Ding Ruchang, a well-known name in China. On February 11, 1895, Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division, committed suicide by swallowing opium with endless despair, which is an incomparably tragic history. 19 days before Ding Ruchang committed suicide, he received a letter of surrender from the Commander of the Japanese Navy, Yuheng Ito.
The letter of exhortation was written "sincerely and sincerely", and Ito Yuheng had great respect for Ding Ruchang, writing: "Your excellency has come to Japan, and the servant can ensure the generosity and goodness of His Majesty the Emperor." Shall My Majesty's conspirators against his subjects be forgiven only for his sins? For example, Vice Admiral Yukimoto, Privy Counsellor to Otori, etc., measured his talents, appointed officials, and the class was unusual. Now, not his own subjects, but those who are known and famous, will be treated several times better. ”
Ding Ruchang refused. On January 20, 1895, the Japanese army landed on the Shandong Peninsula and immediately conquered the Weihai land battery. This meant that Liugong Island was completely surrounded by the Japanese army, and Ding Ruchang could only lead the remnants to wait for help, and as a result, he committed suicide. The evaluation of Ding Ruchang in the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty is very rude:
"In the Battle of Jiawu, the navy and army were completely destroyed, and the humiliation was great. Although Ruchang was guilty, he was able to repay the country with one death, and he still knew that he was afraid of the law. Ru Gui and Zhi Chao lost their teachers and lost their land, left their neighbors behind, and sought to survive, and finally they were not exempt from the national code, how shameless? ”
Ding Ruchang was blind, and in his suicide note, he still blamed himself for failing to achieve the goal of the war, "Wu Kou once made people say that I was rejected by my words, so he attacked me in Weihai in an all-round way, and instigated my internal soldiers to put pressure on me. I struggled to persuade the wavering of the army, and at the same time gave the Wokou a great blow. However, the ammunition will be exhausted, and reinforcements will be hopeless. Yesterday I ordered the blow-up of the wounded ship in an attempt to break through, and the anger has dispersed and no one has listened to my orders. I may die or be captured, but since I am Chinese, I would rather die than surrender! He will never abandon the righteousness of the nation, and now there is only one death... Afraid that others would surrender the enemy with my seal, he saw that the tip of the seal was abolished... I will die, but a hundred years later, if anyone understands my heart of serving the country with sincerity, I will die immortally! ”
Defeated in battle, there is always a need for scapegoats, and Li Hongzhang cannot be spared, let alone a small Ding Ruchang. Soon the imperial court's punitive measures were issued, and the Guangxu Emperor believed that Ding Ruchang was responsible for the defeat, so he "resigned his post and had no family property", resulting in a miserable life for his children. Even more excessively, Ding Ruchang's coffin was painted black, and he was buried in a black prison coat, and three iron chains were locked outside the coffin.
The Guangxu Emperor also ordered that no burial should be allowed for more than ten years. According to the data, it was not until the second year of Xuan reunification (1910) that Ding Ruchang was rehabilitated. That is to say, Ding Ruchang committed suicide for 15 years before he had to be buried. After Ding Ruchang's death, many of his descendants achieved great achievements.
For example, Ding Yahua, the great-granddaughter of Ding Ruchang IV, joined the revolution in 1934 and was introduced by others in 1942 to marry Zhang Zhenxiu, commander of the 56th Regiment of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army (former member of the Cpc Central Advisory Committee and former commander of the Kunming Military Region before retirement). Ding Yahua was very bold, she said: "At that time, someone asked me why I was looking for soldiers. I said he was a soldier, I was a party member, we were like-minded, and I was ready to die. ”