I-hsin). When in January 1861 the Tsungli Yamen was established (see under I-hsin) to conduct foreign affairs, I-hsin was made its head with Kuei-liang and Wên-hsiang as assistants.
Kuei-liang was on the side of his son-in-law, I-hsin, when the coup d'état of November 1861 took place (see under I-hsin). They put into effect the edict arresting Su-shun [q. v.] and conducted the latter's trial. Along with I-hsin, Kuei-liang was made a Grand Councilor. He died eight months later and was canonized as Wên-tuan 文端. He was celebrated in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen.
S. Wells Williams, who was secretary and interpreter of the American mission in 1858 and who negotiated with Kuei-liang the treaty of that year, gave the following description of him. "Kweiliang is a well-preserved man of seventy-four, tall and not too large for his height, placid in speech and countenance, having a stoop of the shoulders and a quavering tone of voice, which more than anything else indicates his age". W. A. P. Martin described him as "of kindly aspect and gentle demeanor; his colleague, Hwashana, some twenty years his junior, had a martial air and something of the brusqueness of a soldier".
Kuei-liang's elder brother, Pin-liang 斌良 (T. 備卿, 笠耕, 1784–1847), served as an official for forty-five years and died at Lhasa a few months after he arrived there as Imperial Resident. He was a celebrated poet among the Manchus, leaving a voluminous collection of verse, entitled 抱沖齋詩集 Pao-ch'ung chai shih-chi, divided into 36 sections and 71 chüan, with a supplement of his tz'ŭ, entitled 眠琴仙館詞 Mien-ch'in Hsien-kuan tz'ŭ, 1 chüan. It was printed in 1849–50 by a younger brother, Fa-liang 法良 (T. 可盦, b. 1800), who included in it a nien-p'u of Pin-liang.
[1/394/1a; 2/45/31b; Ch'ou-pan I-wu shih-mo, Hsien-fêng period (see under I-hsin); Morse, H. B., The International Relations of the Chinese Empire, 1834–60; Cordier, H., L'expédition de Chine, 1857–58; Williams, F. W., The Life and Letters of S. Wells Williams (1889), p. 265; Martin, W. A. P., A Cycle of Cathay, pp. 143–203; 瓜爾佳氏家譜 Kua-êr-chia shih chia-p'u (1849), 4/24; Tung Hsün, Nien-p'u, 2/49b.]
KUEI, Prince of. See under Chu Yu-lang.
K'UEI-hsü 揆叙 (T. 凱功, H. 惟實居士), 1674(?)–1717, Feb. 16, poet and official, was the second son of Mingju [q. v.] and a member of the Plain Yellow Banner. A pupil of Wu Chao-ch'ien (see under Singde) and Cha Shên-hsing [q. v.], he was, like his brother Singde [q. v.], well versed in Chinese literature. Beginning his career as an officer of the Imperial Bodyguard, he was promoted in 1694 to the post of sub-expositor in the Hanlin Academy. In 1703 he was appointed a chancellor of the Academy, a position he held, with additional duties, for fourteen years until his death. Early in 1708 he was made concurrently a junior vice-president of the Board of Works. On December 25 of that year he sat in the memorable gathering which Emperor Shêng-tsu convened in the garden known as Ch'ang-ch'un yüan (see under Hsüan-yeh) to recommend an heir-apparent to succeed his second son, Yin-jêng [q. v.], who had been confined for insanity. Much to the dismay of the emperor, a unanimous recommendation was sent up in favor of his eighth son, Yin-ssŭ [q. v.]. Suspecting a dominating hand at the meeting, the emperor imprisoned Maci [q. v.] and reprimanded T'ung Kuo-wei [q. v.] as the moving spirits. From 1712 to 1717 K'uei-hsü served concurrently as president of the Censorate. He was canonized as Wên-tuan 文端.
In 1724, seven years after K'uei-hsü's death, the succeeding Emperor, Shih-tsung (see Yin-chên), accused K'uei-hsü and Alingga (see under Ebilun), then also deceased, of having sixteen years previously proposed the name of Yin-ssŭ and so caused his (Yin-chên's) father, Emperor Shêng-tsu, many anxious moments. Shih-tsung went so far as to say that K'uei-hsü, by making use of a fortune of several million taels inherited from his father, Mingju, had not only financed the campaign for Yin-ssŭ but had tried to block Yin-jêng's way back to his former position as heir-apparent. Always merciless toward his ambitious brothers and their followers, Emperor Shih-tsung decreed that K'uei-hsü should be deprived of all posthumous titles and honors and that on his tomb-stone should be inscribed the opprobrious epitaph: 不忠不孝柔奸陰險揆叙之墓 Pu-chung pu-hsiao jou-chien yin-hsien K'uei-hsü chih-mu, viz, "This is the tomb of K'uei-hsü, the disloyal, the unfilial, the underhanded, and the treacherous".
K'uei-hsü, like his brother Singde, distinguished himself beyond other Manchus of his day by his talents as a poet. His collected works, 益戒堂集 I-chien-t'ang chi, comprising 16 chüan of poetry and 2 of prose, were first printed in 1703. He compiled by imperial authority an
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