Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Chang Ming-chên
CHANG Ming-chên 張名振 (T. 侯服), d. Jan. 24, 1656, Ming general, was a native of Chiang-ning (Nanking). He was a military chin-shih of 1638, and in 1643 was given the post of major at Shih-p'u 石浦 on the Chekiang coast south of Ningpo. Refusing to surrender to the Manchus, he pledged fealty to the Prince of Lu (see under Chu I-hai) who rewarded his loyalty with the title, General Fu-p'ing 富平將軍. In the hope of furthering the Ming cause, Chang accompanied the Prince of Lu (1646) to Chusan. Here Chang had previously made a marriage alliance with one of the members of the family of Huang Pin-ch'ing 黃斌卿 (T. 明輔, H. 虎癡, d. 1649) who at this time had control of the greater part of the island, but on their arrival Huang refused to receive them. In the meantime Chu Yü-chien [q. v.], who had been supported by Chêng Ts'ai (see under Chu I-hai), had been captured by the Manchu forces under Li Ch'êng-tung [q. v.] and his Court was scattered. Chêng Ts'ai, who determined to establish another Ming court, arrived with his fleet at Chusan and invited the Prince of Lu to go to Amoy where on December 30, 1646 a temporary Court was set up, and the title, Earl Ting-hsi 定西伯, was conferred (1647) upon Chang Ming-chên.
During the same year Chang Ming-chên organized a force on the mainland and led an ill-fated expedition up the Yangtze river—a campaign vainly conducted against the Manchus again in 1651 and in 1652. After taking Chien-t'iao-so 健跳所, a town on the seacoast of Chekiang, Chang Ming-chên welcomed Chu I-hai who established a temporary court (August 12, 1649) there, and advanced Chang's rank to Marquis Ting-hsi. In October of that year Chang killed Huang Pin-ch'ing, after which Chu I-hai transferred his headquarters to Chusan (November 23, 1649) which became the base for the forces of the Prince of Lu for the next two years. Thereupon he was given the title Grand Preceptor (1649). On March 28, 1651 Chang executed Wang Ch'ao-hsien 王朝先, a former general under Huang Pin-ch'ing, who had aided Chang in the capture of Chusan from Huang. Wang Ch'ao-hsien's followers, in retaliation, surrendered to the Ch'ing forces and thus made possible the capture of Chusan by the Ch'ings under Ch'ên chin 陳錦 (d. 1652) on October 15, 1651. Chang's younger brother, Chang Ming-yang 張名揚, was captured and put to death by Ch'ing soldiers and Chang Ming-chên's mother, his wife and all other members of his immediate family committed suicide. With the Prince of Lu under his protection Chang fled to Amoy where he arrived early in 1652. There he met Chêng Ch'êng-kung [q. v.] and after praising the latter's loyalty to the Ming cause and showing him the four characters 赤心報國 Ch'ih hsin pao-kuo, "whole-heartedly pledged to the dynasty", tattooed upon his back, he was permitted to join Chêng's forces. During 1653 Chang made another attempt to enter the Yangtze and defeated the Manchus on Ch'ung-ming Island. The following year he again threatened Nanking with his fleet. In 1655 he re-took Chusan, and with this island as a base made still another invasion of the Yangtze the same year. He conquered T'ai-chou, Chekiang, and died at Chusan, loyal to the Ming cause to the last. He bequeathed his command to one of his officers, Chang Huang-yen [q. v.]. Although not included among those receiving posthumous honors in 1776, his younger brother, Chang Ming-yang, was given the name Lieh-min 烈愍.
[1/230/3b; M.36/12/1a; M.59/45/3a; Cha Chi-tso [q. v.], Lu ch'un-ch'iu, passim, and Tsui-wei lu 傳12下/102a; Huang Tsung-hsi [q. v.], 魯紀年 Lu chi-nien and 舟山興廢 Chou-shan hsing-fei, both in Li-chou i-chu hui-k'an; Inaba Iwakichi 稻葉岩吉, 張名振書牘考 Chō Mei-shin shoto kō in 史學雜誌 Shigaku-zasshi, vol. 23, no. 7; Epitaph by Ch'üan Tsu-wang [q. v.] in Chi-ch'i t'ing chi wai-pien 4/19b.]
Earl Swisher