View source for Li Xiucheng

{{Short description|Head of military affairs in the Taiping Heavenly Dynasty (1850-1864)}}
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{{Infobox military person
| name          = Li Xiucheng
| birth_date    = {{birth-year|1823}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1864|8|7|1823|||df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Teng County]], [[Guangxi]], [[Qing Empire]]
| death_place   = [[Jiangning District|Jiangning]], [[Nanjing]], [[Qing Empire]]
| image         = StatueofLiXiucheng.jpeg
| alt           = 
| caption       = Bust of Li Xiucheng in Suzhou
| nickname      = The Loyal King
| allegiance    = [[Qing Empire]] (to 1849)<br /> [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]] (to 1864)
| serviceyears  = 1852–1864
| rank          = Field Marshal
| commands      = 
| unit          = 
| battles       = [[Eastern Expedition|Eastern campaign]]
*[[First rout the Army Group Jiangnan]] (1856)
*[[Second rout the Army Group Jiangnan]] (1860)
*[[Battle of Shanghai (1861)|Battle of Shanghai]] (1861–1863)
*[[Battle of Cixi]] (1862)
*Final Battle of North Jiangsu (1863)
*[[Battle of Suzhou]] (1863)
*[[Third Battle of Nanking]] (1864)
[[Western campaign]]
*Second Battle of [[Wuhan]] (1854)
*[[Battle of Sanhe]] (1858)
}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Li (surname 李)|Li]]|lang=Chinese}}'''Li Xiucheng''' ({{zh|c=李秀成|p=Lǐ Xiùchéng}}; 1823 &ndash; August 7, 1864), born '''Li Yiwen''' (李以文), was a military commander of the [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]], during the [[Taiping Rebellion]] against the [[Qing dynasty]]. He was born to a peasant family. In 1864, he was captured and interrogated following the [[Third Battle of Nanking|third and final Battle of Nanjing]]. He was then executed by [[Zeng Guofan]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

== Name ==
He was sometimes called the Loyal King ({{zh|t=忠王|p=Zhōng Wáng}}). This title was bestowed after he refused a bribe from a [[Qing]] general officer to kill [[Hong Xiuquan]], the founder and leader of the rebellion.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

== Biography==

===Second rout of the Jiangnan Army Group===
[[Army Group Jiangnan]] (江南大營) was an important [[Qing]] army barracks in [[Nanjing]]. Forces led by Li Xiucheng besieged the barracks in an attempt to force its occupants to surrender. Beginning from March 1858 during the second encirclement, the [[Qing]] army commanded 200,000 soldiers to fight against Taiping forces, but they were routed by Li Xiucheng in May 1860. After that, Li went on to occupy all of [[Jiangsu]] provinces except [[Shanghai]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

=== Nanjing ===
Li worked alongside fellow Taiping General [[Chen Yucheng]] to defend and release the capital during the siege of Nanjing in 1860.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Escape from Suzhou===
Li Xiucheng's palace in [[Suzhou]] is the only one from the Taiping Rebellion era that still exists today. In July 1863, Li ordered his daughter's husband, [[Tan Shaoguang]], to capture Suzhou. But [[Li Hongzhang]] led the [[Huai Army]] combined by the "Ever Victorious Army", which, having been raised by an American named [[Frederick Townsend Ward]], was placed under the command of [[Charles George Gordon]]. With this support, [[Li Hongzhang]] gained numerous victories, leading to the surrender of [[Suzhou]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Writing==
''Loyal Prince Li Xiucheng In His Own Words'' ({{Zh|c=《忠王李秀成自述》}}) is his autobiographical account written shortly before his [[Execution (legal)|execution]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

== Li's sword ==
When Li withdrew from [[Suzhou]], his sword, the symbol of his power, was given to his young brother [[Li Shixian]]. Li Shixian took this sword, but it was confiscated when he was captured by [[Charles George Gordon]] in [[Liyang]]. Charles George Gordon returned to the [[UK]] with Li's sword, and presented it to [[Queen Victoria]]'s cousin, Chief Commander of the Military the [[Duke of Cambridge]].

On 30 August 1961, the sword ended up in the hands of a history professor at the [[University of London]]. In 1981, this sword was returned to China, where it is currently stored in the [[National Museum of China]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Children==
Li Xiucheng had a son, [[Li Rongfa]] and three daughters. Li's daughters married Taiping generals, including [[Tan Shaoguang]] and Chen Binwen.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last = Li |translator = Charles Anthony Curwen  |first = Xiucheng |year = 1976 |title = Taiping Rebel: The Deposition of Li Hsiu-Ch'eng |publisher = Cambridge University Press| location = Cambridge; New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eO48AAAAIAAJ |isbn = 0521210828 }}
* Tiān Guó Zwi(天國志)
* [http://www.mrzl.com/mrjs/zhengjie/200603/mrjs_418.html 李秀成：太平天国后期军事统帅] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191602/http://www.mrzl.com/mrjs/zhengjie/200603/mrjs_418.html |date=2016-03-03 }}
* {{cite ECCP|title=Li Hsiu-ch'êng}}
 {{Portal|China}}

==References==
<references />

{{Authority control}}
{{Taiping Rebellion}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Xiucheng}}
[[Category:1823 births]]
[[Category:1864 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century executions by China]]
[[Category:Hakka generals]]
[[Category:19th-century Chinese generals]]
[[Category:Executed people from Guangxi]]
[[Category:Executed Taiping Heavenly Kingdom people]]
[[Category:Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion]]
[[Category:People executed by the Qing dynasty by decapitation]]
[[Category:People from Wuzhou]]