- Ding Ruchang
-
Admiral Ding Ruchang
Ding Ruchang (Chinese: 丁汝昌; pinyin: Dīng Rǔchāng; Wade–Giles: Ting Ju-ch'ang) (18 November 1836 - 12 February 1895) joined the Taiping Rebellion in 1854. But later he surrendered with Cheng Xuechi in the Battle of Anqing in 1861 and joined Li Hongzhang as a cavalryman to fight against the Taiping Rebellion. In 1874, he protested against the Qing Dynasty government's decision about reduction of the army size. He went back to his hometown to avoid being killed.
In 1875, he volunteered as the commander of the Qing Empire's Beiyang Fleet which fought the Battle of the Yalu River in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894. He became a casualty of the battle from the opening shot of his own vessel, the Dingyuan, which had a construction defect, along with a number of officers also present on the bridge.
After Battle of the Yalu River, he ordered the Beiyang Fleet stay close to Liugong Island and wait reinforcements, after five months, it was clear that no reinforcements would be coming. By February 1895, the Beiyang Fleet commanded by Admiral Ding was facing total defeat. Admiral Ding committed suicide by handgun in his office at the Liugong Island headquarters. His deputy, Admiral Liu, after ordering that his warship be scuttled by explosives, also committed suicide by taking poison. The remnants of the Beiyang Fleet surrendered to the Japanese. The only captain still alive then was the youngest, Sa Zhenbing.
The suicide of Admiral Ding Juchang, on a print by Mizuno Toshikata.After his death, Admiral Ding was blamed by the imperial government for the defeat, and his family was only able to give him a proper burial in 1912 after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty.
This biographical article related to the military of China is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
