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Liu Ting
Late Ming general from Nanchang who fought in Yunnan against Burma, in Korea and at Bozhou, and fell leading the eastern column at the battle of Sarhu
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Shengwu
- Roles
- Commanders
Liu Ting, courtesy name Xingwu, was a native of Nanchang and the son of the commander Liu Xian, with whom he went on campaign from boyhood. He was known for his strength and for a steel sword said to weigh a hundred and twenty catties, which earned him the name Big-Sword Liu. In 1583 he led troops into Yunnan and, with Deng Zilong, drove back an invasion by the Toungoo kingdom of Burma. He twice took an army into Korea during the Japanese invasions, attacking Konishi Yukinaga's force near Suncheon in 1598, and in 1600 he stormed Loushan Pass in the war against the Bozhou chieftain Yang Yinglong. In 1619, when Yang Hao sent four columns against the Later Jin, Liu led the eastern column out of Kuandian, pushed deep into hostile ground and was ambushed by Nurhaci's troops at Abudali Ridge, where he died fighting. Early in the Tianqi reign the Ming court posthumously made him junior guardian, and the Qing later gave him the name Zhongzhuang.
Life and times
Dates c. 1550 CE–1619 CE (birth by another account 1552)