Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan (1861 —March 1933), prominent Ch'ing official and rival of Yuan Shih-k'ai. He played a leading role in the anti- Yuan campaigns of 1915-16. He later joined the southern military government at Canton, serving as its head in 1918-19.

A native of the Hsilin district of Kwangsi, Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan was the third of seven children in his family. His father was the illustrious official Ts'en Yü-ying (ECCP, II, 742-46), best known for his work in suppressing the Muslim uprisings in Yunnan and for participation in the Sino-French war of 1884-85. As a boy Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan accompanied his father on the elder Ts'en's tours of duty in Fukien and Kweichow as governor and in Yunnan as governor general. In 1879, at the age of 20 sui, Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan was sent to Peking to study at the imperial academy for two years. He returned to Kwangsi in 1881 to continue his studies, and he obtained the chüjen degree in 1885. Soon afterward, he went to Peking again, where he served in the Board of Works. Not unwilling to join in the corrupt practices of the period, he gained promotion to the rank of senior secretary in return for "contributions" to the Chinese navy, which were, in fact, donations to the empress dowager to help finance the construction of her sumptuous new summer palace. The Kuang-hsü emperor was married that year, and Ts'en was appointed an assistant in the office in charge ofpreparations for the wedding. In return for his efforts, he was exempted from the normal term of service for a senior secretary and was allowed to proceed to the next higher rank as soon as a post was available. His success in ingratiating himself with the imperial family at this time was to be of no small importance in his later career.

When Ts'en Yü-ying died in June 1889, Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan joined his brothers in hastening to Kunming for the funeral. They took their father's remains home to Hsilin for burial, and Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan remained there for three years in mourning. In April 1892 he returned to Peking, where he became a subdirector of the Kuang-lu ssu. After holding junior posts in the imperial bureaucracy for two years, he volunteered for military service in 1894 following the outbreak ofthe Sino-Japanese war. He was ordered to Shantung to take part in the defense of Chefoo. With the conclusion of a peace treaty between China and Japan, he returned to his native Kwangsi.

In 1898 Ts'en took his youngest brother, Ts'en Ch'un-yin, to Peking to sit for the imperial examinations. In accordance with established practice, Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan paid a courtesy call at the palace. He was summoned for an imperial audience, and he took advantage of the occasion to express his views on the defeat China had just suffered at the hands of the Germans, who had occupied Kiaochow in Shantung. The emperor was impressed with Ts'en, who thereupon submitted a written memorial setting forth his views on the crisis in detail. A few days later, he was rewarded with an appointment as provincial treasurer of Kwangtung. He took office at Canton in June 1898, but he soon came into conflict with the governor general of Kwangtung-Kwangsi, T'an Chung-lin, by accusing T'an of sheltering a corrupt tao-t'ai. The quarrel resulted in Ts'en's transfer to Kansu as provincial treasurer. Ts'en had been in Kansu for only a few months when the Boxer Uprising broke out. On learning that an Allied expeditionary force was moving toward Peking, he mustered a small force, despite objections from the governor general of Shensi-Kansu, and hastened to the capital. Shortly after their arrival, Ts'en and his men were ordered to help the forces under Tung Fu-hsiang dig trenches in the suburban areas around Peking. As the Allied military force neared Peking, Ts'en escorted the emperor and the empress dowager on their flight to Taiyuan and thence to Sian in Shensi. By these gestures of loyalty to the court, Ts'en earned the gratitude of the empress dowager, which manifested itself in his appointment as governor of Shensi. He assumed office in March 1901 and held that post for a year. When the imperial court returned to Peking in 1902, Ts'en escorted it from Shansi to the capital. In July of that year, he was appointed governor of Kwangtung. Just at that time, Szechwan reported uprisings of Boxers and local bandits, and the Ch'ing court rescinded Ts'en's Kwangtung appointment and sent him to Szechwan as acting governor. He succeeded in restoring order to that troubled province within a few months. In April 1903 he was appointed governor general of Kwangtung- Kwangsi and military superintendent of Kwangsi, which then was being preyed upon by bandits. This appointment was particularly significant because only one other Kwangsi man in the entire Ch'ing period, Ch'en Hung-mou (ECCP, I, 86-87), had been named governor general of a region that included his own native province. In bringing the Kwangsi situation under control, he raised Lung Chi-kuang and Lu Jung-t'ing (qq.v.) to high military posts. Both men later became important leaders in south China. Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan's tenure as governor general of Kwangtung-Kwangsi marked the zenith of his official career in the late Ch'ing period, when he was one of the men most trusted by the empress dowager. In 1906 Ts'en received orders to leave Canton and to take up the post of governor general of Yunnan-Kweichow, an office which his father had held with distinction. During his tenure of office at Canton, Ts'en had dealt drastically with several cases of corruption in the maritime customs administration. Because the chief culprit was a protege of Prince Ch'ing (I-k'uang, ECCP, II, 964-65), it is hardly surprising that Ts'en was removed from his post at Canton. Rather than going to Kunming, Ts'en requested leave and went to Shanghai. In March 1907 he was ordered to Szechwan as governor general, an appointment which he viewed as another attempt to remove him from the political mainstream. He sent a petition to Peking requesting an audience with the emperor and left for the capital without waiting for a reply. Upon arrival at Peking, he was received in audience. He took the opportunity to report to the empress dowager details he had learned from Sheng Hsuan-huai (q.v.) of the widespread corruption associated with Prince Ch'ing. Under the protection of the empress dowager, Ts'en was appointed president of the newly created Board of Communications at Peking. Another opportunity to remove Ts'en Ch'unhsuan from Peking came soon, however, with reports of disturbances in Kwangtung. Yuan Shih-k'ai, a rival of Ts'en and a strong supporter of Prince Ch'ing, reportedly exaggerated these reports of unrest. For his part, Prince Ch'ing informed the empress dowager that the situation in south China was so threatening that only an official of Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan's caliber could deal with it effectively. Accordingly, Ts'en was appointed governor general of Kwangtung-Kwangsi once again and was ordered to Canton immediately. Apparently resigned to his fate, Ts'en traveled southward. When he arrived at Shanghai, he learned of the dismissal of privy councillor Ch'ü Hung-chi (1850-1918), who had been regarded as the one man in high office at Peking who had dared to oppose Prince Ch'ing and Yuan Shih-k'ai. Ts'en then recognized that his own position was hopeless, and he remained in Shanghai, requesting sick leave. Yuan Shih-k'ai, however, was intent upon humbling his antagonist further. He resorted to the ingenious ruse of having a composite photograph made which showed Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan with the reformers K'ang Yu-wei and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (qq.v.) in front of a newspaper office in Shanghai. When this photograph was shown to the empress dowager, she became very angry. Nevertheless, she recalled Ts'en's loyalty at the time of the Boxer Uprising and limited herself to relieving him of his substantive appointment at Canton. Ts'en then established residence at Shanghai. Soon afterward, Yuan Shih-k'ai himself was dismissed from office following the deaths of the empress dowager and the Kuang-hsu emperor.

After the Wuchang revolt of October 1911, the Ch'ing government found itself in desperate straits and without competent officials in high office at Peking. It turned to Yuan Shih-k'ai and Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan in its extremity. Yuan was appointed governor general of Hupeh- Hunan, and Ts'en was made governor general of Szechwan. However, the spread of the revolution prevented Ts'en from assuming office. He advised the Manchu rulers to abdicate, an idea that was opposed by the intransigent loyalists at Peking. When Yuan Shih-k'ai achieved a new position of authority at Peking as provisional president of the republican government, he adopted a conciliatory attitude toward Ts'en and offered him new positions. In the autumn of 1912 Ts'en assumed office as pacification commissioner of Fukien, where he succeeded in removing from office a venal official who had exploited the situation there during the republican revolution. His actions, which earned him the gratitude of the Fukienese, soon made Yuan Shih-k'ai suspicious of his intentions.

Ts'en soon became active in the so-called second revolution of 1913 and in subsequent movements directed against Yuan's power. He hoped to mobilize support in south China, but he found that his former subordinate and protege Lung Chi-kuang of Kwangtung had become a firm supporter of Yuan. Ts'en and Li Ken-yuan (q.v.), who had gone to Canton to win Lung to their cause, were forced to flee to Macao and Hong Kong. Ts'en then went to Penang, where he remained for three years as the guest of Hu Tzu-ch'un, a local millionaire. In 1915, when Yuan Shih-k'ai's monarchical aspirations became apparent, the republican revolutionaries began to rally their forces against him. In December of that year, Ts'ai O, T'ang Chi-yao, and Li Lieh-chün (qq.v.) led an anti-Yuan uprising in Yunnan. Lu Jung-t'ing, the military governor of Kwangsi and an erstwhile associate of Yuan, prepared to join the Yunnan revolutionaries; and Ts'en was invited to return to Kwangsi to take charge. In January 1916 Ts'en arrived in Shanghai where he met with Li Ken-yuan, Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, and others to discuss plans and requirements. Accompanied by Chang Shih-chao (q.v.), Ts'en went to Japan, where he negotiated a loan and obtained sufficient weapons to outfit two divisions. Ts'en then went to Chaoch'ing, Kwangtung, where on 1 May 1916 he became the nominal commander of the anti-Yuan National Protection Army of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. One week later, the leaders of the anti- Yuan movement organized a military council at Chaoch'ing which claimed to be the legitimate government of China until such time as Yuan Shih-k'ai was removed from the presidency. T'ang Chi-yao was elected chairman of the council, with Ts'en as vice chairman; but because T'ang remained in Yunnan, Ts'en assumed the duties of acting chairman. Yuan Shih-k'ai died the following month, and Ts'en derived great satisfaction from this final resolution of his long feud with Yuan. In July 1916, following the accession to the presidency of Li Yuan-hung (q.v.), the southern military council was dissolved, and Ts'en retired to live in Shanghai.

In 1917, after the seizure of power at Peking by Tuan Ch'i-jui (q.v.) , an opposition movement called the "constitution protection" campaign was organized by Sun Yat-sen. With the cooperation of T'ang Chi-yao and Lu Jung-t'ing, Sun became head of a new military government at Canton. In 1918 this military regime was reorganized, largely through the influence of Lu Jung-t'ing and the powerful Kwangsi military faction in Kwangtung, and Sun was forced to share leadership with six other directors, including T'ang Chi-yao, Lu Jung-t'ing, and Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan. After Sun's resignation as head of the regime in May 1918, Ts'en was elected chairman of the board of directors; and with the backing of the Kwangsi faction he again became head of a military regime in south China.

During the next two years, increasing friction in the Canton military government arose among the Kwangsi military clique (then predominant in Kwangtung), the Kuomintang followers of Sun Yat-sen, and local commercial interests. In August 1919 Sun, in protest against the Kwangsi faction, announced his complete withdrawal from the regime, and in June 1920 he and several other Kuomintang leaders joined T'ang Chi-yao in declaring all actions of the Kwangsi-dominated Canton regime to be illegitimate. Despite this growing opposition, Ts'en, with the support of the Kwangsi generals, continued to head the Canton government until 1920, when the Kwangsi forces were routed and driven from Canton by the Kwangtung Army under Ch'en Chiung-ming (q.v.). Deserted by his former military backers, Ts'en on 24 October 1920 announced the dissolution of the Canton military government and fled the city. Two days later, Ch'en Chiung-ming and his troops entered Canton.

This time Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan completely retired from public life and took up residence in Shanghai. He remained in close contact with Chang Shih-chao, Li Ken-yuan, and Yang Yung-t'ai (q.v.), but these contacts were purely personal and had no political implications. In 1922, accompanied by the Shanghai speculator Silas A. Hardoon and Hardoon's wife, Lo Chialing, Ts'en visited Soochow, where he bought a house. In 1930, on his seventieth birthday, he prepared an account of his life entitled Lo-chai man-pi in which he took pains to describe how the Ts'en family had for generations been favored by the Ch'ing court and how he had devoted himself to loyal service to the Manchus.

Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan died at Shanghai in March 1933. His wife, nee Liu, had died many years before in 1902. Their eldest son, Ts'en Te-ku, obtained the chü-jen degree in Hupeh. A younger son, Ts'en Te-kuang, served as special foreign affairs commissioner in Kwangsi and as superintendent of the Wuchow customs. He later headed the famine relief commission in the Japanese-sponsored government at Nanking headed by Wang Ching-wei after 1940. The place of Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan in modern China's history is difficult to assess. His official career between 1902 and 1911 was marked by determined efforts to expose corruption, actual or alleged, and he was generally regarded more with fear than with affection by the people of the areas he administered. Although he prided himself on his close personal and family ties with the ruling Manchu house, he was perhaps the highest-ranking official in China to recommend abdication in 191 1. His role in the internecine rivalries of the early republican period in China is equally paradoxical, though it clearly resulted more from Ts'en's personal feud with Yuan Shih-k'ai than from genuine conversion to republican principles. Tseng Ch'i T. Mu-han #B&