Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Shang Chih-hsiao
SHANG Chih-hsiao 尚之孝, d. 1696, age 57 (sui), was the third son of Shang K'o-hsi [q. v.]. His childhood was spent with his father in Kwangtung, where the latter ruled as an independent prince, and where in 1674 Shang Chih-hsiao received a commission as general in the frontier army. Sent by his father to check the spread of the San-fan Rebellion (see under Wu San-kuei) into Kwangtung, he won several victories over the enemy and was rewarded by the Emperor in 1675 with the title, P'ing-nan Ta Chiang-chün 平南大將軍, or Generalissimo who Pacifies the South. After an ineffectual siege of Ch'ao-chou lasting more than a year he was defeated by the rebel commander, Liu Chin-chung 劉進忠, who was assisted by Chêng Ching, son of the famous Chêng Ch'êng-kung [qq. v.]. He retired to Hui-chou, but was soon forced to leave because his elder brother, Shang Chih-hsin [q. v.], had joined forces with the rebels. In 1677, after the latter had reaffirmed his loyalty to the government, Shang Chih-hsiao went to Peking and was given a seat on the supreme military council. In order to wipe out the shame of his former losses in Kwangtung he asked to be sent with 3,000 recruits against the rebels who were still strongly entrenched in southern China. He received a commission as Hsüan-i Chiang-chün 宣義將軍 (General who Propagates Righteousness), and then went with the forces of Labu [q. v.] into Kiangsi. Here he was active from 1678 to 1680, returning in the latter year to Peking. When the death sentence was meted out to his brother, Shang Chih-hsin, in the winter of that year, it was suggested that he be included in the general punishment; but by command of the Emperor he was pardoned and resumed his seat on the council. In 1681 he received permission to attend to the burial of his father in Liaotung, but when he failed to return, after an absence of more than two years, he was condemned as disloyal and was deprived of official position. He died in 1696.
Shang Chih-hsiao is considered to have been the second recipient of the hereditary title of prince which had been conferred on his father, Shang K'o-hsi. In 1674 he was appointed to succeed to the title in place of his dissolute elder brother; but fearing the latter, he did not assume full powers, letting the control of the princedom remain in the hands of his father.
[1/240/13a; 2/5/32b; 3/276/5a; 11/8/10a.]