Volume 461 Biographies 248: Song Qing, Lv Benyuan, Xu Bangdao, Ma Yukun, Yi Ke Tang A, Rong He, Zhang Shun

列傳二百四十八

Biography 248

宋慶呂本元徐邦道馬玉昆依克唐阿榮和長順宋慶，字祝三，山東萊州人。家貧落魄，聞同里宮國勳知亳州，往依為奴。亳捻孫之友偽就撫，慶察其意叵測，請擊之。國勳壯其志，署為州練長。之友降，遂接統其眾，號奇勝營，薦授千總。自是守宿州，剿豫匪，釋鳳陽圍，保徐、泗後路。逾三歲，擢至總兵，賜號毅勇巴圖魯。既貴，過亳，謁所主，仍易僕廝服，執事上禮益恭，人傳為美談。

Biographies of Song Qing, Lü Benyuan, Xu Bangdao, Ma Yukun, Yi Ketang'a, Rong He, and Zhang Shun. Song Qing, courtesy name Zhusan, was from Laizhou in Shandong. Born poor and down on his luck, he learned that a townsman named Gong Guoxun had become magistrate of Bozhou and went to serve him as a household retainer. When the Nian rebel Sun Zhiyou in Bozhou pretended to accept surrender, Qing sensed ulterior motives and asked permission to strike him. Guoxun was impressed by his spirit and named him head of the prefectural training corps. After Zhiyou capitulated, Qing absorbed his troops under the banner of the Qisheng Battalion and was promoted by recommendation to the rank of battalion commander. He then held Suzhou, campaigned against rebels in Henan, raised the siege of Fengyang, and kept open the supply lines behind Xuzhou and Sizhou. Within three years he had risen to regional commander and received the Manchu honorific Yiyong Baturu (Brave and Resolute). After he rose high, he passed through Bozhou to call on his old master, donned servant's garb again, and waited on him with exaggerated humility — a tale people loved to repeat.

同治改元，唐訓方撫安徽，裁臨淮軍，而以三營屬慶，毅軍自此始。三年，苗沛霖圍蒙城，慶絕其餉道。會僧格林沁軍至，轟擊之，寇宵遁。苗酋死，慶為安撫餘眾，自壽州正陽關所蒞皆下。兩淮告寧，調赴豫。時張曜為翼長，慶往訪，詳詢地勢寇情。曜喜曰：「諸將無問及此者，君來，豫之福也！」遂與交驩。明年，授南陽鎮總兵。無何，曹州賊勢熾，慶被困鄧州刁河店，會糧罄，勢且不敵。乃令部將馬玉昆率壯士三百，潛出立營通饋運，軍氣復振，寇乃解去。已而張總愚決河圖北犯，慶據堤迎擊，敗之，西走；而任柱、賴文光復竄豫，湘軍將劉松山助慶軍盡驅入楚疆，豫略平。巡撫李鶴年因增練兩大軍，令曜領嵩武軍，而以毅軍專屬慶。六年，與曜扼黃河，蹙捻至山東，聚而殲之。論功，賞黃馬褂，更勇號格洪額。時總愚南擾河津，偪解州，詔慶與曜分守河北。逾歲，捻竄畿疆，慶率師入衛，轉戰雄、任、祁、高間，與諸軍大破之，總愚赴水死。予二等輕車都尉，授湖南提督。

When the Tongzhi era began, Governor Tang Xunfang of Anhui reorganized the Linhuai forces, attaching three battalions to Qing — thus was born the celebrated Yijun, or Resolute Army. In the third year of Tongzhi, Miao Peilin besieged Mengcheng, and Qing severed his supply lines. Senggelinqin's troops arrived and opened a heavy bombardment; the rebels slipped away under cover of night. When the Miao leader died, Qing pacified the survivors, and every post from Shouzhou to Zhengyang Pass came over to the government. With the two Huai circuits at peace, he was transferred to Henan. Zhang Yao was then his deputy commander; Qing called on him and asked at length about the terrain and rebel movements. Zhang Yao said with delight, "None of the other generals bother to ask about such things — your arrival is a blessing for Henan!" The two men soon became close friends. The following year he was appointed regional commander of the Nanyang garrison. Before long rebel strength in Caozhou surged; Qing was trapped at Diaohodian in Dengzhou, his grain exhausted, and the position could no longer be held. He sent his lieutenant Ma Yukun with three hundred picked men to slip out by night, establish a camp, and reopen the supply route; morale rallied and the besiegers drew off. Soon Zhang Zongyu breached the Yellow River intending to strike north; Qing held the dikes, met him in battle, routed him, and drove him west; but Ren Zhu and Lai Wenguang slipped back into Henan; Liu Songshan of the Xiang Army joined Qing in driving them all into Huguang, and Henan was largely pacified. Governor Li Henian then expanded two major forces, putting Zhang Yao in charge of the Songwu Army while the Yijun alone was placed under Qing's sole command. In the sixth year he and Zhang Yao held the Yellow River line, hemmed the Nian into Shandong, and destroyed them in a final encirclement. For his merits he received the yellow riding jacket and a new brave-title, Gehong'e. Zongyu was then raiding south along the Fen toward Jiezhou; the court ordered Qing and Yao to divide the defense of the north bank of the Yellow River. A year later the Nian broke into the metropolitan region; Qing marched to the capital's defense, fought through Xiong'an, Renqiu, Qi County, and Gaoyang, and with allied forces won a crushing victory; Zongyu drowned himself. He was granted the second-class Order of the Chariot of War and appointed provincial military commander of Hunan.

八年，左宗棠西征，慶引兵從，抵神木，再戰再捷。明年秋，命參哈、寧剿匪事，旋移督西川，皆在軍遙領。十三年，河、狄撫回閃殿臣叛，楚軍戰失利。時慶駐涼州，奉檄往援。三日馳五百餘裡，抵沙泥站，眾縛其渠以獻，誅之，事遂定。光緒元年，師還。六年，徙防旅順，十餘年，軍容稱盛。醇賢親王奕枻被命巡閱，嘆為諸軍冠，親解袍服贈之。兩宮眷遇優渥，加太子少保、尚書銜。

In the eighth year Zuo Zongtang marched west on campaign; Qing followed with his troops, reached Shenmu, and won victory after victory. The next autumn he was ordered to take part in suppressing bandits in Ha and Ning; soon he was transferred to govern western Sichuan — both posts he held in absentia while still on campaign. In the thirteenth year the Muslim leader Shan Dianchen rebelled in Hezhou and Didao, and the Chu Army was defeated in battle. Qing was then at Liangzhou and received urgent orders to march to the relief. In three days he rode more than five hundred li to Shani Station; the local people had already bound their leader and handed him over; Qing executed him and the rebellion was settled. In the first year of Guangxu his troops returned from the field. In the sixth year he was transferred to garrison Lüshun; for more than a decade his command was held up as a model of military order. Prince Chun Yixuan was sent to inspect the camps and declared Qing's the finest army in the field, personally taking off his own robe and presenting it to him. Both empress dowagers showed him exceptional favor, granting him the ranks of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Minister of State.

二十年，中日失和，慶統毅軍發於旅順，與諸軍期會東邊九連城。軍未集而平壤已失，廷旨罷總統葉志超，以慶代之。慶與諸將行輩相若，驟禀節度，多不懌，以故諸軍七十餘營散無有紀。又坐守江北一月，以待日軍過義州，慶頓中路九連城，嚴戒備。日軍渡鴨綠江，戰失利，直趨鳳凰城，退扼大高嶺。旅順圍亟，朝命聶士成守之，敕慶往援。頓蓋平，屢搗金州不得進，而旅順已失。慶退守熊岳，自請治罪，被宥。未幾，復州又失。日軍西陷海城，慶亟赴之，擊敵感王寨。前軍方勝，後隊訛傳敵拊背，駭潰，復退守田莊台，遼陽益危。慶凡五攻城弗能拔，朝廷思倚湘軍，命慶與吳大澂佐劉坤一軍。慶率徐邦道、馬玉昆兵萬二千人頓太平山，戰卻之，大澂敗入關。慶方以三萬人駐營口，聞警，還扼遼河北岸；而日軍盡以所獲砲列南岸猛攻，慶軍潰而西，於是遼河以東盡為日有矣。詔褫職留任。

In the twentieth year war broke out between China and Japan; Qing led the Yijun from Lüshun to rendezvous with other forces at Jiuliancheng on the eastern frontier. Before the armies had fully assembled, Pyongyang had already fallen; the court dismissed Commander-in-Chief Ye Zhichao and put Qing in his place. Qing was roughly the same age and rank as the other generals; suddenly placed over them, many resented his command, and the seventy-odd camps of allied forces fell into disorder. The allied forces also sat idle on the north bank for a month, waiting for the Japanese to pass Uiju; Qing held Jiuliancheng on the central route under strict guard. When the Japanese crossed the Yalu, the Chinese were defeated and fell back toward Fengcheng, then made their stand on Dagao Ridge. As the siege of Lüshun tightened, the court ordered Nie Shicheng to hold it and commanded Qing to march to its relief. He halted at Gaiping and repeatedly struck at Jinzhou without making headway, while Lüshun had already fallen. Qing fell back to defend Xiongyue, asked to be punished for his failures, and was pardoned. Before long Fuzhou fell as well. The Japanese pushed west and took Haicheng; Qing hurried there and attacked the enemy at Ganwangzhai. The vanguard had just gained the upper hand when the rear spread a false rumor that the enemy was attacking from behind; panic set in and the army broke; Qing fell back to Tianzhuangtai, and Liaoyang grew more precarious. Qing assaulted the city five times without success; the court turned to the Xiang Army and ordered Qing and Wu Dacheng to serve under Liu Kunyi. Qing led Xu Bangdao and Ma Yukun with twelve thousand men at Taipingshan and drove the enemy back; Wu Dacheng was defeated and fled inside the Pass. Qing was encamped at Yingkou with thirty thousand men when he heard the alarm and hurried back to hold the north bank of the Liao; but the Japanese massed all captured guns on the south bank and opened a furious bombardment; Qing's army broke and fled westward, and everything east of the Liao River passed into Japanese hands. An edict stripped him of rank but allowed him to remain on duty.

二十四年，徙守山海關，入覲，釋處分。和議成，留豫軍三十營屬之，賜名武衛左軍，駐錦州。二十八年，卒，晉封三等男，予建祠，諡忠勤。子天傑，五品京堂，襲爵。

In the twenty-fourth year he was transferred to guard Shanhaiguan; on presenting himself at court his punishment was lifted. When peace was concluded, thirty battalions of Henan troops were left under his command, given the name Left Division of the Martial Guards, and stationed at Jinzhou. In the twenty-eighth year he died; he was posthumously ennobled as a third-class baron, granted a commemorative temple, and given the posthumous name Zhongqin (Loyal and Diligent). His son Tianjie, a fifth-rank official at court, inherited the title.

慶從戎久，年幾八十，短衣帕首，躞蹀冰雪中，與士卒同甘苦，人以為難雲。

Qing had been at war for decades; nearing eighty, he still wore a short jacket and headcloth, trudging through ice and snow and sharing hardship with his men — a feat people considered hard to equal.

呂本元，安徽滁州人。初隸李鴻章軍，隨剿粵匪、捻匪，轉戰蘇、皖、魯、豫各省。援鄂、援陝屢立功，歷保總兵，賞強勇巴圖魯勇號。鴻章總督直隸，調入直。光緒初，授四川重慶鎮，仍留統盛軍馬步各營。中日戰起，檄本元統隊出關，兼程至安州。平壤失，從宋軍退守大高嶺。本元令各軍夜樹旗各要隘，廣設疑兵，亙二百餘裡。敵至，疑頓不前，乘其疲襲擊之，復與聶軍敗之分水嶺。議成，還直。二十六年，拳禍起，署天津鎮，擢直隸提督，統淮、練各軍。剿匪受彈傷，事平，賞黃馬褂。調浙江，勤訓練，尤嚴治盜，常親督隊入山搜剿，連斃匪首。浙省議裁綠營，本元贊畫始就緒。宣統二年，病，乞罷。尋卒。

Lü Benyuan was a native of Chuzhou in Anhui. He first served under Li Hongzhang, campaigning against Taiping and Nian rebels across Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan. He distinguished himself repeatedly in relief operations in Hubei and Shaanxi, rose through recommendations to regional commander, and received the brave-title Qiangyong Baturu. When Li Hongzhang became governor-general of Zhili, Benyuan was transferred into his jurisdiction. Early in the Guangxu reign he was appointed commander of the Chongqing garrison in Sichuan but remained in the field to command the cavalry and infantry of the Sheng Army. When war with Japan broke out, he was ordered to lead his column beyond the Pass and reached Anzhou by forced marches. After Pyongyang fell he withdrew with Song Qing's army to hold Dagao Ridge. Benyuan ordered the allied armies by night to plant flags at every pass and spread decoy camps along more than two hundred li of front. When the enemy arrived they hesitated and held back; Benyuan struck while they were weary, and together with Nie Shicheng's force he also defeated them at Fenshuiling. When peace was concluded he returned to Zhili. In the twenty-sixth year the Boxer uprising broke out; he acted as commander of the Tianjin garrison, was promoted to provincial military commander of Zhili, and took command of Huai and training-corps forces. While suppressing bandits he was wounded by gunfire; when order was restored he received the yellow riding jacket. Transferred to Zhejiang, he drilled his troops relentlessly and was especially hard on bandits, often leading columns personally into the mountains to hunt them down and killing several chiefs in succession. When Zhejiang debated cutting the Green Standard forces, Benyuan helped draw up the plan until the reform was complete. In the second year of Xuantong he fell ill and asked to be relieved of duty. He died soon afterward.

徐邦道，四川涪州人。初從楚軍討粵寇，積勳至參將。還本籍籌防，解城圍，遷副將。越境援陝西漢中，賜號冠勇巴圖魯。旋坐漢中失守，褫職。嗣從副將楊鼎勳援蘇，再援浙、閩，以戰功釋處分。同治六年，從劉銘傳剿平東捻，复官。明年，張總愚犯減河，邦道嚴扼橋口，大敗之。更勇號鏗僧額，遷總兵，署江蘇徐州鎮。光緒四年，擢提督，調駐天津軍糧城，授正定鎮。

Xu Bangdao was a native of Fuzhou in Sichuan. He first served with the Chu Army against the Taiping rebels and rose through merit to the rank of colonel. Returning to his home district to organize defense, he lifted a siege and was promoted to brigadier. Crossing into Shaanxi to relieve Hanzhong, he received the brave-title Guanyong Baturu. Soon afterward he was stripped of office for the loss of Hanzhong. He later followed Brigadier Yang Dingxun to aid Jiangsu, then served again in Zhejiang and Fujian, and won back his rank through battlefield merit. In the sixth year of Tongzhi he followed Liu Mingchuan in crushing the eastern Nian, and his office was restored. The next year Zhang Zongyu attacked along the Jian River; Bangdao held the bridgehead firmly and inflicted a crushing defeat. His brave-title was changed to Kengseng'e; he was promoted to regional commander and acted as commander of the Xuzhou garrison in Jiangsu. In the fourth year of Guangxu he was promoted to provincial military commander, stationed at the army grain depot at Tianjin, and appointed commander of the Zhengding garrison.

東事起，慶以旅順守將赴防九連城，李鴻章別令薑桂題等守旅順，邦道助之。日軍入貔子窩，邦道語諸將曰：「金州若失，則旅順不可守，請分兵御之。」諸將各不相統，莫之應。邦道自率所部趨大連灣。是時銘軍分統趙懷益守其地，邦道至，固請兵，乃分步旅隨邦道行。日軍大集，遂佔金州，進偪大連，懷益奔旅順。越十日，日軍來爭旅順，諸將相顧無措，邦道率殘卒至，憤甚，思自效，請增兵，不許；請械，許之，乃率眾拒戰土城子，挫之。日軍大至，乃退。道員龔照嶼先一日遁，諸將亦奪民船以濟，蓋日軍未至而旅順已墟矣。邦道奔復州依慶，詔褫職。慶令守蓋州，邦道自牛莊移師還，而蓋平亦已失，合章高元擊之，弗勝。桂題往援，邦道請夜搗蓋平，桂題辭，諸軍皆退營口。邦道乃從慶擊敵太平山，與玉昆力戰卻之，俄仍敗潰。復與湘軍將李光久攻海城，亦弗克，遂退。逾歲，卒，复官，予優恤。

When war in the east began, Qing left his post as Lüshun commander to defend Jiuliancheng; Li Hongzhang separately ordered Jiang Guaiti and others to hold Lüshun, with Bangdao assisting them. When the Japanese landed at Peiziwo, Bangdao told the other generals, "If Jinzhou falls, Lüshun cannot be held — send troops to defend it." None of them answered; each commander acted on his own. Bangdao marched on Dalian Bay with his own troops. Zhao Huaiyi of the Ming Army was then defending the area; when Bangdao arrived he pressed urgently for reinforcements, and a detachment of infantry was assigned to march with him. The Japanese gathered in strength, took Jinzhou, pressed on Dalian, and Huaiyi fled to Lüshun. Ten days later the Japanese advanced on Lüshun; the generals stood helpless; Bangdao arrived with his battered remnant, burning with shame and eager to redeem himself — he asked for reinforcements and was refused; he asked for arms and was granted them; he then led his men to resist at Tuchengzi and beat the Japanese back. When the Japanese came in overwhelming force he withdrew. Intendant Gong Zhaoyu had fled the day before; the other generals seized civilian boats to escape — Lüshun was already in ruins before the Japanese even arrived. Bangdao fled to Fuzhou and joined Song Qing; an edict stripped him of office. Qing ordered him to hold Gaizhou; Bangdao marched back from Niuzhuang, but Gaiping had already fallen; he joined Zhang Gaoyuan in an attack and could not prevail. Jiang Guaiti came to relieve them; Bangdao proposed a night assault on Gaiping; Guaiti refused; all the armies fell back to Yingkou. Bangdao then followed Qing to attack the enemy at Taipingshan; he and Ma Yukun fought fiercely and drove them back, but soon the army was routed again. He joined Xiang Army commander Li Guangjiu in an assault on Haicheng but could not take it and withdrew. A year later he died; his rank was posthumously restored and favorable burial rites were granted.

馬玉昆，字景山，安徽蒙城人。以武童從宋慶攻捻，積功至都司，賜號振勇巴圖魯。任柱等困慶登州，玉昆銳身馳救，圍立解，繇是以驍果名。捻平，擢總兵。剿秦、隴回，數獲勝，更勇號曰博奇。既克肅州，賜頭品服。嗣從金順出嘉峪關，連下烏魯木齊、昌吉、瑪納斯，擒其渠黑瞎子。天山南北告寧，賞黃馬褂，予世職。玉昆居西域先後十餘年，收復名城以十數，暇輒使部下屯墾闢地利。李鴻章疏薦將才，謂可繼宋慶。光緒間，調赴直隸。

Ma Yukun, whose style was Jingshan, came from Mengcheng in Anhui. He entered service as a military student under Song Qing in campaigns against the Nian rebels, rose through merit to colonel, and received the Manchu honorific Zhenyong Batulu. When Ren Zhu and other Nian leaders had Song Qing trapped at Dengzhou, Yukun dashed to the rescue in person; the siege lifted at once, and from that day his reputation for fierce courage spread. After the Nian rebellion was suppressed, he was promoted to regional commander. Campaigning against Muslim rebels in Qin and Long, he won battle after battle; his martial honorific was then changed to Boji. Once Suzhou fell, he was awarded first-rank court dress. He then marched with Jin Shun beyond Jiayuguan, capturing Urumqi, Changji, and Manas in succession and taking the rebel leader known as Heixiazi. When peace was declared on both sides of the Tianshan, he received the yellow jacket and a hereditary rank. Yukun spent more than a decade in the far west altogether, recovering a dozen major cities; whenever campaigning slackened he set his men to garrison farming to develop the frontier. Li Hongzhang memorialized him as a commander of rare ability, declaring that he could carry on where Song Qing left off. In the Guangxu era he was transferred to Zhili.

二十年，補授山西太原鎮。會日朝構釁，玉昆統毅軍赴援，次平壤，壁南門外大同江。日軍來攻，玉昆守東岸，血戰久，援至，敵敗去。已而玄武門失，葉志超令其速撤軍，乃歸平壤。日軍佔蓋平，諸將皆退營口。玉昆從慶頓太平山，日軍猛攻之，玉昆戰最力，擊退其眾。無何，日軍大集，慶陷重圍，墜馬負創，玉昆抉圍入，翼之出，傷亡殊多。轉戰田莊台、感王寨，以千餘人抗強敵，屹然自全。

In the twentieth year of Guangxu he received appointment as garrison commander of Taiyuan, Shanxi. War broke out between Japan and Korea; Yukun led the Resolute Army to Korea, encamped at Pyongyang, and fortified the south gate along the Datong River. When the Japanese attacked, Yukun held the east bank in a prolonged bloody fight until reinforcements arrived and the enemy fell back. Soon afterward Xuanwu Gate fell; Ye Zhichao ordered a rapid withdrawal, and Yukun pulled back into Pyongyang. After the Japanese took Gaiping, the commanders fell back to Yingkou. Yukun joined Song Qing at Taiping Mountain; when the Japanese assaulted in strength, Yukun fought hardest of all and drove them off. Before long Japanese forces concentrated; Song Qing was surrounded, thrown from his horse and wounded. Yukun cut his way in, shielded him out, and the losses on both sides were severe. He fought on at Tianzhuangtai and Ganwangzhai, holding off superior forces with barely a thousand men and emerging intact.

二十五年，擢浙江提督。明年，調還直隸。適拳匪肇亂，聯軍入寇，玉昆統武衛左軍御之。初戰天津，繼戰北倉，相持月餘，卒以無援退。車駕西幸，命隨扈。又明年，還京，加太子少保。二十八年，朝陽土寇竊發，玉昆倍道應赴，破其卡，生擒首惡鄧萊峰誅之。三十四年，病卒，贈太子太保，予二等輕車都尉，諡忠武。

In the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu he was made provincial commander of Zhejiang. The following year he was transferred back to Zhili. The Boxer uprising broke out just then, and allied armies invaded; Yukun took command of the Left Wuwei Army to meet them. He fought first at Tianjin, then at Beicang; the standoff lasted over a month, but with no reinforcements he was forced to withdraw. When the court fled west, he was ordered to join the escort. The year after that he returned to the capital and was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In the twenty-eighth year local bandits raided Chaoyang; Yukun marched at forced pace, stormed their fort, captured the ringleader Deng Laifeng alive, and had him executed. In the thirty-fourth year he died of illness; the court posthumously made him Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, granted second-class Qingche duwei, and honored him with the posthumous name Zhongwu, Loyal and Martial.

依克唐阿，字堯山，扎拉里氏，滿洲鑲黃旗人，吉林駐防。以馬甲從征江南。移師討捻，敗張洛行於大回村、濉溪口，屢著戰績，積勳至佐領。同治初，馬賊陷伊通，依克唐阿以少襲眾，斬其酋劉果發等，又破之昌圖，攻克劉家店，复長春廳，遷協領，賜號法什尚阿巴圖魯。搜捕殘匪，獲白凌阿、焦西平，晉副都統。十一年，補官黑龍江。光緒五年，移呼蘭，呼蘭設副都統自此始。明年，母憂歸。

I Ketang'a, whose style was Yaoshan, belonged to the Zhalar clan, a Manchu of the Bordered Yellow Banner stationed at Jilin. He first saw service as an armored cavalryman in the Jiangnan campaigns. Transferred to operations against the Nian, he defeated Zhang Luoxing at Dahui Village and Suixi Ford, won repeated victories, and rose to company commander. Early in the Tongzhi reign, mounted bandits seized Yitong; I Ketang'a attacked with inferior numbers, killed their leader Liu Guofa and others, routed them again at Changtu, took Liujiadian, recovered Changchun, was promoted to vice commandant, and received the title Fashishang'a Batulu. In mop-up operations he captured Bai Ling'a and Jiao Xiping and was promoted to banner vice commandant. In the eleventh year he received a regular appointment in Heilongjiang. In Guangxu year five he was transferred to Hulan, where the post of vice commandant was created for the first time. The following year he went home to observe mourning for his mother.

時俄人以議改伊犁條約有違言，烏里雅蘇台參贊喜昌夙諗依克唐阿諳戰術，請敕就近募獵戶守琿春。會吉林戒嚴，依克唐阿遂募兵五千擇隘分守，而自率師駐其地。琿春故重鎮，其東南海參崴，俄尤數窺伺，廷議設副都統鎮之，於是又改調琿春。十年，被命佐吉林軍事。十五年，擢黑龍江將軍。

Russia was raising objections to revisions of the Ili treaty; the Uliastai consultant Xichang, who had long known I Ketang'a's mastery of tactics, asked the throne to authorize recruiting local hunters to defend Hunchun. Jilin went on alert; I Ketang'a raised five thousand men, posted them at strategic passes, and personally led the main force to the sector. Hunchun was a strategic town facing Vladivostok to the southeast, which Russia watched with particular greed; the court decided to station a vice commandant there, and I Ketang'a was transferred accordingly. In the tenth year he was ordered to assist in Jilin military affairs. In the fifteenth year he was made general of Heilongjiang.

二十年，日朝戰起，依克唐阿請率軍自效，乃進咸鏡道，繞赴漢城迎擊，上嘉之。左寶貴軍失利平壤，日軍西進，命移駐九連城。尋以日軍渡江來攻，復令徙上游御之。依克唐阿與戰於蒲石河，連克蒲石河口、古樓子。宋慶退駐大高嶺，依克唐阿孤軍不能獨守，遂退寬甸。宋軍南援旅、大，聶士成軍接防，乃定夾攻之約。依軍由寬甸繞進賽馬集迎擊日軍，先戰懸羊砬子，連勝之草嶺河、通遠堡、草河口。日軍大集，橫斷聶、依兩軍，士成亟趨分水嶺拊其背，依軍還擊之，陣斬一中尉。又西而東，大戰於金家河，軍稍挫。日軍先已佔鳳凰城，依克唐阿謀襲之，分左右翼以進，戰一面山，敵來爭，左翼潰，右翼統領永山遇伏死，依克唐阿保餘軍退，詔革職圖後效。

When war broke out between Japan and Korea in the twentieth year, I Ketang'a volunteered for active command, advanced by the Hamgyong route, and swung toward Seoul to intercept the enemy; the throne commended him. After Zuo Baogui's defeat at Pyongyang and the Japanese push westward, he was ordered to Jiuliancheng. When the Japanese crossed the river to attack, he was ordered farther upstream to block them. I Ketang'a fought at the Pushi River and in succession captured Pushihekou and Gulouzi. Song Qing fell back to Dagao Ridge; left alone, I Ketang'a could not hold his position and withdrew to Kuandian. Song Qing marched south to relieve Port Arthur and Dalian while Nie Shicheng's force took over the line; the two commanders then agreed on a joint enveloping attack. I Ketang'a swung from Kuandian toward Saimaji to intercept the Japanese, winning first at Xianyanglazi and then in succession at Caolinghe, Tongyuanbao, and Caohekou. The Japanese concentrated in force and severed Nie and I Ketang'a from each other; Nie Shicheng rushed to Fenshuiling to hit their rear while I Ketang'a counterattacked and killed a Japanese lieutenant in the field. Fighting westward and then east again, they met in a major battle at Jinjiahe, where his force suffered a slight reverse. The Japanese already held Fengcheng; I Ketang'a planned an assault with two wings, fought at Yimianshan, saw his left wing routed and his right-wing commander Yongshan killed in an ambush, saved what troops he could and withdrew, and was stripped of rank pending future service.

逾歲，海城陷，遼西危棘，詔責長順守遼陽，依克唐阿助之，發帑金五十萬濟依軍。既至，議以攻為守。乃集諸將置酒，取刀刺臂血，攪而飲之，相矢以死。依軍遂進取海城，軍騰鰲堡、耿莊，數戰弗勝。會榮和至軍，亟趣之出。榮和先進北路，奪三卡，其左樹木幽深，令隱兵備抄襲，而自列陣曠野，伏槍以待。日軍據山巔轟擊我師，彈落積雪中，漬不發。我師還擊，僕者眾，再發再僕。眾爭傍山出，伏槍具舉，死以百數。榮和所部募自塞邊外，善避擊，傷者恆少，所謂「東山獵戶」也。是役以千人抗日軍數千，故依軍聲譽遠出諸軍上。

A year later Haicheng fell and western Liaodong faced disaster; the court ordered Zhang Shun to hold Liaoyang with I Ketang'a's assistance and allocated five hundred thousand taels from the treasury to his army. On arrival they resolved to take the offensive as their best defense. He assembled his officers for a feast, cut his arm with a knife, mixed the blood into the wine, and they drank together, swearing to stand or fall as one. I Ketang'a's force then pushed toward Haicheng by way of Teng'aobao and Gengzhuang, but several assaults failed. Rong He then joined the army and urgently pressed for an offensive. Rong He led the northern column, took three fortified posts, hid troops in the dense woods on his left for a flanking strike, and himself drew up in the open with musketeers lying in wait. Japanese gunners on the heights shelled his line, but shells landing in deep snow soaked through and failed to explode. His men counterattacked; the enemy fell in waves, rose again, and fell again. As the Japanese tried to work along the slopes, every ambush musket fired at once and hundreds were killed. Rong He's troops were frontier hunters from beyond the pass, adept at evading fire; casualties were always light — the men known as the Eastern Mountain hunters. In this fight a thousand men held off several thousand Japanese, and I Ketang'a's reputation rose far above that of the other forces.

罷戰詔下，日人將歸我遼東，依克唐阿力請三路分兵鎮懾，稱旨。又條上練兵隊、築砲台、造鐵路、制槍械、開礦產、治團練六事，朝旨以礦政尤要，敕妥籌開採。又明年，晉頭品秩，授鑲黃旗漢軍都統。其秋，出為盛京將軍。既蒞事，糾貪墨，整營製，晰分釐稅，歲增餉銀數十萬。复撤還金州奉軍，杜俄人藉口，境內稱治。二十五年，卒，諡誠勇，予建祠。

When the ceasefire was proclaimed and Japan prepared to return Liaodong, I Ketang'a strongly urged a three-route garrison to hold the territory; the throne approved. He also submitted six proposals: drill corps, fortifications, railways, firearms manufacture, mining, and local militia; the court singled out mining as especially urgent and ordered careful development. The following year he was promoted to first rank and made commandant of the Bordered Yellow Chinese Banner. That autumn he was appointed general of Shengjing. Once in office he rooted out corruption, tightened army discipline, clarified tax assessments, and increased annual revenue by hundreds of thousands of taels. He also withdrew the Feng garrison from Jinzhou, denying Russia a pretext for interference, and the region was said to be at peace. In the twenty-fifth year he died; he was given the posthumous name Chengyong, Loyal and Brave, and a memorial temple.

依克唐阿勇而有謀，性仁厚，不嗜殺，每有俘獲，不妄戮一人。轉戰吳、皖、魯、豫，先後救出難民以十數万計，至今人屍祝之。初與長順訂兄弟交，長順兄事之。及議遼陽戰守，語不協。依克唐阿毅然獨任其難，曰：「孰使我為兄也者？」其雅量如此。

I Ketang'a was courageous and resourceful, humane by nature and no lover of bloodshed; he never put captives to death without cause. Campaigning across Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan, he saved refugees by the hundreds of thousands; people still offer him sacrifice in gratitude. He and Zhang Shun had sworn brotherhood; Zhang Shun treated him as the elder of the two. When they debated strategy at Liaoyang, they could not agree. I Ketang'a resolutely took on the hardest task alone, saying: Who was it that made me the elder brother? Such was the breadth of his character.

榮和，字育堂。二等侍衛，官至副都統。戰後所部育字營多驕縱，命李秉衡查辦，革職治罪。

Rong He, whose style was Yutang. He rose from second-class imperial bodyguard to vice commandant. After the war his Yu Battalion grew insubordinate; Li Bingheng was ordered to investigate, and Rong He was stripped of rank and punished.

長順，字鶴汀，達呼裡郭貝爾氏，隸滿洲正白旗，世居布特哈。起家藍翎侍衛，隨文宗車駕狩熱河。會馬賊陷朝陽，從大學士文祥討平之。嗣復從侍郎勝保徵捻，轉戰直、魯、皖、豫，以驍勇稱。同治元年，解潁州圍，以功遷二等。

Zhang Shun, whose style was Heting, belonged to the Daohuri Gorbier clan of the Plain White Banner, with his family long settled at Buteha. He entered service as a blue-lance bodyguard and accompanied the Xianfeng emperor on the imperial hunt at Rehe. When mounted bandits seized Chaoyang, he campaigned under Grand Secretary Wen Xiang and helped suppress them. He then served under Vice Minister Sheng Bao against the Nian, fighting across Zhili, Shandong, Anhui, and Henan, and won fame for reckless courage. In the first year of Tongzhi he lifted the siege of Yingzhou and was promoted to second rank for his service.

多隆阿主陝西軍事，調赴軍，至潼關，大敗寇眾，賜號恩特赫恩巴圖魯。進攻咸陽馬家堡，被巨創，援至，又大破之，咸陽复，晉頭等。三年，悍回馬化隆據寧夏，分其黨駐清水堡成犄角，師久攻不下。長順曰：「不先翦其羽翼，城未可克也！」乃自靈州襲清水堡，乘勝取寧夏，拔之，晉副都統，賜頭品服。時長順年未四十，而戰常陷堅。每當兵潰時，或抄襲其後，或橫阻其前，俾潰者得整列，以是常轉敗為勝。其旗幟尚白，寇望見之，輙呼曰：「小長將軍至矣！」相與戒勿犯，其為寇所憚若此。

When Duo Long'a commanded in Shaanxi, Zhang Shun was transferred to his force, won a great victory at Tongguan, and received the title Entehe'en Batulu. Attacking Majiabao near Xianyang he was badly wounded, but reinforcements arrived, he routed the enemy again, recovered Xianyang, and was promoted to first rank. In the third year the rebel Ma Hualong held Ningxia, posted detachments at Qingshuibao in a pincer defense, and the siege dragged on without success. Zhang Shun said: Unless we cut off his outlying wings first, we will never take the city! He then struck Qingshuibao from Lingzhou, swept on to capture Ningxia, was promoted to vice commandant, and received first-rank court dress. Zhang Shun was not yet forty, yet he always led the assault himself. Whenever his troops broke, he would hit the enemy from the flank or block their front, letting his men reform — and so he often turned defeat into victory. His banners were white; rebels who sighted them would cry out: Little General Zhang is here! They warned one another not to engage him — such was the dread he inspired.

六年，移師蘭州。時省城戎備寡，回眾數千突來犯，長順率百人隱小溝，出不意疾擊之，寇愕走，又敗之平番、皋蘭、狄道，既复規取河州，連破太子寺、高家集，被賞賚。八年，授鑲紅旗漢軍副都統。越二年，出署烏里雅蘇台將軍，坐事免。

In the sixth year he transferred his command to Lanzhou. Lanzhou was thinly garrisoned when several thousand rebels attacked; Zhang Shun hid a hundred men in a ditch, sprang an ambush, and routed them, then defeated them again at Pingfan, Gaolan, and Didao; pressing toward Hezhou he took Taizisi and Gaojiaji in succession and was richly rewarded. In the eighth year he was made vice commandant of the Bordered Red Chinese Banner. Two years later he served as acting general of Uliastai but was dismissed for an offense.

光緒二年，复官，左宗棠調赴甘肅，歷署巴里坤領隊大臣、哈密幫辦大臣。初，新疆南路勘界議起，當事者與俄使相持久不決。至是，長順陟巉岩，披蒙茸，獲見高宗御書界碑，俄使始無異辭，乃定。明年，假歸，歷授正白旗漢軍都統、內大臣。十四年，出為吉林將軍。既蒞事，賑菑荒，維圜法，均釐榷，澄吏治，清盜源，整旗務，境內一切皆治辦。又創修吉林通志，書成上之。

In Guangxu year two his rank was restored; Zuo Zongtang summoned him to Gansu, where he served as frontier commander at Barkul and assistant commissioner at Hami. When the southern Xinjiang boundary dispute with Russia arose, negotiations with the Russian envoy dragged on without resolution. Zhang Shun then climbed rugged cliffs through thick brush, found the boundary stele inscribed by the Qianlong emperor, and the Russians at last raised no objection; the line was fixed. The next year he went on leave and was appointed in succession commandant of the Plain White Chinese Banner and grand minister of the interior. In the fourteenth year he was appointed general of Jilin. On taking office he relieved famine, stabilized the currency, equalized transit levies, cleaned up official corruption, cut off banditry at its roots, and reorganized banner administration until the whole province was running properly. He also commissioned a new Jilin provincial gazetteer and presented the finished work to the court.

二十年，日軍陷海城，遼陽危。朝命長順往援，節制奉天各軍，並嚴詔：「遼陽有失，唯長順是問。」時潰軍紛集遼城下，署知州徐慶璋方閉城不令入，軍大閧。會長順領百騎至，斬閧者一，餘令還駐沙河。先是長順被命以軍五千分隊應赴，先至者令壁本溪湖，自輕騎入遼陽。亂既定，日軍諜者亦不知其止百騎也，第歸言某將軍至。日軍遂止弗前，遼陽乃保。已而進攻海城，戰數日弗勝，長順奏趣宋慶會師，詔不許。湘軍將陳湜至，又請劉坤一令合攻，亦未果。及日軍繞道復攻遼陽，適慶璋守靦峒峪，長順與依克唐阿回援，得無恙。和議成，請疾歸。

In the twentieth year of Guangxu the Japanese captured Haicheng and Liaoyang stood in grave danger. The court ordered Zhang Shun to the rescue with command over all Fengtian forces, and issued a stern warning: if Liaoyang fell, he alone would answer for it. Routed troops were massing below the city while Acting Prefect Xu Qingzhang kept the gates shut; the soldiers broke into a furious riot. Zhang Shun then arrived with a hundred cavalry, executed one of the ringleaders, and sent the rest back to camp at Shahe. He had been ordered to bring five thousand men in columns; the first detachments he posted at Benxihu while he rode into Liaoyang with only a light escort. After order was restored, Japanese scouts never learned he had only a hundred horsemen; they reported merely that a general had arrived. The Japanese halted their advance, and Liaoyang was saved. He then pushed an attack on Haicheng but failed after several days; he asked the court to hurry Song Qing to join him, and was refused. When the Xiang Army general Chen Ti arrived he again asked Liu Kunyi for a combined assault — again without result. When the Japanese circled back to strike Liaoyang again, Xu Qingzhang was holding Miantongyu; Zhang Shun and I Ketang'a rushed back and the city came through unscathed. After peace was signed he asked leave on grounds of illness and went home.

二十五年，復起吉林將軍。拳亂作，俄羅斯內犯，奉天、黑龍江皆主戰，長順獨持不可。又上言拳匪不可恃，東省鐵路隨地皆駐俄兵，宜善為羈縻，寧嚴守以待戰，毋先戰以啟釁。上嘉其老成持重，奉、吉軍事悉屬之。戰釁既開，奉、黑皆罹災，而吉林安堵，人服其先見。日俄之戰，守中立，獨無所犯。三十年，卒，贈太子少保，予一等輕車都尉，諡忠靖，入祀賢良祠。

In the twenty-fifth year he was recalled as general of Jilin. When the Boxer rising brought Russian invasion, Fengtian and Heilongjiang both urged war; Zhang Shun alone argued against it. He memorialized further that the Boxers were unreliable, that Russian troops were posted all along the eastern railways, and that the province should hold its lines and wait rather than strike first and provoke war. The court praised his seasoned judgment and placed all Fengtian and Jilin military affairs in his hands. When war broke out Fengtian and Heilongjiang were devastated while Jilin stayed calm — proof, people said, of his foresight. During the Russo-Japanese War he held strictly to neutrality, and his province alone escaped invasion. He died in the thirtieth year, was posthumously made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and first-class Qingche duwei, given the posthumous name Zhongjing (Loyal and Tranquil), and enshrined in the Temple of Worthies.

長順聳幹赬面，鬚眉灑然。富膽略，恆持短矛單騎穿賊陣，為士卒先。往往以少制眾，以奇制勝，兼謀勇，一時稱良將雲。

Zhang Shun was tall and broad-shouldered, with a ruddy face and a full, imposing beard. Bold and resourceful, he often rode ahead of his men with a short spear and charged alone through enemy lines. He repeatedly beat larger forces with smaller ones and won by surprise, combining counsel and courage — for a time he was hailed as one of the finest commanders of his day.

論曰：中日之戰，淮軍既覆，湘軍隨之，唯豫軍強起支搘。慶與玉昆先後失利，亦不復能自振焉。東三省練軍自成軍後，終未當大敵，而依克唐阿、長順一奮其氣，遂保遼陽而無失，中外稱之。喪師辱國者數矣，此固差強人意者哉。

The historian remarks: In the Sino-Japanese War the Huai Army was shattered and the Xiang Army followed; only the Henan Army rallied hard to hold the line. Song Qing and Ma Yukun were beaten in turn and never regained their former standing. The provincial armies of the northeast had never faced a first-class enemy since their creation, yet I Ketang'a and Zhang Shun, rallying their men once, held Liaoyang without loss — a feat praised at home and abroad. The empire had suffered humiliating defeats again and again; this, at least, was something a man could take some comfort in.

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