Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Ho T'êng-chiao
HO T'êng-chiao 何騰蛟 (T. 雲從, 雲若, 雲巖), 1592–1649, Mar. 9, Ming loyalist, was a native of Li-p'ing, Kueichow. After taking his chü-jên degree in 1621, he served in various posts. In the winter of 1643 he was appointed governor of Hupeh and Hunan where he made the acquaintance of Tso Liang-yü [q. v.]. When the Prince of Fu (see under Chu Yu-sung) was proclaimed Emperor at Nanking, Ho was made (November 8, 1644) junior vice-president of the Board of War and later (January 4, 1645) governor-general of six provinces—Hunan, Hupeh, Szechwan, Yunnan, Kweichow, and Kwangsi. Early in 1645 he was forced to join Tso Liang-yü in his advance on the Ming court at Nanking. But when Tso's fleet was passing the Han-yang Gate at Wuchang, Hupeh, Ho escaped and fled to Changsha where he soon learned that the Manchus had taken Nanking (June 8, 1645) and had captured the Prince of Fu (June 18, 1645). Two months later the Prince of Tang (see under Chu Yü-chien) was proclaimed Emperor in Fukien and Ho was appointed concurrently president of the Board of War and Grand Secretary of the Tung-ko (東閣) with the hereditary rank of "Earl of Ting-hsing" (定興伯). Meanwhile the remnant forces of Li Tzŭ-ch'êng [q. v.] declared their allegiance to Ho who was able to establish the so-called "Thirteen Military Centers" (十三鎮) in Hunan. Ho requested the Prince of Tang to move his court to Kanchou, Kiangsi, but the prince was captured (October 6, 1646) by the Ch'ing forces at T'ing-chou, Fukien, near the Kiangsi border. On November 24 the Prince of Kuei (see under Chu Yu-lang) was proclaimed Emperor to continue the Ming cause at Chao-ch'ing, Kwangtung, and Ho was made concurrently president of the Board of War and Grand Secretary of the Wu-ying-tien 武英殿. When the Manchus pressed down on Hunan, the so-called “Thirteen Military Centers” were shattered, and Ho fled southward to Wu-kang, Hunan, (July 1647) where he had an audience with Chu Yu-lang [q. v.]. On September 22 Wu-kang fell to the Manchus and Ho was enjoined to help Ch'ü Shih-ssŭ [q. v.] defend Kuei-lin, Kwangsi, while Chu Yu-lang sought safety in Ching-chou, Hunan, and later in Liu-chou, Kwangsi. After defeating the Manchu troops at Ch'üan-chou, Kwangsi (November 28), Ho was raised in rank to "Marquis of Ting-hsing."
The rebellion of Chin Shêng-huan [q. v.] against the Manchus in Kiangsi (June 1648) shifted the center of the Manchu attack and made it possible for Ho to recover a number of cities in Hunan during that winter. Early in the following year (1649) the Manchus initiated a campaign against the Ming forces in Hunan. On March 3 Hsiang-t'an, Hunan, fell and Ho was captured. Failing to win him over to the Manchu cause, the enemy put him to death. The Ming court gave him the title, "Prince of Chung-hsiang" (中湘王) and the posthumous name, Wên-lieh 文烈. In 1776 Emperor Kao-tsung canonized him as Chung-ch'êng 忠誠.
[M.3/260/1a; M.36/6/1a; M.41/8/14a; 15/1b, 10b, 30a, 16/5a; M.64/辛9/1a; Li-p'ing fu chih (1891) 7上/34b, 119b.]
J. C. Yang