Li Shixian (; 1834 – 23 August 1865) was a pre-eminent military leader of the 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 ...

. He was the cousin of military leader

Li Xiucheng Li Xiucheng (; 1823 – August 7, 1864) was a military rebel commander opposing the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion. He was born to a peasant family. In 1864, he was captured and interrogated following the third and final Battle of ...

and was known for being very tall for a native of Guangxi province, standing at tall. During his military tenure, he was given the title of King of Shi (侍王) (meaning "Servant Prince"). In the latter part of the Taiping rebellion, he led Taiping forces to many military victories. Later in his life, he invited an aging

Wei Yuan Wei Yuan (; April23, 1794March26, 1857), born Wei Yuanda (), courtesy names Moshen () and Hanshi (), was a Chinese scholar from Shaoyang, Hunan. He moved to Yangzhou, Jiangsu in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life. Wei obtained the ...

to live in his home and was known to hold counsel with the famous scholar. He was eventually assassinated by a traitor in

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) ...

Victories

Army Group Jiangnan

Army Group Jiangnan (江南大營) of the Qing empire had encircled the Taiping capital of

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 ...

twice, laying siege in an attempt to end the war. The second siege consisted of nearly 200,000 Qing soldiers by March 1858, but they were routed when Li Shixian's Taiping force broke out of the capital in May 1860. With the Qing routed, Li Shixian was able to occupy all of the rich Zhejiang Province.

Defeats

Versus Zuo Zongtang

In 1862, the Qing ordered

Zuo Zongtang Zuo Zongtang, Marquis Kejing ( also spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang; ; November 10, 1812 – September 5, 1885), sometimes referred to as General Tso, was a Chinese statesman and military leader of the late Qing dynasty. Born in Xiangyin County, ...

to attack Li Shixian in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

province. The Qing were successful, and after a number of hard-fought battles they recaptured all of Zhejiang. Li Shixian's rebel forces were reduced from about 350,000 at the outset of the campaign to around 200,000 in 1864, when the Taiping capital of Nanjing fell. After the capital fell, Li Shixian again successfully broke out with his remaining army and escaped along the coast to

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

Province (

Battle of Fujian The Battle of Fujian (August 1864 – June 1865) was fought between forces of the Qing Dynasty and rebels from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. By October 1864 around 12,000 pro-Taiping forces commanded by the Shi King Li Shixian had captured Jiann ...

The last Taiping forces

October 1864 around 12,000 pro-Taiping forces commanded by the Shi King Li Shixian captured

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefect ...

. en-at-ArmsIan Heath, Michael Perry - The Taiping Rebellion 1851-66 (2010, Osprey Publishing) They held the city for several months until surrendering in the next summer. Li, and his remaining force of 40,000, came back to eastern Guangdong province, the Guangdong had been home to many Taiping forces of the first generation before they were driven out of their homeland during the first Battle of Nanking. Zuo Zongtang ordered six major generals to lead 70,000 soldiers of the Qing army, staging them for an invasion in

Jiaoling County Jiaoling County ( postal: Chiuling; ) is a county in the northeast of Guangdong Province, China, bordering Fujian province to the north. Under the jurisdiction of Meizhou City, it was previously known as the Zhenping County ( postal: Chenping). ...

. On May 1, 1865, 20,000 Taiping forces surrendered to this army. Li disguised himself as a monk and escaped. On May 23 he came back to Taiping, however the army he had led no longer trusted him. He was betrayed, and assassinated on August 25, 1865.

Victories

Army Group Jiangnan

Defeats

Versus Zuo Zongtang

The last Taiping forces

References

See also