Xiong Tingbi

Life

He became a jieyuan in the dingyou year of the Wanli era and a jinshi in the wuxu year; the jinshi result is also dated to the twenty-sixth year of Wanli. His career began as the Baoding tuiguan: he entered the Ministry of Works as a gongbu zhushi, was promoted to Zhejiang Circuit censor, inspected Liaodong, and served as educational commissioner for Yingtian. He also held the offices of zhongshu sheren, circuit censor, and provincial administration commissioner. In the thirty-ninth year of Wanli (1611), he served as xuezheng; he later held the posts of Vice Minister of War, Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief, Liaodong jinglue, and Minister of War.

After Yang Hao’s defeat in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Xiong Tingbi was appointed Vice Minister of War and Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief while serving as Liaodong jinglue. He executed fleeing commanders, performed rites for those who had died in loyal service, and repaired the equipment and works of war and defense, after which morale began to stabilize. He proposed a three-front deployment plan requiring 12 million in provisions, but Wang Yingjiao strongly opposed it.

Early in the Tianqi reign, a censor falsely impeached him and he left office. In the first year of Tianqi, when Later Jin forces captured Shenyang and Liaoyang, the court recalled him and restored him as Liaodong jinglue, stationed at Shanhaiguan. Xiong Tingbi and the governor Wang Huazhen were at odds. The following year, after Huazhen’s defeat and the loss of Guangning, Huazhen reached the Daling River and encountered Tingbi; both withdrew through the Pass and were imprisoned. Xiong Tingbi was killed in the fifth year of Tianqi, and his head was sent to the nine frontier garrisons; his fate is also described as execution in the marketplace.

Writings and later memory

His works include 《遼中書牘》, 《熊襄愍公集》, and 《性氣集》. Other titles include 《熊襄愍文集》 in seven juan, 《熊襄愍公集》 in ten juan with one juan at the beginning and one at the end, 《熊襄愍公尺牘》 in four juan, 《經略熊先生全集》 in eleven juan, 《性氣先生集》, and 《東園十詠》. Volume 7 of 《熊襄愍公集》 contains letters to and replies from Wang Huazhen. Zhang Nai wrote a preface to one of his books, and Quan Zuwang wrote his biography.