Qin Rigang
Qin Rigang (秦日綱, 1821–1856), né Qin Richang(秦日昌), was a Hakka military leader of the Taiping Rebellion, known during his military tenure as the King of Yen (燕王). He served under Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Administration and led Taiping forces to many military victories. He was executed by Hong Xiuquan in 1856 because he had killed Yang Xiuqing during the Tianjing Incident. Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng were trained and taught by Qin.[1]
Achievements
- Battle of Nanjing (1853): occupied Nanjing with Yang Xiuqing
- Occupied Wuhan (1855)
- Killed governor Jeer Hungar (1856)
Jiangnan
The Jiangnan Daying were a military force employed twice by the Qing government to encircle Nanjing. The first time, 80,000 soldiers encircled Nanjing in March 1853, led by Qin Rigang and Li Xiucheng. In May 1856, he defeated forces under Imperial Commissioner Xiang Rong, forcing him to commit suicide.
Death
Rigang was executed, along with Chen Chengrong and Wei Changhui, during the Tianjing Incident, a major internal conflict within the Taiping Rebellion. On 1 September 1856, Rigang's and Changhui's armies met outside Tianjing and stormed into the residence of Yang Xiuqing, killing him as well as his 54 wives and concubines. Later, Chenghui started to kill potential rivals, with the goal of removing all of the followers of Xiuqing. The total number of casualties from this amounted to more than 27,000 people.
Wei Changhui, along with Chengrong and Rigang, were reprimanded by Shi Dakai when they returned to Tianjing on 26 September. Dakai called for a rebellion against Changhui, and he was executed on 2 November, along with Rigang and Chengrong.