Ding Ruchang

Ding Ruchang 丁汝昌
Admiral Ding Ruchang
Born	(1836-11-18)18 November 1836 Anhui Province, China
Died	12 February 1895(1895-02-12) (aged 58) Shandong Province, China
Allegiance	Qing dynasty
Service/branch	Beiyang Fleet
Years of service	1875 -1895
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	Taiping Rebellion Nien Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War †

Admiral Ding Ruchang (Chinese: 丁汝昌; pinyin: Dīng Rǔchāng; Wade–Giles: Ting Ju-ch'ang) (18 November 1836 – 12 February 1895) was a career military officer in the late Qing dynasty military of China.

Ding was a native of what is now part of Chaohu City in Anhui Province, China. He joined the Taiping Rebellion in 1854, but he later surrendered with Cheng Xuechi in the Battle of Anqing in 1861, and defected to the imperial cause. He joined Li Hongzhang’s Huai Army as a cavalryman to help suppress the Taiping Rebellion, serving with Liu Mingchuan. Afterwards, he was active in helping suppress the Nien Rebellion, and was awarded with the equivalent in rank to colonel. 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, Li Hongzhang recruited Ding to be a commander of the Beiyang Fleet, the most modern of China’s regional navies. In 1880, he travelled to Newcastle upon Tyne in Great Britain to accept delivery of the cruiser Chaoyun where he was photographed by Newcastle-based photographer H.S. Mendelssohn. He also visited Germany and France to familiarize himself with their shipbuilding techniques. Ding was a supporter of the Self-Strengthening Movement in China, and urged Li Hongzhang to create shipyards in China able to build modern armored cruisers, rather than relying on foreign imports. Ting took an active role in the creation of the naval bases at Weihaiwei and Lushunkou.