Tang Jingsong

Chinese general and statesman (1841–1903)

In this Chinese name, the family name is  Tang.

Tang Jingsong

唐景崧

President of the Republic of Formosa
In office
23 May 1895 – 5 June 1895
Preceded by| Himself
(as governor of Taiwan)
Succeeded by| Liu Yongfu
Governor of Taiwan Province
In office
1894 – 23 May 1895
Preceded by| Shao Youlian
Succeeded by| Himself
(as President of Formosa)
Personal details
Born| 1841
Died| 1903
Guilin, Guangdong (now Guangxi), Qing dynasty
Nationality| Chinese
Military service
Allegiance|  Qing dynasty
Commands| Yunnan Army
Battles/wars| Sino-French War
Chinese name
Chinese| 唐景崧
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Táng Jǐngsōng
Wade–Giles| T'ang2 Ching3-sung1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ| Tn̂g Kéng-siông

Tang Jingsong (Chinese: 唐景崧; Wade–Giles: T'ang Ching-sung; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tn̂g Kéng-siông; 1841–1903) was a Chinese general and statesman. He commanded the Yunnan Army in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), and made an important contribution to Qing dynasty China's military effort in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) by persuading the Black Flag leader Liu Yongfu to serve under Chinese command. His intelligent, though ultimately unsuccessful, direction of the Siege of Tuyên Quang (November 1884–March 1885) was widely praised. He later became governor of the Chinese province of Taiwan. Following China's cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) he became president of the short-lived Republic of Formosa.

## The Sino-French War

[edit]

Tang Jingsong played an important role in the Sino-French War and during the period of undeclared hostilities that preceded it. In 1882 he was sent by the Qing government to Vietnam to assess the ability of the Vietnamese government to resist French expansion in Tonkin. During his stay he was able to persuade Liu Yongfu to take the field against the French with the Black Flag Army. Liu's intervention resulted in the French defeat in the Battle of Paper Bridge on 19 May 1883, in which the French commandant supérieur Henri Rivière was killed. In the wake of this disaster, Jules Ferry's government committed substantial military and naval forces to Tonkin.[1]

Tang was the only senior Chinese commander to take part in the Sơn Tây Campaign (December 1883). Although Liu Yongfu and his Vietnamese and Chinese allies failed to hold Sơn Tây against the French, Tang's loyalty to Liu on that occasion was never forgotten by the Black Flag leader. In September 1884 Tang led the Yunnan Army down the Red River from Lào Cai to threaten the French post of Tuyên Quang, and Liu Yongfu took service with him as a subordinate general.

Although he ultimately failed to capture the French post, Tang's intelligent and methodical conduct of the Siege of Tuyên Quang was praised by many of his Chinese colleagues, including Zhang Zhidong, the Viceroy of Liangguang, and Cen Yuying (岑毓英), the Viceroy of Yun-Gui.[2]

Captain Jean-François-Alphonse Lecomte, one of the more discerning officers of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps, also paid tribute to the skill T'ang's army had shown in its siegecraft at Tuyên Quang:

> The mandarins had directed the attack on Tuyen Quang in a very intelligent manner. Owing to the Moslem insurrection in Yunnan, an insurrection that had nearly engulfed the entire province and was only put down by Marshal Ma after several sieges, they were now experts in the art of siegecraft. Their troops were excellent, and although they were unable to capture the fortress, defended as it was by a handful of heroes and relieved in the very nick of time by Giovanninelli's brigade, this siege was nonetheless a glorious feat of arms for the Celestials and showed that when necessary they could rise to the occasion.[3]

## The Republic of Formosa

[edit]

Tang succeeded Shao Youlian (邵友濂) as governor of Taiwan in 1894. Upon the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) he invited his old friend Liu Yongfu to assume command of Qing forces in southern Taiwan.

Following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in April 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki. A number of Chinese officials in Taiwan decided to resist the Japanese, and proclaimed Taiwan an independent Republic of Formosa. Tang was inaugurated as the republic's president on May 25, 1895. The republic lasted no longer than the time it took the Japanese to invade and occupy Taiwan. The Japanese invaded northern Taiwan on May 29, 1895 and defeated Chinese forces at Keelung on 3 June.

When the news of the defeat at Keelung reached Taipei on 4 June, the republican leaders promptly abandoned ship. During the night of 4 June Tang Jingsong fled to Tamsui, and from there sailed for the mainland on the evening of 6 June aboard the steamship Arthur. His departure was delayed for a day because of disorder in Tamsui.[4][5]

After Tang's flight, the republican forces continued to resist the Japanese in Taiwan under the leadership of Liu Yongfu. The republican forces were no match for the Japanese, however, and the republic eventually collapsed with the Japanese occupation of Tainan on 21 October 1895. Like Tang, Liu Yongfu also abandoned his soldiers and fled to the mainland to escape capture.

## Death

[edit]

Tang died in 1903 at his home in Guilin, at the age of 63.

## Notes

[edit]

* This article incorporates text from Christian work: illustrated family newspaper, Volume 58, a publication from 1895, now in the public domain in the United States.

1. ^ Thomazi, Conquête, 152–7; Histoire militaire, 55–8
2. ^ Lung Chang, 331
3. ^ Lecomte, Vie militaire, 246–7
4. ^ Davidson, 299–306
5. ^ Christian work: illustrated family newspaper, Volume 58. 1895. p. 940. Retrieved 2010-06-28.(Original from the New York Public Library)

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tang Ching-sung.

* Davidson, J. W., The Island of Formosa, Past and Present (London, 1903)
* Lecomte, J., La vie militaire au Tonkin (Paris, 1893)
* Lung Chang [龍章], Yueh-nan yu Chung-fa chan-cheng [越南與中法戰爭, Vietnam and the Sino-French War] (Taipei, 1993)
* McAleavy, H., Black Flags in Vietnam: The Story of a Chinese Intervention (New York, 1968)
* Thomazi, A., La conquête de l'Indochine (Paris, 1934)
* Thomazi, A., Histoire militaire de l'Indochine français (Hanoi, 1931)

## See also

[edit]

* Japanese Invasion of Taiwan (1895)

* v
* t
* e

Sino-French War

Background|

* French colonial empire
* France–Vietnam relations
* China–France relations
* French Indochina
* Tonkin campaign
* Tientsin Accord
* Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal

Military and political
developments|

* Battle of Fuzhou
* Keelung campaign
* Kép campaign
* Battle of Tamsui
* Battle of Yu Oc
* Siege of Tuyên Quang
* Battle of Núi Bop
* Battle of Shipu
* Lạng Sơn campaign
* Battle of Đồng Đăng
* Battle of Zhenhai
* Battle of Hòa Mộc
* Battle of Phu Lam Tao
* Battle of Bang Bo
* Retreat from Lạng Sơn
* Tonkin Affair
* Pescadores campaign
* Treaty of Tientsin (1885)

French personalities|

* Amédée Courbet
* Marc-Edmond Dominé
* Jacques Duchesne
* Sébastien Lespès
* François de Négrier
* Jules Ferry
* Louis Brière de l'Isle

Chinese personalities|

* Liu Yongfu
* Liu Mingchuan
* Tang Jingsong
* Feng Zicai
* Li Hongzhang
* Zeng Jize
* Zhang Peilun
* Empress Dowager Cixi

Armies and fleets|

* Imperial Chinese Navy
* Beiyang Fleet
* Fujian Fleet
* Guangdong Fleet
* Nanyang Fleet
* Black Flag Army
* Far East Squadron
* Tonkin Expeditionary Corps
* Tonkin Flotilla
* Tonkinese Rifles

* v
* t
* e

Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)

Background|

* Mudan incident
* Taiwan Expedition of 1874
* Sino-French War
* First Sino-Japanese War
* Treaty of Shimonoseki
* Republic of Formosa

Military and political developments|

* Pescadores
* Keelung
* Hsinchu
* Baguashan
* Yunlin-Chiayi
* Chiayi
* Chiatung
* Tainan
* Changhsing

Japanese personalities|

* Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa
* Arichi Shinanojo
* Kabayama Sukenori
* Nogi Maresuke
* Takashima Tomonosuke

Chinese and Taiwanese personalities|

* Liu Yongfu
* Tang Jingsong
* Qiu Fengjia
* Lin Shao-mao

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* United States
* Australia

Academics|

* CiNii

People|

* Trove

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