1
列傳二百四十七
Biography 247
2
左寶貴弟寶賢等永山鄧世昌劉步蟾林泰曾等戴宗騫
Zuo Baogui (and his younger brother Bao Xian and others), Yong Shan, Deng Shichang, Liu Buchan, Lin Taiceng and others, and Dai Zongqian
3
左寶貴，字冠廷，山東費人。 咸豐初，隸江南軍。 嘗令當前敵，陣既接，旗兵中砲，殪，寶貴持其幟衝鋒入，大捷，繇是知名。 獲苗沛霖，克金陵，頻有功。 後以游擊從僧格林沁討捻，積勳至副將。 光緒初，尚書崇實巡視奉天、吉林，奏自隨。 既至，斬高希珍於土門，誅宋三好於石砬子。 邊外東北廟溝金宮四構黨圖大舉，复捕治之，餘燼悉平，賜號鏗色巴圖魯，晉記名提督。 授高州鎮總兵，仍留奉天。 平朝陽教匪，賞黃馬褂、雙眼花翎，駐瀋陽。
Zuo Baogui, styled Guanting, was a native of Fei County in Shandong. In the early Xianfeng era he served with the Jiangnan forces. Once placed in the forefront against the enemy, he saw the standard-bearer cut down by cannon fire as battle was joined; Baogui seized the banner and led the charge himself, winning a great victory, and from that day his name was known. He helped capture Miao Peilin, took Nanjing, and won distinction again and again. Later, as a guerrilla officer under Sengge Rinchen in the campaign against the Nian rebels, he rose by accumulated merit to vice commander. Early in the Guangxu reign, when Minister Chongshi toured Fengtian and Jilin, he memorialized that Baogui accompany him. On arrival he beheaded Gao Xizhen at Tumen and put Song Sanhao to death at Shibazi. When conspirators beyond the border at Dongbei Miaogou and Jingongsi plotted a major uprising, he captured and punished them again until every ember of revolt was extinguished; he was granted the title Kense Batulu and advanced to registered nominal provincial commander. He was appointed commander of the Gaozhou garrison but continued to serve in Fengtian. After pacifying the sect rebels in Chaoyang he was rewarded with the yellow riding jacket and double-eyed peacock feather, and took up station at Shenyang.
4
二十年，朝鮮亂起，日本進兵。 朝議既決戰，衛汝貴、馬玉昆、丰紳阿各率所部往御之，寶貴自奉天來會，是為四大軍。 慮海道梗，乃繞道自遼東行，渡鴨綠江入平壤。 是時葉志超虛飾戰胜狀，電李鴻章入告，遂拜總統諸軍命。 於是汝貴、玉昆軍南門外大同江，志超部將江自康軍北門外小山，寶貴任城守。 未止舍，日軍猝至，寶貴與丰紳阿擊卻之。 敵退龍岡，分道來攻，又敗之。 志超乃聚全軍為嬰城計。
In the twentieth year of Guangxu, turmoil broke out in Korea and Japan sent troops. Once the court resolved on war, Wei Rugui, Ma Yukun, and Fengshen'e each led their commands to resist the invader; Baogui came down from Fengtian to join them — the force known as the Four Great Armies. Fearing the sea lanes would be cut, they marched overland through eastern Liaodong, crossed the Yalu, and entered Pyongyang. At that time Ye Zhichao dressed up false reports of victory and telegraphed Li Hongzhang with the news, and was accordingly appointed commander-in-chief of all forces. Rugui and Yukun took position on the Datong River south of the southern gate; Ye Zhichao's subordinate Jiang Zikang held the hill north of the northern gate; and Baogui was charged with defending the city itself. They had scarcely made camp when Japanese troops struck without warning; Baogui and Fengshen'e drove them back. The enemy fell back to Longgang and attacked along several routes; they were beaten again. Ye Zhichao then drew the whole army together to hold the city behind its walls.
5
時寶貴扼玄武門，日軍大隊至。 志超將潰圍北歸，寶貴不從，以兵守志超勿令逸。 寶貴狃於捕馬賊之功，頗輕敵。 日軍轝砲散置山巔，諜者以告，若弗聞。 登城指麾，中砲踣，猶能言，及城下，始殞。 其部將負屍開城走，遇日軍，又棄之，於是諸軍皆潰。 事聞，贈太子少保，諡忠壯，予騎都尉兼一云騎尉世職，子國楫襲。
Baogui was holding the Xuanwu Gate when a large Japanese column came up. Ye Zhichao was preparing to break out northward; Baogui refused to go along and posted troops to keep Ye from slipping away. Baogui, overconfident after years of chasing down mounted bandits, took the enemy too lightly. The Japanese had scattered their field guns on the heights; spies brought word of it, but he acted as though he had not heard. He climbed the wall to direct the defense, was struck down by shellfire, and could still speak; only after he was carried below the wall did he die. His officers shouldered his body, opened the gates, and fled; when they ran into Japanese troops they abandoned the corpse, and the whole army collapsed in rout. When the court learned of his death, he was posthumously made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, given the posthumous name Zhongzhuang (Loyal and Stalwart), and granted a hereditary rank as Commandant of Cavalry with one additional Yun Commandant rank; his son Guoji inherited the title.
6
弟寶賢、寶清先後於直隸、奉天剿匪陣亡。
His younger brothers Bao Xian and Bao Qing had earlier fallen in battle while suppressing bandits in Zhili and Fengtian, one after the other.
7
永山，袁氏，漢軍正白旗人，黑龍江駐防，吉林將軍富明阿子，黑龍江將軍壽山弟。 以廕授侍衛，歸東三省練軍。 中日戰起，從將軍依克唐阿軍，率黑龍江騎旅駐摩天嶺。 永山臨敵輒深入，為士卒先。 與日軍戰數有功，連殲其將。 既克龍灣，乘勝渡草河，規鳳凰，依克唐阿策襲其城，檄永山為軍鋒，偕壽山分率馬步隊深入攻之。 抵一面山，距城八里，張左右翼，各據一坡以待。 永山為右翼，尤得地勢。 敵作散隊，伍伍什什冒死前，復以大隊橫沖我左翼。 左翼潰，右翼亦不支，乃相繼退。 永山獨為殿，遇伏，連受槍傷，洞胸踣，復強起督戰，大呼殺賊而逝。 事聞，諡壯愍，予建祠奉天。
Yong Shan, of the Yuan clan, was a Han Bannerman of the Plain White Banner, stationed in the Heilongjiang garrison; he was the son of Jilin General Fuming'a and the younger brother of Heilongjiang General Shoushan. By hereditary privilege he was appointed an Imperial Bodyguard and returned to serve with the training army of the Three Eastern Provinces. When war broke out between China and Japan, he served under General Yiketang'a, commanding the Heilongjiang cavalry brigade posted at Motianling. Whenever he met the enemy Yong Shan drove deep into the fight, always ahead of his men. In repeated clashes with the Japanese he distinguished himself and killed several of their officers in succession. After taking Longwan they pressed the advantage across the Cao River toward Fengcheng; Yiketang'a planned a surprise on the city and named Yong Shan the vanguard, while he and Shoushan each led mixed cavalry and infantry columns in a deep strike. They reached Yimianshan, eight li from the city, and deployed left and right wings, each holding a slope in readiness. Yong Shan held the right wing, which had the better ground. The enemy came on in open order, advancing in small groups at the risk of their lives, then threw a large column in a slashing charge against our left wing. The left wing broke, the right could not hold, and the whole line fell back in turn. Yong Shan alone covered the retreat; ambushed, he took shot after shot, was pierced through the chest and fell; he dragged himself up to rally the fight, cried "Kill the bandits!" and died. When the court learned of his death, he was given the posthumous name Zhuangmin (Stalwart and Sorrowful), and a temple was built for him in Fengtian.
8
鄧世昌，字正卿，廣東番禺人。 少有幹略，嘗從西人習布算術。 既長，入水師學堂，精測量、駕駛。 光緒初，管海東雲艦，徼循海口。 日本窺台灣，扼澎湖、基隆諸隘，補千總，調管振威艦。 以捕海盜，遷守備。 李鴻章治海軍，高其能，調北洋。 從丁汝昌赴英購鐵艦，益詳練海戰術。 八年，朝鮮內亂，復從汝昌泊仁川，為吳長慶陸軍後距。 事寧，遷游擊，賜號勃勇巴圖魯。 管揚威快艦，往來天津、朝鮮； 冬寒冰沍，巡視台、廈海防。 尋充經遠、致遠、靖遠、濟遠四船營務處，兼致遠管帶。
Deng Shichang, styled Zhengqing, was a native of Panyu in Guangdong. Even as a youth he showed ability and enterprise, and he once studied Western bookkeeping under foreign teachers. When he came of age he entered the naval academy and mastered surveying and ship handling. Early in the Guangxu reign he commanded the Haidongyun and patrolled the coastal harbors. When Japan cast its eye on Taiwan and seized the passes at Penghu and Keelung, he was made a thousand-man commander and transferred to command the Zhenwei. For capturing pirates he was promoted to garrison commander. When Li Hongzhang built up the navy, he prized Shichang's ability and transferred him to the Beiyang Fleet. He accompanied Ding Ruchang to England to buy ironclads and grew thoroughly versed in naval tactics. In the eighth year of Guangxu, during civil strife in Korea, he again followed Ruchang to anchor at Incheon and covered Wu Changqing's land forces from the sea. When the crisis passed he was promoted to guerrilla officer and granted the title Boyong Batulu. He commanded the fast cruiser Yangwei, shuttling between Tianjin and Korea; and in winter, when the seas froze over, he patrolled the defenses of Taiwan and Xiamen. Soon afterward he joined the fleet staff overseeing the Jingyuan, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, and Jiyuan, while also commanding the Zhiyuan herself.
9
十四年，台灣生番畔，以副將從汝昌往討。 戰埤南，毀其碉寨，擢總兵。 時定海軍經制，借補中軍副將，而以汝昌為提督，其左右翼總兵則閩人林泰曾、劉步蟾也。 汝昌故不習海戰，威令不行。 獨世昌以粵人任管駕，非時不登岸，閩人咸嫉之。
In the fourteenth year, when the aborigines of Taiwan rose in revolt, he went as vice commander under Ruchang to suppress them. Fighting at Beinan he destroyed their stockaded forts and was promoted to full commander. When the navy's permanent organization was fixed, he was made acting central vice commander under Admiral Ding Ruchang; the left and right wing commanders were the Fujian men Lin Taiceng and Liu Buchan. Ruchang had never been trained in naval warfare, and his authority did not hold. Only Shichang, a Cantonese in command of a ship, would not leave his vessel except when he had to; the Fujian officers all resented him for it.
10
二十年夏，日侵朝，絕海道。 鴻章令濟遠、廣乙兩船赴牙山，遇日艦，先擊，廣乙受殊傷； 轟濟遠，都司沈壽昌，守備楊建章、黃承勳中砲死。 濟遠逃，日艦追之，管帶方柏謙豎白幟，追益亟，有水手發砲擊之，折日艦了樓，柏謙虛張胜狀，退塞威海東西兩口。 世昌憤欲進兵，汝昌尼其行，不果。 已而日艦集大連灣，窺金州，我國海軍乃大發，泊鴨綠江大東溝，以鐵艦十當敵艦十有二。 汝昌乘定遠居中，列諸船左右張兩翼。 日艦魚貫進，據上風，汝昌令轟擊，距遠不能中。 日艦小，運棹靈，倏分倏合，彈雨坌集，定遠被震，大纛僕。 世昌見帥旗沒，慮軍心搖，亟取致遠纛豎之。 戰良久，定遠擊沉其西京丸，我之超勇毀焉。
In the summer of the twentieth year Japan invaded Korea and cut the sea lanes. Hongzhang ordered the Jiyuan and Guangyi to Asan; they met Japanese warships and opened fire first; the Guangyi was badly mauled; they turned their fire on the Jiyuan; Director Shen Shouchang and Garrison Commanders Yang Jianzhang and Huang Chengxun were killed by shellfire. The Jiyuan fled with Japanese ships in pursuit; Commander Fang Boyian ran up a white flag, which only made the pursuit fiercer; a sailor fired back and knocked down the enemy's signal mast; Boyian then falsely claimed a victory and withdrew to block the eastern and western entrances to Weihai. Shichang, furious, wanted to advance to the fight, but Ruchang held him back and nothing came of it. Before long Japanese ships massed in Dalian Bay and probed Jinzhou; the Chinese navy sortied in force and anchored at Dadonggou on the Yalu, pitting ten ironclads against the enemy's twelve. Ruchang took the Dingyuan at the center and drew up the fleet in two wings to left and right. The Japanese came on in column, holding the weather gauge; Ruchang ordered his guns to fire, but at that range the shots fell short. The Japanese ships were smaller and more agile, breaking apart and closing again in an instant; shellfire poured down; the Dingyuan was shaken and her great battle ensign toppled. Shichang saw the admiral's flag gone and feared the fleet's morale would break; he quickly raised the Zhiyuan's ensign in its place. After a long fight the Dingyuan sank the Japanese Saikyo Maru, while our own Chaoyong was destroyed.
11
世昌乘致遠，最猛鷙，與日艦吉野浪速相當，吉野，日艦之中堅也。 戰既酣，致遠彈將罄，世昌誓死敵。 將士知大勢敗，陣稍亂，世昌大呼曰：「今日有死而已！ 然雖死而海軍聲威弗替，是即所以報國也！」 眾乃定。 世昌遂鼓輪怒駛，欲猛觸吉野與同盡，中其魚雷，鍋船裂沉。 世昌身環氣圈不沒，汝昌及他將見之，令馳救。 拒弗上，縮臂出圈，死之。 其副游擊陳金揆同殉，全船二百五十人無逃者。 經遠管帶總兵林永昇、超勇管帶參將黃建寅、揚威管帶參將林履中並殞於陣。
Shichang fought from the Zhiyuan, the fiercest ship in the fleet, matched against the Japanese Yoshino and Nisshin; the Yoshino was the backbone of the enemy line. As the fight grew desperate the Zhiyuan's ammunition ran low, and Shichang swore to fight the enemy to the death. The officers and men, seeing the battle was lost, began to lose formation; Shichang cried out: "Today there is nothing for us but death! Yet if we die, the navy's honor shall not fade — that is how we repay the country!" The men steadied at that. Shichang then drove the Zhiyuan at full speed, intending to ram the Yoshino and go down with her; a torpedo from the Japanese ship struck home, and the Zhiyuan broke apart and sank. Shichang was caught in an air pocket and did not sink; Ruchang and the other commanders saw him and ordered a boat to hurry to his rescue. He refused to be pulled aboard, slipped his arm from the air pocket, and drowned. His deputy Chen Jin'kui died with him; of the ship's company of two hundred fifty, not one tried to escape. Lin Yongsheng, commander of the Jingyuan; Huang Jianyin, commander of the Chaoyong; and Lin Lüzhong, commander of the Yangwei — all fell in the same battle.
12
事聞，世昌諡壯節，餘皆優恤。 世昌既死，諸船或沉或逃，遂不復成軍。 世昌臨戰以忠義相激勵，死狀尤烈，世與左寶貴並稱雙忠云。 永昇等，忠義有傳。
When the court learned of his death, Shichang was given the posthumous name Zhuangjie (Stalwart Integrity), and the others were all generously compensated. After Shichang's death the remaining ships were sunk or fled, and the fleet never fought as a force again. Before battle Shichang roused his men with appeals to loyalty and duty, and his death was especially heroic; he and Zuo Baogui were paired in their own day as the "Two Loyal Ones." Yongsheng and the others, too, have their own stories of loyal service.
13
劉步蟾，侯官人。 幼穎異，肄業福建船政學堂，卒業試第一。 隸建威船，徼循南北洋資實練。 同治十一年，會考閩、廣駕駛生，复冠其曹。 自是巡歷海岸河港，所蒞輒用西法測量。 台灣地勢、番部風土尤諳習，為圖說甚晰。 光緒改元，赴歐學槍砲、水雷諸技，還留福建，敘守備。 以丁寶楨、李鴻章論薦，擢游擊，會辦北洋操防。 十一年，赴德國購定遠艦。 維時海軍初立，借才異地，西人實為管帶，步蟾副之。 已而西人去，頗能舉其職。 十四年，以參將赴歐領四快船歸，遷副將，賜號強勇巴圖魯，擢右翼總兵。
Liu Buchan was a native of Houguan. As a boy he was unusually gifted; he studied at the Fujian Naval Academy and took first place in the graduation examination. He served aboard the Jianwei, patrolling the northern and southern seas to gain practical experience. In the eleventh year of Tongzhi, in the joint examination of Fujian and Guangdong navigation students, he again came first in his class. From then on, as he toured the coasts and river ports, he surveyed every place he visited by Western methods. He knew Taiwan's terrain and the ways of the aboriginal districts especially well, and his illustrated reports were models of clarity. At the beginning of the Guangxu reign he went to Europe to study artillery, mines, and related skills; on his return he remained in Fujian and was appointed garrison commander. On the recommendation of Ding Baozhen and Li Hongzhang he was promoted to guerrilla officer and assigned to help organize Beiyang training and coastal defense. In the eleventh year he went to Germany to take delivery of the Dingyuan. The navy was still new and had to rely on foreign expertise; Westerners actually commanded the ships, with Buchan as their deputy. When the Westerners left, he proved fully capable of filling their role. In the fourteenth year, as a major, he went to Europe and brought back four fast cruisers; he was promoted to vice commander, granted the title Qiangyong Batulu, and made right-wing commander.
14
二十年，中日戰起，海軍浮泊大東溝。 日艦至，督攝諸藝士御之，鏖戰三時許，沉敵艦三艘，運送銘軍八營，得以乘間登岸。 論功，晉記名提督，易其勇號曰格洪額。 明年，戰威海，中彈死。 步蟾通西學，海軍規制多出其手。 顧喜引用鄉人，視統帥丁汝昌蔑如也，時論責其不能和衷，致僨事。 然華人明海戰術，步蟾為最先，雖敗挫，殺敵甚眾。 上嘉其忠烈，詔優恤。
In the twentieth year, when war broke out between China and Japan, the fleet lay at anchor in Dadonggou. When the Japanese came up, he directed the gun crews in their defense; after three hours of fierce fighting three enemy ships were sunk, and he covered the landing of eight battalions of Liu Mingchuan's army by holding the sea long enough for them to get ashore. For this service he was advanced to registered nominal provincial commander and his brave-title was changed to Gehong'e. The following year, fighting at Weihai, he was struck by a shell and killed. Buchan was thoroughly versed in Western learning, and much of the navy's regulations were of his drafting. Yet he favored fellow provincials and treated Admiral Ding Ruchang with contempt; contemporaries blamed him for refusing to cooperate with his commander, which helped bring on defeat. Yet among Chinese who truly understood naval warfare, Buchan was the first; though the fleet was beaten, he killed a great many of the enemy. The throne honored his loyal death and ordered generous compensation for his family.
15
其左翼總兵林泰曾，亦籍侯官，同為船政學堂卒業生。 管鎮遠，戰大東溝，發砲敏捷，士卒用命，撲救火彈甚力，機營砲位無少損，賜號霍春助巴圖魯。 駛還威海，艦觸礁受傷，憤恨蹈海死。 副將左翼中營游擊楊用霖、廣東大鵬協右營守備黃祖蓮並殉焉。 優恤各如製。 祖蓮等，忠義有傳。
His left-wing commander Lin Taiceng was also a native of Houguan and a fellow graduate of the Naval Academy. Commanding the Zhenyuan at Dadonggou, he fired with speed and precision; his crew obeyed without flinching and fought hard to put out incendiary shells, so that the engine-room batteries were scarcely touched; he was granted the title Huochunzhu Batulu. On the return to Weihai his ship struck a reef and was damaged; in shame and fury he threw himself into the sea and drowned. Yang Yonglin, guerrilla officer of the left-wing central battalion, and Huang Zulian, garrison commander of the Guangdong Dapeng Brigade's right battalion, died with him as well. Each was generously compensated according to regulation. Zulian and the others, too, have their own stories of loyal service.
16
戴宗騫，字孝侯，安徽壽州人。 少以廩生治鄉團，捻酋苗沛霖數陷州，宗騫潛結各圩寨以攜貳其黨。 同治初，謁李鴻章，上平捻十策，深器之，遂留參戎幕，積勳至知縣。 十一年，治南運河堤工。 時畿輔興水利，計臣慮餉詘，議裁兵。 宗騫上書，略謂：「津沽為九河故道，漳、衛交匯，水菑衍溢。 宜闢減河洩其勢，澌枝河分其漲，俾淮、練軍治之，則兵農合一，事半而功倍。」 鴻章以其議上聞，遂命董其役，成稻田六萬餘畝。 箸海上屯田志紀其事。
Dai Zongqian, styled Xiaohou, was a native of Shouzhou in Anhui. As a young licentiate he organized local militia; when the Nian chieftain Miao Peilin repeatedly seized the prefecture, Zongqian secretly won over the surrounding stockaded villages and turned Miao's own followers against him. Early in the Tongzhi reign he sought out Li Hongzhang and presented ten strategies for pacifying the Nian; Hongzhang was deeply impressed and kept him on his staff, where he rose by merit to magistrate. In the eleventh year he supervised dike works on the Southern Grand Canal. Water conservancy was then being promoted around the capital, but the finance minister, fearing a shortfall in revenue, proposed cutting the army. Zongqian submitted a memorial arguing, in brief: "The Tianjin area lies in the old channel of the Nine Rivers, where the Zhang and Wei meet and floods spread without check. Relief channels should be cut to release the pressure, and branch streams opened to divide the flood; put the Huai and Lian armies to the work, and soldier and farmer will be one — half the labor, twice the gain." Hongzhang forwarded the proposal to the throne and put Zongqian in charge of the project; more than sixty thousand mu of paddy were brought under cultivation. He recorded the undertaking in his Record of Coastal Garrison Farms.
17
光緒六年，中俄失和，吳大澂被命佐吉林邊務，奏宗騫自隨。 大澂兼攝屯政，宗騫為治道路，築砲台，設江防，徙直、東流民，假予產業，分部護之。 塞外灌莽千里，馬賊為民患，宗騫曰：「此屯政蠹也！」 率將士步馳八九百里，獲渠率王林等駢誅之。 又以緣邊荒墾，戶籍殘耗，客民渙居不相顧，因令屯聚一處，略仿內地保甲，杜絕姦宄。 復設製造局、採金廠，行之期年，商民輻湊。 大澂上其績狀，遷知府。
In the sixth year of Guangxu, when relations with Russia broke down, Wu Dacheng was ordered to assist in Jilin border affairs and memorialized that Zongqian accompany him. Wu also took charge of frontier colonization; Zongqian built roads, erected forts, organized river defenses, resettled refugees from Zhili and the east, lent them land and tools, and posted guards to protect them by district. Beyond the passes scrubland stretched for a thousand li, and mounted bandits preyed on the settlers; Zongqian said, "This is the ruin of our colonization work! He led his officers and men on a march of eight or nine hundred li, captured the ringleaders Wang Lin and others, and put them all to death. Because the frontier was newly opened and population registers were thin, migrant settlers lived scattered and could not protect one another; he ordered them to cluster together and organized them roughly on the interior baojia model to shut out crime. He also set up an arsenal and gold works; within a year merchants and settlers were flocking in. Wu reported his achievements and he was promoted to prefect.
18
八年，徙防洋、蒲河兩海口。 遭母憂歸，鴻章疏留，宗騫請終制，弗許。 時興海軍，練水師，闢軍港，檄防威海。 十三年，詣軍所，壁金線頂山，分鞏軍駐南岸，綏軍駐北岸。 明年，建兩岸海台各三，南曰趙北嘴、鹿角嘴、龍廟嘴，北曰北山嘴、黃泥崖、祭祀台。 後路分築陸台四，南岸口較闊，更建日島地阱砲台，屹然為東防重鎮。 十七年，校閱海軍禮成，論功晉道員。 威海地瘠，士氣衰，更斥貲立義塾，延名師，至是始聞謳誦聲。
In the eighth year he was transferred to defend the harbors of Fangyang and Puhe. When his mother died he went home to mourn; Hongzhang memorialized to keep him in service; Zongqian asked to complete the full mourning period but was refused. The navy was then being built up, the fleet trained, and a naval base established; he was ordered by dispatch to take charge of the defenses at Weihai. In the thirteenth year he took up his post, fortified Jinxian Peak, and posted the Gong army on the south bank and the Sui army on the north. The following year he built three coastal batteries on each shore: on the south, Zhaobeizui, Lujiaozui, and Longmiaozui; on the north, Beishanzui, Huangniya, and Jisitai. Four land batteries were added in the rear; because the southern entrance was wider, he also built a masked battery on Rijiao Island, making Weihai a formidable eastern bastion. In the seventeenth year, after the naval review ceremonies were completed, he was promoted to circuit intendant for his services. Weihai was a poor, dispirited place; he spent his own money to found a charitable school and hire distinguished teachers, and for the first time the sound of students reciting their lessons was heard there.
19
二十年夏，日艦來攻，率師御之，傷其艦四艘，再至再敗之。 既而旅順、大連相繼淪沒，威海勢益孤，電請北洋、山東益師，久弗應。 其冬，連失文登、寧海。 時宗騫守北岸，分統劉超佩守南岸，宗騫與約，寇至互相應。 歲除，大風雪，戰橋頭集，綏軍大困，銳身救之出。
In the summer of the twentieth year Japanese warships attacked; he led the defense, damaged four enemy ships, and beat them back again when they returned. Then Lüshun and Dalian fell in turn, leaving Weihai ever more isolated; he telegraphed Beiyang and Shandong for reinforcements, but for a long time received no answer. That winter Wendeng and Ninghai fell in succession. Zongqian held the north bank while sub-commander Liu Chaopei held the south; they agreed to support each other when the enemy came. On New Year's Eve, in a driving snowstorm, fighting broke out at Qiaotouji; the Sui army was hard pressed, and he went in person to bring them out.
20
逾歲，日軍至，輒敗去，折而南。 宗騫往援，而超佩蹌踉遁，三台拱手讓敵，反訴巡撫李秉衡，誣宗騫背約。 宗騫抗辯，願復三台贖罪。 乃募敢死士奪還二台，唯龍廟嘴未復。 日軍倏大集，二台仍不守，宗騫退歸，登祭祀台。 所部卒譁變，宗騫佯弗省，行數武，槍齊發，材官追斬一人，眾散走。 宗騫既登，乃無一從者。 夜宿藥庫，丁汝昌詣籌戰守策，宗騫曰：「綏、鞏軍已西去，孤台危棘，恐資敵。」 汝昌令毀台，強掖之下。 宗騫念南北各有地阱台，此其勢尚可為，乃詣劉公島就副將張德山。 德山無戰守志，宗騫飲金死，威海師遂熸。 鴻章以死事聞，詔優恤。 復以秉衡請，贈太常寺卿。
After the new year Japanese troops came up, were beaten back again and again, then turned south. Zongqian went to help, but Chaopei fled in disorder and surrendered three batteries without a fight; he then reported to Governor Li Bingheng, falsely accusing Zongqian of breaking their agreement. Zongqian defended himself and offered to retake the three batteries to atone for the loss. He raised a band of volunteers and recaptured two of the batteries; only Longmiaozui remained in enemy hands. The Japanese suddenly massed in force; the two batteries could not be held; Zongqian fell back and took his stand on Jisitai. His troops mutinied; Zongqian pretended not to notice; after he had walked a few paces the mutineers opened fire together; a sergeant ran one man down and cut off his head, and the rest scattered. By the time Zongqian reached the battery, not a single man was still with him. That night he slept in the powder magazine; Ding Ruchang came to discuss strategy, and Zongqian said, "The Sui and Gong armies have already gone west; this isolated battery is untenable and will only arm the enemy." Ruchang ordered the battery destroyed and had him brought down by force. Zongqian thought that with masked batteries on both shores the defense might still be saved, and went to Liugong Island to see Vice Commander Zhang Deshan. Deshan had no stomach for a fight; Zongqian took poison and died, and the Weihai garrison was lost. Hongzhang reported his death in service, and the throne ordered generous compensation. On Bingheng's further petition, he was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
21
論曰：中東之戰，陸軍皆遁，寶貴獨死平壤； 海軍皆降，世昌獨死東溝。 中外傳其壯節，並稱「雙忠」。 及日兵入奉，永山獨死鳳城，敵遂長驅進矣。 旅、大既失，威海勢孤，步蟾、宗騫皆先後誓死。 士氣如此，豈遂不可一戰？ 此主兵者之責。 五人雖敗，猶有榮焉！
The historian comments: In the war with Japan, the land armies all fled, but Baogui alone died at Pyongyang; the navy all surrendered, but Shichang alone died at Dadonggou. Their heroic deaths were celebrated far and wide, and the two were paired as the "Two Loyal Ones." When Japanese troops entered Fengtian, Yong Shan alone died at Fengcheng, and the enemy drove on unchecked. After Lüshun and Dalian fell, Weihai was cut off; Buchan and Zongqian each in turn swore to die for the cause. With spirit like this in the ranks, could they really not have fought once more? That failure lay with those who commanded the armies. Though these five men were defeated, they died with honor!