Chen Yucheng (), born Chen Picheng (; 1837May 1862), was a Chinese general during the Taiping Rebellion and later served as the Heroic (Ying) Prince (or Brave King) of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the later stages of the rebellion, nicknamed "Four-eyed Dog" because of two prominent moles below his eyes. Born to a peasant family in

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

around 1836, Chen Yucheng joined Taiping rebel forces during the March to the Yangtze in 1851. 15 years old at the time of his enlistment, Chen quickly rose through the ranks and in 1856, in the aftermath of the Tianjing incident, an internal power struggle within the Taiping leadership, he was promoted to a general. He was awarded the '' E An'' in 1857. After commanding a series of successful military operations west of

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

between 1856 and 1858, Chen was given the title of Prince Ying by the Taiping Kings in the following year. Together with fellow Taiping General Li Xiucheng, Chen defended and released the capital during the siege of Nanjing in 1860. In February 1861, Chen Yucheng led 100,000 troops in a preparation to attack

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, leading one half of a pincer movement in an offensive against Imperial forces. However, he was on the defensive and forced to withdraw. After his retreat the

Xiang Army file:Zeng Guofan.png, 150px, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang Army The Xiang Army or Hunan Army () was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called ''tuanlian'' to contain the Taiping Rebel ...

concentrated all its forces on the Siege of Anqing. Chen was executed by Imperial Qing forces in May 1862.

References

* *Michael, Franz. ''The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents (Vol. II/III)'', Seattle, 1971. *Michael, Franz and Chang Chung-li, ''The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents (Vol. I)'', Seattle, 1966. *Teng, Ssu-yu. ''New Light on the Taiping Rebellion'', Cambridge, Mass., 1950. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Yucheng 1830s births 1862 deaths 19th-century executions by China Hakka people Hakka generals 19th-century Chinese generals Executed people from Guangxi Executed Taiping Heavenly Kingdom people Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion People executed by flaying People executed by the Qing dynasty People from Wuzhou Qing dynasty people