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Qi Jiguang

Ming general who trained the Qi Family Army to clear pirates from Zhejiang and Fujian, then held the Jizhou frontier north of Beijing for sixteen years

Also known as Zi Yuanjing · Hao Nantang

Qi Jiguang, courtesy name Yuanjing, styled Nantang and later Mengzhu, came of a family from Dingyuan that held a hereditary command in the Dengzhou garrison. Sent to Zhejiang as a regional commander in 1555, he recruited farmers and miners from Yiwu and nearby counties into a new force, the Qi Family Army, and drilled them in formations such as the mandarin-duck squad. When pirates raided Taizhou in 1561 he won a string of victories, then moved into Fujian and with Yu Dayou and others destroyed pirate bases at Hengyu and Pinghaiwei. From 1568 he trained the troops of Jizhou, Changping and Baoding, and in sixteen years at Jizhou he added hollow watchtowers along the Great Wall. After Zhang Juzheng's death he was moved to Guangdong and soon dismissed, and he died at home in Dengzhou in January 1588. He wrote the New Treatise on Military Efficiency (Jixiao xinshu) and the Record of Military Training, and the History of Ming pairs him with Yu Dayou, calling both fine generals.

Life and times

  1. 1528 CEBornMing
  2. 1550Qi Jiguang Defeating the WokouTook partage 22Qi Jiguang trained the Qi Army and its Mandarin Duck formation, defeating raiders across Zhejiang and Fujian and restoring coastal security.
    1. Qi Jiguang Fights the Wokou1553age 25Qi Jiguang's Mandarin Duck Formation Pacifying Coastal Wokou
  3. 1559Qi Jiguang Recruits Yiwu Disciplined Troopsage 31In 1559 Qi Jiguang recruited and trained troops at Yiwu, creating the force used in his later campaigns against the wokou.
  4. 1561Qi Jiguang Wins the Taizhou Campaignage 33In 1561 Qi Jiguang won a sequence of battles around Taizhou, defeating wokou forces and stabilizing eastern Zhejiang.
  5. 1562Assault on Hengyuage 34In 1562 Qi Jiguang's troops filled the approaches with bundles of grass and stormed the wokou stronghold at Hengyu.
  6. 1562Qi Jiguang Breaches Pirate Campsage 34After Hengyu, Qi Jiguang broke the wokou camps at Niutian and around Xinghua in the Fujian campaign.
  7. 1563Joint Assault at Pinghaiweiage 35In 1563 Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, and Liu Xian jointly assaulted Pinghaiwei and defeated the occupying wokou force.
  8. 1588 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Prose29
    1. New Treatise on Military EfficiencyMingQi Jiguang's Ming manual from training troops against the wokou: drill, signals and arms
    2. Record of Practical Troop TrainingMingQi Jiguang's manual for training the northern frontier army at Jizhou
    3. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Front Juan (memoranda and discussions)Ming
    4. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Organising the RanksMing
    5. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Essential Signals and Orders for Drill and BattleMing
    6. +24 more
      1. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Collective Responsibility in BattleMing
      2. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Essential Prohibitions for SoldiersMing
      3. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Regulations for Training Officers and MenMing
      4. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Competitions in Martial Skills, Rewards and PunishmentsMing
      5. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Orders for Marching and Field CampsMing
      6. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Drilling Camp Formations, Flags and DrumsMing
      7. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Setting Out on Campaign and Camping on the RoadMing
      8. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Using Long Weapons at Close RangeMing
      9. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: On the Rattan ShieldMing
      10. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Using Short Weapons at Long RangeMing
      11. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: ArcheryMing
      12. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Essentials of the Classic of BoxingMing
      13. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Illustrated Equipment for Field WallsMing
      14. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Illustrated Banners, Gongs and DrumsMing
      15. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Guards and SentriesMing
      16. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Training Naval TroopsMing
      17. New Treatise on Military Efficiency: Front Juan: On Facing the EnemyMing
      18. Record of Practical Troop Training: Training the Squad, Part 1Ming
      19. Record of Practical Troop Training: Training Courage, Part 2Ming
      20. Record of Practical Troop Training: Training Eyes and Ears, Part 3Ming
      21. Record of Practical Troop Training: Training Hands and Feet, Part 4Ming
      22. Record of Practical Troop Training: Training Formations, Part 5 (Field Drill)Ming
      23. Record of Practical Troop Training: Explanations of Chariot, Infantry and Cavalry FormationsMing
      24. Record of Practical Troop Training: Juan 2, Training Courage: From 'Obey Command and Control' to 'Keep Account of Merit and Fault' (excerpt)Ming
  2. Literature · Poetry2
    1. Deep in the Study of StrategyMingQi Jiguang's early regulated verse from his study of strategy, seeking no title but a calm sea
    2. Written on HorsebackMingQi Jiguang's quatrain on a life in the saddle, fighting pirates and guarding the north

Connections

  1. Others2
    1. Zhang JuzhengGrand secretary who employed him · 1525 CE–1582 CE
    2. Yu DayouFellow commander against pirates · 1503 CE–1579 CE