Su Yuanchun, courtesy name Zixi (February 8, 1844 – June 13, 1908) was a Chinese general and statesman who was a fierce anti-French activist.
One of the main commanders behind the Sino-French War, he served as a general of the Xiang Army as well as a prominent politician in his home province of Guangxi.
After the Sino-French War broke out, China was losing the overland campaign in Vietnam and on 1884, Beining fell to the French and Xu Yanxu was ousted from the post of Governor of Guangxi after being convicted of crimes and the Qing courts got Pan Dingxin to replace him and Su was ordered to muster around 2,400 soldiers to fight off the French at Vietnam.
[2] During this time, he would gather up infantry from Gui, Hunan, Hubei and Huai to assist Feng Zicai in wall construction and when the Battle of Zhennan Pass occurred when the French arrived, the French were defeated and for the Chinese victory at Zhennan Pass, Su was awarded the third-class light car captain and was later rewarded with the Prince's Shaobao and the second-class light car captain.
The Qing courts deemed Su Yuanchun to be working in Guangxi for too long and in order to prevent the province from decline, the Qing court wanted to transfer him to Jiangnan to train the new army there and to exchange with the admiral of Hubei, Xia Yuxiu but said transfer was unsuccessful due to Su deemed to be pressed.
In 1909, the Qing court rehabilitated Su Yuanchun, opened an official restoration, and gave his life and military exploits to the historical museum for biography.