1528-1588
Military Officer

Military Life. Born to a traditional military family in Shandong, Qi Jiguang received a well-rounded education in the Confucian classics and literature in addition to the military arts. After assuming his father's rank in 1544, Qi Jiguang performed his duties well. One of his assignments was to take a Shandong detachment yearly to defend the Great Wall north of Beijing. He did this five times between 1548 and 1552. In 1549, after taking the military examinations, he received the military Juren in Shandong in 1549 but failed to pass the higher examination in Beijing a year later. As a result, he remained in the capital to perform some duty during that time when the Mongols broke through the Great Wall and reached the suburbs of Beijing. He participated in the defense of the city, and submitted a plan to fight the Mongols on the frontier.

Coastal Defense. Appointed...