Lai Wenguang (賴文光, 1827–1868) was an eminent Chinese military leader of the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...

and

Nian Rebellion The Nian Rebellion () was an insurrection against the Qing dynasty in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) in southern China. The rebellion was suppressed, but the population and economic ...

, and known during his military tenure as the King of Zun (遵王) ("obey God"). He served under

Hong Xiuquan Hong Xiuquan (1 January 1814 – 1 June 1864), born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun, was a Chinese revolutionary and religious leader who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty. He established the Taiping Heavenly K ...

's Taiping Administration, and was Hong Xiuquan's wife young brother. He led Taiping forces to many military victories. Lai became the leader of Eastern Nian Army in 1866. In June 1865, he commanded Nian

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

forces of 90,000 in surrounding and attacking the capital

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, nearly successfully. Lai surrendered to Qing forces on January 5, 1868. He was executed by Li Hongzhang after interrogation in February. Lai Wenguang attracted many northern Chinese to unite fighting against the Qing government because people believed the

Aisin Gioro The House of Aisin-Gioro is a Manchu clan that ruled the Later Jin dynasty (1616–1636), the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), and Manchukuo (1932–1945) in the history of China. Under the Ming dynasty, members of the Aisin Gioro clan served as chie ...

had a secret agenda to stage a coup against

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively but periodically controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent for almost 50 ...

. His elder brother Lai Hanying was the Taiping Rebellion's king early on, and one of the few of kings still alive after the civil war ended in 1870. As a child, future revolutionary

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

often heard the story of the Taiping Rebellion.

References

*《遵王賴文光自述》 (1868) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Wenguang 1868 deaths Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion 1827 births Hakka generals 19th-century Chinese generals People from Meixian District Executed Taiping Heavenly Kingdom people People executed by the Qing dynasty 19th-century executions by China Executed people from Guangdong Nian Rebellion