Fu Sheng

Fu Sheng (traditional Chinese: 傅盛; simplified Chinese: 傅盛; born 25 April 1720 – died 13 October 1746) was a merchant and revolutionary. He wanted to restore the Ming Dynasty to power, and he was able to gather a large number of Kung Fu Masters and political leaders on his side before being arrested and executed.
Fu Sheng was born in 25 April 1720 in Heze, Shandong (荷澤). He was the seventh child, and the third son, of his family. His father was Fu Ling and his mother Mi Lan. Fu Ling was a rich merchant, and his connection with the Qing Dynasty allowed him to become even richer. Fu Sheng's older brothers, Fu Zhao and Fu Le, joined the Qing army and became Qing officers.
However, despite that his family had many connections with the Qing, Fu Sheng viewed the Qing as a foreign barbarian occupation and was a Ming loyalist. Fu Sheng was also interested in martial arts and was a very skilled swordman. This caused Fu Sheng to have a rocky relationship with his father, who did not want his son to learn Kung Fu and was angry that his son did not support the Qing Regime.
In 1740, Fu Sheng's father died of a heart attack and Fu Sheng succeeded him in his mercantile business. Despite being very young, only 20 years old, Fu Sheng proved to be a very skilled merchant, increasing the wealth of his family. Fu Sheng also started meeting with Ming royalists, in an effort to unite the opposition against the Qing.
in 1742, Fu Sheng organized the "Union of Patriots", a secret organization of Ming loyalists. By 1743, Fu Sheng was able to get Li Hao, a police officer of Heze, Wu Chao, a very rich man and Governor of Shandong, Wu Zexian, a Ming princess, Ti Lung, Master of the Wing Chun Kung Fu school, Wang Yu, Master of the Tiger Kung Fu school, Chan Wao, Master of the praying mantis Kung Fu school, Yuan Shao, Master of the Crane Kung Fu school, and Huang Zhao, Master of the Iron Palm Kung Fu school to join his organization.
Sometime in early 1743, Fu Sheng was also able to persuade his brothers, Fu Zhao and Fu Le, who were Generals in the Qing Army, to join his organization. This was very important, as this allowed Fu Sheng to have the support of a small, but very well trained, force of 200 Qing soldiers.
Fu Sheng also developed his Kung Fu skills during this period, as he became student of Ti Lung. Fu Sheng also fell in love with Wu Zexian, but because the organization planned for her to become Empress, Fu Sheng could not marry her or have a relationship with her. Fu Sheng became deeply depressed because of this. In 1744, Fu Sheng published a poem which glorified the resistance of fighters who fought against the Qing and lived in the mountains:
"For how long, o brave young men, shall we live in fastnesses,
Alone, like tigers, on the ridges in the mountains?
Shall we dwell in caves, looking out on branches,
Fleeing from the world on account of bitter serfdom? 
    Abandoning brothers, sisters, parents, homeland
Friends, children, and all of our kin?
[...]
Better one hour of free life,
Than eighty years of slavery and prison."
In 1745, Fu Sheng started supplying men loyal to the Ming with weapons, thanks to his brothers who, as Generals, had access to Qing weapons. This alowed Fu Sheng to have under his command a force of 2,000 men, of whom 1,800 of them were Kung Fu experts and the rest 200 were Qing soldiers under his brothers. Fu Sheng decided that the time for a revolution was right in August 1745, and in 29 August 1745, in Shandong, Fu Sheng declared the restoration of the Ming Dynasty.
The rebel forces had much success at first, as they were able to take over all of the Shandong, Henan and Shanxi provinces and managed to defeat the Qing forces in 12 deadly battles, in which the rebel army was under the command of Fu Sheng, who always led in person his soldiers. The rebel forces increased to 50,000, as villagers, patriots and mercenaries joined the rebels. However, in 10 February 1746, the rebel forces faced a Qing army of 200,000 men in Jinan and were crushed. Soon, all rebel provinces came under Qing control.
The Qing begun a purge against all rebel leaders. Fu Sheng, Ti Lung and Wu Zexian were the only ones who managed to survive the purge. In 29 February, with nothing to stop them, Fu Sheng and Wu Zexian got married. The next day, they and Ti Lung begun a journey to Fujian in South China. Disguised as villagers, they were able to avoid the Qing, until they reached Fuzhou. There, all three of them were arrested and executed in 13 October.
After the fall of the Qing, Fu Sheng became a national hero in China. His skills as a military commander, however, are disputed. While some argue that his 12 victories over the Qing showed that he was a good military commander, others reply that his defeat in Jinan showed that his victories on the battlefield were mostly because of his surprise over the Qing forces.