Early life

Sa Zhenbing was born in Fuzhou, Fujian province, to a Semu family of Qarluk origin who had lived in the area since the late Yuan dynasty. Between 1869 and 1872 he attended the Fuzhou Naval Academy; Deng Shichang was among his classmates. Between 1877 and 1880 Sa Zhenbing was among the first group of Fuzhou Naval Academy alumni sent abroad to study at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in Britain.

Battle of Weihaiwei

After serving as a Chief Mate in the Nanyang Fleet, Sa Zhenbing became the youngest captain in the Beiyang Fleet. In 1895 he participated in the Battle of Weihaiwei during the First Sino-Japanese War, leading a group of sailors from the training ship Kangji in a ten-day defence of an island coastal fortress off Weihaiwei.

At that time the Japanese Admiral Itō Sukeyuki appealed to the Beiyang Fleet Admiral Ding Ruchang to surrender, promising him political asylum in Japan; Admiral Ding chose to commit suicide by handgun in his office at the Liugong Island headquarters. His deputy, Admiral Liu, after ordering that his warship be scuttled by explosives, also committed suicide by taking poison. Command of the Chinese Forces fell to Scottish-born Vice-Admiral John McClure, who completed the surrender negotiations with Admiral Ito. As the only captain still alive at the end of the battle, Sa Zhenbing was given the task of formally surrendering to Admiral Ito.

Later career

In 1905 Sa Zhenbing was appointed Admiral-in-Chief of the Beiyang, Nanyang and Guangdong Fleets, tasked with rebuilding the Imperial Chinese Navy after the defeat during the First Sino-Japanese War. Under his leadership the general efficiency of the Chinese naval personnel improved considerably.

During the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, Sa Zhenbing was ordered to sail to Wuhan to suppress the revolutionaries; upon realizing his sailors' revolutionary tendencies, he left his post on 1 November for Shanghai. Nonetheless he was appointed Minister of the Navy by Yuan Shikai, who at the time was the last Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet.

Sa Zhenbing briefly served as acting Prime Minister under the Beiyang government in 1920, then as Governor of Fujian Province from 1922 to 1926.

In 1949, near the end of the Chinese Civil War, Sa Zhenbing declined an offer by Chiang Kai-shek to evacuate him to Taiwan, instead pledging his allegiance to the Communist Party of China.

Sa Zhenbing died in his hometown of Fuzhou in 1952, aged 94.

家族背景

薩鎮冰出身于著名的福州薩氏家族，先祖世居雁門，故常稱為雁門薩氏。元代末期，其中一支後人遷居福州，名列福州八大家族。

家族中人才輩出，包括元朝詩人薩都剌、明朝宣德時禮部侍郎薩琦，近代曾經出任廈門大學校長的薩本棟和抗日戰爭中陣亡的中山艦艦長薩師俊等。薩鎮冰的孫女是薩圭申，中華民國（含大陸時期及政府遷臺初期）航空工業奠基人之一王助之妻。

薩鎮冰福州故居有三處，一處位于中山大院5號（即冶山仁壽堂），一處位于三坊七巷中的黃巷，保存最為完好的一處位于朱紫坊22號，這裡是薩氏家族聚族而居的地方。

生平

薩鎮冰的一生經歷了清朝、中華民國北洋政府、中華民國國民政府和中華人民共和國四個時期。

清朝

1859年生於福州澳橋，即今福州鼓樓區東大路附近。父薩怡臣，字懷良，號納吉，是道光年間的秀才，以塾師為業，家貧。幼年時乳母將其安置在族叔名醫薩覺民家，得學經書。

1869年，由於時主福建船政的沈葆楨與薩覺民友好，經後者推薦，薩鎮冰考入福州船政學堂二期，同學中有鄧世昌。

1872年，從船政學堂畢業，在「揚武」練船實習。

1876年，作為福建船政第一批留學生出國。

1877年春，入英國格林威治皇家海軍學院，1880年4月期滿回國。

1881年，薩鎮冰分配到南洋水師任「澄慶」炮船大副。

1882年調任天津水師學堂教習。

1886年，「威遠」運船管帶。

1887年，「康濟」練船管帶。

1889年，署精練左營遊擊。

1894年5月晉升副將，實授精練左營遊擊。

甲午戰爭期間，率「康濟」水手守衛南口日島炮臺，奮勇抵抗日軍，苦戰10天，直至奉令撤回。也負責將海戰陣亡的數位管帶浮尸撈起，帶回港埋葬

1896年，出任吳淞炮台總台官。1905年，升任總理南北洋水師兼廣東水師提督，擔負起重組北洋水師、復興海軍的重任。

中華民國時期

1911年10月武昌起義，被清政府指令率艦隊前往武漢江面炮轟革命軍，後發現下屬同情革命，11月1日與下屬告別，棄艦改乘英國商船前往上海。11月袁世凱組閣，任薩鎮冰為海軍部長。

1920年5月-8月，代理北洋政府國務總理職。

1922年任福建省省長，期間聘黃乃裳為高等顧問。1926年卸任，此後主要從事社會公益和慈善事業。

1933年支持和贊助十九路軍閩變，曾擔任在福州成立的中華共和國人民革命政府福建省人民政府主席和延建省省長。

1949年8月中國人民解放軍進駐福州之際，拒絕蔣中正的邀請赴台灣，並發文擁護中國共產黨。

中華人民共和國時期

中華人民共和國建國後任第一屆全國政協委員、中央人民政府人民革命軍事委員會委員、中央人民政府華僑事務委員會委員、福建省人民政府委員會委員。

1952年4月病逝于福州，享年94歲。薩鎮冰墓位於福建省福州市鼓樓區梅亭路。

著作

詩集《古稀吟集》、《客中吟草》、《裡門吟草》、《仁壽堂吟草》。

;詩作

• 1951年，中國人民志願軍在韓戰第三次戰役後打進了漢城，薩鎮冰得知此事，回想起50多年前的甲午悲歌，當即作詩一首：

• 薩鎮冰《一九五一年國慶頌詩》：