Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/T'a-ch'i-pu
T'A-ch'i-pu 塔齊布 (clan name 陶佳 or 托爾佳 T. 智亭), d. Aug. 30, 1855, age 39 (sui), member of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, was one of the most valiant generals in the campaign against the Taipings. While serving as an imperial bodyguard he was ordered to Hunan (1851) as a captain. Tsêng Kuo-fan [q. v.], impressed with his loyalty and his prowess, strongly recommended him to the throne as one capable of great usefulness. This judgment was confirmed when T'a-ch'i-pu dealt the Taipings a serious blow by dislodging them, after sanguinary encounters, from the city of Hsiang-t'an on May 1, 1854. Tsêng Kuo-fan, at that time discouraged by the defeat of his forces, was much cheered by the news that the threat to the capital of Hunan had been averted. T'a-ch'i-pu was thereupon made a brigade-general and was soon appointed commander-in-chief of the province. He proceeded northward to help drive the enemy from Yochow, and later cooperated with Lo Tsê-nan [q. v.] and others in recapturing Wuchang (October 14). He then participated in a desperate effort to destroy the strong defense of the Taipings at T'ienchia-chan (see under P'êng Yü-lin) and was rewarded with the Yellow Riding Jacket and the hereditary title of Ch'i tu yü. He was defeated, however, in an engagement near Kiukiang, where, fighting as usual with a small vanguard, he alone narrowly escaped with his life. Undismayed, he attacked the city of Kiukiang, which had been in the hands of the Taipings since February 18, 1853, and had withstood many severe assaults. From early spring to August 1855 T'a-ch'i-pu besieged the city. Just as his plans were completed and an order was given for a general advance, he died suddenly of heart trouble. (Kiukiang remained in the hands of the Taipings until 1858). T'a-ch'i-pu was canonized as Chung-wu 忠武 and in 1864 was given the hereditary title of Ch'ing ch'ê tu yü of the third class.
[1/415/1a; 2/44/33a; 5/50/22a; 7/26/6a; 8/6上/1a.]