Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Ting K'uei-ch'u
TING K'uei-ch'u 丁魁楚 (T. 光三), d. Mar. 3, 1647, Ming general, was a native of Yungch'êng, Honan. He passed the chin-shih examination in 1616. After several promotions he was appointed (1631) governor, stationed at Paoting, and three years later (1634) was made junior vice-president of the Board of War. When Fu Tsung-lung 傅宗龍 (T. 仲綸, 括蒼, 雲中, d. Oct. 23, 1641, chin-shih of 1610) was dismissed as governor-general of Chi-Liao and Paoting 薊遼保定, Ting K'uei-ch'u was put in his place. Accused of failure to resist the Manchu invasion in 1636, Ting was exiled, but was allowed to return in 1638 after contributing a substantial sum of money to the government. After the fall of Peking (June 1644) he was appointed (September 7) governor-general of Honan and Hu-kuang by the New Court of the Prince of Fu (see under Chu Yu-sung), but was transferred two months later (November 17) to the governor-generalship of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. During the reign of the Prince of Tang (see under Chu Yü-chien) in lukien (1645–46), he was ordered to serve in the same capacity, as governor-general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, to assist the military campaign; and was granted the title, Earl P'ing-yüeh (平粵伯), for having arrested the pretender, Chu Hengchia (see under Ch'ü Shih-ssŭ). On October 6, 1646 the Prince of Tsang was captured by the Manchu troops, and Ting, together with Ch'ü Shih-ssŭ [q. v.], welcomed Chu Yu-lang [q. v.] to Chao-ch'ing, Kwangtung—the latter assuming the title, "administrator of the realm" 監國 (November 20, 1646). Thereupon Ting was made concurrently Grand Secretary of the Tung-ko 東閣 and president of the Board of Military Affairs (戎政). In order to retain his control in the government he maintained close relations with the influential eunuch, Wang K'un 王坤 (later known as Wang Chao-chi 王肇基), but paid little attention to military preparations. On January 20, 1647, the Ch'ing forces under Li Ch'êng-tung [q. v.] took Canton, and Chu Yu-lang fled westward to Wu-chou, Kwangsi. Instead of escorting Chu Yu-lang, Ting, with forty ship-loads of war supplies and treasure, proceeded (February 20) to Ts'ên-hsi, Kwangsi, where he secretly arranged terms of surrender to Li Ch'êng-tung. The latter, under the pretence of friendship, invited Ting to a banquet, and put him to death.
A nephew, Ting Ch'i-chün 丁啓濬 (T. 哲初, chin-shih of 1619), was president of the Board of War (1641) and in charge of the military affairs of six provinces, but was soon dismissed on grounds of incompetence. The Prince of Fu appointed him in 1644 president of the Board of War, but after the fall of Nanking (June 8, 1645) he retired to his native place.
[M.1/260/18a; M.2/365/27a; M.59/63/7a; Wang Fu-chih [q. v.], Yung-li shih-lu 3/1a; Ming-chi nan lüeh (see bibl. under Ma Shih-ying) 12/3b, 4b, 6b.]