Qi Jiguang, the Famous Anti-Japanese General

Qi Jiguang (1528-1588), courtesy name Yuanjing and nickname Nantang, was a native of Penglai, Shandong Province. He was an outstanding military strategist of the Ming Dynasty, a famous anti-Japanese general, and a famous national hero. He was born as a general, and he studied martial arts since he was a child. He had the ambition to serve the country with the hope that Hai Boping would not be granted the title of marquis. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates were rampant along the southeast coast, and the people suffered greatly. Qi Jiguang was ordered to station on the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian. In view of the characteristics of Japanese pirate warfare, he recruited villagers to form the Qi Army with strict military discipline and strong combat power. He created original tactics such as the Mandarin Duck Formation to flexibly defend against the enemy. He led his troops to fight in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places, repeatedly defeating Japanese enemies, clearing away the Japanese invasion of the southeast coast for many years, and protecting the peace of the people along the coast. After quelling the Japanese invasion, Qi Jiguang was transferred to Ji Town in the north to reorganize border defenses, repair the Great Wall, and train troops to defend against enemies, effectively resisting the intrusion of northern nomadic tribes and stabilizing the defense of northern Xinjiang. He is the author of "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Record of Military Training", which are important military classics for later generations. During the Wanli period, Qi Jiguang was ostracized and dismissed from office. He became poor and sick in his later years, and eventually died of illness. He was given the posthumous name Wu Yi. His spirit of protecting his family and country was widely praised by later generations.