Chen Shiguan

Also known as Bing Zhi

Chen Shiguan, courtesy name Bingzhi, came from Haining in Zhejiang and gained his jinshi in 1703, rising in the Hanlin Academy and serving as education commissioner of the capital region. Appointed governor of Shandong in 1724 during a drought and locust plague, he toured the stricken counties with a single carriage, drove the locust campaign and proposed community granaries, but was later dismissed for delays in the Jiangnan water works. The Qianlong emperor recalled him and in 1741 made him grand secretary of the Wenyuan Hall; he was dismissed in 1744 for a drafting error and later restored. A student of Song learning, he wept so often when describing floods and droughts at audiences that Qianlong remarked that Chen had come to cry for the people again. He was allowed to retire in 1758 but died before leaving the capital and was named Wenqin. The popular tale that the Qianlong emperor was born a son of the Chen family of Haining has no reliable basis.