Qi Kerang

Qi Kerang was a Chinese general of the Tang Empire who served as the military governor of Taining around modern Jining, Shandong. He failed to end the agrarian revolt of Huang Chao in the early 880s and was displaced in a surprise attack by Zhu Jin in 886.

Life Early life Little is known about Qi Kerang's background, as he did not have a biography in either of the official histories of Tang dynasty, the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang.

Huang Chao Rebellion Qi was serving as the military governor of Taining around modern Jining, Shandong, by 880, when the Tang emperor Xizong directed his eastern governors and commanders to block the northwestward advance of the agrarian rebel Huang Chao. Several governors were directed to station their men on the Yin River , a major branch of the Shaying River, while Qi was directed to station his men at Ruzhou in modern Pingdingshan, Henan.

Huang arrived in the region in the fall of 880 with a force reckoned as 150,000 strong. He defeated the 6000 men under Cao Quanzhen , the military governor of Tianping around modern Tai'an, Shandong, by sheer numerical advantage. Around the same time, Xue Neng , the military governor of Zhongwu around modern Xuchang, Henan, was killed in a mutiny led by Zhou Ji. Worried that Zhou would next ambush him, Qi abandoned his defensive position and returned to Taining's capital Yanzhou . Following his example, the other also abandoned their own defensive positions along the Yin River, allowing Huang an open path toward the imperial capitals of Luoyang and Chang'an.

Zhang's relief troops and Huang's vanguard arrived at Tong Pass on the same day, 4 January 881. Qi's troops and Huang's battled for most of the morning. Around noontime, Qi's troops began collapsing from hunger. They trampled through Jinkeng , a valley full of thorns that was serving as part of the defensive perimeter for Tong Pass. With the thorns destroyed, the pass was vulnerable to attack from a new flank. Qi fled while Zhang continued to try to defend Tong Pass, but in the end it fell. Huang to continued on and captured Chang'an, while Emperor Xizong fled to Chengdu.

Overthrow In 886, Zhu Jin, an officer at Tianping and the cousin of its military governor Zhu Xuan, asked to marry Qi's daughter. Qi agreed and Zhu Jin led a procession from Tianping's capital Yunzhou to Yanzhou. Having reached Yanzhou, on the day that he was supposed to receive his bride, he used his entourage and the weapons and armor hidden among his wagons to made a surprise attack, evicting Qi from the city. Zhu Jin took over Taining and was eventually formally commissioned as its new military governor. This is the last historical reference to Qi, and it is unknown what happened to him afterwards.