Liu Mingchuan

Liu was born into a poor family of farmers at Hefei, Anhui Province. His father died when Liu was 11 years old. At age 18, Liu joined a local gang of bandits in the mountains, and at 20 he took part in the early Nien Rebellion. At 23 he changed his mind and joined the Huai Army, beginning his loyalty to the Qing Empire.

In 1859, during the Taiping Rebellion, he built his hometown's army, encouraged people to join, and suppressed several rebellions of the Taiping Army. In 1861, he led about 500 men to join Li Hongzhang's Huai Army. He was made the head of Ming Jhi Camp (銘字營), and went with Li to Shanghai to aid Charles George Gordon's army in defeating the Taiping Army. There he learned the use of Western firearms. In 1864 Huai Army commander Li Hongzhang and vice commander Liu attacked Changzhou to recover the city. Major General Liu was promoted to Colonel General and appointed to defend the capital at Beijing.

The Qing government promoted him to be the local provincial head. He followed Zeng Guofan to suppress the bandits around Anhui and Hupei. The bandits were suppressed after four years, and he was promoted to Baron First Class. Apart from providing occasional support to the military, he then resigned from his position due to illness.