Wanyan Zongbi

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Wanyan Zongbi was born into the imperial Wanyan clan of the Jurchens. He was the fourth son of Emperor Taizu Wanyan Aguda; his mother's identity is not given in the source. He was born into a Jurchen aristocratic household beside the Anchuhu River, identified in the source with the Haigou River area of present-day Acheng District, Harbin. Around the founding of Jin, the Wanyan confederation was undergoing a major political transformation, and Aguda proclaimed the Jin state in 1115 before continuing the war against Liao. Zongbi grew up in this martial ruling household. His half-brothers Wanyan Zongjun, Wanyan Zonggan, Wanyan Zongwang, and Wanyan Zongfu were all important Jin commanders, and their military careers deeply shaped his upbringing. The History of Jin describes him as bold and unrestrained, exceptionally courageous, long-armed and skilled in archery, and capable in warfare.

In the twelfth month of 1121, the fifth year of Tianfu, Jin launched its second major offensive against Liao and the young Zongbi first entered battle under his uncle, Guolun Hulu Bojilie and commander-in-chief Wanyan Gao, also known as Wanyan Xieye. In the first month of 1122, Jin forces captured Liao's Central Capital. Wanyan Zonghan learned that Emperor Tianzuo of Liao was hunting at Yuanyangpo, and Wanyan Gao and Zonghan divided their forces to strike. Zongbi followed Wanyan Zongwang with one hundred cavalry in pursuit of more than three hundred Liao soldiers. When his arrows were exhausted, he seized a spear from a Liao soldier, killed eight men, captured five, and interrogated them to learn the emperor's location. This first battle established his reputation for extraordinary personal courage.

The Destruction of Northern Song and Campaigns in Hebei

In the tenth month of 1125, the third year of Tianhui, Jin launched war against Song in two routes. The western army was commanded by Left Deputy Marshal Wanyan Zonghan, while Wanyan Zongwang led the eastern army. Zongbi served in Zongwang's force as a field chiliarch. The eastern army advanced from Pingzhou, took Yanjing in the twelfth month, and then captured Zhongshan, Zhending, and Xinde. In the first month of 1126, Zongbi took Tangyin County and captured three thousand Song troops after breaking the city. When the eastern army forced a crossing of the Yellow River after the Song had burned the floating bridge, Jin commander Helusuo led seventy cavalry through the water and killed five hundred Song troops assigned to destroy the bridge. Zongbi then led three thousand light cavalry toward Kaifeng. Hearing that Emperor Huizong had fled south, he selected one hundred elite riders to pursue him but failed to catch him and returned with three thousand horses. Jin then besieged Kaifeng, and Song sought peace by agreeing, among other conditions, to cede Taiyuan, Zhongshan, and Hejian. Jin temporarily withdrew. In the eighth month Zongbi again followed Zongwang south, and in the following year Jin captured Kaifeng. Emperors Huizong and Qinzong surrendered, Northern Song ended, and the event became known as the Jingkang Incident.

Wanyan Zongwang died of illness in the sixth month of 1127, and Wanyan Zongfu succeeded him as Right Deputy Marshal. In the twelfth month, Zongfu was ordered to suppress anti-Jin forces in the Zi and Qing regions of present-day Shandong. Zongbi first defeated an army of several tens of thousands under Song commander Zheng Zongmeng and captured Qingzhou. Near Linqu he then defeated the anti-Jin force led by Zhao Cheng and routed the army of Song commander Huang Qiong, taking Linqu. In the first month of 1128, as Zongfu's army was returning across the Qing River, more than thirty thousand Song troops attacked. Zongbi defeated them, reportedly killing more than ten thousand. He then successively took Puzhou, Kaide Prefecture, and Daming Prefecture and helped bring Hebei under Jin control. Zongfu left him to garrison Hejian Prefecture while the main army returned north. These operations established Zongbi as a commander capable of independent action.

Pursuit of Gaozong and the Battle of Huangtiandang

In the seventh month of 1128, Emperor Taizong ordered Jin forces to pursue Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou, who had fled to Yangzhou. Zongbi led his own force south with Zongfu's army. Early in the seventh year of Tianhui he was promoted to Right Supervisor of the Marshal's Office. Zongfu sent Talan, Zongbi, Balisu, and Ma Wu south by separate routes, while Gaozong fled Yangzhou. Zongbi entered Song's Huainan West Circuit and advanced to Guide Prefecture, whose defender surrendered. Cities and counties along his route either fell after a single assault or submitted without battle. He reached the northern bank of the Yangzi and occupied Hezhou in present-day Anhui.

In the eleventh month of 1129, Zongbi's army crossed the Yangzi at Majia Ferry southwest of Jiankang Prefecture. Song naval commander Shao Qing, with only one warship and eighteen sailors, attempted to block the crossing but was forced to retreat after exhausting his strength. Zongbi crossed the river, defeated the Song army under Du Chong, and took Jiankang. He sent commanders to sweep nearby territory and personally led the main army through the Guangde region and Huzhou to Lin'an Prefecture, present-day Hangzhou. Gaozong fled to Mingzhou, present-day Ningbo. Zongbi sent Ali and Puluhun ahead with four thousand elite troops, while Elubu and Shuliesu were sent against Yuezhou. Ali's force repeatedly defeated Song troops and approached Mingzhou, forcing Gaozong to board a ship and flee to sea. Zongbi arrived soon afterward and captured Mingzhou. Ali and Puluhun crossed the sea to Changguo County, on present-day Zhoushan Island, captured Mingzhou prefect Zhao Bo'e, and learned that Gaozong had escaped by way of Wenzhou toward Fuzhou. They pursued him more than three hundred li out to sea without success, and Zongbi eventually returned to Lin'an. Jin sources referred to this campaign as the effort to “search the mountains and inspect the seas.” Although Gaozong was not captured, Jin forces swept across much of Jiangnan and the Liangzhe region.

In the second month of 1130, Zongbi declared the southern pursuit complete and began returning north along the Grand Canal with large quantities of valuables seized during the campaign. Before leaving, his troops burned the old city of Lin'an and continued destruction along the route; the source states that Mingzhou, Pingjiang, Yangzhou, and other cities suffered burning and killing. The Chronological Record Since the Jianyan Era is cited as stating that nearly five hundred thousand people in Pingjiang were killed, presenting the campaign as a severe disaster for the Jiangnan population.

In the third month, Zongbi reached Zhenjiang and was blocked by Song commander Han Shizhong. Han's navy possessed large warships and controlled the river mouth. Jin had more troops but fewer and smaller vessels and lacked experience in naval warfare. After repeated fighting, the two sides remained locked for forty-eight days and Zongbi could not cross. He therefore moved west along the Yangzi to Huangtiandang. Following the old channel of the Laoguan River, his soldiers dug a canal said to be thirty li long in a single night, connecting to the Qinhuai River, and escaped back to Jiankang. Han Shizhong pursued him and blockaded the river. Zongbi posted rewards for a plan to defeat the large Song ships. A man surnamed Wang from Fujian proposed using fire arrows against their sails when there was no wind. Zongbi had fire arrows prepared during the night. On the twenty-fifth day, with clear skies and no wind, the Song vessels were immobile; Jin soldiers in small boats fired the arrows into their sails. The source states that Song sailors were killed by fire or drowning in great numbers and that Han Shizhong barely escaped. The Battle of Huangtiandang was the most dangerous episode of Zongbi's southern campaign. Though he escaped, his losses were heavy, and the account says that he thereafter opposed lightly undertaking another deep southern invasion.

Sichuan-Shaanxi Operations and the Defeat at Heshangyuan

In the autumn of 1130 Emperor Taizong transferred Right Deputy Marshal Zongfu to command the Shaanxi armies against the Sichuan-Shaanxi region, and Zongbi was ordered to join him. In the ninth month Zongfu advanced along the Luo River and appointed Wanyan Loushi and Zongbi to command the left and right wings in a coordinated attack, beginning the Battle of Fuping. Song commissioner Zhang Jun appointed Liu Xi overall commander and assembled cavalry and infantry under Liu Qi, Zhao Zhe, Wu Jie, and others. The source gives a force of 180,000, said to have been claimed as 400,000, to confront Jin near Fuping. Song forces concentrated on Zongbi's army, surrounding it and fighting from noon to evening. Zongbi held his ground and tied down the main Song force. Jin commander Chizhan Hui lost his entire force, and Han Chang continued fighting after being wounded in one eye. Wanyan Loushi then identified a weak point in the troops commanded by Zhao Zhe and attacked with elite cavalry. Zhao Zhe's force broke, after which Loushi and Zongbi joined forces and pressed the attack. Song's army collapsed, and Jin won the Battle of Fuping despite being outnumbered, subsequently taking much of the Five Circuits of Shaanxi.

Wanyan Loushi died soon after the battle. Zongfu appointed Zongbi commander of the right wing and Alubu commander of the left wing to receive the surrender of remaining Shaanxi prefectures and counties. In the first month of 1131, the Jingyuan and Xihe circuits fell to Jin, after which Zongfu returned and Zongbi became commander of Jin forces in Shaanxi.

In the tenth month of 1131 Zongbi attempted to advance from Shaanxi toward Sichuan by way of Heshangyuan, southwest of present-day Baoji, but encountered determined resistance by Song commanders Wu Jie and Wu Lin. The terrain was naturally strong and difficult to assault. After prolonged attacks failed, Jin withdrew. Song ambushes struck repeatedly during the retreat, and when the Jin force had fought its way about thirty li and was close to open ground, Song troops formed at the mountain pass and inflicted a major defeat. Zongbi was struck by an arrow and, according to the source, “shaved his beard and fled”; more than half his soldiers were killed or wounded. The account presents this as the worst defeat of his military career.

In the eleventh month of 1133 Zongbi attacked again, defeated Wu Lin's army, and captured Heshangyuan. In the second month of 1134 he attacked Xianren Pass, a gateway toward Sichuan, but was again defeated by Wu Jie's forces and withdrew to Fengxiang Prefecture. In the third month he returned from Shaanxi to Yanjing. After these defeats, the source states, Zongbi no longer sought direct battle with the Wu brothers and instead relied on strategy. In 1141 he wrote to Emperor Gaozong demanding the withdrawal of the Wu forces and thus gained control in the Sichuan-Shaanxi frontier without another major battle.

Entry into Central Government and the Shaoxing Peace

In the first month of 1135 Emperor Taizong died and Emperor Xizong Wanyan Dan succeeded. Xizong immediately began reforming Jin's political institutions, and Zongbi became one of the important figures assisting those reforms. In 1137 he was promoted to Right Deputy Marshal and enfeoffed as Prince of Liang. In the eleventh month Jin abolished the puppet Qi regime, reduced Liu Yu to Prince of Shu, restored direct court administration, and established a Branch Department of State Affairs at Bianjing.

In 1138, Zongpan and Zongjun, who headed the Three Departments, dominated court politics and worked with Left Deputy Marshal Talan outside the capital to return Henan and Shaanxi to Song. Zongbi supported Zonggan and others in firm opposition. In 1139 Emperor Xizong executed Zongpan and Zongjun for treason, removed Talan from military authority, appointed Zongbi Grand Marshal, and enfeoffed him as Prince of Yue. When evidence emerged that Talan had communicated with and accepted bribes from Song, Xizong ordered Zongbi to execute him. Zongbi pursued him to Qizhou, present-day Anguo in Hebei, killed him, and recovered the Henan and Shaanxi territory previously returned to Southern Song.

In 1140, after gaining control of military affairs, Zongbi requested authorization for another invasion of Song. Xizong agreed. Within a month Jin recovered Henan and Shaanxi. Zongbi entered Bianjing and sought to cross the Huai and continue south, but he was defeated first by Liu Qi at Shunchang and then by Yue Fei's forces at Yancheng and Yingchang. Yue Fei advanced northward to Zhuxianzhen near Kaifeng. Zongbi was reportedly preparing to abandon Kaifeng, but Emperor Gaozong issued repeated orders recalling Yue Fei, who withdrew.

In 1141 Zongbi took advantage of the ordered withdrawal of Song armies and again attacked Southern Song with a cavalry force claimed to exceed one hundred thousand, but he was defeated at Zhegao. Peace negotiations then resumed. The source states that Zongbi demanded Yue Fei's death as a condition for negotiations. In the eleventh year of Shaoxing, Emperor Gaozong removed the commands of Han Shizhong and Yue Fei, and Qin Hui imprisoned and executed Yue Fei on the charge described in the source as “groundless.” In the eleventh month Jin envoys reached Lin'an to negotiate. Gaozong sent He Zhu, Academician of Duanming Hall, and others with a sworn memorial. The settlement fixed the middle of the Huai River as part of the border, assigned Tangzhou and Dengzhou in the west to Jin, required annual payments of 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 bolts of silk, and had Southern Song acknowledge vassal status to Jin. This was the Shaoxing Peace.

In 1142 Zongbi was promoted to Left Chancellor and concurrently Attendant-in-Ordinary, while retaining the office of Grand Marshal and control of the Branch Department of State Affairs. By 1147 he held sole command of Jin's military and political affairs. He died of illness in 1148 and received the posthumous title Zhonglie.

Wanyan Zongbi, whose Jurchen name was Wozhuo and who is better known as Wuzhu, was the fourth son of the Jin founder Aguda. The Jin History describes him as open and bold, fearless beyond other men, long-armed and a good archer, and skilled in the art of war. He was not yet grown when his father rose against the Liao; in the years of campaigning that followed the founding of the Jin, his half-brothers Zongwang and the rest, brave and skilful commanders, had a strong influence on him. In the first month of 1122, when the Jin took Zhongjing and Zonghan learned that the Liao emperor Tianzuo was hunting at Yuanyangluo, Wanyan Gao and Zonghan divided their forces to surprise him. Zongbi and Zongwang were in Gao's army, and crossing the Qingling they heard of some three hundred Liao soldiers nearby; Zongwang took Zongbi and Ma Heshang with a hundred horsemen after them, and in the fight Zongbi, his arrows spent, seized a Liao soldier's spear and killed eight men and took five alive — a first taste of battle that showed a daring beyond the common and made the Jurchen troops look at him with new eyes.

In the tenth month of 1125 the Jin marched against the Song in two columns, Zongbi holding the command of ten thousand households in the eastern column. That column went south from Pingzhou and took Zhongshan and other places in succession. In the first month of 1126 Zongbi took Tangyin county and received the surrender of three thousand Song troops; reaching the Yu river, where the Song had burned the bridge, Helusuo crossed with seventy horsemen and killed five hundred of the bridge-burners, and Zongbi with three thousand horse pressed on to the walls of Bianjing. The retired emperor fled, and Zongbi, choosing a hundred of his best riders, pursued without catching him, but brought back three thousand horses.

In the sixth month of 1127 Zongwang died and Zongfu became vice-marshal of the right. In the twelfth month Zongfu was ordered to pacify the anti-Jin forces about Zi and Qing, and Zongbi first defeated the tens of thousands of Zheng Zongmeng, took Qingzhou, then broke Zhao Cheng near Linqu, heavily defeated Huang Qiong's army and occupied Linqu. In the first month of 1128, as Zongfu's army turned back, it met thirty thousand enemies by the Yellow River, and Zongbi beat them, killing more than ten thousand; he then attacked the prefecture of Kaide, and when his grain failed, turned against Puzhou, where the vanguard Wulinda Taiyu broke two hundred thousand of Wang Shan's men, took Puzhou and brought in five neighbouring counties; at Kaide his troops were first over the wall, as at Daming, and Hebei was pacified.

In the seventh month of 1128 Emperor Taizong of the Jin decreed the pursuit of Emperor Gaozong of Song, who had fled to Yangzhou, and Zongbi went south with Zongfu's army, leading the van from Hebei; early in 1129 he was made right supervisor of the marshals. Gaozong fled south again from Yangzhou, and Zongbi, taking one place after another, either by a single assault or without a fight, pressed on to the north bank of the Yangtze and took Hezhou, the chief town of the north bank. The Song naval commander Shao Qing had but one warship and eighteen sailors to oppose him, and his steersman Zhang Qing took seventeen arrows before Shao Qing, his strength spent, gave way. In the eleventh month Zongbi crossed the river, sent his generals to clear the country about him and led the main army by the Guangde army route to Huzhou, hunting Gaozong on land and sea, a campaign remembered as sweeping the hills and searching the sea.

On his way back north he was checked near Zhenjiang and penned in the Huangtiandang by Han Shizhong's fleet for more than forty days before he broke out by fire and returned north. He afterward directed the war in Shaanxi, crushing the Song at Fuping but being held off by the brothers Wu Jie and Wu Lin at Heshangyuan and Xianrenguan. He had a decisive part in bringing about the peace with the Song: after the failures of his river crossing the Jin shifted from outright conquest to forcing peace by war, and in the Huangtong years Zongbi, as marshal-in-chief, both campaigned in Huainan to apply pressure and led the negotiations, so that the Southern Song at last became a vassal and a frontier was fixed. He stands in the Jin History among the great princes of the imperial house, and later ages have treated him as one of the most important decision-makers of the middle years of the early Jin. He died in 1148. The records of his life differ in fullness from stage to stage: the campaigns under Zongwang and Zongfu appear chiefly in the annals and generals' biographies of the Jin, while the crossing of the Yangtze and the affair of the Huangtiandang are told in Song sources, each body of material describing his doings from its own side.

Major Activities

Military Campaigns

Zongbi participated in nearly all of the major wars of early Jin, from the conquest of Liao and destruction of Northern Song to the deep southern pursuit of Emperor Gaozong, the Sichuan-Shaanxi campaigns, the recovery of Henan, and the negotiations that led to the Shaoxing Peace. His first recorded battle in 1122 established a reputation for personal courage after he killed eight men and captured five. From 1125 he campaigned with the eastern army against Song. In 1129 he crossed the Yangzi and took Jiankang, Lin'an, and Mingzhou, pursuing Gaozong more than three hundred li out to sea. In the Battle of Fuping in 1130, his force remained engaged while heavily pressed by Song troops, contributing to a Jin victory that opened much of Shaanxi. In 1140 he recovered Henan and Shaanxi. Although he was then defeated by Liu Qi and Yue Fei, Jin military pressure under his command remained a central factor in the negotiations that produced the Shaoxing Peace and the Huai River–Dasan Pass frontier described in the source.

Political Activities

After Emperor Xizong's accession in 1135, Zongbi entered the central government and participated in political reform. In 1139 he became Grand Marshal and Prince of Yue, killed Wanyan Talan for his communications with Song, and recovered Henan and Shaanxi. In 1142 he became Left Chancellor and concurrently Attendant-in-Ordinary while remaining Grand Marshal and controlling the Branch Department of State Affairs, combining high civil and military authority. By 1147 he held supreme military and political power. Politically, he consistently favored a hard line toward Song and opposed territorial concessions.

Travels and Campaign Geography

Zongbi's military career took him across regions corresponding to present-day Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Gansu, and other areas. His campaigns ranged from the northeastern homeland of the Jurchens to the lower Yangzi, the mountain passes of Shaanxi, and the plains of the Central Plains.

Relations with Contemporaries

Zongbi had close ties with several Jin princes. Early in his career he served under Wanyan Gao, Wanyan Zongwang, and Wanyan Zongfu and fought alongside Wanyan Loushi at Fuping. After entering central government he formed a political alliance with Zonggan and others in opposition to Zongpan and Talan's policy of returning territory to Song. His relationship with Wanyan Xiyin shifted from cooperation to conflict. In 1142, after the two disagreed, Zongbi reported to Xizong that Xiyin had made disloyal statements, leading to Xiyin's death.

Personal Relations

• Wanyan Aguda, Emperor Taizu of Jin: father
• Wanyan Zongjun, Wanyan Zonggan, Wanyan Zongwang, Wanyan Zongfu: half-brothers
• Wanyan Dan, Emperor Xizong of Jin: nephew
• Wanyan Gao, also known as Xieye: uncle and commander during the early Liao campaigns
• Wanyan Loushi: colleague and fellow commander at Fuping
• Wanyan Zonggan: political ally
• Emperor Taizong Wanyan Wuqimai of Jin: ruler
• Emperor Xizong Wanyan Dan of Jin: ruler
• Wanyan Talan: political rival, executed by Zongbi for communication with Song
• Zongpan and Zongjun: political rivals, executed for monopolizing power
• Wanyan Xiyin: former colleague who later became an opponent and was killed after Zongbi's accusation
• Yue Fei: Southern Song commander who defeated Zongbi at Yancheng and Yingchang
• Han Shizhong: Southern Song commander who blocked Zongbi at Huangtiandang
• Wu Jie and Wu Lin: Southern Song commanders who defeated Zongbi at Heshangyuan and Xianren Pass
• Liu Qi: Southern Song commander who defeated Zongbi at Shunchang
• Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou of Song: principal target of Zongbi's southern pursuit

Historical Assessment

Jin and Contemporary Assessments

• The History of Jin describes Zongbi as bold and unrestrained, exceptionally courageous, long-armed and skilled in archery, and adept in warfare, directly praising his military qualities.
• Emperor Xizong relied heavily on him, appointing him Grand Marshal, enfeoffing him as Prince of Yue, and later promoting him to Left Chancellor and Attendant-in-Ordinary, thereby concentrating military and political authority in his hands.
• The source states that Jin soldiers and common people regarded Zongbi with extraordinary prestige and that he served as a central figure of confidence within the Jin army.

Song and Yuan Periods

• Southern Song sources regarded Zongbi as a major threat and referred to him as the “Fourth Prince of the Jin.” In later popular narratives, including The Complete Tale of Yue Fei, Jin Wuzhu became the principal enemy opposed to Yue Fei.
• Li Xinchuan's Chronological Record Since the Jianyan Era records violence associated with Zongbi's southern invasion and states that nearly five hundred thousand people in Pingjiang died, reflecting Song fear and hostility toward him.
• The Yuan-compiled History of Jin recognized his military ability while also observing that repeated Jin victories had still failed to make the Song fully submit.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Wang Fuzhi, in Song Lun, described Zongbi as fierce, resolute, and skilled in battle and regarded him as a major figure enabling Jin to sustain long confrontation with Southern Song.
• Zhao Yi, in Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories, discussing Jin commanders, treated Zongbi as one of the dynasty's foremost generals and praised his skill in warfare.
• In Ming-Qing popular literature and drama, the image of Jin Wuzhu increasingly became a stock antagonist to Yue Fei, while his courage and military ability were still acknowledged.

Modern Assessments

• Modern historian Deng Guangming, in his biography of Yue Fei, described Zongbi as Jin's most outstanding military commander and regarded his strategic and military ability as an important reason Jin could contend with Southern Song for so long.
• Modern scholarship generally sees Zongbi as a central figure in Jin's wars against Song and considers Jin military pressure under his leadership inseparable from the conclusion of the Shaoxing Peace and the formation of the long-term Jin-Song confrontation.
• Contemporary studies also emphasize that although his campaigns brought severe suffering to populations in Jiangnan, from the perspective of the Jin state his operations contributed substantially to consolidating Jin power and expanding its territory.