Du Shoutian

Du Shoutian (Chinese: 杜受田, 1787–1852), courtesy name Zhinong (芝農), was a Chinese statesman of the Qing dynasty. Du Shoutian was the son of Du E (杜堮). He obtained the highest degree (jinshi) in the imperial examination and was selected a shujishi of the Hanlin Academy in 1823. Since 1835, Du served as tutor of Prince Yizhu, whom later enthroned as the Xianfeng Emperor. It is said that Daoguang Emperor was undecided which of his sons, Yizhu or Yixin, should be made the inheritor. Once, Daoguang took the princes to Nanyuan (南苑) for a hunting competition. Du told Yizhu beforehand not to kill any animals, and if the emperor ask why, he was to answer that spring was the season when all life was meant to thrive, so he had no heart to terminate them. Yizhu did so. Although Yixin caught the most fowls, Daoguang was very satisfied with Yizhu's answer and praised that Yizhu had the magnanimity of an emperor. In 1850, Daoguang Emperor was seriously ill and decided to have a conversation with Yizhu and Yixin. Du Shoutian believed that Yizhu would certainly be worse than Yixin in terms of knowledge of the current politics, so the only way was to cry without a word. Daoguang was deeply moved and finally decided to let Yizhu inherit the throne. After Xianfeng Emperor ascended the throne, Du was granted the honorary title of "Crown Prince's Grand Tutor" (太子太傅) and the Minister of Personnel. Later, he had served as Minister of Justice and Assistant Grand Secretary. When the Taiping Rebellion broke out in Guangxi, Du recommended Lin Zexu and Zhou Tianjue (周天爵) to Emperor Xianfeng as suitable candidates to suppress the rebellion, Xianfeng adopted his advice. In 1852, he and Yiliang (怡良) were sent to northern Jiangsu to inspect a flooded area...