Yuan Chonghuan was a famed patriot and military commander of the
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history," was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
who battled the
ManchuThe Manchu people are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the seventeenth century, with the help of Ming rebels , they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a...
s in
Liaoning' is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is Liao ."Liáo" is an ancient name for this region, which was adopted by the Liao Dynasty which ruled this area between 907 and 1125. "Níng" means "peacefulness"...
. He was known to have excelled in artillery warfare and successfully incorporated western tactics into the East. Yuan's military career reached its height when he defeated
NurhaciNurhaci was an important Manchu chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th Century in what is today Northeastern China...
and the Manchurian army in the first
Battle of NingyuanThe Battle of Ningyuan was a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchurian Later Jin in 1626. The Ming won this battle. This battle marked the temporary resurgence of the Imperial Ming army after a long series of defeats....
.
NurhaciNurhaci was an important Manchu chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th Century in what is today Northeastern China...
's son and successor, Huáng Táijí, was defeated by him in the second
Battle of NingyuanThe Battle of Ningyuan was a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchurian Later Jin in 1626. The Ming won this battle. This battle marked the temporary resurgence of the Imperial Ming army after a long series of defeats....
. However, Yuan was a tragic figure, and was executed by his emperor under false charges which Huang Taiji deliberately planted against him.
Early life
Yuan Chonghuan was born in
DongguanDongguan is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, People's Republic of China....
,
GuangdongGuangdong is a province on the southern coast of People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
. During his adolescence, Yuan spent time travelling from town to town. It is during these journeys that he befriended many Jesuits and foreigners. He had taken imperial examinations a few times with little success, but in his journeys to the capital, he was able to see a lot more than the average examiners could see. Some say that in this time, he befriended westerners and together, they spent time modifying European cannons.
Early military career
He passed the imperial examinations in 1619 and was appointed to the minor post of magistrate in a remote place. In 1619, the imperial Ming army was very badly defeated by the Manchus in the
Battle of SarhuThe Battle of Sarhū refers to the series of conflicts between the Manchus and Ming Dynasty of China in the winter of year 1619, which ended in the overwhelming victory for the former....
. Subsequently, the Chinese armies suffered successive defeats and in 1622 they were forced to retreat to Shanhaiguan, abandoning all of Liaoning to the Manchus. After a visit to the front, Yuan was appointed second-class secretary in the Board of War, promoted almost immediately to secretary, and supplied with funds for enlisting troops. (It should be noted that Yuan did not have any formal military training at all. Of course, he had to study the Confucian classics in order to pass the imperial examinations. It is some sort of minor miracle that he could move from a junior civilian officer to a high-ranking military commander in just a couple of years.)
Yuan Chonghuan worked harmoniously with the commander-in-chief
Sun ChengzongSun Chengzong was a Grand Secretary of the late Ming Dynasty. He also served as Troop Secretary....
(孫承宗) and pushed the frontiers steadily northward, fortifying
NingyuanXingcheng , former name Ningyuan , is a Chinese city with more than 100,000 inhabitants, in Huludao, Liaoning.-External links:*...
(寧遠) in 1623. The elderly Sun was an able commander with a good moral character and refused to bribe the Emperor's eunuch. Consequently, in 1625 Sun was recalled and replaced by
Gao DiGao Di is a Chinese football player who plays as a forward for Shandong Luneng Taishan F.C..-Club career:Gao Di is a graduate of the Shandong Luneng youth team and would be premoted to the senior side during the 2008 league season...
(高第), who ordered a general retreat to Shanhaiguan, but Yuan flatly refused to leave Ningyuan. Early in the next year,
NurhaciNurhaci was an important Manchu chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th Century in what is today Northeastern China...
led the Manchus back across the
Liao RiverThe Liao He is the principal river in southern Manchuria . The province of Liaoning and the Liaodong Peninsula derive their name from the river....
. Yuan Chonghuan and his Deputies successfully held Ningyuan with the newly-mounted and modified "red-barbarian cannon" (紅衣大炮, 紅夷大炮) and wounded the Manchurian Emperor, Nurhaci. As a result of this victory, the Imperial Court at
BeijingBeijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of China...
appointed Yuan on 27 February 1626 as the Governor of Liaodong, with full authority to handle all forces outside the passes. This battle was an amazing deed since Yuan had only 9,000 soldiers (of whom many were simply militia), even though Nurhaci's men consisted of 130,000 strong men (some say 200,000). This battle prevented China from being conquered and boosted the hopes of Ming and its allies that the Manchurians were defeatable. It is noted that Yuan was said to have studied every aspect of the cannon for it to fire correctly at the position he wanted, and this is the reason why Nurhaci, even though well protected by his elite guards in a relatively safe position, was fatally wounded. This battle was remembered as the
Battle of NingyuanThe Battle of Ningyuan was a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchurian Later Jin in 1626. The Ming won this battle. This battle marked the temporary resurgence of the Imperial Ming army after a long series of defeats....
. It is said that after the battle, Yuan sent letters to ask the well-being of Nurhaci, as what traditionally Chinese generals would do, but Nurhaci returned an insult by calling him a faker.
During this time, he executed
Máo WénlóngMao Wenlong was a famed marine corps commander of the Ming Dynasty who battled the Manchus in Yellow Sea. He was known to have excelled in artillery warfare and successfully incorporated western tactics into the East....
(毛文龍), a somewhat talented commander but who had a terrible moral character. Various texts have different perspectives of his actions. Many stated this was a terrible mistake since Mao could still be used to defend against the Manchus. However, Yuan took in account of how Mao committed his battles. Mao's tactics usually involved using civilian settlements as a shield for his troops and during the occupation, civilians suffered tremendously. It is also Mao's fault for using Korea, Ming's ally, as a base to attack Manchuria, which resulted in Korea being conquered by Manchus as Mao ordered a general retreat when the Manchus entered Korea. This angered many merchants in the Beijing area since Mao had never dared to drag major cities into war even when there was a strategic advantage. In addition, Mao had bribe many eunuchs and corrupted officials. Thus, Yuan made enemies with the most influential and corrupted people in China.
Taking advantage of Nurhaci's death later in the year, Yuan reoccupied
JinzhouJinzhou , is a prefecture-level city of Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city in the "Liaoxi Corridor" , which connects the land transportation between North China and Northeast China. Jinzhou is China's Northmost seaport and the coastal economic centre of West Liaoning on...
. The Manchus reappeared in June and withdrew after a series of indecisive battles. (Note: This is known as the Battle of Ningyuan-Jinzhou or the Second Battle of Ningyuan.) The campaign gave opportunity for Yuan to be criticised by the partisans of the eunuch official
Wèi ZhōngxiánWei Zhongxian is considered by most historians as the most powerful and notorious eunuch in Chinese history. He was a hoodlum and gambler, initially named Li Jinzhong, who became a eunuch and entered palace service to escape from his creditors. After entering the palace, he got into the service...
, stating that he took too long to fight off the "Barbarian" Manchurians, in consequence of which he retired.
Later military career and death
In 1628, under a new government, Yuan Chonghuan was reinstated as field marshal of all the forces of the northeast. He embarked on an ambitious five year plan for the complete recovery of Liaodong. In 1629 he was granted the title of Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. The
Chongzhen EmperorThe Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :Born Zhu Youjian , Chongzhen was the fifth son of the Taichang Emperor...
, the new emperor gave him his Imperial Sword and stated that he would fully support Yuan's decisions. Chongzhen emperor took the reign on 1627 at the age of 16, and on 1629(at the age of 18) he appointed Yuan Chonghuan.
This time Yuan had to face again a larger Manchurian force (slightly above 200,000) under Huang Taiji. This time the Manchurians had incorporated many more men including the newly surrendered Mongols, rebel Ming army and the conquered Korea and various small states of the North. However, the Manchus were not confident to attack Jinzhou or Ningyuan again.
Th Manchus changed their strategy. They bypassed Jinzhou, Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass. They broke through the Great Hall west of Shanhai Pass and suddenly appeared north of Beijing in the winter of 1629. Yuan rushed back with an elite army from Ningyuan to defend the capital. He reached Beijing only one or two days before the Manchus arrived at Beijing. Outside the city wall of Beijing, he defeated the Manchurian "
Eight BannersThe Eight Banners were administrative divisions into which all Manchu families were placed. They provided the basic framework for the Manchu military organization...
" (八旗) which numbered one hundred thousand. (Note: The Manchus failed to destroy the Imperial Ming army at the city wall of Beijing and thus failed to launch a direct assault on the city wall. Thus the Manchus failed in their main objective of launching a surprise attack on Beijing. Yuan's army was not strong enough to destroy the Manchu army. He only managed to make the Manchus fail in their main objective.) As he arrived in Beijing, instead of being welcome, he was heavily criticized. Some eunuchs even accused Yuan of collaborating with the enemy. In fact, they were actually tricked by Huang Taiji into thinking that Yuan had backstabbed them.
Without much evidence, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered his arrest during an interview with the Emperor on 13 January 1630. He was accused of collusion with the enemy and condemned to the "
death by a thousand cutsSlow slicing , also translated as the slow process, the lingering death, or death by a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from roughly AD 900 to its abolition in 1905...
" at Ganshiqiao (甘石橋) in
BeijingBeijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of China...
. It is stated the merchants, eunuchs and corrupt officials rushed to buy his body parts so they could eat it. When Yuan was asked for last words before his execution, he produced the poem: "A life's work always ends up in vain; half of my career seems to be in dreams. I do not worry about lacking brave warriors after my death, for my loyal spirit will continue to guard Liaodong." (一生事業總成空，半世功名在夢中。死後不愁無將勇，忠魂依舊保遼東！) His family was also executed.
Mourning was given to the general's honor throughout most part of the country and even Korea; everyone regarded the fate of Ming and its allies was in boiling water with the death of Yuan. His head, the only recognizable part after the torture, was taken outside the Inner City Wall by a city guard, whose surname is She, and buried near Guanqu Men. The guard's family have guarded it from one generation to the next ever since. His tomb was recently renovated to become the Yuan Chonghuan Memorial .
Huang Taiji publicly stated that he would never be able to beat Yuan in a fair game, thus, making the Chongzhen Emperor kill him was the only method to get rid of him. Just as the message of Yuan's death reach Huang Taiji's ears, he changed his state name from
JinThe Chinese character 筋 can mean either "muscle" or "tendon" . Exercises designed to develop Jīn are known as Jīngōng . In the context of Chinese martial arts, such exercises develop the ability to recruit the tendons at the beginning and end of a movement as a means of enhancing and delivering...
to Qing and proclaimed himself Emperor Qing Taizong. Some historical information states that Huang Taiji feared Yuan's last word stating his soul will always guard Liaodong Peninsula: As the name Chonghuan, means Undying Flames, contains the
elementThe Wu Xing , or the Five Movements, Five Phases or Five Steps/Stages, are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, in many traditional Chinese fields....
"Fire", he put the word Qing, meaning cleanse, which contains the element "Water", to overcome it; however, even if this is the case, the main reason is probably because the "Ming" of the
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history," was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
contains the element "Fire" itself.
Popular culture
Although history states that his entire family was executed, in
JinyongLouis Cha, GBM, OBE , better known by his pen name Jin Yong , is one of the most influential modern Chinese-language novelists...
's
wuxiaWuxia or Wǔxiá is a broad genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists set in ancient China. Although Wuxia is traditionally a form of literature, it is now found in art, comics, films, television, theatre and video games...
novel
Sword Stained with Royal BloodSword Stained with Royal Blood is first published in Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1956. It is a Wuxia novel by Chinese author Louis Cha. The book is currently in its third edition and is currently undergoing revision for a fourth edition...
(碧血劍), Yuan is survived by a son. The protagonist of the novel, he learns amazing martial arts on
Mount HuaHua Shan is located in the Shaanxi Province, about 100 kilometres east of the city of Xi'an, near the city Huayin in China. The mountain is one of China's Five Sacred Daoist Mountains, and has a long history of religious significance...
and tries to avenge his father's death. Jinyong also put forward a theory by some other historians that it was the
Chongzhen EmperorThe Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :Born Zhu Youjian , Chongzhen was the fifth son of the Taichang Emperor...
, not Huang Taiji, that had Yuan Chonghuan killed, and that the Chongzhen Emperor knew perfectly well that Yuan was not a traitor. As in the case of
Yuè FēiYue Fei was a famous Chinese patriot and military general who fought for the Southern Song Dynasty against the Jurchen armies of the Jin Dynasty...
, Jinyong proposed that the cause of Yuan's death was the Chongzhen Emperor's fear of his popularity with the people and of his disrespect of the throne.
His name was conclusively cleared about 100 years after his death by the
Qiánlóng EmperorThe Qianlong Emperor was the fifth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China...
, a descendant of his arch enemy, Huang Taiji, who plotted his death. This happened after people found conclusive evidence in old archives of the Imperial Qing court. The Manchu Qianlong Emperor tried to show off his unusual kindness by searching for Yuan's descendants for reward but none could be found. Then he rewarded some descendants of Yuan's brother.
Various books have been written on him. Various TV dramas or films have been made in his honor.
See also
- Zu Dashou
Zu Dashou was a Ming General under Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong, Marshal Yuan Chonghuan and eventually Marshal Hong Chengchou. He later surrendered to Qing when he was surrounded and the Imperial Ming army commanded by Marshal Hong Chengchou sent to rescue Zu's garrison was defeated...
- Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...
- Chongzhen Emperor
The Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :Born Zhu Youjian , Chongzhen was the fifth son of the Taichang Emperor...
- Huang Taiji
- Nurhaci
Nurhaci was an important Manchu chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th Century in what is today Northeastern China...
- Tianqi Emperor
The Tianqi Emperor was the 15th emperor of the Ming dynasty from 1620 to 1627. Born Zhu Youjiao, he was the Taichang Emperor's eldest son. His era name means "Heavenly opening".-Biography:...
- Man Gui
Man Gui was a Ming Dynasty General of Mongol origin.-Biography:First spotted in an inspection tour by Grand-Secretary Sun Chengzong, he was highly prominent under Marshal Yuan Chonghuan...