Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-10-05 05:59
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The motto of Wei Jinke (梃恑壜 1816AD to 1901AD)
婙恑恖恑,---Qi2 jin4 ren2 jin4,
婙戅恖戅,---Qi2 tui4 ren2 tui4,
懪巰柍墔.---Da2 si3 wu2 yuan4.
When the flag goes forward men must go forward,
When the flag retreats men must retreat,
If you are killed blame no one.
Although Wei Jinke was born in Sanyuanli (嶰尦棦) in the north of Guangdong
province (淎搶徣), his ancestors were from the county of Xiangshan (崄嶳
the present day county of Zhongshan 拞嶳鉷 in Guangdong province). He was
a vegetable grower and was excelled in martial arts. When the Opium War
started in 1840AD Wei Jinke was only 24 years old. In April 1841 the British
troops attacked Guangzhou city and the Qing Army commander, Yi Shan (汅嶳
) surrendered to the British. On May 29, 1841, the British troops passed
through Sanyuanli plundering and pillaging. Wei Jinke organized the village
folks to fight the British. They killed more than 20 British soldiers. That
evening Wei Jinke called a meeting at the village temple to discuss how
to face the British the next day. 103 villagers attended the meeting. They
discussed tactics to defeat the British. Wei Jinke made a three-star flag
and gave instruction that they should fight according to the movement of
the flag which was, "When the flag move forward men should follow the flag
to go forward. When the flag retreat men should follow the flag to retreat".
The next day they lured the British to a hill called Niulangang (媿棑壀),
not far from Sanyuanli. They surrounded the British and attacked the British
with what they had. The British retreated to Guangzhou city. In that skirmish
more than 200 British soldiers were killed and about thirty of them were
captured alive. The number of villagers killed and wounded by the British
was not mentioned by the Qing Government. After this incident the British
left Sanyuanli alone.
The end result was that the Qing Government lost the war and the island
of Hong Kong was ceded to the British perpetually. Wei Jinke went back to
his profession of growing vegetables. He was miscalculated six decades later.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (揂塱尦)
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