Li Chengliang

Li Chengliang (Chinese: 李成梁; pinyin: Lǐ Chéngliáng; Korean: 이성량; 1526 - 1618) was a Chinese general of Korean descent in the reign of the Wanli Emperor during the Ming Dynasty who was in charge of maintaining peace and relations with the Jurchen tribes. He was from Tielin and was from a military family.

He never had a very prosperous childhood and early life, so he was age 40 before he received an official appointment. He slowly rose up the ranks to eventually become Liaodong Regional Commander (Chinese:遼東總兵) with the backing of the Chief Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng. Li Chengliang was twice appointed Liaodong Regional Commander. The first commission lasted 22 years, the second 8 years.

During the Longqing era, the Tuman Mongols migrated east and often harassed the Liaodong region. Their forces totalling several hundred thousand. the Mongols presented serious threat. Li's first tenure as Liaodong Regional General saw five major victories against the Tuman Mongols.

In the battle, Li was in command of Giocangga and Taksi's forces, and Li had also intended to side with the Jurchen chieftain Nikan Wailan (Chinese:尼堪外蘭). When Giocangga and Taksi (Chinese:塔克世) abandoned Li to side with chieftain Atai who was their relative, Li thought they had mutinied and so left them behind in the midst of battle. When Atai was later defeated by Nikan Wailan, both Giocangga and Taksi were killed by Nikan Wailan in the aftermath.

The Ming policy on the Jurchen tribes during that period was to side with different tribes during each conflict to maintain a balance and not allow one tribe to dominate and eventually unite the Jurchen tribes. Spurred by the actions of Li, Nurhaci was eventually able to unite all the Jurchen tribes, creating the Manchu. Nurhaci then blamed Li Chengliang for the death of his father, which formed part of the Seven Grievances.

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