# Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Yin-chih

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​YIN-chih 胤祉, Mar. 23, 1677–1732, July 10, was the third son of Emperor Shêng-tsu. In 1693 he represented the Emperor at the ceremonies held to commemorate the completion of repairs on the Temple of Confucius at Ch'ü-fu, Shantung, and in performance of the rites at the tomb of the sage. In 1696 he accompanied the Emperor on the expedition against Galdan [q. v.] in Mongolia, being in charge of the troops of the Bordered Red Banner. Two years later he was made a prince of the second degree (Chün-wang) with the designation Ch'êng 誠, but in 1699 his rank was lowered one degree for cutting his hair during the mourning period for the death of a concubine of the Emperor. He seems, however, to have been one of the favorite sons of the Emperor who after the year 1707 visited Yin-chih's house and garden once or twice each year. Yin-chih was also on good terms with his half-brother, the one-time heirapparent, Yin-jêng [q. v.]. When the latter became insane (1708) Yin-chih reported that their eldest brother, Yin-t'i [禔, q.v], had employed a Lama sorceress to cast a spell on Yin-jêng. For this act Yin-t'i was imprisoned in his own courtyard where he died in 1734. In 1709 Yin-jêng was again made Heir Apparent and Yin-chih was raised to the rank of a prince of the first degree. About the same time Emperor Shêng-tsu appointed several learned Chinese as secretaries to Yin-chih, one of whom, Ch'ên Mêng-lei [q. v.], with the help of Yin-chih, edited the great encyclopaedia, Ku-chin t'u-shu chi-ch'êng. It is reported that these secretaries likewise drafted the Lü-li yüan-yüan (see under Ho Kuo-tsung).
In the struggle of the princes for the throne Yin-chih was one of the opponents of Yin-chên [q. v.] who obtained the throne in 1722. Early in 1723 the new Emperor ordered the confiscation of the Ku-chin t'u-shu chi-ch'êng and banishment of the editor. In the printed copy all references to the original editor or to Yinchih's connection with the work were omitted. Only in the Lü-li yüan-yüan is Yin-chih's name mentioned as one of the two princes in charge, the other prince being the Emperor's favorite brother, Yin-lu [q. v.]. The jealous Emperor further persecuted Yin-chih by ordering him in 1723 to guard the tomb of their father, thus removing him for a time from Peking. In 1728 Yin-chih was found guilty of display of temper when questioned in court on a charge of bribery, and for this was degraded one degree in rank; his third son, Hung-shêng 弘晟, was put in chains and imprisoned. Although Yin-chih had been for a time, in 1730, reinstated in his rank as Ch'in-wang, he lost it in the same year when he was accused of eight "misdemeanors" of which the following are examples: association with Ch'ên Mêng-lei, ingratitude to the Emperor, intimacy with the Emperor's enemies, and unfilial conduct toward their father. He was imprisoned, the immediate reason perhaps being ​his failure to express grief at the death of Yin-hsiang [q. v.] who, in the matter of succession, had taken sides with the Emperor. He was confined in the Ching-shan enclosure and there he died. In 1737 his nephew, the succeeding Emperor, Kao-tsung, gave him the posthumous name, Yin 隱. Only his seventh son, Hungching 弘景 (d. 1777), was permitted to hold a minor hereditary rank. One holder of the rank, a descendant of Yin-chih in the sixth generation, named Tsai-ling 載齡 (T. 鶴峯, posthumous name 文恪, d. 1883), served as a Grand Secretary in the years 1877–80.
[The above-mentioned Temple of Confucius at Ch'ü-fu was restored in the years 1500–04, after a disastrous fire. As stated in the biography of K'ung Shang-jên [q. v.], it was visited by Emperor Shêng-tsu in 1684. At that time it was in a dilapidated condition, and in 1690 repairs were ordered to be made. Several structures were razed by fire in 1724 and the present buildings are mostly those restored in 1730. A few smaller ones are said to date from the Yuan dynasty].
[1/226/6a; 1/446/1b; T'ieh-pao [q. v.], Hsi-ch'ao va-sung chi 1/12a; Tung-hua lu, Yung-chêng 6:6, 8:5; Ku-kung tien-pên-shu-k'u hsien-ts'un-mu (see bibl. under Ch'ên Mêng-lei) lei-shu 1a, i-hstang 1a; Ch'ing Huang-shih ssŭ-p'u (see under Fu-lung-an) 3/13a; Bulletin of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture (in Chinese) vol. 6, no. 1 (Sept. 1935) pp. 10–12.]
Fang Chao-ying