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Feng Zicai
Veteran Qing general from Qinzhou who came out of retirement near seventy to defeat the French at Zhennan Pass in 1885 and retake Lang Son
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 Nangan · Shi Yongyi · Hao Cuiting
- Roles
- Commanders
Feng Zicai, courtesy name Nangan, known as Cuiting, came from Qinzhou in Guangdong. He began as a lieutenant under Xiang Rong fighting the Taiping, later served under Zhang Guoliang in the lower Yangzi, received a Manchu title of valour, and rose to provincial commander in Guangxi and Guizhou before retiring on grounds of illness. When war with France broke out in 1884 he was nearly seventy, but Governor-General Zhang Zhidong recalled him to help direct the defence of Guangxi. After the French took and abandoned Zhennan Pass early in 1885 he built a long wall across the gap in front of it; when the French returned in March, he led his two sons out from the wall, spears in hand, and with the forces of Su Yuanchun and Wang Xiaoqi drove them back, then pressed on to recover Dong Dang and Lang Son. After the war he served as provincial commander of Yunnan and of Guizhou. He died in 1903 at eighty-six and was given the posthumous name Yongyi.
Life and times
Dates 1818 CE–1903 CE