Biography
Family Background and Early Years
Wanyan Zonghan was born into the core Wanyan lineage of the Jin ruling house and was the eldest son of State Chancellor Wanyan Sagai. Sagai was a grandson of Emperor Jingzu Wanyan Wugunai and a son of Hezhe. He held high standing in the Jurchen tribal confederation and served as state chancellor, making him one of the most respected political figures within the Wanyan leadership. Zonghan's mother's background is not given in the source, though his family's position indicates that he belonged to the inner circle of the Wanyan elite.
Zonghan's original name is given as Nianmohe, a Jurchen name which the source explains as meaning “Han person,” supposedly because he resembled a Han Chinese. Chinese texts also transmitted the form Nianhan. The childhood name Wujianu is recorded in Hong Hao's *Songmo Jiwen*, though it is not given in Zonghan's biography in the *History of Jin*; the source therefore treats its provenance as requiring caution.
Zonghan grew up while the Jurchen tribes were gradually being unified and the Wanyan clan was gaining power. His father Sagai long assisted the confederation leader in government, and Zonghan was thus exposed early to tribal politics and military affairs. He was reportedly already known for bravery in the army at the age of seventeen. The *History of Jin* gives only a brief notice of this early reputation, however, and the source cautions that later accounts may have embellished the details.
Supporting Taizu and the War against Liao
In 1114, the fourth year of Tianqing under Liao, Wanyan Aguda swore his army to rebellion against Liao. Zonghan supported Aguda's strategic direction from the beginning. In 1115, after Aguda defeated Liao troops on the frontier and captured Yelü Xieshi, Sagai sent Zonghan and Wanyan Xiyin to the army to congratulate him, treating imperial accession as the occasion for celebration. Aguda had still hesitated to assume the imperial title even though many imperial relatives and ministers, beginning with the future Emperor Taizong Wuqimai, had urged him to do so. Zonghan, Aliheman, Pujianu, and others argued that if a title was not established at the proper moment, there would be no way to bind the allegiance of the realm. Aguda then decided to become emperor and establish Jin. The source presents Zonghan's intervention at this moment as evidence of his political judgment.
In the same year the Liao commander Yelü Eliduo led more than two hundred thousand troops against the Jurchens. Aguda met them in battle, with Zonghan commanding the right wing, and the Liao army was decisively defeated at Dalugucheng. Zonghan's role as a major wing commander in this important engagement gave him extensive battlefield experience.
In the fourth month of 1121, the fifth year of Tianfu, Zonghan memorialized Aguda that Emperor Yelü Yanxi had lost virtue and that the Liao court and population had become alienated. Although Jin's foundations were now established, Liao's root had not been removed and would become a future threat unless struck while vulnerable. Aguda agreed and ordered the various armies to prepare. In the fifth month, while drinking with his ministers, Aguda publicly told Zonghan that Zonghan's earlier and later plans for the western expedition had repeatedly agreed with his own thinking, and that although some imperial clansmen were senior to him, none was more suitable for planning as commander. He personally poured wine for Zonghan and placed an imperial robe upon him as a mark of confidence. The campaign was temporarily postponed after other ministers objected to campaigning during the hot season. Soon afterward Zonghan was appointed Yilai Bojilie as deputy to Pujianu for western military affairs.
In the eleventh month Zonghan again requested action, arguing that the armies had been encamped for a long time, the soldiers wished to exert themselves, and the horses were strong enough to advance on the Central Capital. Other ministers objected because of the cold, but Aguda adopted Zonghan's strategy. Hulu Bojilie Wanyan Gao then commanded the inner and outer armies, with Pujianu, Zonghan, Zonggan, and Zongpan as deputies, Zongjun commanding a Hezha Meng'an, and the surrendered Liao officer Yelü Yudu acting as guide. After the Central Capital, near present-day Ningcheng in Inner Mongolia, was taken, Zonghan led a detached force toward Beian Prefecture. There he joined Wanyan Loushi and Tudan Chuoli, defeated the Xi prince Xiamo, and received Beian's surrender.
Independent Command and Pursuit of the Liao Emperor
While stationed at Beian, Zonghan sent Wanyan Xiyin to operate in the surrounding region. Xiyin captured the Liao guard Yelü Xinilie, from whom the Jin learned that Emperor Tianzuo Yelü Yanxi was hunting at Yuanyangpo near present-day Zhangbei and had recently killed his own son, Prince Jin Aolüwo. The Liao court was increasingly divided, while troops on the northwestern and southwestern routes were said to be weak. Zonghan immediately sent Nouwan Wundun Sizhong, whose Jurchen name is given as Yilabu, to commander Wanyan Gao to request permission to pursue the Liao ruler with Zonghan's own force. Wanyan Gao hesitated and sent Wanyan Ang, Jurchen name Bendu, back with Sizhong, stating that an imperial order did not require an immediate move toward Shanxi and that the matter should be considered carefully.
Fearing that delay would lose the opportunity, Zonghan decided to advance independently. He again sent Sizhong to report that his force had already begun moving and to ask where the main army should rendezvous. Wanyan Zonggan urged Gao to follow Zonghan's plan, and Gao finally agreed to meet at Xiwang Ridge.
After joining at Xiwang Ridge, the army split into two routes: Wanyan Gao moved through Qingling and Zonghan through Piaoling, with both to meet at Yangchengpo. Zonghan led six thousand elite troops against the Liao ruler. When he learned that Yelü Yanxi had come from the Wuyuan Office to resist, Zonghan doubled his pace and arrived within a single day and night, forcing the Liao emperor to flee. He then sent Wanyan Xiyin and others in pursuit. When the Western Capital, present-day Datong, rebelled again, Geng Shouzhong brought five thousand soldiers to its aid but was attacked forty li east of the city by Pucha Wulie and Guchi Pixian, losing more than a thousand heads. Zonghan, Zongxiong, Zonggan, and Zongjun arrived in succession. Zonghan struck the center of the opposing army and ordered the remaining troops to dismount and shoot from the flanks. Geng Shouzhong fled and his force was destroyed. Zonghan's younger brother Zhabodi was killed in this battle and was posthumously promoted during the Tianjuan era under Emperor Xizong.
Yunzhong and Jin-Western Xia Relations
After pacifying prefectures and tribes in the west, Zonghan went to Aguda's imperial camp and accompanied him in the attack on Yanjing, present-day Beijing. After Yanjing was subdued, Aguda distributed gold vessels to Zonghan, Wanyan Xiyin, Wanyan Chang, also known as Talan, Yelü Yudu, and others. After returning Yanjing to Song, Aguda fell ill at Yuanyangpo during the return journey. Before going back to the capital, he appointed Zonghan commander-in-chief, with Wanyan Yu, also known as Pujianu, and Wolu as deputy commanders, and stationed them at Yunzhong, present-day Datong, entrusting western defense to Zonghan.
In 1123 Emperor Taizu Wanyan Aguda died and Emperor Taizong Wanyan Sheng succeeded him. Taizong issued an edict authorizing Zonghan, as the official responsible for a major frontier, to appoint or promote personnel as circumstances required, and supplied him with one hundred blank commissions. Zonghan thus exercised broad military and administrative authority in the Yunzhong region and became Jin's highest authority on the western front.
During negotiations over whether Shanxi prefectures should be transferred to Song, Zonghan memorialized against cession. He listed alleged Song violations, including receiving defectors and obstructing communications through the Yanshan region, and argued that if the alliance had already deteriorated within a year, permanent observance could not be expected. He also stressed that the western frontier remained unsettled and that surrendering Shanxi would deprive Jin armies of strategic bases. Taizong initially argued that the late emperor had already promised the territory, but ultimately accepted Zonghan's position and retained Shanxi.
In 1124, the second year of Tianhui, Zonghan managed relations with Western Xia and helped secure a formal memorial of submission from the Xia state. Emperor Taizong rewarded him with ten horses, allowing him to choose two while distributing the rest among other commanders. The resulting Jin-Xia suzerain-vassal relationship stabilized Jin's western strategic rear before further campaigns against Song.
War against Song and the Jingkang Incident
In 1125 Emperor Taizong decided to attack Song, citing the reception of defectors and alleged failure to observe treaty commitments. Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang jointly requested war. Jin divided its forces into two routes: Zonghan, appointed Left Deputy Marshal, advanced against Song from the Taiyuan route, while Zongwang, Right Deputy Marshal, advanced from the Yanjing route. Zonghan besieged Taiyuan and fought forces under Song commanders including Zhong Shizhong. By the end of 1126 the eastern and western Jin armies joined beneath Bianjing. In 1127 Bianjing fell, and Emperors Huizong and Qinzong together with more than 470 members of the imperial clan were captured in what became known as the Jingkang Incident. As commander of the western army, Zonghan directly participated in this event.
After the catastrophe, Zonghan ordered the two Song emperors to remove their dragon robes and reduced them to commoner status. Song Vice Minister of Personnel Li Ruoshui attempted to stop the humiliation and, according to the source, suffered mutilation before being killed after refusing to submit. In the first month of 1128 Southern Song envoy Wang Lun and others were detained at Yunzhong. Zonghan gave Wang Lun four women from the captured Song imperial household and gave one imperial clanswoman to the accompanying envoy Zhu Ji. Zhu Ji refused the gift and was executed by Zonghan. The source presents these episodes as evidence of Zonghan's hard-line treatment of Song officials and the captured court.
In the seventh month of 1127 Emperor Taizong rewarded Zonghan for the destruction of Northern Song with an iron certificate exempting him from punishment for offenses other than rebellion, one of the dynasty's highest honors for a meritorious official.
Later Years and Court Politics
In 1135 Emperor Taizong died and Emperor Xizong Wanyan Dan succeeded him. Xizong had been deeply influenced by Han culture from childhood and after accession promoted Han-style institutional reform. He relied increasingly on figures such as Zongpan and Zongbi and grew suspicious of veteran founders such as Zonghan. Zonghan was appointed Grand Protector and Director of the Department of State Affairs, placed in charge of the Three Departments, and enfeoffed as Prince of Jin. Although nominally first among the officials, he was removed from military command and gradually excluded from the core decision-making circle. Zonghan requested retirement, which Xizong refused, but their political tension remained.
In 1137, the fifteenth year of Tianhui, Zonghan finally lost his position in court politics and died in grief and frustration, at approximately fifty-eight years of age. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Prince of Zhou and Song. In 1157, the second year of Zhenglong, Prince Hailing Wanyan Liang reclassified him as Prince of Jinyuan. During the Dading era Emperor Shizong changed the posthumous enfeoffment to Prince of Qin, gave him the posthumous title Huanzhong, and enshrined him in Emperor Taizu's temple.
After Zonghan's death, his sons Zhenzhu, also known as Sheyema, and Ge Hannu, also known as Xiebao, discussed adopting “Nian” as a surname to avoid suspicion. The source states that Zonghan's descendants were later all killed by Prince Hailing Wanyan Liang. It further notes that present-day people surnamed Nian in Fujian and Taiwan regard Wanyan Zonghan as their founding ancestor.