Han Shizhong (Chinese: 韓世忠) (1089 – 16 September 1151[1]) was a Chinese military general, poet, and politician of the late Northern Song dynasty and the early Southern Song dynasty. He dedicated his whole life to serving the Song dynasty, and performed many legendary deeds. It is said that he had scars all over his body and, by the time he retired, there were only four fingers left on both of his hands. General Han distinguished himself in the Jin–Song wars against the Jurchen Jin dynasty, and was reputed to win battles in situation where he had to face a larger number of enemies with a smaller numbers of soldiers. He was a great fighter and because of his feats in battle, Yuan Tan said that Han Shizhong was truly an even match for 10,000 men.
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| Native name | 韓世忠 |
| Nickname(s) | Prince of Qi (蘄王) |
| Born | 1089 |
| Died | 1151 (aged 61–62) |
| Allegiance | Song dynasty |
| Years of service | 1105–1142 |
| Battles / wars | Song–Jin wars |
| Han Shizhong | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 韓世忠 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 韩世忠 | ||||||
| |||||||
He was also known as a military inventor: his inventions including various modified bows, chain-like armor, a horse jumping obstacle course for cavalry training, and an archery range for archery practice. His wife, Liang Hongyu, was also known to have an exceptional military mind.
Through the tragedy of Yue Fei's execution, Han realized the extent of the rampant corruption throughout the Song imperial court, and retired from military service afterward.
Early life
editHan Shizhong was born to a poor farming family in a village of the Shanxi province in the year 1089. He was born in a time when China was under constant threats by stronger bordering nations: notably the Tanguts' Western Xia, the Khitans' Liao dynasty and the Jurchens' Jin Empire. In 1105, the Tanguts' kingdom of Xi Xia attacked China and Han Shizhong was conscripted into military service.[2]
Early military career
editIn the war against Xi Xia, Han Shizhong distinguished himself by slaying an enemy officer in battle and was given a rank. These achievements were followed by greater successes, and he was hence promoted to lieutenant. Han led Song Jiang's army offensive against the Liao and these stories were written in the Water Margin. The war between Song China and Xi Xia emerged into a war of a larger scale when the powerful Jin and Liao entered and supported different sides (Jin and Song; Liao and Xi Xia). It ended when the Jin emerged victorious over the Liao armies. Despite a victory against their enemies, the Song government had little to celebrate as peasant rebellions began to plague their land. In 1120, Han was sent as a deputy of General Wang Yuan (王渊) to suppress a local rebellion. It was reputed that he alone infiltrated a rebels' stronghold and captured the leader, Fang La. Han was nicknamed, "Able to defeat ten thousands" (萬人敵) and was rewarded handsomely for his efforts.[3]
Meeting with Liang Hongyu
editA banquet was soon held in Han's honor for this success. During this banquet, Han met his future wife, Liang Hongyu. Liang Hongyu was a courtesan and was serving the officers in the banquet.[4][5] It is said that Liang caught the eye of Han who was sighing instead of celebrating like the others. Liang approached Han and asked him why he wasn't showing any signs of joy in the banquet which was thrown in his honor. Han replied that this was a small victory and that he was worried about the Jurchens who showed signs of hostility to the Song regime. He stated that it hurt him to imagine the damage that war may bring upon the peasants. Liang was in awe of Han, and the two quickly become very close to each another. Liang decided to follow Han and the two soon were married.[6]
Jurchen invasions
editFirst invasion
editSoon, Han's greatest fear approached as the Jurchens betrayed its alliance with Song and attacked the Song army by surprise. Han was enlisted with the many deputies under General Liang Fongping. He was given fifty cavalry to take back the fortress of Yishan from the Jurchens. Many regarded this as a suicidal assault since there were over 2000 experienced Jin troops guarding it. However, Liang enforced the idea, and Han didn't reject it. Miraculously, Han emerged victorious over the Jurchens. Yet, Han had no time to celebrate as all the other armies under Liang had been routed by Jurchens.[citation needed]
Second invasion
editIn 1125, the Jin army destroyed the Liao Empire and swiftly destroyed the forces of Xi Xia and Goryeo (both allies of Liao), making them vassal states of the Jin Empire. That very same year, the Jurchens assembled a large coalition force consisting of Jurchens, Tanguts, Khitans and Koreans to launch a second invasion of China. Han was defending the city of Zhaozhou once again under General Wang Yuan (Chinese:王淵). After a few months of battle, the city's logistical supplies dwindled. Han asked for three hundred cavalrymen and, one night, made a surprise attack on the enemy encampment. This attack caught the Jurchens by surprise and they began to scramble and swing their swords on anyone they saw. By daybreak, many of them had trampled over one another; amongst those fatalities was the commander of the invading Jurchen force. The Jurchens had no choice but to retreat. Thus was the city of Zhaozhou relieved. Despite this victory, most other Song defending forces, again, were defeated, and the Jurchens even captured two Song emperors in the Jingkang incident. In AD 1127, Han was given a thousand-man army to escort the crown prince Zhao Gou, Prince of Kang (趙構, 亦称康王) to safety in southern China. He was checked by an army ten times larger but, once again, emerged victorious and forced the enemy to retreat. The crown prince who would become Emperor Gaozong (宋高宗) successfully reached Henan (河南商丘), ascended the throne and established the Southern Song dynasty. Shortly after in 1127 or 1128, the capital was moved to Yangzhou.[7]
Han advised Emperor Gaozong to recover the lost lands in the North, but Gaozong, content with simply being emperor, neglected his advice. Meanwhile, while under siege, Zong Ze (宗泽), the Chinese general guarding the northern capital, Kaifeng (開封), was so angered that he felt ill knowing no reinforcements would be sent, and died shortly after, on 1 August 1128.[8] The city surrendered shortly after.[citation needed]
Third invasion
editThe Fall of Kaifeng boosted the morale of the Jurchens, and they attempted a third invasion. Gaozong saw little intention to make a good defense against the Jurchens. He felt the strong generals around him would make him vulnerable and wanted them to lose to remove the threat. Han facing enormous odds, was beaten off for the first time. Many of the Song generals, disgusted by the cowardly emperor, began to retaliate, and Han had to gather up what was left of his force and protect the throne. He successfully captured the renegade generals and scattered their forces. It is stated that Han actually condemned the emperor and that the emperor apologized and finally showed signs of better supporting the generals defending China.[citation needed]
Despite early successes of the Jurchens, the Jurchens was beaten off by another general, Yue Fei, in a series of battles. The Jurchens under a crowned prince Jin Wuzhu (金兀朮), with a large force of hundred thousand force, decided to avoid Yue and took a route to cross and invade the capital and abduct another emperor. A force consisting of local militias and a few well trained soldiers was assembled in a mountain near the Yangtse River, and Han along with his wife hurried to take command of it. In his journey, he stayed in a local temple where he came face to face with a few Jin Generals and over a hundred Jurchen warriors. Despite the fact that Han only had a few guards and his wife along with him, they managed to fend the enemy off and took the heads of some Jin Generals. The group arrived shortly at the mouth of the river.[citation needed]
The Battle of Huangtiandang
editIn the battle that soon took place, known as the Battle of Huangtiandang (黃天蕩), the outnumbered Chinese forces stayed quiet for a while. Han gave the false impression that his soldiers had to retreat to a temple up a mountain, which the Jurchens thought of as a time when they could easily captured him. However, it was a trap that Han deployed for them. As the Jurchen commander Jin Wuzhu (金兀术) entered the temple, he was surrounded by a few well trained riders, and he and men in his group were completely cut off from the others by Chinese troops hiding in the road up the mountain. This led to a popular saying of the time, " a hundred thousand lured to a trap, and it takes only eight thousand riders to cut them off." (十萬敵兵來假道，八千驍騎截中流).[citation needed]
The Jin navy on the river was checked by a new invention of the Chinese, the tiger ship, which could spill fire from its front using flamethrowing technology imported from the Middle East by way of Arab mariners. They attacked after hearing the signal of Liang Hongyu who beat the wardrums in a hill nearby (梁红玉鳴鼓退金兵). The tiger ships quickly pierced the Jin ships, and the Jin navy was close to being routed by their enemies. The Jurchens were trapped for forty days wherein almost half their force was routed; and, the Jin prince who commanded the Jurchen army even sent messengers to the Chinese commander and offered bribes to beg for mercy. Han ignored the request. Eventually the Jurchens escaped through a hole in Han's encirclement due to the lack of soldiers—the weakness was revealed by a Song traitor. Even so, the Jurchens was checked by General Yue Fei and almost entirely routed before they get back to Jin territory. The third invasion was again a military disaster for the Jurchens.
Fourth invasion
editThe Jurchens again assembled another force in 1137, consisting of seventy thousand men and began the fourth invasion. Losing many experienced soldiers through the previous invasions, the Jurchens this time had poorer results and after a few battles were almost completely routed. The Chinese force under Yue Fei and Han Shizhong quickly took advantage of the situation and began a counterattack. The Song were victorious in a number of battles including the Battle of Yancheng in 1139. Less than a year afterwards, Song troops almost reached the Jin capital.
Later years
editThe night before they entered the Jin Capital, the emperor of China was worried about saving the two previous emperors in the Jin Capital and ordered the generals to come back. The generals avoided the idea at first, but the emperor began to send more letters and even threatened killing the soldiers' families. Yue Fei in tears stated, "Thirty years of effort now is wasted." The generals were ordered back to the imperial court, and this time met with chancellor Qin Hui and many of the officials and generals who supported the peace policy of the court. They imprisoned General Yue Fei and were about to sentence him when Han Shizhong asked Qin Hui, "Upon what charges?". Qin Hui simply stated, "For Yue's guilt, No evidence needed? (其事体莫須有)" (it has become a famous proverb for 'trumped-up charge' in Chinese language). Han then replied, "How can you satisfy people's demand for justice with a logical fallacy such as 'No evidence needed?'" Later, Han was so outraged than he laughed and threw his helmet and sword, which were both symbols of the authority of a Chinese general, at him. He attacked the emperor and Qin Hui with these insulting words: "They brought their nations into ruins, and there will no longer be any more able generals that will fight for the Song." Originally Qin wanted to kill Han next, but Han saved the emperor in a past battle, so Han was allowed to live.[citation needed]
Retirement from military
editHe soon retired from military service and when General Yue was executed, he neglected an imperial edict to arrest Yue's family, and instead escorted the Yue family to safety. He and his family retreated into the rural areas and he died in 1151.[citation needed]
People often saw Han riding a donkey along the West Lake, taking a bottle of wine, and sitting and sprinkling a bit of it upon Yue's grave. He would speak to Yue in a soft and emotional way, regardless of the weather; rain or snow.
Achievements
editHan Shizhong was credited with many military inventions including various modified armor and bows, horse jumping obstacles that trained cavalry, and an archery range to train the accuracy of archers and mounted archers.[citation needed]
His military career enabled China to survive the Jurchen invasion and, along with Yue Fei, helped to crumple the powerful Jin military. It is because of these events which led to the decline of the militaristic Jin, and the rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongols.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ ([绍兴二十一年]八月....壬申，韩世忠薨，诏进太师致仕。) Song Shi, vol.30
- ^ (崇宁四年，西夏骚动，郡调兵捍御，世忠在遣中。) Song Shi, vol.364
- ^ (宣和二年，方腊反，江、浙震动，调兵四方，世忠以偏将从王渊讨之。次杭州，贼奄至，势张甚，大将惶怖无策。世忠以兵二千伏北关堰，贼过，伏发，众蹂乱，世忠追击，贼败而遁。渊叹曰：“真万人敌也。”尽以所随白金器赏之，且与定交。) Song Shi, vol.364. However, Han's biography in Song Shi went on to indicate that Han was denied credit for capturing Fang La by Xin Xingzong (辛兴宗); Xin took the credit for himself instead (辛兴宗领兵截峒口，掠其俘为己功，故赏不及世忠。).
- ^ 明·张四维《双烈记》第三出：小字红玉。真个是莲脸星眸。蛾眉蝉鬓。窈窕身躯。温柔情性。最善吹弹歌舞。更精翰墨丹青。一时豪贵英贤争赏。无论京都远近驰名。只是我那女儿别是一般行径。全非门户心情。不肯迎人接客。只愿裙布荆钗。咳。却是怎了。身边又无三个两个。并无别样营生。
- ^ "姜白石合肥行踪".
- ^ 罗大经《鹤林玉露》中《丙篇 卷二》：“韩蕲王之夫人，京口娼也。尝五更入府，伺候贺朔。忽于庙柱下见一虎蹲卧，鼻息齁齁然，惊骇亟走出，不敢言。已而人至者众，往复视之，乃一卒也。因蹴之起， 问其姓名，为韩世忠。心异之，密告其母，谓此卒定非凡人。乃邀至其家，具酒食，至夜尽欢，深相结纳，资以金帛，约为夫妇。蕲王后立殊功，为中兴名将，遂封两国夫人。蕲王尝邀兀术于黄天荡，几成擒矣。一夕，凿河遁去。夫人奏疏言世忠失机纵敌，乞加罪责。举朝为之动色，其明智英伟如此。”
- ^ Mote 1999, p. 293; Tao 2009, p. 650.
- ^ ([建炎二年]秋七月...丙戌，...宗泽薨。) Song Shi, vol.25
Sources
edit- History of Song, volume 364 [unreliable source] [better source needed]
- Mote, Frederick W. (1999). Imperial China: 900–1800. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-44515-5.
- Tao, Jing-Shen (2009). "The Move to the South and the Reign of Kao-tsung". In Paul Jakov Smith; Denis C. Twitchett (eds.). The Cambridge History of China: Volume 5, The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907-1279. Cambridge University Press. pp. 556–643. ISBN 978-0-521-81248-1.