Lai Wenguang
| Lai Wenguang | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1827 Meizhou (梅縣), Guangdong, Qing Empire |
| Died |
10 January 1868 (aged 40–41) Yangzhou, Nanjing, Qing Empire |
| Allegiance |
Qing Empire (to 1849) Taiping (to 1864) Nien Rebellion(to 1868) |
| Years of service | 1856–1868 |
| Rank | Colonel General |
| Battles/wars |
Eastern Front
Western Front
Nien Rebellion(1864--1868)
|
| Awards | King of Jun |
Lai Wenguang (賴文光, 1827–1868), born in Mei County (now Meixian District), Guangdong, and later worked in Guangxi, was an eminent military leader of the Taiping Rebellion and Nien Rebellion, and known during his military tenure as the King of Zun (遵王) ("believe God"). He served under Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Administration, and was Hong Xiuquan's wife young brother. He led Taiping forces to many military victories. In June 1865, he commanded Nien cavalry forces of 90,000 in surrounding and attacking the capital Beijing, nearly successfully. He was executed by Li Hongzhang after interrogation in February 1868.
Lai Wenguang attracted many northern Chinese to unite fighting against the Qing government because people believed the Aisin Gioro had a secret agenda to stage a coup against Empress Dowager Cixi.
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 often heard the story of the Taiping Rebellion.
When Mao Zedong occupied Beijing in 1949, he commissioned Lai first Beijing Military Region commander, to commemorate him.
References
- 《遵王賴文光自述》 (1868)