Qi Jiguang

Qi Jiguang the Chinese military general of the Ming dynasty (1528-1588) who is revered as a national hero for his campaigns against Japanese pirates along the southeast coast and for his defence of the northern frontier. A gifted organiser and tactician, he created the disciplined army known as the Qi family army and wrote influential treatises on military training and warfare.

Family and Early Career

Qi Jiguang was born on 12 November 1528 in Dengzhou, in Shandong province, into a hereditary military family. His father was an officer in the Ming army, and the young Qi inherited his commission and the expectation of a life of service. He received a literary education as well as military training, and his combination of learning and practical soldiering served him well.

He entered the army in his twenties and served in the defence of the northern coast and the frontier. He was promoted for his ability and his diligence, and he was sent in 1555 to the coast of Zhejiang, where Japanese and Chinese pirates, the so-called wokou, were ravaging the coastal provinces and defeating the demoralised government troops.

He found the imperial forces ill-organised and ineffective against the raiders, who were experienced fighters skilled with the sword and the spear. He concluded that only a new kind of army, carefully selected, rigorously trained and tactically innovative, could overcome them, and he set about creating one from the volunteers of the countryside.

The Qi Family Army

Qi Jiguang recruited peasants from the mountainous region of Yiwu in Zhejiang, choosing men of sturdy character rather than townsmen or vagabonds. He trained them intensively in a coherent set of tactics based on small-group coordination, so that soldiers fought together in squads with a mix of weapons, each protecting the next against the swordsmen they would face.

His tactical innovation was the mandarin duck formation, in which a squad of a dozen men combined long spears, shields, swords and sometimes firearms and bows. The arrangement countered the pirate fighting style, in which skilled swordsmen charged and broke through loose formations. The coordinated squad was more than a match for the raiders.

He enforced strict discipline, insisting on rewards for merit and punishment for cowardice, and he shared the hardships of his soldiers. The army that resulted, known as the Qi family army, won a series of decisive victories against the pirates, clearing the coasts of Zhejiang and Fujian by the early 1560s and ending the threat that had plagued the southeast for decades.

Defence of the Northern Frontier

After the coastal campaigns Qi Jiguang was transferred to the north, where he was given command of the defences around Jizhou, near Beijing. The Mongol threat required a different kind of warfare from the anti-pirate campaigns, and he adapted his methods to the defence of a long frontier against mobile cavalry.

He reorganised the frontier garrisons, improved the training and discipline of the troops and made extensive use of the terrain. He also supervised the strengthening of the Great Wall, adding watchtowers and fortified positions at key passes. The defences he improved were designed to detect and delay an enemy advance and to allow reinforcements to concentrate.

His measures, combined with a policy of limited diplomacy toward the Mongol leaders, brought relative peace to the northern frontier for many years. He also experimented with new weapons and is credited with improvements in the use of firearms and in the design of protective equipment suited to the conditions of the frontier.

Writings and Military Thought

Qi Jiguang wrote two important military treatises, the Jixiao Xinshu and the Lianbing Shiji, which set out his ideas on recruiting, training, tactics, discipline and the organisation of armies. The books are among the most complete and practical works on warfare produced in imperial China and were widely studied by later commanders.

He emphasised the human foundations of military power: the selection of good men, their constant training, the cultivation of unit cohesion and the just reward and punishment that maintained morale. He insisted that soldiers must understand their weapons and their roles and that officers must share the dangers of their men, an approach that made his army exceptional.

He also wrote on the management of military stores, fortifications and logistics, and he documented the weapons and formations of his day with unusual precision. His treatises became standard texts and were studied in China and, in later centuries, in Japan and Korea as well, extending his influence far beyond his own lifetime.

Later Life and Legacy

Qi Jiguang's later years were difficult. After the death of the powerful minister Zhang Juzheng, who had supported him, he was accused of association with the fallen statesman and was dismissed from office. He returned to his native place in 1583, lived in poverty, and died on 17 January 1588, honoured only after his death.

He is remembered as one of the greatest generals in Chinese history, celebrated for his victories against the pirates and for his modern approach to training and organisation. His name is associated with courage, discipline and the defence of the country, and he became a popular subject of legend, drama and commemoration.

The Qi family army and its tactics are studied as models of military innovation, and his writings continue to be read for their practical wisdom. He stands for the ideal of the soldier-scholar, and his career illustrates both the achievement that was possible under a capable and supportive government and the vulnerability of even the greatest servants to the politics of the court.

See also

• Ming dynasty
• Great Wall of China
• Wokou pirates
• Zhang Juzheng