Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Hsiung Hsi-ling

Mr. Hsiung Hsi-ling

熊希齡学聚三

Mr. Hsiung Hsi-ling was born at Feng-huang Hsien, Hunan province, in 1867. He was a Metropolitan graduate of 1894 and a prominent Hanlin scholar. Mr. Hsiang was an intimate friend of the reformer Kang Yu-hui and after the latter's downfall which occurred in 1898 he was arrested by the Imperial Ching government, but was promptly released. Subsequently Mr. Hsiung went to Japan to study. There he remained for a few years. In 1905 when he had returned to Peking he accompanied Tuan Fang on the latter's foreign mission. On that occasion, he visited America and Europe. After the return of the mission, Mr. Hsiung was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Agriculture, Industry & Commerce of Kiangsu. Later he was transferred to the same post in Fengtien. Mr. Hsiung was the principal assistant of General Chao Erh-hsun when the latter was Viceroy of Manchuria. In September 1910 he received the appointment to be Acting Commissioner of Foreign Affairs in Hupei. But very soon he returned to Mukden where he held several important positions at different times, the highest being that of the Principal Finance Commissioner of Manchuria and that of Salt Commissioner of Fengtien. At the time of the Wuchang outbreak, October 1911, Mr. Hsiung was Finance Commissioner at Mukden. Subsequently he went south and joined the Tutuh of Kiangsu. Later he went to Hunan and became chairman of the Republican Committee of that province. In March 1912 Mr. Hsiung was appointed Minister of Finance in the first Republican Cabinet headed by Tang Shao-i. He was responsible for the conduct of the loan negotiations with the International Banking Group, for the First Reorganization Loan from the time of his arrival until he resigned in June 1912 after Premier Tang had given up the premiership. Mr. Hsiung, however, continued to be employed by the government in the capacity of Chief of a Commission for the negotiation of foreign loans. It was he who was mainly responsible for negotiating the Crisp Loan. Subsequently Mr. Hsiung was appointed Tutung or Lieutenant-General of Jehol. The appointment was interesting in view of the fact that he had never held a military position before. He remained at Jehol until July 1913. Mr. Hsiung was appointed Prime Minister on July 31, 1913. In September he was given the concurrent post of Minister of Finance. These positions he held until February 1914: In May 1914 Mr. Hsiung was appointed a member of the Tsan Chen Yuan, the Advisory Council of the late President Yuan Shih-kai. At the same time he was appointed Director-General of the National Oil Administration which was organized for the purpose to undertake the development of petroleum resources in China in cooperation with the Standard Oil Company of New York. As the expedition to Shensi and Shansi failed to discover oil of a commercial quantity the Administration was dissolved in December 1916. In 1917, the year a big flood occurred in Chihli inundating part of the Port of Tientsin, Mr. Hsiung was appointed Director-General of the Flood Relief and Conservancy. He was mainly responsible for the formation of the Chihli River Commission, of which he was made President. In the capacity of the Director-General, Mr. Hsiung signed the agreement with the American International Corporation for a $6,000,000 loan for the improvement of the Grand Canal. He later became Director General of the Grand Canal Improvement Board. In December 1918 Mr. Hsiung was awarded the Third Order of Merit. In May 1919 he was ordered to hold concurrently the post of director general of Famine Relief in Hunan Province. In March 1920 Mr. Hsiung received the First Class Wenfu Decoration. In May 1920 he was relieved of the three aforementioned posts: Flood Relief and Conservancy; Grand Canal Improvement; and Hunan Famine Relief. Following in the wake of the 1921 flood the refugees driven to despair by the famine were abandoning their children on the roadside or selling them to the highest bidders. Mr. Hsiung in the capacity of Director-General established two asylums in Peking to receive these children. When the flood subsided, most of these children were claimed and taken back by their parents, but still about 200 were left on the hands of the authorities without any claimants. Finding it necessary to find a place for the upbringing of the children, Mr. Hsiung secured the donation by Ching Household of the Imperial Hunting Park on the Western Hills and using this place he established an orphanage called the Children's Home. In May 1921 Mr. Hsiung was called to Hunan to direct the self-government movement in that province. He returned to Peking in July 1921. The object of this hasty return was partly to ease the mind of the northern leaders who suspected him of having joined the southern leaders and partly to save the Children's Home from losing the government's support. In November 1922, Mr. Hsiung was awarded the Second Order of Merit. In the same month he was ordered by the President to devise means of living for the poor people in the Metropolis. In January 1923 he was appointed a Member of the Educational Sinking Fund Commission. Mr. Hsiung's address is Children's Home, Hsiang Shan, Peking.