Board of Revenue. In 1827 he was made president of the Censorate—a post he again filled in 1833. But soon he was promoted to president of the Board of Ceremonies. Owing to the confidence the Emperor had in him, he was on several occasions dispatched as imperial commissioner to investigate important matters in various provinces and upon his return was granted additional favors. In 1830 he was made president of the Board of Civil Office—a post he again filled in 1834 and 1838. He was several times appointed chancellor of the Hanlin Academy (1831, 1837, and 1841), examiner of the Shun-t'ien provincial examination (1807, 1835), of the Kiangnan provincial examination (1816, 1821 and 1832), and vice-examiner of the metropolitan examination (1822 and 1826). In 1838 he was made president of the Board of Revenue and Associate Grand Secretary.
About this time the demand became strong for the prohibition of opium, and T'ang, together with Ching-min 敬敏 (Prince Su Shên 肅愼親王, d. 1852), controller of the Imperial Clan Court, drafted the famous thirty-nine articles imposing heavy penalties on those who dealt in or used the drug. Before long Anglo-Chinese relations became tense and the Court was divided into two factions, one favoring peaceful measures, the other—to which Tsang belonged—advocating the use of force. The Emperor, however, did not wish to resort to force. It is said that when he was discussing with T'ang, in 1841, the situation at Canton, he wished to know whom T'ang regarded as most qualified to handle the matter. Tang is said to have recommended Lin Tsê-hsü [q. v.]. The suggestion, however, seems not to have pleased the Emperor. At any rate, T'ang was soon thereafter accused of altering the dates of a document, and in 1841 was degraded to the post of director of the Banqueting Court. He retired in the following year (1842) and was given the button of the second rank which was later (1849) raised to the first rank. In 1854, the sixtieth anniversary of his obtaining the chü-jên degree, Emperor Wên-tsung bestowed upon him the honorary title of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Two years later he died and was canonized as Wên-tuan 文端.
Tang Chin-chao was a man of determination, and an ardent admirer of Wang Shou-jên (see under Chang Li-hsiang). He was also an accomplished calligrapher. A collection of his verse and prose, entitled 寸心知室存稿 Ts'un-hsin chih-shih ts'un-kao, 6 chüan, was compiled by himself at the age of eighty (sui) and was printed in 1851 with a preface which he himself had written. In this work a nien-p'u in 1 chüan is also included.
His second son, T'ang Hsiu 湯修, was a chü-jên of 1839. One of his granddaughters married Wêng T'ung-ho [q. v.].
[1/370/4a; 2/41/5b; 5/3/24b; 7/24/6a; 26/3/24a; Fêng Kuei-fên [q. v.], Hsien-chih t'ang kao 2/39a.]
T'ANG Chiung 唐炯 (T. 鄂生, H. 成山老人), Apr. 24, 1829–1909, Jan. 20, official, was a native of Tsun-i, Kweichow. His father, T'ang Shu-i 唐樹義 (T. 方山, 子方, 1793–1854), was a chü-jên of 1816 who rose from a magistrate to the post of financial commissioner of Hupeh (1847–49). In 1853 T'ang Shu-i was made provincial judge of Hupeh with orders to assist the campaign against the Taiping rebels who were then threatening Wuchang. He committed suicide in the following year, when his troops deserted, and was canonized as Wei-k'o 威恪. Tang Chiung became a chü-jên in 1849. In 1857 he became a magistrate by purchase, and was sent to Szechwan. Two years later he obtained appointment as acting magistrate of Nan-hsi, situated on the Yangtze river between Chengtu and Chungking. A few months after he assumed office Nan-hsi was threatened by a group of bandits from Yunnan. T'ang at once strengthened the defenses of the city and led some of his men to assist the generals in withstanding the insurgents. His bravery won him a promotion, early in 1861, to magistrate of the department of Mien-chou, but soon that city was besieged by the same bandits who by this time had spread throughout the province. The siege lasted more than four months and was finally raised by troops under Lo Ping-chang [q. v.]. But Tang was discharged from his post for refusing to press his people for money to satisfy the victorious troops. Late in the same year (1861), he was again entrusted with the command of some troops. By the following year he had organized 2,000 new men and engaged the Taiping general, Shih Ta-k'ai [q. v.], in several battles in southern Szechwan. Late in 1862 he was compelled by illness to return to Chengtu.
After Szechwan was stabilized, Tang Chiung spent three years of tranquility in that province as acting prefect of Sui-ting-fu. In 1866 he went to Shensi to assist his friend, Governor Liu Jung (see under Lo Ping-chang), in a campaign
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