Ding Ruchang

Admiral Ding Ruchang (Chinese: 丁汝昌; pinyin: Dīng Rǔchāng; Wade–Giles: Ting Ju-ch'ang; 18 November 1836 – 12 February 1895), courtesy name Yuting (禹廷 or 雨亭), art name Cizhang (次章), was a Chinese admiral of the Qing dynasty. Ding took part in the First Sino-Japanese War. He lost five of the ten ships in his fleet during the Battle of the Yalu River (1894). During the subsequent Battle of Weihaiwei (1895), Ding refused offers of political asylum by the Japanese admiral Itō Sukeyuki. Instead of surrendering, Ding committed suicide by an overdose of opium in his office at his Liugong Island headquarters. After his death, Ding was blamed by the Qing government for the defeat, and posthumously stripped of all ranks and positions. He was posthumously rehabilitated and restored to all of his ranks by the Qing imperial court in 1910.