Ding Ruchang Ding Ruchang ( ) ( 18 November 1836 - 12 February 1895 ) was a career military officer in the late Qing dynasty military of China . Early life . Ding was a native of what is now part of Chaohu City in Anhui Province , China . He joined the Taiping Rebellion in 1854 , but he later surrendered with Cheng Xuechi in the Battle of Anqing in 1861 , and defected to the imperial cause . He joined Li Hongzhang ’ s Huai Army as a cavalry man to help suppress the Taiping Rebellion , serving with Liu Mingchuan . Afterwards , he was active in helping suppress the Nien Rebellion , and was awarded with the equivalent in rank to colonel . In 1874 , he protested against the Qing Dynasty government ' s decision about reduction of the army size . He went back to his hometown to avoid being killed . Self - strengthening movement . In 1875 , Li Hongzhang recruited Ding to be a commander of the Beiyang Fleet , the most modern of China ’ s regional navies . In 1880 , he travelled to Great Britain to accept delivery of the cruiser Chaoyun , and to familiarize himself with European shipbuilding techniques at shipyards in Germany and France . Ding was a supporter of the Self - Strengthening Movement in China , and urged Li Hongzhang to create shipyards in China able to build modern armored cruisers , rather than relying on foreign imports . Ting took an active role in the creation of the naval bases at Weihaiwei and Lushunkou . In 1882 , Ding was an observer during the negotiations resulting in the normalization of trade between Korea and the United States . He later helped suppress the Imo rebellion , with his marines arresting Heungseon Daewongun of the father of King Gojong , after arriving at Incheon with a fleet of seven ships . During the Franco - Chinese War of 1884 , Ding was awarded the Yellow Riding Jacket by the Qing Emperor , traditionally the highest military awards in the Qing Empire . Nagasaki incident . In 1886 , Ding participated in show of force , with the Beiyang Fleet touring Hong Kong , the Japanese port of Nagasaki , Korean ports of Busan and Wonsan , and the Russian naval base of Vladivostok . While in Nagasaki on 13 August 1886 , a number of drunken sailors from " Zhenyuan " became involved in a brawl in a local brothel , during which a Japanese police officer was fatally stabbed . In what came to be called the Nagasaki Incident two days later in a riot between local , police and Ding ’ s sailors six sailors were killed and 45 wounded , along with five Japanese policemen killed and 16 wounded . The riot resulted in a diplomatic incident , but Ding was able to make a second trip to Japan with the Beiyang Fleet in 1891 . Ding was promoted to admiral and commander of the Beiyang Fleet from 1888 - 1894 , and was promoted to the position of vice naval minister in 1894 . Sino - Japanese War . During the First Sino - Japanese War of 1894 - 1895 , Ding pushed for a direct confrontation with the Imperial Japanese Navy , but was ordered by Beijing not to operate east of the mouth of the Yalu River , for fear that China ’ s prized modern warships would be damaged or destroyed . However , this is what happened at the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894 , during which Ding lost five of the ten ships in his fleet . He also became a casualty of the battle from the opening shot of his own vessel , the " Dingyuan " , which had a construction defect , along with a number of officers also present on the bridge . Death . During the Battle of Lushunkou , Ding was ordered to withdraw his ships to the safety of Weihaiwai without giving battle to the Japanese . During the subsequent Battle of Weihaiwei , his ships were kept within the protective confines of the harbor , but the situation proved hopeless once the Imperial Japanese Army had seized the shore fortifications and lowered the boom enclosing the harbor to permit attacks by Japanese torpedo boat s . Ding refused offers of political asylum by Japanese admiral Itoh Sukeyuki and committed suicide by an overdose of opium in his office at his Liugong Island headquarters . His deputy , Admiral Liu , after ordering that his warship be scuttled by explosives , also committed suicide . The remnants of the Beiyang Fleet surrendered to the Japanese . After his death , Ding was blamed by the Qing government for the defeat , and posthumously stripped of all ranks and positions . However , the manner of his death earned him the respect of the Japanese as well as many members the Chinese military . At the request of surviving generals in 1911 , he was restored to all of his ranks , and his family was able to give him a proper burial in 1912 after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty .