a famous minister during the prosperous period of Qing Dynasty with the fame of being free from corruption.He served outstandingly and performed wholeheartedly for the people.In 1696,he was appointed as the magistrate of Xi'an County Quzhou,Zhejiang Province,which marked the beginning of his political career.Later years,he had gained much local political experience from being the magistrate of Shanyang and Haizhou,the mayor of Jiangning and Suzhou,and the governor in charge of civic affairs in Jiangsu Province.In 1721,Chen Pengnian was assigned to act as deputy of river channels.During this period of time,he was dedicated to constructions and field visits even lived by riverside occasionally.There were several river training constructions under his command and some plans relating to river training put forward by him.Reading calligraphy and chanting were big hobbies of Chen Pengnian.The emperor commended him for his prolific and scholarly works in literature.The period of time when Chen Pengnian lived was a critical part of the emperor's work of cleansing out political corruption.Through observing and studying ideas of official managements of Chen Pengnian as well as his practices when he was in office,I tend to probe into his role during that period of time.Analysing his ideas and practices of official management could help us understand better in the time of fixing the style of governance and how they reacted to Kangxi Emperor's idea of official management.In that way,we will be able to understand Chen Pengnian better as well as Kangxi Emperor's idea of official management for we could use for reference nowadays.This article will discuss Chen Pengnian in three regards.Firstly,under the influence from family and senior scholars and emperor's idea of official managements as well as his colleagues in service,the origin of the idea of official management of Chen will be analysed.Secondly,the core of his idea of official management will be presented through his keenness on reading and educating others and being loyal and filial to the elders as well as his dedication to the people.Thirdly,the practices of official management of Chen Pengnian will be expounded through his conducts on cleansing out political corruption and performing justice impartially as well as recommending inferiors wisely etc.Then the effect of Chen Pengnian's official management will be evaluated through others' remarks from colleagues and emperor from time to time.Last comes the epilogue,which focuses on concluding this issue.