| dc.description.abstract | Shenyen Chang, born in 1577 and died in 1645, was an important statesman in late ming and early qing dynasty. His experiences in politics, being banished from his post for three times, and all kinds of encounters while staying in his hometown were a miniature of politics and society in the late ming dynasty, through which a better understanding in the background of that age was acquired.
Sheng Chang, his grandfather, was the first one who passed imperial examination for official ranks in his family; his maternal grandfather, KuoKwang Wang, was a crucial government offical in early Wuang-Lee period of ming dynasty. These two men had profound influences on Shenyen Chang. Shenyen Chang passed imperial examination and became Jingshi in 1610. He was appointed first as the governor of ShoChang County and then Chiao County, due to his prominent abilities. Under his governance, Chiao County had performed so well that Chang himself was promoted as minister in the imperial government. While in charge, Chang endearvored for supervising and rewarding system as well as concurrent tasks system. With all his efforts for the government, Chang turned out being framed up and banished to SuZoe due to impeaching and incurring enmity with Chan Fong. He became the sacrifice under political conflicts.
With an positive attitude of adapting to any environment, Chang survived his troops life in the frontier and returned to the imperial government after getting redressed later in Chongchen dynasty. Despite being dismissed before long owing to a lawsuit, his ability and reputation went even higher and was put in an important position when the country was in need. At the time when Chang was banished to his hometown, robberies ran wild. So he had devoted himself to eliminate the situation and thus protected welfare of common people. Chang often revealed his talent and wisdom in politics when he was positioned an official in the royal government.
HongKwang succeeded to the throne after Jiashen event. Chang had made a significant contribution to stablize the new political situation with his critical policies and active attitude. However, within a month, he was forced to leave the political stage because of blocking others’ benefits. Chang chose to die for the country by rejecting taking medicine; yet, he hadn’t received reputation he deserved in later generations. For a man of such royalty and responsibilty, he had suffered injustice that was asymmetrical to him. | en_US |