From peasant rebel to Ming loyalist

The Ming-Qing dynastic transition in the seventeenth century was one of the most tumultuous in all of China’s long history and produced a great number of heroes on both sides. One of the most unlikely was the peasant rebel general Li Dingguo (c. 1620–62). ¹ Raised from childhood by the notorious Ming peasant rebel Zhang Xianzhong (1606–47), ² Li first helped topple the Ming dynasty then ironically became its most ardent military supporter and leading commander against the Manchu invaders. As a military leader, Li perfected the mobile warfare that made the late Ming peasant rebels so dangerous, striking suddenly and without warning and laying ambushes with flair and daring. He also adapted his tactics to China’s rugged southwest, making adept use of terrain and incorporating elephant cavalry into his armies for shock power. Over the course of his career he killed several prominent Qing generals and nearly reversed the tide of Ming defeat against all odds. Modern Chinese celebrate him for his patriotism and uniting with minority peoples against the hated Manchu invaders, making him a symbol of the union of China’s ethnic groups against outsiders. His contemporaries lauded him as “a little Zhuge Liang,” in reference to the famed military commander of China’s Three Kingdoms Period (220–280). ³ This chapter will examine Li’s generalship at both the tactical and strategic levels and consider him within the broader context of his times tracing how he was transformed from a notorious peasant rebel to an ardent Ming loyalist.