A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
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35Chang Chih-tung 張之洞 (T. 香壽. H. 無競居士 and 廣雅尙書). Born A.D. 1835. A native of the 南皮 Nan-p'i District in Chihli. He graduated as chin shih in 1863, taking the third place on the list. Appointed Literary Chancellor for Ssǔch'uan in 1873, he distinguished himself by his zeal for the encouragement of learning, for which he is still gratefully remembered by the people. He became Sub-Reader of the Han-lin in 1880, and secretary in the Grand Secretariat in 1881. In 1882, on the strength of his valuable memorials relating to the Shansi famine, he was made Governor of Shansi. In 1884, he became Viceroy of the Two Kuang, and in 1889 he was transferred to the Viceroyalty of Hu-Kuang, ostensibly to carry out his own scheme of a railway to unite Wu-ch'ang and Hankow with Peking. There he started iron-works, cotton-spinning factories, and scientific coal-mining on a large scale. In 1894 he was transferred to the Viceroyalty of the Two Kiang, from which he was retransferred to his old post in 1895. A fine scholar, Chang Chih-tung has earned considerable reputation by his brilliantly written State papers, especially by the famous anti-Russian memorial presented secretly to the Throne in 1880. He has of course made