Event ｜ Served in the Huai military administration.
1173 CE–1248 CE
anti-Mongol commander and local official
Du Gao
杜杲
Du Gao was a Southern Song commander who defended Anfeng against Mongol armies. He used fortified positions, scorched-earth measures, and coordination with Meng Gong to prevent the Mongols from turning the Huai region into a route toward the Yangtze. His career combined local administration with active frontier defence.
1173 CE–1248 CESouthern Song
PROFILE
Du Gao was a Southern Song commander who defended Anfeng against Mongol armies. He used fortified positions, scorched-earth measures, and coordination with Meng Gong to prevent the Mongols from turning the Huai region into a route toward the Yangtze. His career combined local administration with active frontier defence.
- Courtesy / Art Name
- Zixin
- Era
- Southern Song
- Dynasty
- Southern Song
- Identity
- anti-Mongol commander and local official
- Date of Birth
- 1173
- Date of Death
- July 19 1248
- Ethnicity
- Han
- Ancestral Home
- A native of Chengguan, Shaowu
- Place of Birth
- A native of Chengguan, Shaowu
- Place of Death
- Unknown
- Lifespan
- 75 years
- Major Offices
- See the Biography section
- Posthumous Name
- Xianghui
- Major Achievements
- Du Gao came of an official family and began his career by hereditary privilege in the Jiading years of Emperor Ningzong of Song, afterwards entering the secretariat of the commissioner for the defence of the Jiang-Huai; in the twelfth year of Jiading (1219) he led troops to relieve Chuzhou and broke the Jin siege
LIFE TIMELINE
Event ｜ Became responsible for Anfeng and nearby grain routes.
Event ｜ Repeatedly resisted Mongol expeditions and cleared supplies from exposed areas.
Event ｜ Coordinated with Meng Gong and held senior provincial offices.
Event ｜ Remained a model of practical frontier command.
About fifty-two to sixty years of age ｜ He served as magistrate of Dingyuan County and later, when Li Quan invaded the frontier, was engaged as assistant prefect of Haozhou and then promoted to govern Haozhou; he planned the recovery of Xuyi for Zhao Shanxiang.
Huaixi ｜ With the change of era name to Duanping he was transferred to govern Dingyuan County, and after the fall of the Jin he devoted himself to the defence against the Mongols, building moats and camps.
Aged sixty-one #2 ｜ He served as assistant transport commissioner of Huaixi and memorialised against sending the army to the He and Luo region to recover the three capitals; his advice was not adopted, and after the defeat at Luoyang people acknowledged his foresight.
Luzhou ｜ In the first year of Jiaxi the Mongol commander Chaghan laid siege to Luzhou, and Du Gao with his "divine machines" defended it and routed the Mongols with great distinction.
Aged sixty-four #2 ｜ He governed Anfengjun and led officials, soldiers and people in holding Anfeng, defeating the Mongol prince Köwün Buqa, in what is known as the battle of Anfeng.
Aged sixty-five #2 ｜ He was promoted to be deputy pacification commissioner of Huaixi and concurrently prefect of Luzhou, and in the battle of Luzhou again routed the forces of the Mongol commander Chaghan.
Aged sixty-six #2 ｜ He was promoted to be pacification commissioner of Huaixi and routed the Mongol armies again, sending twenty-seven reports of victory in succession.
Aged sixty-eight #2 ｜ After repeated requests to retire he was appointed Minister of Works and retired with the rank of a Hanlin academician.
Aged sixty-nine #2 ｜ When the Mongols invaded south he answered the summons to return to service as prefect of Taipingzhou and was soon advanced to be an academician of the Huawen Pavilion, pacification commissioner along the Yangzi and prefect of Jiankang, with command over Anqing, Hezhou and Wuwei, routing the Mongols at Zhenzhou.
Lin’an ｜ In the eighth year of Chunyou he died of illness at the age of seventy-six and was posthumously granted the offices of Junior Preceptor and Duke of Yue with the posthumous name Xianghui.
Aged seventy-five #2 ｜ He died of illness and the court posthumously granted him the title of Equal to the Three Excellencies with the opening of an office.
BIOGRAPHY
Biography
Du Gao's command centred on Anfeng, a city whose survival depended on walls, water, grain, and the loyalty of surrounding villages. Rather than meet every Mongol advance in an open battle, he used fortified lines and removed supplies from areas the enemy could occupy. The method was harsh for local communities, but it denied the Mongols the food and transport needed for a long siege. He coordinated with Meng Gong and other Song commanders across the Huai. Signals, river crossings, and seasonal floods mattered as much as the number of soldiers. Du's reports emphasized that a defence commander also had to repair embankments, organize granaries, and negotiate with local militia. The repeated failure of Mongol armies to take Anfeng made his name important in the late Lizong court. Later histories praised his loyalty and practical intelligence, although modern research also asks how scorched-earth measures affected civilians. His record demonstrates the regional character of Southern Song resistance: survival depended on commanders who could link a city to a wider landscape.
Major Activities
- Defended Anfeng against Mongol armies.
- Used fortified and scorched-earth defence.
- Coordinated with Meng Gong and Huai commanders.
- Linked grain administration with military resistance.
Personal Relations
- Meng Gong: fellow commander and strategic partner.
- Anfeng residents: population whose supplies and labour sustained the defence.
- Mongol commanders: repeated opponents on the Huai frontier.
Historical Assessment
Contemporary and traditional records Song records praise his persistence and knowledge of local terrain. ### Later evaluations Later loyalist histories made Anfeng a symbol of successful regional resistance. ### Modern scholarship Modern studies balance military effectiveness against the civilian costs of scorched-earth tactics.
FIGURES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DYNASTY
Bibliography
- History of Song*, biography of Du Gao.
- Records of the Anfeng and Huai campaigns.