Dong Fuxiang (1839–1908),
courtesy name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Xingwu (), was a Chinese general who lived in the late
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
. He was born in the Western Chinese province of
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
. He commanded an army of
Hui soldiers, which included the later
Ma clique
The Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia for 10 years from 1919 until 1928. Following the colla ...
generals
Ma Anliang
Ma Anliang (, French romanization: Ma-ngan-leang, Xiao'erjing: ; 1855 – November 24, 1918) was a Hui people, Hui born in Linxia City, Hezhou, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China (1912 ...
and
Ma Fuxiang.
According to the Western calendar, his birth date is in 1839.
Religion
Dong Fuxiang was a non-Muslim
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...
general who commanded Muslim
Hui soldiers. Conflicting accounts were given about his religion and ethnicity. Contemporaneous Western sources claim he was Muslim, which was a mistake, but modern Western sources either say he was not Muslim, or did not mention his religion at all when talking about him, and some mistakenly still say he is Muslim. The only thing that was clear about him was that he was familiar with the Muslim militia of Gansu, and commanded Muslim troops in battle.
The British consular officer Erich Teichman traveling in Gansu was repeatedly told that Dong Fuxiang was Han Chinese and not a Muslim, but the consular officer insisted on wrongly believing he was a Muslim. The confusion over his religion was cleared up by Jonathan Neamen Lipman who noted that westerners had made the mistake of assuming that Dong was a Muslim since he commanded Muslim soldiers during the Boxer Rebellion, and the mistake was repeated by later western encyclopedias and works on Islam and on the Boxer Rebellion.
The Chinese Muslim armies of Dong Fuxiang were known as the
Kansu Braves and they fought against the German Army and the other eight nation alliance forces, repeatedly at the
First intervention, Seymour Expedition, China 1900. It was only on the second attempt in the
Gasalee Expedition did the Alliance manage to get through to battle the Chinese Muslim troops at the
Battle of Peking. However,
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
was so alarmed by the Chinese Muslim troops that he requested the Caliph
Abdul Hamid II
Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...
of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
to find a way to stop the
Chinese Muslim
Islam has been practiced in China since the 7th century CE.. There are an estimated 17–25 million Muslims in China, less than 2 percent of the total population. Though Hui Muslims are the most numerous group, the greatest concentration of Mu ...
troops from fighting.
Military career
Dong participated in the
Dungan revolt, and defected to the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
side, along with
Ma Zhanao. He was not a fanatic or even interested in rebellion, he merely had gathered a band of followers during the rebellion and fought, just as many others did. He joined the Qing army of
Zuo Zongtang in exchange for being appointed Mandarin. He acquired large estates.
In 1890 Dong Fuxiang was stationed at
Aksu,
Kashgaria and was a Brigadier.
Dong Fuxiang,
Ma Anliang
Ma Anliang (, French romanization: Ma-ngan-leang, Xiao'erjing: ; 1855 – November 24, 1918) was a Hui people, Hui born in Linxia City, Hezhou, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China (1912 ...
and
Ma Haiyan were originally called to Beijing during the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...
in 1894, but the
Dungan Revolt (1895) broke out and they were subsequently sent to crush the rebels.
In 1895–1896, he led his Muslim troops in crushing a Muslim rebellion called the
Dungan Revolt in Gansu and Qinghai. Dong Fuxiang was the Commander in Chief of
Kashgaria (kashgar), and he received an order by telegram that he and General
Ma Pi-sheng rush their army into rebelling districts via forced marching their troops.
Rebel Muslims had revolted, and his loyalist Chinese Muslim troops led by officers like
Ma Anliang
Ma Anliang (, French romanization: Ma-ngan-leang, Xiao'erjing: ; 1855 – November 24, 1918) was a Hui people, Hui born in Linxia City, Hezhou, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China (1912 ...
,
Ma Guoliang,
Ma Fuxiang, and
Ma Fulu
Ma Fulu ( zh, s=马福禄, p=Mǎ Fúlù, Xiao'erjing: ; 1854 – 1900) was a Chinese Muslim general of the Hui people, Hui ethnic group who served under the Qing dynasty. The son of General Ma Qianling and the brother of Ma Fucai, Ma Fushou a ...
crushed the revolt, reportedly cutting off the heads and ears of rebels.
He received the rank of Generalissimo.
In 1898, Dong and 10,000 of his Muslim troops were transferred to Beijing in preparation for war against foreigners, and Dong's troop was renamed:
Wuwei Rear Division. While they were stationed there, the Wuwei Rear Division troops repeatedly attacked foreigners in their legations, the railways, and in churches. It was reported that the Wuwei Rear Division troops were going to wipe out the foreigners to return a golden age for China. A Japanese chancellor, Sugiyama Akira, was hacked to death on 11 July by the Kansu soldiers. At the section of railroad at
Fengtai, two British engineers were almost beaten to death by the Muslim Kansu troops, and foreign ministers asked that they be pulled back since they were threatening the safety of foreigners. Other Europeans and Westerners were killed as well.
Ma Anliang
Ma Anliang (, French romanization: Ma-ngan-leang, Xiao'erjing: ; 1855 – November 24, 1918) was a Hui people, Hui born in Linxia City, Hezhou, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China (1912 ...
, Tongling of Ho-Chou joined him in fighting the foreigners.
Rumors were flying around that Dong Fuxiang was allegedly going to massacre the foreigners in Beijing. In a letter sent on 14 May 1899, Robert Hart wrote about the rumors of an alleged impending massacre at the hands of Dong Fuxiang's troops in June. In a letter on 4 June 1899, Robert Hart wrote of the influence Dong Fuxiang was exerting over the Empress Dowager Cixi's policy towards foreigners.
Dong attended multiple audiences with the Empress Dowager Cixi from 27 to 29 May 1900 to affirm in her his belief that he could defeat and expel the foreigners from China. He was so anti-foreign that he used an old Chinese instrument, Sheng Jia, instead of modern brass bands, and had his troops wear traditional Chinese uniforms instead of western military uniforms.
The
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
broke out in 1900, and Dong and his Wuwei troops joined the Boxers in declaring war on the
Eight-Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...
. They formed the rear division, and the westerners called them the "10,000 Islamic rabble". They were the most effective attackers on the foreign legions, and struck fear into the minds of the westerners. His troops were responsible for so much trouble that the United States Marine Corps had to be called in.
Dong was a sworn brother to Li Lai chung, another Boxer supporter and anti foreigner.
The Wuwei Rear Division troops were organized into eight battalions of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, two brigades of artillery, and one company of engineers. The Wuwei Rear Division troops reportedly intimidated the Western forces. The Wuwei Rear Division Troops were reportedly eager to join the Boxers and attack the foreigners. They killed a foreigner outside Yungting gate. At Zhengyang Gate, Wuwei Rear Division troops engaged in
skirmish
Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to Screening (tactical), screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They may be deployed in a sk ...
es against the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance.
On 18 June, Wuwei Rear Division troops stationed at Hunting park in southern Beijing, attacked at the
Battle of Langfang. The troops were cavalry – about 5,000 men – armed with new, modern magazine rifles. Russian marines in the legations were subjected to a massive attack on 23 June by Dong and his Kansu Muslim troops, who had merged with the Boxers. A German marine was killed and the next day on 24 June an American marine was also killed.

Summary of battles of General Dong Fuxiang: Ts'ai Ts'un, 24 July;
Ho Hsi Wu, 25 July; An P'ing, 26 July; Ma T'ou, 27 July. He defeated the Westerners during the
Battle of Langfang.
The French Catholic vicar apostolic, Msgr. Alfons Bermyn, wanted foreign troops garrisoned in inner Mongolia, but the Governor refused. Bermyn resorted to lies, and falsely petitioned the Manchu
Enming to send troops to
Hetao where Prince Duan's Mongol troops and General Dong Fuxiang's Muslim troops allegedly threatened Catholics. It turned out that Bermyn had created the incident as a hoax.
When the Qing court decided to run away, the Wuwei Rear Division escorted
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 ...
and the
Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China ...
to safety in
Xi'an
Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...
. After Dong lost all of his official positions, he still was permitted to command his personal army of 5,000 men in Gansu.
During his exile in Gansu, he held a great deal of local political power while protected by his bodyguards, local decisions had to be made with his consent. Two fortresses and many estates were at his disposal. Upon his death in 1908, all the ranks and honors which were stripped from him due to the foreign demands were restored and he was given a full military burial.
Dong Fuxiang's family, his wife Tung Chao-shih (Dong Zhaoshi), nephew Tung Wen (Dong Wen), and grandson Tung Kung (Dong Gong) fought for the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
during the
Xinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...
in 1911 in
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
.
See also
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Abdul Hamid II
Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...
*
Imperial Decree on events leading to the signing of Boxer Protocol
*
Ma Fuxiang
References
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dong, Fuxiang
19th-century Chinese military personnel
20th-century Chinese people
1839 births
1908 deaths
People from Qingyang
Qing dynasty generals
Generals from Gansu