Muqali

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Muqali was born into the Mongol Jalair clan, which lived east of the Onon River. His grandfather was Telegütü Bayan and his father was Gü'ün U'a. According to Muqali's biography in the History of Yuan, after the death of Temüjin's father Yesügei, the Jalair clan was at one time attached to the Jurkin. During Temüjin's rise, Muqali's grandfather had Gü'ün U'a lead Muqali and his younger brother Buqa to submit to Temüjin. His father had already served under Temüjin, fighting the Merkit and Naiman and repeatedly earning merit. In one battle during a Naiman revolt, Temüjin broke out with only six riders and ran short of food. Gü'ün U'a captured a camel by the water, slaughtered it, and roasted meat for Temüjin. When pursuers approached and Temüjin's horse collapsed, he gave Temüjin his own mount and stayed behind to hold off the enemy, dying in battle. Muqali was his third son.

It was said that when Muqali was born, a white vapor rose from the tent and a shaman regarded the sign as extraordinary, saying, “This is no ordinary child.” As an adult, Muqali was described as seven chi tall, broad-headed and bearded, dark-complexioned, calm and resolute, strategically astute, long-armed, and an excellent archer capable of drawing a bow rated at two shi.

Following Genghis Khan

After submitting to Temüjin, Muqali served alongside Bo'orchu, Boroqul, and Chilaun. The four were renowned for loyalty and bravery and were known as “Dörben Külü'üd”, meaning the “Four Heroes.” Muqali repeatedly distinguished himself in Temüjin's wars to unify the Mongolian plateau.

On one occasion Temüjin was defeated while fighting the Tatar tribe. In heavy snow he lost his main camp and spent the night in marsh grass. Muqali and Bo'orchu stood in the snow holding up felt and furs to shelter him until dawn. On another occasion, Temüjin was passing through a ravine with more than thirty horsemen and asked Muqali what he would do if enemies appeared. Muqali answered, “Allow me to meet them with my own body.” Raiders soon emerged from the woods under a rain of arrows. Muqali fired three arrows and hit three men. When their leader asked who he was, he replied, “Muqali.” He then calmly removed his saddle to use as cover, protected Temüjin's escape, and caused the raiders to withdraw.

When Ong Khan of the Kereit fought the Naiman, he requested Temüjin's assistance. Temüjin sent Muqali and Bo'orchu with other commanders, who defeated the Naiman below Antai Mountain and returned with large quantities of armor, horses, and cattle. In 1203, the third year of the Jiatai era, Temüjin's relationship with Ong Khan broke down and the two sides fought. After an initial defeat Temüjin counterattacked, and Muqali was ordered to select elite cavalry for a night raid on Ong Khan's camp. Ong Khan fled and ultimately died. Leaders of other tribes then submitted, and Temüjin became the strongest ruler on the Mongolian plateau.

Founding Meritorious General and Foremost of the Four Heroes

In 1206, the second year of the Kaixi era, Temüjin assumed imperial authority at the source of the Onon River and established the Great Mongol State. In distributing rewards, he first appointed Muqali and Bo'orchu as commanders of the left and right tümen. Temüjin told them that the pacification of the realm owed much to their strength and compared them to the shafts of a cart and the arms of a body. Muqali was made commander of the left-wing tümen and given authority over a vast region from east of the khan's court to the Khingan range. His descendants were to inherit the position, and his ceremonial standing resembled that of a prince. Among ninety-five mingghan, he ranked third and stood alongside Bo'orchu at the head of the generals.

As one of the Chinggisid family's closest retainers, Muqali's lineage also held hereditary responsibilities in Genghis Khan's keshig, the imperial guard. According to the military treatise in the History of Yuan, the four keshig divisions were inherited by the families of the Four Heroes; Muqali commanded the third division, which served on the days associated with the Tiger, Rabbit, and Dragon.

Commander in the Mongol–Jin War

In 1211, the third year of the Da'an era, Muqali joined Genghis Khan's large-scale invasion of the Jin. Mongol forces first defeated the Jin commander Duji Sizhong at Wushabao, and the meng'an Guo Baoyu surrendered. The western capital and the prefectures of Changzhou, Huanzhou, and Fuzhou were successively taken. Jin councillor Wanyan Chengyu arrayed a force said to number four hundred thousand north of Yehuling, northwest of present-day Zhangjiakou, hoping to use mountain terrain to blunt the Mongol cavalry advantage. In the eighth lunar month, Temüjin reached Yehuling and bribed the Jin envoy Shimo Ming'an, thereby learning the Jin dispositions. He then concentrated his forces for a breakthrough and ordered Muqali to lead the Balu force in an attack from the Huan'erzui route. Before battle Muqali swore, “If I do not break the Jin army, I will not return alive.” He ordered his men to dismount and force a breach in the Jin line, advancing directly on the central camp, after which Temüjin committed the main force. The Jin army collapsed and was pursued to Huihe Fort, east of present-day Huai'an, Hebei, with bodies reportedly extending for more than one hundred li. The Battle of Yehuling destroyed much of the Jin elite and decisively altered the military balance between the two sides.

In 1213, the first year of the Zhenyou era, Temüjin divided his forces into three columns to raid north of the Yellow River and on both sides of the Taihang Mountains. Muqali served with the central army under Temüjin and Tolui. He defeated Jin troops at Wuhuiling, took Zhuozhou and Yizhou, and sent detachments to capture Yidu, Binzhou, Dizhou, and Mizhou, where a massacre took place. Returning through Bazhou, he accepted the surrender of local strongmen Shi Bingzhi, Shi Tianni, Shi Tianze, and Xiao Bodie, appointing Shi Tianni and Xiao Bodie as commanders of a thousand under delegated authority.

In spring and summer 1214, the second year of the Zhenyou era, Muqali joined Genghis Khan in the siege of the Jin central capital, present-day Beijing, forcing Emperor Xuanzong of Jin to send envoys, offer a woman in marriage, and seek peace. In the tenth lunar month Muqali was ordered to campaign in western and eastern Liaoning. In the second lunar month of 1215 he attacked the Jin northern capital, west of present-day Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, defeated a Jin army said to number two hundred thousand, and reportedly took more than eighty thousand heads. When the city ran out of grain, Khitan troops killed the defending commander Yinqing and raised Wugulun Yindahu as their leader before surrendering the city. Muqali at first intended to execute the surrendered officers, but Xiao Yexian warned that the northern capital was a strategic center of western Liaoning and should be pacified to attract further submissions. Muqali accepted the advice and left Wugulun Yindahu to guard the city. The local strongman Shi Tianying of Xingzhong Prefecture then surrendered and was appointed administrator of Xingzhong and general controller of its troops.

That same year, Muqali suspected the surrendered general Zhang Jing of planning rebellion and ordered Xiao Yexian to supervise his army. Zhang Jing indeed feigned illness while marching toward Pingzhou and attempted to rebel, but Xiao Yexian captured and killed him. Zhang Jing's brother Zhang Zhi rebelled at Jinzhou and controlled Pingzhou, Luanzhou, Ruizhou, Lizhou, Yizhou, Yizhou, Guangning, and other prefectures. Muqali campaigned against him for more than a year and took Jinzhou in spring 1216. Zhang Zhi was bound by his military supervisor Gao Yi and surrendered; Muqali executed him. Muqali then captured Haizhou, Fuzhou, and Suzhou and killed the Jin general Wanyan Zhongjianu. Mongol control over Liaodong was thereby completed.

Plenary Command and Administration of the Central Plain

In the eighth lunar month of 1217, the first year of the Xingding era, Genghis Khan decided to lead the main army west against Khwarazm and entrusted the Jin war entirely to Muqali. He granted Muqali the titles Grand Preceptor, guowang, and plenipotentiary head of the Branch Secretariat, and gave him a sworn charter allowing the title to be transmitted to his descendants without interruption. Genghis Khan placed about one hundred thousand troops under him, drawn from the Uruud, Mangghud, Onggirat, Ikires, and Jalair tribal forces, the Ongud, and Khitan, Jurchen, and Han units. He also gave him the Nine White Banners and declared that when Muqali raised the banner and issued orders it was as if the khan himself were present. Genghis Khan told him: “I shall manage the lands north of the Taihang; exert yourself in those south of it.”

Muqali established a Branch Secretariat at Yanjing and began to administer the war against the Jin. He altered the Mongol army's customary raiding strategy, seeking instead to induce local armed groups to surrender in order to support lasting rule. By the end of the year he had taken Daming Prefecture and then pacified Yidu, Zizhou, Weizhou, Mizhou, Laizhou, and Dengzhou to the east.

In 1218, the second year of the Xingding era, Muqali marched west from Yanjing through the western capital, present-day Datong, crossed the Taihe range into Yanmen Pass, and successively captured Daizhou, Xinzhou, Taiyuan Prefecture, Fenzhou, Huozhou, Luzhou, Zezhou, and Pingyang Prefecture. In 1219 he sent Xiao Temür and others to take Kelanzhou and Guli Jiada and others to capture Shizhou, Xizhou, and Jiangzhou. By then he controlled most of Hedong.

In 1220, the fourth year of the Xingding era, Muqali directed operations in western Hebei. At Mancheng, the Jin master of Zhending Prefecture, Wu Xian, surrendered. Muqali appointed Shi Tianni acting commander of military affairs for western Hebei and Wu Xian as his deputy. Shi Tianni advised that the Central Plain was largely pacified, yet troops still plundered wherever the army passed, which contradicted the ruler's purpose of rescuing the people and punishing the guilty. Muqali accepted the advice, prohibited plunder, and ordered captured elderly people and children returned to their fields. Military discipline improved and local officials and commoners were pleased. His army then took Xingzhou, Fuyang, Xiangzhou, and Linzhou and accepted the surrender of Wu Gui, Jin military governor of Xingzhou. Muqali by then had acquired a reputation for humane treatment and avoiding unnecessary killing, and increasing numbers of Jin subjects surrendered.

In 1221, the fifth year of the Xingding era, Muqali captured Dongping Prefecture, present-day Dongping in Shandong. The Jin administrator Menggu Gang abandoned the city, and Muqali appointed Yan Shi to govern Shandong as head of the Dongping Branch Secretariat. Thereafter Muqali continued campaigns in Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, conquering most Jin territory north of the Yellow River.

In 1222, the sixth year of the Xingding era, Muqali joined Western Xia in attacking Shaanxi. He attacked Xi'an and Fengxiang but was unable to overcome the resistance of the Jin general Guo Hama and others and withdrew north of the Yellow River.

In the third lunar month of 1223, the second year of the Yuanguang era, Muqali died in the army at Wenxi, Shanxi, aged fifty-four. His son Bo'ol inherited the title of guowang and continued directing operations against the Jin. In 1321, the first year of the Zhizhi era of Emperor Yingzong of Yuan, Muqali was posthumously invested with the long honorific title “Meritorious Official Who Embodied Benevolence, Founded the State, Assisted the Age, and Supported the Mandate”, and with the titles Grand Preceptor, Grand Master of the Palace with Equal Rank to the Three Excellencies, Pillar of State, and Prince of Lu; his posthumous title was Zhongwu.

Muqali came of the Jalayir clan, long settled east of the Anan river. His father, Künggürebuqa, served Temüjin as a relation by marriage, winning repeated merit in the campaigns against the Mergid and the Naiman; when the Naiman rebelled again and Temüjin rode off with six men, short of food on the way, Künggürebuqa killed a camel by the water and roasted it for him, and when the pursuers came up and Temüjin's horse died, he gave his own mount to Temüjin and stood against the pursuers to his death, saving him. Of his five sons Muqali was the third, born with a white vapor rising in the tent, which the shamans found strange and called no common child.

Grown, Muqali was steady and full of stratagem, long-armed and a good archer, able to draw a bow of more than two shi; with Bo'orchu, Boroqul and Chilawun he served Temüjin, all known for loyalty and valor and called the "four steeds," in Chinese the Four Heroes. He took part in the unification of the Mongol tribes with repeated merit, and when the state was founded in 1206 he and Bo'orchu commanded the left and right wings, Muqali being made the left wing's myriarch, one of Chinggis Khan's most relied-on commanders.

In the campaign against the Jin from 1211 Muqali led troops south, taking many prefectures in Liaodong, Liaoxi and Hebei. In 1217, before Chinggis set out west, he made Muqali grand preceptor and king, granted him the nine-tailed white banner and full authority over the central plains, telling him to do his utmost south of the Taihang mountains. In governing the plains Muqali changed the Mongols' earlier practice of plunder, attending to winning over and incorporating local forces, employing such Chinese militia leaders as Shi Tianni and Zhang Rou and setting up provinces and offices, laying the basis for Mongol rule in north China.

He died at Wenxi in 1223 at fifty-four, his son Bol succeeding to his command. Known in the History of Yuan for loyalty and wisdom, he is one of the most representative of the Mongol founding ministers, and the north China he administered became in time an important source of revenue and soldiers for the Mongol state.

Muqali's way of governing the central plains differed markedly from earlier Mongol practice. Before, Mongol armies in north China chiefly plundered people and goods and massacred cities that resisted; charged with the region, he turned to winning over and incorporating local forces, setting up offices and preserving local order, employing such Chinese leaders as Shi Tianni, Zhang Rou and Yan Shi as local governors — men who became pillars of Mongol rule in the north. The change not only reduced resistance but steadied the Mongol state's revenue and recruitment in north China.

The provinces and offices he set up in north China were an early attempt by the Mongol state to establish an administration in the central plains. As the wars against the Jin and the Southern Song went on the system expanded, and both the ten circuits of Ögedei's time and the Secretariat system under Kublai may be traced back to the arrangements formed in Muqali's governance.

After his enfeoffment as king in 1217 the title was inherited by his descendants, making the house a famous one of meritorious nobles in the Yuan, its members holding office and its standing comparable to the other founding families of the dynasty.

At the founding of the Mongol state Chinggis Khan gave the four heroes charge of the guards and military affairs, Muqali among them. In the ensuing apportionments the households and pastures he received ranked high among the ministers, forming the basis of his family's long prominence under the Yuan.

The nine-tailed white banner he received as king was the emblem of command in the Mongol army, passed down in his family and known to later ages as the banner of Muqali.

The war with the Jin went on while he governed the plains. He fought the Jin repeatedly in Hebei and Shandong, taking Taiyuan and Pingyang and meeting resistance from their strong cities and stockades, the range of his campaigns corresponding roughly to the area of later Mongol rule in the north.

After his death his son Bol continued to govern the plains, and Mongol rule in north China gradually passed from military occupation to regular administration with provinces and taxes. The starting point of that change is usually traced to the period when Muqali was made king with full authority over the region.

The History of Yuan judges Muqali chiefly on his loyalty and wisdom, noting especially the conciliatory policy he followed in governing the plains. The judgment differs somewhat from the traditional image of the Mongol founding generals, showing the special part he played in the Mongols' passage from conquest to rule.

Among the Chinese leaders he employed, Shi Tianni, Zhang Rou and Yan Shi became pillars of Mongol power in the north: the Shi holding Zhending, the Zhang the Baoding area and the Yan Dongping, maintaining order, collecting taxes and supplying troops in their regions alongside the Mongol myriarch and chiliarch system. After his death this pattern of Chinese hereditary commanders lasted decades in the north until Kublai's time progressively replaced it with the regular system of provinces and prefectures.

His relation with Bo'orchu deserves note in the founding history: the two commanded the left and right wings, and after the apportionments Muqali took sole charge of the central plains while Bo'orchu remained generally at Chinggis's side. The division let Muqali act on his own in the plains and made him the first Mongol commander to build an independent administrative system.

The army he commanded consisted of Mongol troops and the tanmachi corps drawn from the various thousands for long garrison duty in newly occupied territory. His campaigning and garrisoning in the plains gave practical experience for the formation of that institution.

He returned to the steppe more than once to take part in campaigns summoned by the khan, his work in the plains fitting into the Mongols' wider expansion. Such a relation — commanding abroad while answerable to the khan — was the common position of the early Mongol generals.

His family's fiefs were repeatedly enlarged under the Yuan, several descendants holding the title of king or myriarch, one of the few houses of meritorious nobles to keep a princely title through the generations.

The official papers and inscriptions left from his governance of the plains are direct evidence for the form of Mongol rule in north China in its early phase, their records of the Chinese hereditary commanders being especially valued by scholars.

His coffin was taken north to the steppe after his death, and once the Yuan was established his family held a place among those worshipped in the ancestral temple, a mark of the dynasty's reverence for this founding minister.

After the Yuan both steppe and Chinese histories record him, their emphases differing.

His descendants remained active in Yuan political life, ranking with the houses of Chinggis's brothers and sons among the dynasty's great nobles.

His biography in the History of Yuan treats his family and his father's deeds at some length, material important for understanding the source of his own loyalty.

His service beside Boroqul, Chilawun and the others is a way into the internal relations of the Mongol founding group.

The text of the patent making him king is recorded in the History of Yuan and the New History of Yuan, important material for the political institutions of the early Mongol state.

His posthumous name and titles were repeatedly augmented under the Yuan.

Major Activities

Military Contributions

Muqali was one of the most important military commanders in the founding of the Mongol polity. During Genghis Khan's wars to unify the Mongol tribes, he participated in decisive campaigns against the Tatar, Kereit, Naiman, and other groups. In the Mongol–Jin war he commanded at the decisive Battle of Yehuling, defeating a much larger Jin force and destroying much of the Jin elite. He later captured the Jin northern capital, suppressed Zhang Zhi's rebellion in Liaodong, and, after receiving plenary authority as Grand Preceptor and guowang, directed the war against the Jin for six years. His armies conquered extensive territory in Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, contributing substantially to the later Mongol destruction of the Jin.

His military skill was expressed not only in battlefield assaults but also in strategic administration. While governing the Central Plain, he moved away from indiscriminate killing and plunder, accepted the surrender of local Han armed groups, and employed figures such as Shi Tianni, Zhang Rou, and Yan Shi as hereditary local military leaders, helping establish a more stable order in occupied territory.

Political Activities

Muqali was one of Genghis Khan's most trusted retainers. When the Great Mongol State was founded in 1206, he and Bo'orchu were appointed commanders of the left and right tümen and ranked among the foremost generals. In 1217 he was granted the titles Grand Preceptor, guowang, and plenipotentiary head of the Branch Secretariat; received a hereditary sworn charter and the Nine White Banners representing the Great Khan's authority; and was empowered to appoint officials and issue commands in the khan's name. In practice he became the highest Mongol authority in northern China. Jin sources referred to him as the “acting emperor”.

During his administration of the Central Plain, Muqali emphasized the establishment of governing institutions. He set up a Branch Secretariat at Yanjing, stationed substantial forces at Pingyang, appointed Tuoba Ancha'er as vanguard marshal and Li Shouzhong as acting head of the southern Hedong command, and under delegated authority appointed numerous surrendered Han commanders as chiliarchs and grand marshals. These arrangements foreshadowed the later system of hereditary Han military lords.

Travels and Areas of Activity

Muqali's campaigns took him across the Mongolian plateau, the North China Plain, and Liaodong. Early in life he followed Temüjin in the Onon and Kherlen River regions during the wars to unify the Mongol tribes. After 1211 he accompanied Genghis Khan south against the Jin, campaigning from Yehuling to the central capital and then Liaodong. After being granted the title of guowang, he used Yanjing as a base and campaigned year after year in Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, reaching as far as Shaanxi in his joint campaign with Western Xia. He died in the army at Wenxi, Shanxi, in the third lunar month of 1223.

Relations with Contemporaries

Muqali, Bo'orchu, Boroqul, and Chilaun were collectively known as the “Four Heroes” and jointly supported Genghis Khan. He was especially close to Bo'orchu, with whom he repeatedly protected Temüjin; Genghis Khan compared the two to the shafts of a cart and the arms of a body.

In the Jin campaigns, Muqali was skilled at winning over and employing surrendered commanders. He accepted the surrender of the Khitan figures Xiao Yexian and Xiao Bodie, and of Han leaders Shi Tianni, Shi Tianze, Zhang Rou, Yan Shi, and Shi Tianying, and listened to their advice. He immediately adopted Shi Tianni's recommendation to prohibit plunder and followed Xiao Yexian's advice not to massacre surrendered officers. These figures later became important pillars of Mongol rule in the Central Plain.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather: Telegütü Bayan
• Father: Gü'ün U'a, killed in fighting against the Naiman
• Younger brothers: Buqa, Daisun, the latter a commandery prince
• Son: Bo'ol, who inherited the title of guowang
• Grandsons: Tas, Suhunja, Batur, respectively inheritors of the guowang title and a vanguard marshal
• Great-grandsons: Hudu Hua, Naiyan, Xiangwei, Saman, Antong, and others; Xiangwei served as Left Chancellor of the Jiang-Huai Branch Secretariat and Antong as Right Chancellor of the Central Secretariat
• Genghis Khan (Borjigin Temüjin): ruler; Muqali was one of his most trusted retainers and was granted the titles Grand Preceptor and guowang
• Bo'orchu: colleague; fellow commander of a tümen and one of the “Four Heroes”
• Boroqul and Chilaun: colleagues and fellow “Four Heroes”
• Shi Tianni and Shi Tianze: Han local strongmen who received important posts after surrendering at Bazhou; Shi Tianni was placed in charge of military affairs in western Hebei
• Xiao Yexian: Khitan adviser who repeatedly offered counsel to Muqali
• Shi Tianying: local strongman of Xingzhong Prefecture, appointed administrator of Xingzhong after surrender
• Zhang Rou: Han local strongman stationed at Mancheng after surrender
• Yan Shi: local strongman of Dongping, appointed to head the Dongping Branch Secretariat after surrender
• Wu Xian: Jin master of Zhending Prefecture who became Shi Tianni's deputy after surrender
• Wanyan Chengyu: Jin councillor defeated at the Battle of Yehuling
• Zhang Jing and Zhang Zhi: brothers who rebelled after submission and were suppressed by Muqali
• Guo Hama: Jin general who resisted the Muqali–Western Xia coalition at Fengxiang

Historical Assessment

Yuan Period

• The History of Yuan, vol. 119, “Biography of Muqali”, praises Muqali as calm, resolute, and strategically intelligent, long-armed and skilled with the bow, and records that together with Bo'orchu, Boroqul, and Chilaun he served the founder with loyalty and courage and was known as one of the “Four Heroes.”
• Genghis Khan told Muqali and Bo'orchu that the pacification of the realm owed much to their efforts and compared them to the shafts of a cart and the arms of a body.
• Outline Deeds of Famous Ministers of Our Dynasty, vol. 1, in the section on the Grand Preceptor and Loyal-Martial Prince of Lu, quotes contemporaries describing Muqali as “benevolent and unwilling to kill,” a reputation that encouraged more Jin subjects to surrender.

Ming and Qing Periods

• The historian Ke Shaomin, in the New History of Yuan, vol. 119, “Biography of Muqali,” praised his military genius and his ability to abandon habitual slaughter and plunder and win over local strongmen while administering the Central Plain.
• The Qing scholar Gu Zuyu, discussing the Battle of Yehuling in Dushi Fangyu Jiyao, described Muqali as using men prepared to die to break the formation of a Jin army said to number four hundred thousand and praised him as a hero of his age.
• Zhao Yi, in Nian’er Shi Zhaji (Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories), placed Muqali at the head of the “Four Heroes” of the early Yuan and regarded his accomplishments as comparable to Bo'orchu's while judging his strategic ability superior.

Modern Assessments

• The modern scholar Tu Ji wrote in Historical Records of the Mongols that Muqali rose from servile status through the ranks to become a founding meritorious official and hereditary guowang, calling him an outstanding man.
• The Yuan historian Han Rulin argued in History of the Yuan Dynasty that Muqali's shift away from killing and plunder and his recruitment of Han local armed groups marked an important transition in Mongol rule from pure raiding toward governing the Central Plain.
• The Japanese scholar Sugiyama Masaaki wrote in The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire that Muqali was indispensable to Genghis Khan's imperial structure: by guarding the eastern front for the Great Khan, he enabled Genghis Khan to campaign westward and allowed the empire to conduct eastern and western operations simultaneously.