Deng Shichang

Deng Shichang

Deng Shichang (October 4, 1849 - September 17, 1894), Han nationality, formerly Yongchang, was born in Guangfu, Guangdong Province. He was born in longdaowei Township, Panyu County, Guangdong Province (now Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province). He was a famous general of Beiyang Navy in the late Qing Dynasty and a great national hero.

Deng Shichang was one of the earliest naval officers in China and the captain of the Zhiyuan in the Qing Dynasty's Northern Fleet. In 1894, during the Sino Japanese War of 1894, it was the tube belt of the cruiser Zhiyuan. On September 17, 1894, he died in the battle of the Yellow Sea. He was posthumously named zhuangjiegong and was granted the title of Prince Shaobao. Emperor Guangxu's elegiac couplet wrote: today, the world is full of tears, and the navy is strong.

In order to commemorate Deng Shichang's great sacrifice, people created many literary, film, TV and opera works, such as "the wind and cloud of Jiawu", "hero Deng Shichang" and "the great naval battle of Jiawu", to praise his heroic feat. There are also many memorial halls for commemoration, admiration and admiration.

Life of the characters

Early experience

Deng Shichang, 1849 (the 29th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty)

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He was born on October 4 (August 19 of the lunar calendar) in longdaowei Township, Panyu County, Guangdong Province (now Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province) (longdaowei Street). His father, Deng Huanzhuang, specializes in tea business. He opened xiangyuanyuan tea house in Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shanghai, Han Dynasty, Hong Kong and Qinhuangdao, and began to build Deng's ancestral hall. Because Deng Huanzhuang and his wife Guo suffered from the darkness of the world and the chaos of war, they eagerly hoped for the prosperity of Deng's family, so they named their only son Deng Yongchang. However, the prosperity of their family was not easy without the general situation of the times and the national fortune, so the sensible Deng Huanzhuang changed his son's name to Deng Shichang, which was named Zhengqing.

Deng Shichang was intelligent and diligent since childhood. He finished primary school with excellent grades in his hometown. Deng Huanzhuang believes that no matter whether he wants his son to inherit his own career or engage in other careers in the future, he must learn foreign language and then learn advanced foreign scientific knowledge. At that time when English was regarded as "barbarian language", it was shocking. When he took Shichang to Shanghai, he first enrolled him in a missionary school to learn English and arithmetic from Europeans. Shichang has a strong ability to accept new knowledge. He has made great progress in his studies. In a very short time, he can talk with foreign teachers and read the original English and American books. The foreign teacher praised him very much and liked the clever student very much.

Volunteer to join the army

In 1867 (the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), Shen Baozhen became the Minister of the Mawei Shipping Administration in Fuzhou. At the same time, he started the manufacturing class of the former school and the driving management shift of the later school. Since then, due to the shortage of students, the enrollment has been extended to Guangdong and Hong Kong, and the age requirement has been relaxed to more than 20 years old. Deng Shichang immediately reported the news to his father and asked to apply for the examination. The enlightened father agreed to his request without hesitation. Deng Shichang returned to Guangzhou, took the test, got excellent results, and successfully passed the driving major. At that time, most of the students enrolled in the examination were from poor families, followed by the children of foreign families, businessmen and students from foreign schools. Applicants must fill in the affidavit of the three generations' taboo, occupation and the experience of the sponsor, and take the affidavit of their father, brother and themselves.

In addition to English and mathematics, students majoring in driving also study navigation astronomy, navigation theory and geography. After five years of class study, they graduate. In 1871 (the tenth year of Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), Deng Shichang went back to Guangzhou to visit his relatives for the first time after joining the army.

Class education is only the first step of Naval Education. To be a qualified naval officer, you need to go through the practice of a training ship. In 1873 (the 12th year of Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), Deng Shichang and other students boarded the "Jianwei" training ship together and began their long-awaited voyage on the sea. The flight took four months to Xiamen, Hong Kong, Singapore and Penang. The sea and sky are rippling, sometimes the distant mountains are not seen for several days, sometimes the islands linger back, and the sand lines crisscross. The training ship withstood all kinds of tests. When going there, the instructor will supervise the driving, and each student will pay attention to the Diary section by section, measure the position of the sun and constellations, and practice operating various instruments. When returning, the students take turns to drive, and the teacher carefully collates the diary. After two years of practice, I graduated.

Study hard

Deng Shichang studied in the shipping school for five years. From the beginning to the end, he worked hard to improve himself. He was ranked first in all subjects. "All the methods of wind and waves, sand line, astronomy, geography, surveying, computer calculation and array, and examples of negotiation between China and foreign countries are not studied and proficient." especially in the practice of ship training with Jianwei to Nanyang, he showed high quality and skills in actual ship driving and management, which won the praise of foreign teachers. In addition, the students are older, more stable and experienced. For this reason, Shen Baozhen attached great importance to him and praised him as one of the "cleverest youths" in the shipping school. In February 1874 (the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), Shen Baozhen, Minister of shipping, awarded him five military merits and appointed him as the first mate of the "Chen Hang" transport ship. It is a great event in the history of China's military education that the officers trained by the ship administration school began to command the warships, which opened up a precedent for college education.

In 1875 (the first year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), when the Japanese aggressors were peeping at the passes of Taiwan, Penghu and Keelung, they served as the "haidongyun" gunboat's tube and patrolled Haikou, and were promoted to general manager Qian.

In February 1877 (the third year of Guangxu), he acted as the first mate of Yangwu cruiser. In March, Fuzhou Shipping Bureau sent students to study in Britain and France for the first time. According to Deng Shichang's overall quality and performance, he could be selected to study abroad. It was only because of the shortage of talents to lead ships that he was tempered in the domestic waves. Although Deng Shichang did not officially go abroad to study, his quality as a good Navy General was outstanding, so Li Hongzhang and others sent him abroad several times to receive new ships. In the process of going abroad to pick up the ship, Deng Shichang seized the opportunity, was open-minded and eager to learn, and made up for the lack of further study abroad.

In 1878 (the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), due to the small tonnage and weak firepower of "haidongyun", Shen Baozhen transferred Deng Shichang to be the "Zhenwei" gun carrier equipped with five fore-and-aft guns in February, and acted as the "Yangwu" clipper in charge of driving, and was ordered to guard Penghu, Keelung and other fortresses. After that, he was recommended to guard the garrison and was awarded the title of Gadus. In carrying out the garrison task, he was resolute and well-organized, which restrained the arrogance of the Japanese invading army.

Study abroad

At the beginning of the year of 1880, he was appointed as "mosquito control". In order to set up the Beiyang Navy, Li Hongzhang sent Ma Jianzhong to investigate and recruit naval talents. Ma Jianzhong was ordered to go to Fujian. He heard the praise of Deng Shichang from all sides. He went to the "flying thunder" mosquito gun ship brought by Deng Shichang and saw with his own eyes the orderly management of the warship, well-trained soldiers and strict discipline. He also talked with Deng Shichang many times. Ma Jianzhong spoke highly of this. After the inspection, Ma Jianzhong reported to Li Hongzhang and recommended Deng Shichang, saying that he was "familiar with the management and driving matters and was a difficult talent in the Navy.". Li Hongzhang was also a scholar. In the summer of the same year, he transferred Deng Shichang to the Beiyang Navy as the "Zhennan" mosquito gun ship. In July, the "Zhendong", "Zhenxi", "Zhennan" and "Zhenbei" cruised the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. When the "Zhennan" hit the rocks, Deng Shichang took command calmly and immediately got out of danger. However, he was later dismissed because of the accident. At the end of the same year, the "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei" cruisers ordered by Beiyang Navy in Britain were completed, and more than 200 officers and men of Ding Ruchang Navy went to Britain to pick up the ship, and Deng Shichang followed them Go.

In 1881 (the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Deng Shichang cherished the opportunity to go to Britain to take over ships. After graduating from Fuzhou shipping school, he began to take ships to meet the needs of lacking management and guidance when the navy was first built, and was unable to study in Europe. This time he went to Britain to pick up the ship, he studied hard to make up for it. He made use of all kinds of opportunities to travel to famous industrial cities in Britain, and saw the magnificent scenes of large-scale production of machines; he visited the main bases and ports of the British navy, saw all kinds of giant warships, and understood what the most powerful navy in the world looked like; he studied the rules and regulations of the British Royal Navy and the training methods, and saw the training of the Northern Fleet He studied the history of the British navy, especially the secret of dominating the sea for more than a century. He went to Greenwich and visited the Royal Naval Academy. This old palace is now the shrine of the world's navy. In the ship history exhibition room, model iron ships, three masted sailboats, and even ancient single deck wooden ships epitomize the history of human conquest of the sea and fierce battle on the sea. On the wall of the cloister, he saw oil paintings of British naval generals of all ages. The most famous one was Nelson, who had defeated Napoleon fleet several times and annihilated the French United Fleet in one fell swoop and won the battle of Cape Trafalgar. He also made a special trip to Trafalgar Square (commonly known as pigeon Square) in London to see the tall and lifelike statue of Nelson, a famous naval general. He carefully investigated the situation of the Western Navy, carefully studied foreign advanced military technology and experience, and carefully studied these military equipment and training methods, so as to make use of their advantages.

On August 17, 1881, "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei" set sail from Newcastle port, England, and began the long voyage from England to China. This is the first time that the Chinese navy has sailed a warship in the North Atlantic Mediterranean Suez Canal Indian Ocean Western Pacific Ocean. It was only after passing through all the countries along the way that it learned that China also has a navy and all of them saluted, which greatly expanded China's international influence. This time, the navy of the Qing Dynasty went abroad for the first time to pick up ships, and the ship handling harness sent by the navy is undoubtedly the most outstanding of the whole navy. Lin Tai used to control the "Chaoyong" ship, while Deng Shichang did

Chinese PinYin : Deng Shi Chang