Yang Fuqing (; died 1874), born in Mei County (now Meixian District),

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, was a rebel leader during the middle and late

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

against the Qing government in 1855-1874. He was given the title ''tou wang'' (). In 1858, Yang Fuqing defeated Wei Jun, who surrendered to the Qing government, and occupied the

Chizhou Chizhou () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Anhui province, China. It borders Anqing to the northwest, Tongling and Wuhu to the northeast, Xuancheng to the east, Huangshan to the southeast, and the province of Jiangxi to the southwes ...

for Taiping. He is sometimes mentioned as participating in the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

, but other sources contradict this. In 1864, the

ended with defeat to the

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, and Yang fled to America from

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

by ship. Yang Fuqing created a Chinese gang in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1866. He was a young brother-in-law to

Yang Xiuqing Yang Xiuqing () (died September 2/3, 1856), was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion. Early life Yang Xiuqing's family were farmers from Xincun near Jintian, Guangxi, but he lost his parents at a young age. According ...

. Yang returned to China and was arrested during the siege of Fuzhou in 1874. He joined the

Green Standard Army The Green Standard Army (; Manchu: ''niowanggiyan turun i kūwaran'') was the name of a category of military units under the control of Qing dynasty in China. It was made up mostly of ethnic Han soldiers and operated concurrently with the Manchu ...

and organized an anti-Qing

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

unit. This was discovered by

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Wei Jun and

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Ma Ronghe. He was killed in Fuzhou.張彩玲 - 影響世界歷史的50場戰爭（二版）. 2018 海鴿文化出版圖書有限公司

Some sources claim that this was not actually Yang's fate, but that of another, unnamed Taiping general.

References

*Jonathan D. Spence - God's Chinese Son. 1996 Norton *Tiān Guó Zhi () 1874 deaths Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion Triad members Chinese crime bosses Hakka generals People from Meixian District Year of birth unknown Generals from Guangdong Chinese expatriates in the United States Members of the Green Standard Army People executed by the Qing dynasty {{China-bio-stub