Tang Ching-sung

Tang Ching-sung (traditional Chinese: 唐景崧; simplified Chinese: 唐景嵩; pinyin: Táng Jǐngsōng) (1841–1903) was a Chinese general and statesman. He commanded the Yunnan Army in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), and made an important contribution to China's military effort in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) by persuading the Black Flag leader Liu Yung-fu to serve under Chinese command. His intelligent, though ultimately unsuccessful, direction of the Siege of Tuyen Quang (November 1884–March 1885) was widely praised. He later became governor of the Chinese province of Taiwan. Following China's cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) he became president of the short-lived independent country Republic of Formosa (Taiwan).

Tang Ching-sung played an important role in the Sino-French War and during the period of undeclared hostilities that preceded it. In 1882 he was sent by the Qing government to Vietnam to assess the ability of the Vietnamese government to resist French expansion in Tonkin. During his stay he was able to persuade Liu Yung-fu to take the field against the French with the Black Flag Army. Liu's intervention resulted in the French defeat in the Battle of Paper Bridge on 19 May 1883, in which the French commandant supérieur Henri Rivière was killed. In the wake of this disaster, Jules Ferry's government committed substantial military and naval forces to Tonkin.

Tang was the only senior Chinese commander to take part in the Son Tay Campaign (December 1883). Although Liu Yung-fu and his Vietnamese and Chinese allies failed to hold Son Tay against the French, Tang's loyalty to Liu on that occasion was never forgotten by the Black Flag leader. In September 1884 Tang led the Yunnan Army down the Red River from Lao Cai to threaten the French post of Tuyen Quang, and Liu Yung-fu took service with him as a subordinate general.

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