Da Shibadoulu

Biography

Family Background and Early Career Da Shibadoulu came from the Mongol Sanzhiwu clan and descended from the family of Niu Lin, a prominent military lineage active in southwestern China under the Yuan. His fifth-generation ancestor Bolodai had served in Genghis Khan's keshig, followed Ögedei in the conquest of the Jin, and was stationed in Henan. His great-great-grandfather assisted Möngke in campaigns against the Alans and Kipchaks, later led forces from the Shaanxi Xihai and Gongchang regions into Sichuan, and was killed in the Chongqing area. His great-grandfather Niu Lin was a noted commander in the Mongol invasion of Song and served as a vanguard in the invasion of Sichuan. His repeated military successes won the favor of Möngke, who appointed him Grand Marshal of the Mongol army. In 1259, the first year of the Kaiqing era, Niu Lin raided Fuzhou and neighboring prefectures, moved south to raid Longhua County of Nanping Commandery, and defeated the Song commander Zhan Jun. He then attacked Sizhou and Bozhou, but was forced to withdraw in the face of resistance from the Song commander Xiang Shibi, and later lost to the Song commander Lü Wende in the battle of Fuzhou. During the subsequent struggle for the khanate between Kublai Khan and Ariq Böke, Niu Lin at one point remained noncommittal below Hezhou city near Chongqing, before Kublai won him over. After he and Liu Zheng exchanged accusations, he was summoned to Shangdu and died at Changping on the return journey. His grandfather Yisudaer was received by Kublai Khan in 1274, the 10th year of the Xianchun era, and was assigned to the Western Sichuan Branch Bureau of Military Affairs to learn military affairs. In 1275, the first year of the Deyou era, he took part in the battle of Jiading, defeated the forces of Song Pacification Commissioner Zan Wanshou, and was appointed darughachi of the Six Wings. In the second lunar month of 1277, the second year of the Deyou era, he participated in the capture of Chongqing and was appointed Commissioner for Military Campaigns of the Western Sichuan Mongol Six Wings and newly submitted troops. He was then transferred to Pacification Commissioner of the Sichuan Western Circuit and additionally made Grand Marshal. He subsequently spent many years suppressing resistance by minority groups in Luoshiguiguo, Yixibushe (Shuixi), Wumeng, Qinlong, Hexi, and other areas of the southwest. He successively held offices including Grand Marshal of the Shunyuan and related Military and Civil Pacification Commissions, Right Assistant Director of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat, Deputy Commissioner of the Sichuan Branch Bureau of Military Affairs, commander of the Mongol Army Tümen Command, Associate Administrator of the Sichuan and related Branch Bureau of Military Affairs, Grand Councillor, Grand Councillor of the Shaanxi Branch Secretariat, and Grand Councillor of the Yunnan Branch Secretariat. He later contracted a miasmic illness and died while taking part in a campaign against Babai Xifu, in what is now northern Thailand and northeastern Myanmar. Da Shibadoulu's father Nanjatai inherited the post of commander of a Mongol tümen. During the reign of the Yuan emperor Shidibala, he successively served as Grand Councillor of the Sichuan and Yunnan Branch Secretariats and took part in campaigns against Greater and Lesser Cheli. He was on close terms with the Prince of Yunnan Wang Chan, the son of Prince Songshan, a younger brother of Emperor Taiding, Yesun Temur. In the third lunar month of 1324, the first year of the Taiding era, Nanjatai was appointed Grand Councillor of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat and concurrently Commissioner of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, and suppressed the Tibetan raider Sanbulang. In 1328, the first year of the Zhihe era, Emperor Taiding died at Shangdu. During the War of the Two Capitals, Nanjatai supported Crown Prince Alajiba. After the Shangdu regime was defeated, he raised troops, styled himself Prince of Zhenxi, and supported Kusala, elder brother of Tugh Temür, against the regime of Emperor Wenzong. In the fourth lunar month of 1329, the second year of the Tianli era, he surrendered after Kusala's objective of taking the throne had been achieved. After Kusala died suddenly in the eighth lunar month, Nanjatai was purged by the Wenzong government, convicted of high treason, executed in the marketplace, and had his property confiscated. After Nanjatai was killed, Da Shibadoulu continued to inherit command of a tümen of tamma troops and was stationed at the Luoluo Pacification Commission. one account accordingly states that his family retained military office and troops; the available materials do not provide sufficient evidence to infer how the family's power changed in detail. While serving at the Luoluo Pacification Commission, Da Shibadoulu was credited with suppressing local resistance and was recommended by the Sichuan Branch Secretariat for appointment as commander of the Chuanqiao tümen. He later campaigned in Yunnan and was promoted to Grand Marshal of the Grand Marshal's Office of the Dali, Weichu, Jinchi, and related Pacification Commission. ### Eastward Campaign in Jing–Xiang In 1351（11th year of the Zhizheng era）, in the fifth lunar month, Liu Futong and others rose in rebellion at Yingzhou, using the slogan, “Three thousand tiger guards shall advance straight to the lands of You and Yan; the dragon shall rise to the imperial throne and restore the Great Song.” Rebellions broke out in many places in response. In the 10th lunar month of that year, Xu Shouhui proclaimed himself emperor in Qishui County, named his state Great Song—known in historiography as the Xu Song—and adopted the era name Zhiping. In the 12th lunar month, Bu Wangsan, also known as Wang Quan, seized Dengzhou and Nanyang. His forces were called the “Northern Lock Red Turbans” and operated mainly in the middle and upper Han River region around Xiangyang and Hanzhong. Tian Duanzi and others from Yun County in Junzhou also rose in response, and Bolod Temür, darughachi of the Xiangyang Circuit, sent troops to suppress them. In the first lunar month of the following year, insurgents from Zhushan County rose and moved downstream to seize Xiangyang city; Chai Su, administrator of the Xiangyang Circuit, was killed. Early in 1352（12th year of the Zhizheng era）, Xu Shouhui sent troops from eastern Hubei and successively took Hanyang, Xingguo, Wuchang, Anlu Prefecture, Mianyang Prefecture, and Zhongxing Circuit, followed by Yuezhou Circuit, Guizhou, Lizhou, and other places. On the ninth day of the intercalary third lunar month, the Yuan court appointed Da Shibadoulu, then Dali Pacification Commissioner, as an additional Assistant Grand Councilor of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat and ordered him to join the Sichuan Grand Councillor Yaozhu in suppressing uprisings in Shannan, Huguang, and other areas. The Sichuan Branch Secretariat quickly organized an army and advanced toward Jing–Xiang in two columns. The eastern Sichuan force, commanded by general Yuelu Temür, moved out from Jinzhou. The Chengdu force formed the main body and was commanded by Yaozhu, with Da Shibadoulu and Yejuntai accompanying it in support. Yaozhu commanded five thousand troops, while the Yuan court separately assigned three thousand troops directly to Da Shibadoulu. Yaozhu successively captured Zhongzhou, Wanzhou, Kuizhou, Yunyang, and other prefectures, moved east through Kuimen, fought the insurgents along the Xia River, captured Badong County and then Guizhou, joined Zhao Yuchi, administrator of Xiazhou, in heavily defeating Meng Haima's “Southern Lock Red Turbans,” captured Xiazhou, and then took Zhijiang and Songzi counties. On the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, Yaozhu captured Jiangling. Da Shibadoulu led his own forces against Xiangyang. On the first day of the fifth lunar month, he reached Jingmen Prefecture. The insurgents then numbered about one hundred thousand, while the Yuan army had only slightly more than three thousand men. Acting on the proposal of his subordinate Song Shijie, he conscripted local officials and local elites who had fled the fighting around Xiangyang and organized a local army of more than twenty thousand. After surveying Xiangyang's terrain, he divided his forces into inner and outer formations: eight inner wings surrounded Xiangcheng, while eight outer camps were stationed at Xianshan and Chushan to block relief forces. He personally led a central force of four thousand to occupy Hutou Mountain, overlooking the city. He appointed Li Fu, who had joined the expedition, magistrate of Nanzhang County and Li Keju magistrate of Yicheng County, tasking them with pacifying the populace and supplying military provisions. After the city had been under siege for a long time, two residents descended the wall by rope at night, reported the situation inside to the Yuan army, and offered to act as agents within the city. Da Shibadoulu arranged with them to attack in the fourth watch on the first day of the fifth lunar month. At the appointed time, the two lowered ropes from the wall and guided government troops up; nearly one thousand men were among the first to scale the city. The insurgents had more than one hundred warships concentrated north of the city, and Da Shibadoulu recruited strong swimmers to dive beneath them and bore holes in their hulls. The city fell around dawn. The insurgents fared badly in street fighting and tried to withdraw by boat, but the vessels had already been damaged and they drowned. Insurgent commander Wang Quan fled west with one thousand cavalry but was caught by an ambush and captured. Xiangyang was thereby pacified. For this achievement, Da Shibadoulu received the additional rank of Grand Master for Excellent Counsel, along with superior wine and a gold belt. His younger brother Shilim was made darughachi of Xiangyang, and his son Bolod Temür was appointed Judicial Reviewer of the Yunnan Branch Secretariat. On the 17th day of the first lunar month of 1353（13th year of the Zhizheng era）, Da Shibadoulu was promoted to Right Assistant Director of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat for his role in capturing Xiangyang and Fancheng and was awarded a gold waist belt. In the sixth lunar month, the Yuan court ordered Shilabadu, Administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs, to command the Henan forces and Grand Councillor Da Shibadoulu to command the Sichuan army, moving south from Xiangyang by separate routes. In the ninth lunar month, Da Shibadoulu captured Junzhou and Fangzhou, broke through dozens of camps on Wudang Mountain, and captured a commander surnamed Du. In the 12th lunar month, he attacked Xiazhou and broke the wooden-ram camp of the Song commander Zhao Mingyuan. In the first lunar month of 1354（14th year of the Zhizheng era）, he captured Xiazhou. In the third lunar month he was promoted to Grand Councillor of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat while concurrently serving as Administrator of the Branch Bureau of Military Affairs, with authority to direct the forces of Jingzhou and Xiangyang as circumstances required. In the fifth lunar month, the Yuan court ordered the Sichuan Grand Councillor Yushuhutuhua to replace Da Shibadoulu in guarding Zhongxing and Jingmen and instructed Da Shibadoulu to lead his forces rapidly to Runing to suppress Liu Futong. ### Campaigns in Henan In the 10th lunar month of 1354（14th year of the Zhizheng era）, the Yuan court ordered Da Shibadoulu and Taibuha, Grand Councillor of the Henan Branch Secretariat, among others, to join forces and attack Anfeng. In the 11th lunar month Da Shibadoulu captured Zhengzhou, Junzhou, and Xuzhou, and in the 12th lunar month he captured Heyin and Gong County. That same month, Toghto, Right Chancellor of the Secretariat, was stripped of military command at Gaoyou, and his army, said to number one million, rapidly dispersed. In the second lunar month of 1355（15th year of the Zhizheng era）, Liu Futong and others brought Han Lin'er back to Bozhou and enthroned him as emperor, naming the state Great Song and adopting the era name Longfeng. In the fifth lunar month, an Investigating Censor impeached Taibuha, Left Chief Councillor of the Henan Branch Secretariat, for arrogance over his achievements and mistreatment of the people. Emperor Shun of Yuan, Toghon Temür, stripped him of all offices and ordered him to accompany Da Shibadoulu in suppressing the Song forces, placing all of Taibuha's troops under Da Shibadoulu's command. On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, the Yuan court appointed Da Shibadoulu Grand Councillor of the Henan Branch Secretariat. Da Shibadoulu advanced to Changge in Xuzhou and fought Liu Futong in open battle, but the Song army defeated him and his soldiers scattered. In the eighth lunar month, the Yuan court authorized him to deploy as he saw fit the Miao troops commanded by Bu Lanxi, Left Assistant Director of the Huguang Branch Secretariat. In the ninth lunar month Da Shibadoulu withdrew to Zhongmou, where Song forces raided his camp, seized his baggage, and captured his son Bolod Temür. The Yuan general Liu Halabuhua then arrived as reinforcement, defeated the main Song force, and rescued Bolod Temür. The Yuan court ordered father and son to regroup the remnants of their army and station them at Qinggang, southeast of Bianliang. Liu Futong sent the general Zhao Mingda to seize Songzhou, Ruzhou, and Luoyang; Zhao then crossed the river north at Mengjin and raided as far as Qinhuai, alarming Hebei. Chaghan Temür arrived from southern Henan and defeated Zhao Mingda's Song army. That same month, the Yuan court ordered Da Shibadoulu to move to Chenliu County. In the 11th lunar month he attacked the Song forces at Jiahe and defeated them decisively. In the 12th lunar month, taking advantage of the situation, he mobilized troops against Bozhou, the capital of the Han Song regime. After Liu Futong suffered a reverse at Taikang, Yuan forces advanced to besiege Bozhou, and Han Lin'er broke out of the city and temporarily moved the capital to Anfeng. In the third lunar month of 1356（16th year of the Zhizheng era）, the Yuan court sent Tuo Huan, Administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs, to supervise the troops. Da Shibadoulu and his son personally fought Liu Futong. The battle lasted from the si hour to the you hour. Da Shibadoulu was hit by a Song projectile and fell from his horse; Bolod Temür arrived in time to rescue him, and Da Shibadoulu did not walk back into camp until the third watch of the night. On the 10th day of the fourth lunar month, his honorific rank was raised to Grand Master for Splendid Happiness with Gold and Purple. In the 10th lunar month he moved his base to Chenliu. In the 11th lunar month Da Shibadoulu and Bolod Temür attacked Liu Futong's camp among the Song forces at Jiahe. ### Victory at Taikang and Death in Distress On the 15th day of the 12th lunar month of 1356（16th year of the Zhizheng era）, Yuan government troops reached Gaochaidian, thirty li from Taikang. They captured Taikang County on the 16th. During the second watch that night, more than five hundred Song cavalry raided the camp but withdrew because the Yuan troops were prepared. Yuan soldiers pursued them by torchlight until dawn. Da Shibadoulu personally supervised the fighting from the yin hour to the si hour. The Yuan army took all four gates of Taikang, sent picked men over the walls into the inner city, and beheaded tens of thousands. Nine Song commanders, including Zhang Min and Sun Han, were captured, while two Song councillors surnamed Wang and Luo were killed. After Taikang was pacified, Da Shibadoulu sent Bolod Temür to the capital to report the victory. Emperor Shun of Yuan rewarded and consoled him in the inner palace, posthumously ennobled three generations of his ancestors as princes, appointed Da Shibadoulu Left Chief Councillor of the Henan Branch Secretariat while retaining his concurrent post as Administrator of the Branch Bureau of Military Affairs, and assigned him to defend Bianliang. His younger brother Shilim was appointed Left Assistant Director of the Yunnan Branch Secretariat, and his son Bolod Temür Left Assistant Director of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat. In the third lunar month of 1357（17th year of the Zhizheng era）, the Yuan court summoned Da Shibadoulu to the capital and added the titles Commander Unequalled in Honor, Defender-in-chief, and Left Chief Councillor of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat. In the ninth lunar month he captured Goucheng, Dongming, and Changyuan counties in Caozhou. In the 10th lunar month the Yuan court sent Darimashili, an official of the Bureau of Military Affairs, as reinforcement, dividing his troops between Leize and Puzhou. Darimashili was killed by Liu Futong, however, and the Dada troops collapsed. Unable to hold the position, Da Shibadoulu withdrew to Shicun. The court increasingly suspected him of prolonging the war and missing opportunities, and successive envoys arrived urging him to fight. The Song forces learned of this and forged letters purporting to show that Da Shibadoulu had negotiated peace with them, scattering the documents along the roads. The court's envoys indeed obtained such a letter and reported it to the throne. When Da Shibadoulu learned what had happened, he died overnight in distress and anger. The History of Yuan dates his death to the gengzi day of the 12th lunar month in the 17th year of Zhizheng; February 17, 1358

Major Activities

Suppression of the Red Turban Forces Da Shibadoulu was one of the principal Yuan generals involved in suppressing the Red Turban Rebellions in the late Yuan period. From 1352 onward, he led troops through the Jing–Xiang region, successively taking Xiangyang, Anlu, Junzhou, Fangzhou, Xiazhou, and other places, and became one of the Yuan court's most important military supports in the Han River basin. The capture of Xiangyang was the best known of these operations: facing an insurgent force of one hundred thousand, he used his own troops together with locally recruited forces, combined an inner and outer encirclement with the cutting of the enemy's river route, broke the city, and captured the insurgent commander Wang Quan. He then spent several years fighting Liu Futong's main forces in Henan, eventually capturing Taikang in the 12th lunar month of 1356. Yuan forces then advanced to besiege Bozhou, and Han Lin'er left Bozhou and temporarily moved to Anfeng. ### Suppression of Local Armed Groups in Jing–Xiang Beyond the main battles, Da Shibadoulu repeatedly cleared scattered anti-Yuan armed groups in the region. In the ninth lunar month of 1353, the 13th year of the Zhizheng era, he captured Junzhou and Fangzhou, broke through dozens of camps on Wudang Mountain, and captured a commander surnamed Du. In the 12th lunar month he attacked Xiazhou and defeated the wooden-ram camp of the Song commander Zhao Mingyuan. These operations formed part of his Jing–Xiang campaigns; the available sources do not explicitly establish what effect they had on control of transport routes. ### Continuation of a Family Military Tradition Da Shibadoulu came from the family of Niu Lin, a Mongol military lineage extending across several generations. His great-grandfather Niu Lin had served as a vanguard in the Mongol invasion of Song, his grandfather Yisudaer had campaigned across the southwest, and his father Nanjatai served as Grand Councillor in both the Sichuan and Yunnan Branch Secretariats. Da Shibadoulu continued this military tradition and became a general on whom the Yuan court relied during the turmoil of the late dynasty. His son Bolod Temür also campaigned with him, became Left Assistant Director of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat after the battle of Taikang, and later rose to become a late-Yuan court strongman based at Datong before ultimately being assassinated on the orders of Emperor Shun of Yuan.

Personal Relations

• Great-great-grandfather: name unknown; accompanied Möngke in campaigns against the Alans and Kipchaks and later died in battle in the Chongqing region.
• Great-grandfather: Niu Lin, Grand Marshal of the Mongol army and a vanguard commander in the war against the Song.
• Grandfather: Yisudaer, who successively served as Grand Councillor of the Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Yunnan Branch Secretariats.
• Father: Nanjatai, hereditary commander of a Mongol tümen; served as Grand Councillor in the Sichuan and Yunnan Branch Secretariats and was killed after becoming involved in the War of the Two Capitals.
• Younger brother: Shilim, darughachi of Xiangyang and later Left Assistant Director of the Yunnan Branch Secretariat.
• Son: Bolod Temür, a late-Yuan court strongman who rose to Defender-in-chief and Left Vice Director of the Secretariat and was later killed by Emperor Shun of Yuan. ### Colleagues - Yaozhu: Grand Councillor of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat; joined Da Shibadoulu in suppressing the Jing–Xiang insurgents.
• Taibuha: Left Chief Councillor of the Henan Branch Secretariat; later stripped of office for misconduct, after which his troops were placed under Da Shibadoulu.
• Liu Halabuhua: Yuan general who rescued Da Shibadoulu and his son during the fighting at Zhongmou.
• Chaghan Temür: prominent late-Yuan general who coordinated with Da Shibadoulu on the Henan front.
• Yushuhutuhua: Grand Councillor of the Sichuan Branch Secretariat who replaced Da Shibadoulu in guarding Zhongxing and Jingmen. ### Adversaries - Liu Futong: effective leader of the Han Song regime and Da Shibadoulu's principal opponent on the Henan front.
• Han Lin'er: emperor of the Han Song regime, who was besieged by Da Shibadoulu at Bozhou.
• Wang Quan (Bu Wangsan): leader of the “Northern Lock Red Turbans,” captured by Da Shibadoulu at Xiangyang.
• Zhao Mingyuan: Song commander defeated by Da Shibadoulu during the attack on Xiazhou.

Anecdotes

The History of Yuan, vol. 142, recounts that during the prolonged siege of Xiangyang, two residents descended the city wall at night, reported conditions inside the city, and offered to act as informants. Da Shibadoulu arranged an assault for the fourth watch on the first day of the fifth lunar month. Before the attack, he also recruited swimmers to bore holes in the insurgents’ boats north of the city, preventing their withdrawal by water. This is a narrative detail in the dynastic history, not a later legend; no independent second account has been identified in the sources reviewed.

Historical Assessment

The History of Yuan, in its biography of Da Shibadoulu, chiefly recounts his sequence of military appointments, the Jing–Xiang and Henan campaigns, and the circumstances of his death. It records that after the Taikang campaign he was appointed Left Chief Councillor of the Henan Branch Secretariat and to other offices; in the following year, after a relief force was defeated and court envoys repeatedly pressed him to fight, he withdrew to Shicun and later died in distress. The biography presents the career and campaigns of a Yuan commander rather than a distinct, comprehensive evaluation of his character. The History of Yuan, vol. 142, records Da Shibadoulu’s death on the gengzi day of the 12th lunar month in the 17th year of Zhizheng and says that he died in distress. Following the source-priority rule, the information card uses the Gregorian date in the one account lead. This article reports the dynastic biography’s account without expanding it into unsupported claims about his psychological state or court responsibility.