Qi Jiguang
| Qi Jiguang | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Qi Jiguang
|
|
| General of the Ming dynasty | |
| Born | November 12, 1528 |
| Died | January 17, 1588 (aged 59) |
| Names | |
| Traditional Chinese | 戚繼光 |
| Simplified Chinese | 戚继光 |
| Pinyin | Qī Jìguāng |
| Wade–Giles | Ch'i Chi-kuang |
| Courtesy name | Yuanjing (Chinese: 元敬; pinyin: Yuánjìng; Wade–Giles: Yüan-ching) |
| Posthumous name | Wuyi (Chinese: 武毅; pinyin: Wǔyì) |
| Other names |
|
Qi Jiguang (November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588),courtesy name Yuanjing, art names Nantang and Mengzhu, posthumous name Wuyi, was a Chinese military general of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading Ming forces to defend China's east coastal regions from raids by the wokou in the 16th century and is widely regarded as a national hero in Chinese culture.
Qi Jiguang was born in the town of Luqiao (鲁橋) in Shandong province to a family with a long military tradition. His forefather served as a military leader under Zhu Yuanzhang and died in battle. When Zhu Yuanzhang later became the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he bestowed upon the Qi family the hereditary post of commander-in-chief of Dengzhou Garrison (登州衛), a district of the present day Penglai.
When his father Qi Jingtong (戚景通) died, Qi Jiguang took over the commandership of Dengzhou Garrison at the age of seventeen. As his siblings were still young, he married Wang and left domestic affairs to her. Besides building up naval defense at the garrison, he also had to lead his troops to help in the defense of Jizhou (薊州, east of present-day Beijing) against East Mongolian raiders during spring time from 1548 to 1552.
At twenty-two, Qi Jiguang headed for Beijing to take part in the martial arts section of the imperial examination. During this time, East Mongolian troops led by Altan Khan broke through the northern defense and laid siege on Beijing. Candidates participating in the martial arts exam were also mobilized to defend the capital. Qi Jiguang displayed extraordinary valor and military ingenuity during the battle, which eventually saw the defeat of the invaders.
In 1553, Qi Jiguang was promoted to Assistant Regional Military Commissioner (都指揮僉事) of Shandong's defense force against wokou pirates, which included the Japanese, the Portuguese, and the Southeast Asians, but were mostly Chinese. When Qi Jiguang took over the commandership of Shandong's coastal defense, he had less than 10,000 troops at hand, though the recorded strength was 30,000. Furthermore, most of the deserters were young and strong men who could find a living elsewhere, leaving behind the old and the weak. The troops also lacked training and discipline, while the defense works were dilapidated due to years of negligence.
...
Wikipedia