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Huang Degong
Kaiyuan soldier who rose to command at Luzhou, became Marquis of Jingnan under the Hongguang court and killed himself after being shot by the river near Wuhu in 1645
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 Hao Hushan
- Roles
- Commanders
Huang Degong, known as Hushan, belonged to the Kaiyuan garrison in Liaodong. As a boy he slipped into the ranks with a knife and used the reward for two enemy heads to support his mother. In 1641 he and Liu Liangzuo routed Zhang Xianzhong's army at Baojialing; the next year he took command at Luzhou. He was made Earl of Jingnan in 1644 and raised to marquis by the Hongguang court in Nanjing as one of its four commanders north of the river. When the Qing crossed the Yangtze in 1645 the fleeing emperor took refuge in his camp at Wuhu; Huang went out in a small boat to fight, and as Liu Liangzuo called on him from the bank to surrender, an arrow struck his throat and he stabbed himself with it. His wife hanged herself, and his officer Tian Xiong handed the emperor over to the Qing.
Life and times
Dates 1594 CE–1645 CE