Ruichang (瑞昌) | 24 Histories

Overview

Ruichang was a Manchu general.

PeriodQing

IdentityHistorical · Male

Roles

Found in

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Yunge	云閣	Yunge
Posthumous name	Loyal and Stalwart	忠壯	Zhongzhuang

Life and dates

Death

AD 1900 二十六年
fell in battle 戰歿 · At Heihe 黑河
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 467, passage 165
AD 1861 咸豐十一年
self-immolation 先舉火自焚 · At Hangzhou 杭州
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 123

Attested activity

AD 1860 十年春
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 397, passage 161
AD 1853 咸豐三年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 103
AD 1855 咸豐五年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 106
AD 1861 咸豐十一年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 118
AD 1860 咸豐十年二月
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 108
AD 1854 咸豐四年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 105

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AD 1849 道光二十九年
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 102

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Descendant of Aode (敖德)
descendant 裔 · paternal line · 6 generations
ancestor 祖 · paternal line · 6 generations
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 100
Kin of Shoushan (壽山)
clansman (junior) 族孫 · paternal line
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 467, passages 2, 165
Spouse of Wu (吳)
concubine 妾
husband 夫 · Concubinage
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 126
Parent of Xuguang (緒光)
father 父
eldest son 長子
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 128
Parent of Xu'en (緒恩)
son 子
father 父
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 126
Parent of Xucheng (緒成)
father 父
son 子
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 126

Key source chapters

Origins and identity

Ethnicity Manchu 滿洲
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 99

Career and standing

General of Hangzhou 杭州將軍
Appointed · From Source Date: Text: 咸豐三年 · Western Year: AD 1853
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 103
Han Chinese Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Plain White Banner 正白旗漢軍副都統
Appointed · From Source Date: Text: 道光二十九年 · Western Year: AD 1849
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 102
overall commander of Jiangnan armies 總統江南諸軍
Appointed
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 115
general 將軍
AD 1860 十年春 · Held
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 397, passage 161
yellow riding jacket 黃馬褂
AD 1860 咸豐十年 · Granted
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 113
posthumous name Loyal and Stalwart 諡忠壯
Granted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 124

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Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent 太子太保
Posthumously granted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 124
third-rank baronage 三等子爵
Combined from hereditary offices
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 129
hereditary second-rank Commandant of Light Chariots 二等輕車都尉世職
Granted
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 113
first-class Commandant of Light Chariots 一等輕車都尉世職
Raised
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 124

Places and affiliations

Polity Qing 清 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 397, passage 161
Organization Bordered Yellow Banner 鑲黃旗 · Relation Registered in
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 99

Events and relationships

Campaigned with Senggelinqin and Shengbao; helped capture Lin Fengxiang
AD 1853 to AD 1855 咸豐三年至五年 · Military · Commander · With Sengge Rinchen (僧格林沁)
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 398, passages 104-107
Garrison self immolation
AD 1861 咸豐十一年 · Mass death · Leader · Casualties Count: 4000 · Qualifier: more than · Includes Person Ids: Guan Fu (關福), Hetehna (赫特赫納)
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 123
Held Hangzhou garrison citadel until relief; recovered Hangzhou
AD 1860 咸豐十年 · Military · Defender
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 398, passages 109-113
Held hangzhou inner city
AD 1860 十年春 · Military · Defender · At Hangzhou 杭州
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 397, passage 161
Relation Commander of · Person Jiang Changgui (江長貴)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 115

Assessments and attributes

Assessment roused others by loyalty; city fell with him · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 398, passage 159

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 397, passage 161

References in the histories

Search passages

History

21 passages

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 397Volume 397 Biographies 184: Lu Jianying, Yang Wending, Qing Lin, Chong Lun, He Guiqing · 1 passage

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倉猝城陷，惟將軍瑞昌守駐防內城未下，詔促桂清、和春遣軍速援。 The city fell in sudden assault; only General Ruichang still held the inner garrison quarter; an edict urged Guiqing and He Chun to send troops at once.

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 398Volume 398 Biographies 185: Zong Shixianghou, Huo Longwu, Fu Zhu Hong A, En Zhang, Chen Shengyuan, Qi Suzao, Chen Kerang, Liu Tongying, Rui Chang, Jie Chun, Xi Ling A · 17 passages

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瑞昌杰純錫齡阿 Rui Chang; Jie Chun; Xi Ling'a

瑞昌，字云閣，鈕祜祿氏，滿洲鑲黃旗人。 Rui Chang, courtesy name Yunge, of the Niohuru clan, was a Manchu of the Bordered Yellow Banner.

瑞昌由拜唐阿授鑾儀衛整儀尉，累遷冠軍使。 Rui Chang entered service as a baitang'a and was appointed an orderly in the Imperial Procession Guard, rising in time to champion envoy.

賊分股突犯杭州，瑞昌令副都統來存出武林門御之，自守錢塘門，偕巡撫羅遵殿佈置甫定，賊已麕至，縱火撲城。 Rebel columns struck Hangzhou. Rui Chang sent Deputy Commander Laicun out through Wulin Gate to meet them while he held Qiantang Gate himself. He and Governor Luo Zundian had barely finished their dispositions when the rebels swarmed in and set fires along the walls.

瑞昌率旗兵迎擊於湧金門，殺傷相當。 Rui Chang led the banner troops out at Yongjin Gate. Casualties on both sides were heavy.

張玉良以罪黜，命瑞昌總統江南諸軍，江長貴副之，規復甦州，而賊已陷長興、武康，复諭先顧杭城，再圖進取。 Zhang Yuliang was dismissed in disgrace. Rui Chang was placed in overall command of the Jiangnan armies with Jiang Changgui as his deputy, with orders to recover Suzhou. But the rebels had already taken Changxing and Wukang, and he was told to secure Hangzhou first and plan further advances later.

嘉興尋為賊踞，命瑞昌督張玉良往攻，亦未果。 Jiaxing soon fell to the rebels. Rui Chang was ordered to direct Zhang Yuliang in an assault on the city, but the attempt failed.

十月，賊陷富陽、餘杭，复撲杭州，瑞昌親督副都統傑純、副將吳再升擊走之。 In the tenth month the rebels took Fuyang and Yuhang and struck at Hangzhou again. Rui Chang personally directed Deputy Commander Jie Chun and Brigadier Wu Zaisheng in driving them back.

自紹興為賊踞，杭州愈危，遂被圍，瑞昌偕巡撫王有齡嬰城固守逾兩月。 Once Shaoxing fell, Hangzhou grew still more desperate and was besieged. Rui Chang and Governor Wang Youling held the city in a desperate defense for more than two months.

瑞昌憂憤成疾，旗兵精壯多傷亡，乃集將校，誓死報國，家給火藥。 Rui Chang fell ill with grief and rage. Most of the banner garrison's best fighters were dead or wounded. He gathered his officers, swore to die for the dynasty, and distributed gunpowder to every household in the garrison.

及城陷，瑞昌先舉火自焚，闔營次第火起，同死者，杭州副都統關福及江蘇糧儲道赫特赫納以下男婦四千餘人。 When the city fell, Rui Chang was the first to set himself ablaze. Fires rose one after another through the garrison quarter. More than four thousand men and women died with him, including Deputy Commander Guan Fu and Jiangsu grain commissioner Hetehna.

事聞，詔優恤，贈太子太保，晉一等輕車都尉世職，諡忠壯。 When word reached the court, an edict granted enhanced posthumous honors. Rui Chang was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, his hereditary rank was raised to first-class commandant of light chariots, and he was honored with the posthumous name Loyal and Stalwart.

同治三年，杭州复，左宗棠奏瑞昌妾吳，於城破時挈兩幼子緒成、緒恩出走失散。 In 1864, after Hangzhou was recovered, Zuo Zongtang reported that Rui Chang's concubine Wu had fled the fallen city with two young sons, Xucheng and Xu'en, and been separated from them in the chaos.

詔念瑞昌忠烈，命本旗傳交其長子內閣中書緒光收養，飭宗棠購訪緒成下落，迄未得。 Moved by Rui Chang's martyrdom, the throne ordered his banner to place the boy in the care of his eldest son, Secretariat drafter Xuguang, and instructed Zuo Zongtang to search for Xucheng. He was never found.

忠勇得士心，為瑞昌所倚。 Brave and loyal, he won the soldiers' devotion and became Rui Chang's right hand.

杭州初破，瑞昌欲自剄，傑純與副都統來存言賊以偏師疾至，未有後繼，猶可力保駐防城以待外援，瑞昌從之，乃登陴守禦。 When Hangzhou first fell, Rui Chang meant to take his own life. Jie Chun and Deputy Commander Laicun urged that the rebels had arrived with only a vanguard and no reserves, and that the garrison quarter could still be held until relief came. Rui Chang agreed and took to the ramparts.

杭州初陷，賊僅偏師，故瑞昌能守內城以待援； When Hangzhou first fell, the rebels had sent only a vanguard, so Rui Chang could hold the inner quarter and wait for relief;

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 467Volume 467 Biographies 254: Li Bingheng, Wang Tingxiang, Nie Shicheng, Luo Rongguang, Shou Shan Zu Sun : Rui Chang, Feng Xiang, Chong Yu · 3 passages

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李秉衡王廷相聶士成羅榮光壽山族孫瑞昌鳳翔崇玉等 Li Bingheng, Wang Tingxiang, Nie Shicheng, Luo Rongguang, and Shoushan's kinsmen Ruichang, Fengxiang, Chongyu, and others

當是時，諸路軍皆潰敗，北路統領崇玉，營官德春、瑞昌，西路統領保全，東路營官保林，並陷陣死，於是俄遂偪齊齊哈爾省城。 By then every column had been broken; on the north Commander Chongyu and camp officers Dechun and Ruichang, on the west Commander Baoquan, on the east camp officer Baolin—all fell; the Russians then pressed on Qiqihar.

族孫瑞昌，充北路營官，俄陷黑河，與統領崇玉同戰歿。 His clansman Ruichang served as northern-route camp officer; when the Russians took Heihe he died fighting beside Commander Chongyu.