Wen Duan Honggang
At 12:00 noon on September 17, 1894, the "Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Naval Battle" that lasted for more than 5 hours officially broke out in the dadonggou area of the Yellow Sea. This naval battle made us always remember the name of a hero - Deng Shichang.
Deng Shichang (1849-1894), at the age of 45, was young and promising, was the pipe belt (captain) of the "Zhiyuan Ship", and was also the earliest officer of china's navy.
At that time, the flagship "Dingyuan Ship" was hit by sudden Japanese artillery fire, the command flag was destroyed, and the commander Ding Ruchang was in danger. In order to protect the flagship, Deng Shichang ordered the command flag to be raised on the "Zhiyuan Ship" to attract the attention of the Japanese fleet, and then launched a deadly struggle with the Japanese army.
The menacing Japanese fleet besieged the "Zhiyuan Ships" from all directions and fired in unison. Soon, the "Zhiyuan Ship" was severely damaged, and the hull began to tilt.
At this moment, Deng Shichang ordered the "Zhiyuan Ship" to drive full horsepower and crash into the Japanese "Yoshino", intending to die with the enemy.
The Japanese army was stunned to see the situation, and in a hurry, concentrated its fire on the "Zhiyuan Ship". After a shell hit the torpedo tube of the Zhiyuan ship, it caused the torpedo to explode, and eventually, more than 200 soldiers sank into the sea with hatred.
Deng Shichang, who fell into the water, rejected the lifebuoy thrown by his entourage and said loudly: I am determined to kill the enemy and serve the country, and now I die at sea.
Deng Shichang's dog "Sun" saw that his master was in distress, swam hard to his master's side, grabbed his arm with his mouth and prepared to drag him away, seeing this scene, Deng Shichang had made up his mind and sank into the sea with the head of the sun. Subsequently, more than 200 soldiers on the Zhiyuan ship were martyred.
After the Guangxu Emperor learned of Deng Shichang's martyrdom, he was very distressed, and he wrote down a pair of elegies with a pen: On this day, the world is full of tears, and there is a public enough to see the navy's might. Fully praised Deng Shichang's heroic deeds and noble integrity, and then, Guangxu posthumously gave Deng Shichang the title of "Zhuangjie Gong" and posthumously titled "Prince Taibao", and also specially gave Deng Shichang's mother a plaque made of 3 kilograms of gold, which was written with the four characters of "godson has fang", and allocated 100,000 taels of silver as a pension.
Born in a family of tea merchants in Panyu, Guangzhou, Deng Shichang was clever and studious from an early age, not only learning Chinese studies and calligraphy, but also learning foreign languages and mathematics with the church teachers.
In 1867, Shen Baozhen was sent to the "Fuzhou Shipping Administration Bureau" created by Zuo Zongtang, and in order to cultivate his naval strength, the Shipping Administration Bureau opened the "Ship Administration School", opened the former school manufacturing class, the rear school driving management shift and other majors, and began to recruit the first batch of students.
Deng Shichang happened to have the advantage of understanding foreign languages and mathematics, and was recommended to study at the Ship Administration School, thus becoming a navy.
During his 5 years of study at the School of Ship Administration, Deng Shichang worked very hard, not only successfully passed the driving major, but also learned the knowledge of navigation astronomy, geography, navigation theory and other disciplines. After two years of internship, he eventually graduated with honors in 1873, the year he was 24 years old.
After that, Deng Shichang was entrusted with heavy responsibilities, and he drove warships abroad for many times, honing his very solid driving skills.
In the summer of 1887, the Beiyang Navy imported the cruisers "Zhiyuan" and "Jingyuan" from Germany, as well as the armored ships "Jingyuan" and "Laiyuan", and the experienced Deng Shichang was naturally promoted to the captain of the "Zhiyuan" and managed the "Zhiyuan" until his martyrdom.
As a navy, Deng Shichang has been away for many years, and the burden of family life has all fallen on his wife and concubines. Deng Shichang had a wife and a concubine, both of whom were surnamed He, and his wife was called "He Shi", and gave birth to the eldest son and five daughters, and the concubine gave birth to a second son and a third son.
The two have no complaints, work together at home, carefully raise children, support the elderly, and the relationship is handled very harmoniously, so that the family can enjoy it.
After Deng Shichang's death, his wife He Shichang asked a painter to paint a portrait of Deng Shichang, and every morning and evening, he had to pay homage to incense on time in order to comfort her husband's heroic spirit in heaven.
Deng Shichang had three sons and five daughters in his lifetime, of which he also had a widow when he died.
So, how will Deng Shichang's descendants live? Let's take a look.
Deng Shichang's eldest son was named Deng Haohong, born in 1874, after Deng Shichang's heroic sacrifice, in order to thank the Deng family for his contribution, the Guangxu Emperor gave Deng Haohong the position of "raising the standard" of the Guangdong water division, the full name was "raising the standard left camp general", which belonged to the symbolic position.
Because this position is an idle post, Deng Haohong did not serve here for too long, and a few years later, he re-managed his grandfather's tea house and operated tea all over the country with Guangzhou as the center, and the big cities of Shanghai and Tianjin during this period were the places where his business contacts were more frequent.
After the outbreak of the "Xinhai Revolution," Deng Haohong, who had a sense of home and country, donated money and materials to the National Revolutionary Army on many occasions to fully support the development of the national navy. In 1947, Deng Haohong died in Shanghai at the age of 73.
Deng Shichang's second son, named Deng Haoxiang, died young, leaving him with very little information, and only some sporadic fragments of his life can be learned from other people's memoirs.
Deng Shichang's granddaughter, Ye Yufang, once dictated that Deng Haoxiang studied at Shanghai Jiao Tong University when he was young and died not long after graduation, which is the whole record of his life course.
Deng Shichang's third son, named Deng Haoqian, was also the widow of Deng Shichang, and was born three months after Deng Shichang's martyrdom, that is, around mid-December 1894.
Deng Haoqian lived in Beijing when he was young, and later came to Jiangnan University to study, and after graduation, he was assigned to the Naval Compilation Department as a staff member, which was a symbolic work like the nature of his brother Deng Haohong's work at that time.
In his later years, Deng Haoqian lived in Wuxi with his adopted daughter Deng Xiaosi. In 1969, at the age of 74, Deng Haoxiang died at his daughter's home.
Deng Shichang's granddaughter Deng Xiaosi was born in 1926, two years after the 120th anniversary of the "Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Naval Battle", Shandong Weihai "Sino-Japanese War Museum" held a grand commemorative event, 88-year-old Deng Xiaosi very much wanted to participate, but it is difficult to make the trip at an advanced age, 3 months later, she passed away.
Deng Shichang's eldest daughter is named Deng Xiuyuan, and her life experience in history has not been seen, so there is no way to know her living conditions.
Deng Shichang's second daughter, Deng Xiuchan, was born in 1876 and died in 1949. Deng Xiuchan promised to Marry Ye Jinying, the son of Deng Shichang's friend Ye Fu, and they had a son and two daughters, the eldest daughter was called Ye Ailan, the second daughter was called Ye Sulan, and the eldest son was called Ye Yufang.
Deng Shichang's third daughter Deng Xiujuan, the fourth daughter Deng Xiuting, and the fifth daughter Deng Xiuhai have left almost no relevant written records, and there is no way to know about their lives.
Today, Deng Shichang's descendants have been passed down to the fourth and fifth generations, including great-grandchildren, great-grandsons, great-grandsons, and grandchildren, who are active in various fields, building the motherland with enthusiasm and blood, and paying tribute to their ancestors and national hero Deng Shichang with practical actions.