Sa Zhenbing

Admiral Sa Zhenbing KCMG
薩鎮冰
Acting Premier of the Republic of China
In office 14 May 1920 – 9 August 1920
President	Xu Shichang
Preceded by	Jin Yunpeng
Succeeded by	Jin Yunpeng
Minister of Navy of the Great Qing
In office 2 November 1911 – 12 February 1912
Monarch	Xuantong Emperor
Prime Minister	Yuan Shikai
Preceded by	Zaixun
Succeeded by	Position abolished
In office 1 July 1917 – 12 July 1917
Monarch	Xuantong Emperor
Prime Minister	Zhang Xun
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Minister of Navy of the Republic of China
In office June 1917 – July 1917
Preceded by	Cheng Biguang
Succeeded by	Liu Guanxiong
In office December 1919 – May 1921
Preceded by	Liu Guanxiong
Succeeded by	Li Dingxin
Personal details
Born	(1859-03-30)March 30, 1859 Fuzhou, Qing Empire
Died	April 10, 1952(1952-04-10) (aged 93) Fuzhou, People's Republic of China
Political party	Anhui clique
Awards	Order of Wen-Hu Order of St Michael and St George
Military service
Allegiance	Qing Empire
Branch/service	Imperial Chinese Navy
Years of service	1869–1911
Rank	Admiral
Commands	Beiyang Fleet Nanyang Fleet Guangdong Fleet Imperial Chinese Navy (unified by Sa Zhenbing)
Battles/wars	First Sino-Japanese War Xinhai Revolution

Sa Zhenbing KCMG (simplified Chinese: 萨镇冰; traditional Chinese: 薩鎮冰; pinyin: Sà Zhènbīng; Wade–Giles: Sah Chen-ping) (30 March 1859 – 10 April 1952) was a prominent Chinese admiral of the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic. He lived through four governments (Qing, Beiyang, Nationalist, Communist) in China, and had been appointed to various senior naval and political offices.

Sa Zhenbing was born in Fuzhou, Fujian province, to a Semu family of Qarluk origin who had lived in the area since the late Yuan dynasty. Between 1869 and 1872 he attended the Fuzhou Naval Academy; Deng Shichang was among his classmates. Between 1877 and 1880 Sa Zhenbing was among the first group of Fuzhou Naval Academy alumni sent abroad to study at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in Britain.^{[citation needed]}

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After serving as a Chief Mate in the Nanyang Fleet, Sa Zhenbing became the youngest captain in the Beiyang Fleet. In 1895 he participated in the Battle of Weihaiwei during the First Sino-Japanese War, leading a group of sailors from the training ship Kangji in a ten-day defence of an island coastal fortress off Weihaiwei.

At that time the Japanese Admiral Itō Sukeyuki appealed to the Beiyang Fleet Admiral Ding Ruchang to surrender, promising him political asylum in Japan; Admiral Ding chose to commit suicide by handgun in his office at the Liugong Island headquarters. His deputy, Admiral Liu, after ordering that his warship be scuttled by explosives, also committed suicide by taking poison. Command of the Chinese Forces fell to Scottish-born Vice-Admiral John McClure, who completed the surrender negotiations with Admiral Ito. As the only captain still alive at the end of the battle, Sa Zhenbing was given the task of formally surrendering to Admiral Ito.

In 1905 Sa Zhenbing was appointed Admiral-in-Chief of the Beiyang, Nanyang and Guangdong Fleets (three out of four Qing's fleets), tasked with rebuilding the Imperial Chinese Navy after the defeat during the First Sino-Japanese War. Under his leadership the general efficiency of the Chinese naval personnel improved considerably.^[1]

In July 1909 the prince regent, Prince Chun, created a Navy Commission to prepare for the rebuilding of a naval force after its destruction in the Sino-Japanese war, and in December 1910 the commission became the Ministry of the Navy. One of its first acts was to abolish regional fleets in order to create a unified naval force for the Qing dynasty, and Sa Zhenbing was made the commander-in-chief of the navy, with his headquarters in Shanghai.^[2]

During the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, Sa Zhenbing was ordered to sail to Wuhan to suppress the revolutionaries; upon realizing his sailors' revolutionary tendencies, he left his post on 1 November for Shanghai. Nonetheless, he was appointed Minister of the Navy by Yuan Shikai, who at the time was the last Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet.

Sa Zhenbing briefly served as acting Prime Minister under the Beiyang government in 1920,^[3] then as Governor of Fujian Province from 1922 to 1926.

In 1949, near the end of the Chinese Civil War, Sa Zhenbing declined an offer by Chiang Kai-shek to evacuate him to Taiwan, instead pledging his allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.^{[citation needed]}

Sa Zhenbing died in his hometown of Fuzhou in 1952, aged 94.

• Chao Ho-class cruiser

• Media related to Sa Zhenbing at Wikimedia Commons