Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/55

 he abandoned the siege (July 28, 1859) and led a teneral retreat (August 14) through Tung-an, Hunan, to Kwangsi. There, with divided forces, he overran not only Kwangsi but also the borders of Kwangtung and Kweichow. Though a strong detachment under Shih's command attempted to attack Kweilin, capital of Kwangsi (August 27, 1859), and even occupied adjacent cities, his smaller units were either scattered or gradually annihilated by militia. Even the strong detachment which attacked Kweilin was forced by Liu Ch'ang-yu, and others to move southwest to Ch'ing-yüan and Liu-chou. The latter city was recovered by Liu Chang-yu in February 1860, the former in May. Shih Ta-k'ai was driven southward to the region of Shang-lin and Wu-hsüan. Under these difficult conditions, some of his troops surrendered to the imperial government while others passed through Jên-hua, Kwangtung (September 8, 1860) to Kiangsi where they joined the central Taiping forces under Li Hsiu-ch'êng. Shih's power was further diminished when in 1861 still more of his troops yielded to the Ch'ing regime while others went to Kiangsi. In the meantime a detachment which had gone to Ting-fan, Kweichow, was forced to return to Ch'ing-yüan, Kwangsi. Then Shih assembled all his forces at Shang-lin (March 1861) from where in June he was compelled to move southeast to his native city, Kuei-hsien, which was not retaken by government amps until September. Thereupon he went back to Ch'ing-yüan (October 7) and thence to Lo-ch'êng and Jung-hsien. From here he was freed to go to Hunan where for a while he occupied Ching-chou, Yüan-chou and other cities. In this period Shih Ta-k'ai made it a practice to head his armies through narrow mountain passes at the borders of Kweichow, Hunan, Hupeh and other provinces in order to elude the attacks of the imperialists. But despite numerous detours, his ultimate goal was the province of Szechwan.

Early in 1862 Shih Ta-k'ai went from Li-ch'uan, Hupeh, to Ch'ang-ning, Szechwan. Ftom there he was forced through Hsü-yung and Ch'i-chiang, Szechwan, to Kweichow where he took T'ung-tzŭ, Jên-huai and other cities October 1862). But as these districts were We poor to support his troops, he marched across de border to Chên-hsiung, Yunnan, where he reorganized his forces and promoted some of his subordinates in reward for their services. Toward the end of 1862 he divided his forces into three detachments, thus invading Szechwan from different points with the purpose of distracting the attention and weakening the power of his enemies. He personally led a strong detachment which conquered Yün-lien, Szechwan (November 18), and attempted to cross the Chin-sha River to attack Hsü-chou. But the governor of Szechwan, Lo Ping-chang, with his capable aide, Liu Jung (see under ), were fully prepared to check his advance and to meet his anticipated attacks. Though the other two detachments were defeated, and one remnant fled northeast to the distant province of Shensi, Shih succeeded in crossing the Chin-sha River and proceeded to cross another stream, the Ta-tu-ho 大渡河, near the border of Szechwan and Tibet. This area along the Ta-tu-ho is mountainous and full of the aboriginal Lolos who were bribed by Shih Ta-k'ai to lead the way and help him. But Lo Ping-chang offered more attractive rewards for their help, with the result that the government forces, in co-operation with the Lolos, not only stemmed the advance of Shih Ta-k'ai but also blocked all possible avenues of retreat. Shih tried to cross the river on April 30, May 5 and 9, 1863, and at several other times, but was frustrated by great floods and by government troops. Before long his provisions ran out. Horses were killed for food and even mulberries were no longer available. While in this hopeless situation, Shih spied an imperialist flag with the characters, "Those who submit will have their lives spared." On these terms he surrendered to the government on June 13, 1863. About 4,000 of his weak soldiers were disbanded and another 2,000 of his ablest men were slaughtered. Shih Ta-k'ai and his son, Shih Ting-chung 石定忠, only five years old, and a few officers were conveyed to Chengtu, capital of Szechwan (June 25, 1863). After the formality of a legal inquiry by Lo Ping-chang, Shih was executed.

Shih Ta-k'ai was one of the best educated leaders of the Taiping Rebellion. He was an able tactician and treated considerately those whom he conquered. The scholar,, declared that Shih surpassed in ability many great scholars and high officials of the imperial government. His official dispatches, essays, and poems, which appear in the T'ai-p'ing T'ien-kuo shih-wên ch'ao (see under ) and in the periodical, 逸經 I-ching, (1936, vol. 3), are superior to any other Taiping documents in point of literary style. There is extant an incomplete diary, Shih Ta-k'ai jih-chi (日記, 1927), attributed to Shih, but it is believed to be a forgery, or at 657