Overview
Sanbao (died 1784), of the Irgen Gioro clan and the Plain Red Banner, was an eighteenth-century Qing official who advanced through the translation examination system and subsequently held high provincial and central offices. According to the Draft History of Qing, volume 320, he passed the translation jinshi examination in Qianlong year four (1739), initially receiving an appointment as a secretary of the Grand Secretariat. He later served as a reader in that institution and inherited the position of superintendent of a family-controlled banner company. The translation degree must be distinguished from an ordinary Chinese literary jinshi qualification.
Historical Background
Sanbao's career included service on the Hubei postal and salt circuit and as a director in the Board of Revenue. He was also assigned to northern frontier affairs involving pastoral communities associated in the source with Dashidawa. After criticism of inadequately repaired roads along the emperor's route to Rehe in 1761, he was reassigned to Hami with the status of a circuit intendant. Rehabilitated in 1764, he became provincial treasurer in Sichuan and subsequently served in Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou. He was appointed governor of Shanxi in 1772, transferred to Zhejiang the following year, made governor-general of Huguang in 1777, and appointed grand secretary of the Eastern Pavilion with concurrent responsibility for the Board of Rites in 1779. He later served as governor-general of Min-Zhe.
Sources and Interpretation
His proposals concerning the repair and reinforcement of Zhejiang's sea walls appear in the historical account, which describes his preference for protecting vulnerable earthen or brushwood works through appropriate stone construction rather than disturbing them during dangerous periods. In later life he performed grand-secretarial duties, became a senior tutor in the imperial educational establishment, and compiled Chunhua rilan for princely instruction. He died in 1784 and received the posthumous title Wenjing. Precise dates and memorials can be further compared with the Qing shilu and surviving archival documents.
Sources and Bibliography
Links reproduce references supplied with the Chinese editorial manuscript; they do not establish that every individual statement has undergone independent archival verification.
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