Comment | Rem.: The author was appointed prefect of Dengzhou (Shandong) in 1861; he had the city wall rebuilt and successfully defended the city against a siege by the Nian rebels that lasted forty days. The work is composed of administrative pieces related to that period. It includes 20 entries (proclamations, communications, and regulations) dealing with problems of local administration such as examinations, corruption by clerks and runners, the salt monopoly, and especially problems of defense; there is an account of the rebuilding of the city wall. The ed. seen at Fu Sinian and the one reproduced in GZSJC have two “old documents” (jiudu 舊牘) appended. Shortly after the events Dai Zhaochen’s son, Dai Xieyuan 燮元, who had been assisting in the defense, composed a day-by-day account entitled Dongmou shoucheng jilüe 東牟守城紀略 (1861 preface), published in Canton in 1869. [n.p.]
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