文悌出身沒落的滿族世家,一生歷道、咸、同、光、宣五朝,見證了清王朝在內憂外患的沖擊下從日薄西山到崩潰瓦解的整個歷程。他暴得大名,首先緣于御史任上嚴劾康有為"保中國不保大清",這不但成為滿漢保守派攻擊"康黨"的重要口實,所舉各項"康黨"罪狀,亦成為戊戌黨獄之關鍵證詞。戊戌政變后,文悌外任河南府知府,參與籌議洛陽陪都事宜。庚子事變后,他積極運動各方權要,欲赴行在瞻覲而未果。辛丑兩宮回鑾,路經洛陽,文悌大肆鋪張,竭力迎逢慈禧太后及其心腹,引起朝野側目,卻未能如愿升遷。文悌前后為官45載,以貴東道終仕,處處標榜滿族利益,動輒揮舞"文死諫"的道德大旗。揭櫫其人其事,尤其是他在晚清一系列重大變局中的觀察與因應,有助于認識滿族中下層官員的政治心態與當時深刻的滿漢畛域,豐富對相關人物史事的理解。

Born into a declining Manchu family,Wenti went through the rule of five emperors and witnessed the disintegration of the Qing Dynasty under the situation of internal disorder and foreign invasions. He first made a name for himself by insisting the impeachment of Kang Youwei as a royal remonstrator. He criticized Kang for his intention “to save China rather than the Qing government”,providing the ammunition for the conservatives,both Manchu and Han,to oppose Kang and his camp. His allegation of the“crimes”committed by Kang Youwei and his camp became the testimony that contributed to the imprisonment of Kang’s followers. After the 1898 coup,Wenti was appointed as the Governor of Henan and deeply involved in preparing the plan of building the second capital in the city of Luoyang. After the Boxer Rebellion,he mobilized senior local officials to have an audience with the royal court which escaped from Beijing,but to no avail. The royal court made a stop in Luoyang on its way back to Beijing,providing Wenti a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to curry favor with the Empress Dowager and her loyal men. Wenti’s unscrupulous tactics caused an uproar both within the government and across the society. But he did not get the promotion he desperately expected. As a veteran official,Wenti worked for the Qing government for 45 years and ended his official career at a position in East Guizhou. He became a loyal defender of the Manchu interests and even threatened to commit suicide on a number of occasions to force the royal court to take his advice.Wenti’s perceptions and responses to the turbulent politics in late Qing shed important light both on the political orientation of the middle-and-lower rank Manchu officials and the deep divides between the Manchu and the Han,therefore enriching our understanding on that part of history in modern China.