吳城日記 translation: Diary of Inner City Suzhou, Part 5

This is Part 5 in a translation of an extract from 吳城日記 (‘Diary of Inner City Suzhou’). It’s the official log of Suzhou (specifically the small, walled area in the centre) from the year 1645, a year after the Manchus took Beijing, marking the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing (明末清初).

Many thanks to David Wildman for sharing his notes on this section. The annotation here is about 90% based on his notes.

[← Part 4](/china/classical/wucheng-riji-4/” rel="prev “吳城日記 translation: Diary of Inner City Suzhou, Part 4”) · *Part 5 * · [Part 6 →](/china/classical/wucheng-riji-6/” rel="next “吳城日記 translation: Diary of Inner City Suzhou, Part 6”)

小民共往縉紳家，促其出見，以紓蘇城之禍。 The common people together went to the houses of provincial degree holders and urged the gentry to go out and make an appearance, to avoid disaster in central Suzhou.

大都匿不肯出，眾情憤恨，打毀徐九一、李子木、蔣韜仲等各家器物。 Most hid away and were unwilling to go out, the masses harboured a resentment, they hit at night and destroyed the possessions of Xu Jiuyi, Li Zimu, Jiang Taozhong and so on.

初六日。城內外百姓相約，每圖首為一人，手執黃旗一面，上寫「某圖民投順大清國」。 Day 6. The common people inside and outside the walls made an appointment, one head for each district, they held in their hands a banner, on one side yellow, on which they wrote that the people of such-and-such a district are submissive to the Great Qing Dynasty.

餘人各執線香，爭往大營納款。 The remaining people who hold slender sticks of incense, and they vied to go towards a great garrison to surrender.

庠生亦投謁往見，鄉紳沈去疑為先。 Students in the prefectural school also went along and went to be seen, the rural gentry Mr Shen is believed [?] to have gone first.

午後，各官入城，都督土國寶坐北察院，諸友進見，溫言相慰。雲吳民既歸順，自然雞犬不驚，各安生業。 After midday, each official entered the city wall, the Deputy Supervisor Tu Guobao sat in the northern investigation bureau, his assembled friends came in to have an audience with him, and with warm words he reassured them saying “Seeing as the Wu people have returned righteousness and submitted in obedience to the government, then naturally the chickens and dogs aren't startled, each is content with his livelihood.

吳庠顏子發，特懇其禁約兵丁之橫暴於鄉者，土公亦許出令禁止，雲即日撤兵，無苦也。 A prefectural student of Wu, Gu Zifa, especially entreated that this prohibition of the soldiers being violent in the village, Mr Tu also promised to issue commands to prevent and stop it, saying on that day when the soldiers were sent out there would be no more pain.

初七日，土公令各圖捱查鄉紳舉貢庠反之在家及不在者。 7th day, Mr Tu ordered that every sub-district in sequence investigate whether the rural gentry, the provincial degree holders, licentiates, and the prefectural school students were at home or not at home.

申青門未出見，撥兵三十名坐守其家，大費酒食。 Mr Tu sent 30 soldiers to occupy and defend, and they hugely consumed his wine and food.

董君弼家尤被騷擾。 Mr Dongbi's house particularly suffered from the disturbance.

崑山庠生朱應鯤，因獻本縣冊，遂令為長洲縣令。 From Kunshan county, the provincial student Zhu Yingkun, because he had presented to the Manchus his own county's records, then it was ordered that he be made head/magistrate of the county of Changzhou.

吳縣令薛某，以縣丞陞任之。 The magistrate of Wu county Xue something-or-other, as he was the county deputy magistrate, was promoted to being the county magistrate of Wu county.

[← Part 4](/china/classical/wucheng-riji-4/” rel="prev “吳城日記 translation: Diary of Inner City Suzhou, Part 4”) · *Part 5 * · [Part 6 →](/china/classical/wucheng-riji-6/” rel="next “吳城日記 translation: Diary of Inner City Suzhou, Part 6”)