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Liu Yongfu
Leader of the Black Flag Army in northern Vietnam whose men killed the French officers Garnier and Riviere near Hanoi, and who later defended Tainan against Japan in 1895
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 Yuanting · Hei Qi Jun Shou Ling
- Roles
- Commanders
Liu Yongfu, courtesy name Yuanting, came from a poor family in Qinzhou, Guangdong, and joined secret-society bands before leading his Black Flag Army into Vietnam in 1867 and settling at Bao Thang, today's Lao Cai. In 1873, when the French officer Francis Garnier seized much of the Hanoi region, the Black Flags fought at the Vietnamese court's request and killed him outside the city. In 1883 they defeated the French again at Paper Bridge near Hanoi, killing their commander Henri Riviere, and the Vietnamese court made Liu a provincial commander. He fought alongside Qing forces in the war with France and afterward returned to China as brigade general at Nan'ao. Sent to help defend Taiwan during the war with Japan, he held Tainan after the Republic of Formosa was proclaimed in 1895 until October, when he escaped by boat to Xiamen as the city was about to fall. He spent his last years at home in Qinzhou and died in 1917.
Life and times
Dates 1837 CE–1917 CE