Zhou Youde (Chou Yu-te) | |
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 Temple mural of Zhou Youde,Guangdong | |
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| Died | 1680 (1681) |
| Full name | Surname: Zhōu (周) Given name: Yǒudé (有德) Courtesy name: Yíchú (彝初) |
| Zhou Youde | |||||||||
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| Chinese | 周有德 | ||||||||
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Zhou Youde (alsoromanised asChou Yu-te;Chinese:周有德;pinyin:Zhōu Yǒudé;Wade–Giles:Chou1 Yu3-tê2; died 1680),courtesy nameYichu (Chinese:彝初;pinyin:Yíchú),[1] was a Chinese official active in the earlyQing dynasty as governor of various provinces. AsViceroy of Liangguang, he along withWang Lairen sent a petition to repeal theGreat Evacuation edict.
Zhou Youde was born in the lateMing 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 ofKangxi's reign.[2] Thereafter he enlisted as a banner-man in the Qing military and served under theBordered Red Banner (镶红旗).[3] In 1663, he was appointedGovernor of Shandong and became the ninth person to take the helm.[4] In 1665, Zhou petitioned theKangxi 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 severalPortuguese 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 toQingzhou 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.[4]
AsGovernor 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 theGreat Clearance, a "forceful relocation of coastal communities inland to cut off the supply lines ofMing 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."[a][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 bothGovernor of Yunnan and Guizhou. Zhou also served asGovernor of Sichuan from 1674 to 1679.[14][2]
Zhou's career was plagued with controversy – in one instance he was accused of not providing supplies to the Qing military during theRevolt 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]
Following the petition to repeal the Great Evacuation edict, Zhou and Wang became officials revered especially byTang clan members. 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 ofsteles dedicated to them throughoutGuangdong province."[16]
The Lords Zhou and Wang Memorial Study Hall inKam 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) inGuangzhou 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 inNantou.[18] Zhou is likewise treated like a deity byChaoshan residents, who seek advice and divine help from him; this phenomenon is dismissed as "dross superstition" by aChaoxue[b] scholar.[19]
Zhou features inHong Kong folklore and is referred to as a "benevolent official".[20] Descendants of the resettled villagers observe the Chou Wong Yi Kung festival at the start of the sixthlunar 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 byPu Songling inStrange 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 provincialyamen 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 theNational Palace Museum inShilin,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]
China portal
Media related toZhou Youde at Wikimedia Commons| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by Jiang Guozhu | Governor of Shandong 1663 – 1667 | Succeeded by Liu Fangshu |
| 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 |
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