Jin Fu (, 1633 – 26 December 1692) was a

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

bannerman official during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

notable for his work in river conservancy on the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

Early life

Jin was born in Liaoyang to a family in the Chinese Bordered Yellow Banner with ancestral roots in Jinan, Shandong. His father worked in the Transmission Office as an assistant commissioner. Jin was appointed a compiler in the

Hanlin Academy The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed sec ...

at the age of nineteen. Jin quickly climbed up the official ladder, working in the Ministry of War as a director and in the Office of Transmission as a vice-commissioner before serving as vice-minister in the Ministry of Rites. In 1671, Jin was appointed governor of

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

and Right Vice-Censor-in-Chief.

Director General of River Conservancy

In 1676, he left his post as governor and was appointed director-general of river conservancy in response to the serious floods wreaking havoc in Jiangsu province. Along with grain transport to Beijing through the Grand Canal and the

Revolt of the Three Feudatories The Revolt of the Three Feudatories, () also known as the Rebellion of Wu Sangui, was a rebellion in China lasting from 1673 to 1681, during the early reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). The revolt was ...

, controlling the flow of the

was among the three most critical issues facing the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

at the time. Together with his private secretary, Chen Huang, Jin made a lasting contribution to the conservancy of the Yellow River by planning an enormous river control project that involved deepening many parts of the river, ensuring better maintenance of river works, levying new taxes, and reorganizing personnel, in addition to repairing and building new dikes and canals. The government approved Jin's plan and work began in 1678. However, some parts of the Yellow River continued to flood despite three years of work on the project. Consequently, Jin was stripped of his official title. Nevertheless, he was allowed to continue supervising the river works. By 1683, the river had largely returned to its course and Jin's titles were restored. On his first tour of the South in 1684, the emperor honoured Jin with poems and gifts for his achievements in river conservancy. The same year, Jin further suggested that more water gates be built from

Dangshan Dangshan County () is a county in the far north of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Suzhou city. It is famous for fruits (pear, peach, plum and watermelon). Administrative divisions Dangshan County administers 13 towns a ...

to Qinghe, which the court approved. Despite Jin's continuing efforts, the Yellow River was still not completely tamed. Serious floods occurred between 1684 and 1686 in northern Jiangsu. Among other proposals, Jin's plan to build more water gates and reinforce dikes soon ran into opposition from

Tang Bin Tang Bin (, born 25 April 1986 in Fengcheng, Dandong, Liaoning) is a female Chinese rower, who competed for Team China at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in the women's quadruple sculls with Jin Ziwei, Xi Aihua Xi ...

and other local officials in Jiangsu who were concerned that his expensive plans would starve the local population. In 1685, a conflict erupted between Jin and Yu Chenglong (1638–1700), his subordinate appointed to oversee the drainage of central Jiangsu. Supported by local governors, Yu proposed to mitigate the flooding by widening and deepening the mouth of the Yellow River while Jin supported building more costly dikes and water gates near the western reaches of

Lake Hongze Hongze Lake or Lake Hungtse () is the fourth largest freshwater lake in China, in Jiangsu Province, China and is encompassed by the prefecture-level cities Suqian (Sihong County and Siyang County) and Huai'an (Xuyi County and Hongze County). La ...

. Jin's dispute with Yu over river control eventually became a flashpoint in the factional battles between Mingju's "Northern Party" and the "Southern Party" led by court officials from Jiangsu. Accused by the censor Guo Xiu of forming a clique with Mingju and of obstructing Yu's attempt to deepen the river bed, Jin was dismissed and Chen Huang was sentenced to prison but died of illness. Although dismissed, he continued to supervise the construction of the Zhong He canal. Considered to be "one of the major engineering accomplishments of the Qing dynasty", it facilitated grain transport and greatly benefited the local people. Upon realizing Jin's accomplishment and his popular acclaim with the people, the emperor restored his official rank in 1689 and again appointed him Director General of River Conservancy in March 1692. In early September 1692, Jin fell ill in Yingze,

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

and died in December of the same year. Buried with full honours, the Kangxi Emperor also bestowed him the posthumous name ''Wénxiāng'' (文襄‎). The

Yongzheng Emperor , regnal name = , posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi () , temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung () , house = Aisin Gioro ...

later posthumously promoted Jin to the rank of president of the Ministry of Works in 1727, ordered a temple to be built in his honour in 1729, and entered his name into the Temple of Eminent Statesmen the following year.

Legacy

Jin's system of river conservancy was highly successful in preventing the Yellow River from flooding for over a hundred years. His river conservancy work is dramatized in the 2022 Chinese historical television series ''

Tianxia Changhe ''Tianxia Changhe'' () is a 2022 Chinese historical television series written and directed by Zhang Ting, and starring Luo Jin, and Huang Zhizhong. The series tells the story of and Jin Fu governing the Yellow River during the Kangxi period of Qi ...

''. His character is played by

Huang Zhizhong Huang Zhizhong, () born 5 March 1969 in Tianjin, China is a Chinese actor. Background Huang was a basketball player at a young age. After he retired from basketball team, he worked in Tianjin Textile manufacturing factory as a Machinist fitt ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jin, Fu Qing dynasty government officials 1633 births 1692 deaths People from Liaoyang

Early life

Director General of River Conservancy

Legacy

See also

References