Wanyan Zongwang

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Wanyan Zongwang, originally named Wolubu and also written Wo Libu, was the second son of Emperor Taizu Wanyan Aguda. The Wanyan clan came from Hushui, identified in the source with present-day Acheng District of Harbin, and had long supplied leaders of the Raw Jurchen tribal confederation. Zongwang accompanied his father on campaign from an early age, remained frequently at his side, and repeatedly won distinction. In the formative years of Jin, when Jurchen society was still transforming from a tribal order toward a state, imperial clansmen commonly established themselves through military service. As Taizu's second son, Zongwang entered the wars of Jurchen unification and resistance to Liao at an early stage.

Achievements in the War against Liao

In 1121, the fifth year of Tianfu, Jin forces captured Liao's Central Capital. Zonghan took Beian Prefecture and captured the Liao ruler's guard Xinilie, learning that Emperor Tianzuo was at Yuanyangpo. When commander-in-chief Wanyan Gao emerged from Qingling, more than three hundred Liao soldiers were plundering the property of surrendered households. Zongwang argued that capturing them alive would reveal the Liao emperor's situation. He and Zongbi therefore attacked with one hundred cavalry. Most of their horses were exhausted, but Zongwang continued the pursuit with Ma Heshang after men including Yuelu, Bogu, and Yelisi, leaving one rider to hurry the rear force. He defeated the enemy and captured five men, confirming that the Liao ruler remained at Yuanyangpo.

Zongwang returned to the capital and asked Emperor Taizu to campaign personally. Officials entered to congratulate the emperor, who praised Zongwang for traveling thousands of li through enemy territory with only a little more than ten riders and held a banquet for the ministers. Zongwang reported that Yunzhong had only recently been pacified, tens of thousands of Liao troops remained on different routes, the Liao emperor was between Yinshan and Tiande, Nieli had established himself at Yanjing, and the generals hoped Taizu would personally come to the army. Taizu decided to depart in the sixth month. Later, during discussions of relocating tribes of the Southwestern Pacification Commission, Zongwang opposed moving them through the Central Capital because the region was devastated and could not supply grain. He recommended traveling by way of the Supreme Capital and warned that suddenly moving recently surrendered populations would alarm those who had not yet submitted and needlessly exhaust the army and harm the people. Taizu accepted his advice.

After Taizu learned that the Liao ruler was at Dayupo, he personally led ten thousand elite soldiers in pursuit, with Zongwang and Pujianu commanding four thousand as the vanguard. They traveled day and night, and by the time they caught the Liao ruler at Shinianyi only about one thousand Jin soldiers had kept pace, while the Liao still had twenty-five thousand. Yelü Yudu argued that the Jin forces were not assembled and both men and horses were exhausted, making battle inadvisable. Zongwang insisted on immediate combat, reasoning that if they had finally caught the Liao ruler but delayed until nightfall, he would escape beyond reach. Close fighting followed and the Liao troops surrounded the Jin force several times. Emperor Tianzuo, believing Zongwang's small force would be destroyed, watched from high ground with his consorts. Yelü Yudu pointed out the imperial canopy. Zongwang led cavalry directly toward it, causing the Liao ruler to flee in alarm and the Liao army to collapse. Zongwang pursued with more than a thousand cavalry, while Pujianu followed behind.

After Taizu secured Yanjing, Wolu became commander-in-chief and Zongwang deputy commander-in-chief for operations against the Liao ruler between Yinshan and Qingzhong. Zongwang, Loushi, and Yinshuke advanced by separate routes with three thousand troops. Mud near Qingzhong stopped the main force, so Zongwang and Danghaisi, with four riders, tied Liao commander and Linyin Dashi—Yelü Dashi—with a rope and used him as guide directly toward the Liao camp. The Liao emperor had gone to Yingzhou. His consorts and daughters panicked and tried to flee, and Zongwang ordered cavalry to dismount and seize them. After the rear troops arrived, the wife of Liao's Grand Uncle Huluwa, the secondary consort of King Nieli, Lady Han of Liao and her sons the princes of Qin and Xu, and women including Guyu and Yuliyan all surrendered. More than ten thousand carts were taken, while Prince Liang Yali and his eldest daughter alone escaped in the confusion.

When the Liao ruler returned from Jincheng and learned that members of his clan had been captured, he led more than five thousand troops into battle. Zongwang defeated them with one thousand soldiers. The Liao ruler fled when only about one hundred paces away. Zongwang captured his son, Prince Zhao Xinilie, and the imperial transmission seal and pursued for more than twenty li, seizing the emperor's accompanying horses. Zhaoli and others separately captured fourteen thousand herd horses and eight thousand carts. When the imperial seal was presented at Taizu's camp, the emperor stated that the achievement belonged to the ministers, placed the seal in his clothing, faced east, and respectfully thanked Heaven and Earth before broadly rewarding the commanders.

The Liao ruler sent Moulüwa with a gold seal bearing a rabbit-shaped knob to request surrender. Zongwang accepted it and found the inscription read “Seal of the Marshal, Prince of Yan.” He wrote again to summon the Liao ruler, referring to the historical removal northward of the Later Jin court, and also sent an envoy to Western Xia to maintain friendly relations and discourage Xia from rescuing Liao. Zongwang advanced toward Tiande and accepted the surrender of Yelü Shensi. A scout named Wu Shi reported that Western Xia had escorted the Liao ruler across the river, whereupon Zongwang sent a proclamation demanding that Xia seize and deliver him or risk future regret. When the captured Prince Qin and others were brought before Taizu, the emperor praised Zongwang's achievements and gave him Princess Yuliyan of Shu of Liao as wife.

Pacification of Nanjing

Shemu suffered a major defeat against Zhang Jue at Tuer Mountain. Emperor Taizong sent Zongwang to investigate and then gave him Shemu's army to campaign against Zhang Jue, while coastal prefectures and counties surrendered. Zongwang defeated Zhang Jue east of Nanjing; Zhang fled by night to Song. People in the city seized Zhang Jue's father and two sons and presented them to Zongwang, who killed them. Zongwang sent an imperial edict summoning Zhang Dungu and others in the city to surrender and dispatched an envoy with Dungu to collect weapons. The inhabitants killed the envoy, appointed Dungu commander-in-chief, seized government stores, plundered residents, and held the city. Emperor Taizong rewarded Zongwang for his victory over Zhang Jue.

After Zhang Jue fled to Song and entered Yanjing, Zongwang accused Song of harboring a rebel and also demanded military grain. Receiving no prompt answer, he planned to send a written demand and requested blank appointment documents and additional credential tablets to pacify newly surrendered people. Taizong ordered the offices and ranks of newly attached local officials preserved, directed other routes to transport military grain rather than demanding it from Song, and sent ten silver tablets and fifty blank commissions. He also ordered that inhabitants of Qian, Run, Lai, and Xi prefectures who had been moved to Shenzhou be allowed to finish the agricultural season before returning. Zhang Dungu then led eight thousand troops in four divisions out to battle and was badly defeated. Zongwang repeatedly called on him to surrender. Dungu replied that, having already resisted several times, he dared not submit immediately. Zongwang permitted him to perform a distant obeisance toward the imperial court, after which Dungu opened one gate. Zongwang sent Shemu to report the matter. Taizong then pardoned Nanjing officials and inhabitants, remitted offenses great and small, left offices as before, ordered lighter labor service and encouragement of agriculture, and entrusted frontier affairs to Zongwang. Zongwang also proposed demanding Zhang Jue and fugitive households from Song. Taizong ordered that a distinguished person with local prestige be chosen as Nanjing's defender. Many people from the four prefectures of Qian, Run, Lai, and Xi were holding mountain stockades, and Zongwang requested capable officials to pacify them; the emperor agreed.

First Advocacy of War against Song

Emperor Taizong summoned Zongwang to court. Shemu captured Nanjing and killed Zhang Dungu, bringing the city under control. Zonghan requested that Shanxi territory not be ceded to Song, and Wolu made the same argument; Shemu reported evidence that Song had violated the alliance and should be guarded against. After Zongwang returned to his army, Taizong distributed to his forces and to troops of the Six Divisions and the Eastern Capital the annual Song payments of two hundred thousand taels of silver and three hundred thousand bolts of silk. When Zongwang reached the army, three thousand Song soldiers came by sea, broke nine fortified villages, killed the garrison commander and military governor Dulüwo of Macheng County, and carried off his silver credential, weapons, and horses. Zongwang demanded the return of households, but Song refused, and he heard that Tong Guan and Guo Yaoshi were preparing forces in the Yanshan region. Zongwang memorialized in favor of attacking Song, arguing that if Jin did not strike first, Song might become a future threat. Zonghan agreed. The source therefore identifies Zongwang as the first advocate of the policy of invading Song.

First Invasion of Song

In the tenth month of 1125, the third year of Tianhui, Zongwang led the eastern army from Pingzhou against Yanshan Prefecture. In the twelfth month he defeated Song forces at Baihe and Gubeikou. Song general Guo Yaoshi surrendered and Yanshan's defenses collapsed. Zongwang soon defeated a thirty-thousand-man relief army from Zhongshan and another five thousand Song troops at Zhending Prefecture before taking Xinde Prefecture. On the western route Zonghan's army captured Daizhou but was held before Taiyuan. In the first month of 1126 Zongwang's army crossed the Yellow River, took Huazhou, and reached Bianjing. Because Li Gang organized effective defense, the city was not captured. In the second month, Zongwang compelled Song to negotiate by taking Prince Kang Zhao Gou and Grand Chancellor Zhang Bangchang as hostages and demanding the cession of Taiyuan, Zhongshan, and Hejian. After withdrawing to Mengyang, he defeated tens of thousands under Yao Pingzhong who attacked the Jin camp and again advanced to demand punishment. Emperor Qinzong, alarmed, sent envoys claiming that he had not known of the attack and would punish those responsible. Zongwang stopped the renewed advance, replaced Prince Kang as hostage with Prince Su Zhao Shu, and allowed Zhao Gou to return. Zongwang then withdrew toward Shanxi and was promoted to Right Deputy Marshal.

Second Invasion of Song and the Destruction of Northern Song

Jin sent Xiao Zhonggong as envoy to Song while Yelü Yudu served as a military supervisor. Emperor Qinzong believed that, as former Liao nobles, the two might be induced to act as inside agents. He sealed a letter in wax and ordered Xiao Zhonggong to deliver it to Yelü Yudu. Xiao instead returned to Jin and presented the letter to Zongwang. In the eighth month of 1126 Zongwang used this incident as grounds for another invasion. Starting from Baozhou, he repeatedly defeated Song forces at Xiongzhou, Zhongshan, Guangxin Army, and Jingxing's Tianwei Army. Turning east, he captured Zhending Prefecture and advanced from there toward Bianjing. In the eleventh month he reached the Yellow River, received the surrender of Weixian, crossed the river, and captured Linhe County, Daming County, Deqing Army, Kaide Prefecture, and Zuocheng before arriving beneath Bianjing, where he joined Zonghan's western army. In the intercalary eleventh month, after the episode involving Guo Jing, Zongwang and the other commanders broke the city, captured Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, and brought Northern Song to an end.

Death and Posthumous Honors

Zongwang died of illness in the sixth month of 1127, the fifth year of Tianhui. In 1135 he was posthumously enfeoffed as Prince of Wei. In 1143 he was advanced to Prince of Xu and then transferred to Prince of Jin. In 1150 he was posthumously appointed Grand Preceptor, further styled Prince of Liaoyan, and enshrined in Emperor Taizong's temple. In 1157 his rank was reduced according to a general reclassification, and in 1163 he was redesignated Prince of Song and granted the posthumous title Huansu.

Major Activities

Military Campaigns

Zongwang's principal military achievements were concentrated in the wars against Liao and Song. In the Liao war, the Battle of Shinianyi saw his thousand cavalry defeat a force of twenty-five thousand; at Qingzhong he captured members of the Liao imperial family and the imperial transmission seal, while his diplomacy toward the Liao ruler and Western Xia helped clear the way for Jin's destruction of Liao. Against Song, he twice commanded the eastern army. At Baihe he defeated Song forces and accepted Guo Yaoshi's surrender, contributing to the fall of Yanshan Prefecture. During the first siege of Bianjing he compelled Song to agree to cede three strategic prefectures. During the second campaign he joined Zonghan beneath Bianjing, broke the capital, captured the two emperors, and ended Northern Song. The source emphasizes his ability to seize opportunities and to attack larger forces with smaller ones.

Political Activities

Zongwang played a key role in the decision to attack Song. In 1125 he advocated war on the grounds that failure to strike first might create a later threat, and together with Zonghan helped persuade Emperor Taizong to invade. In his administration of Nanjing he advocated reduced labor service, encouragement of agriculture, appointment of capable and reputable local officials, and pacification of people living in mountain stockades, demonstrating some administrative capacity. He also combined diplomacy with military action by sending proclamations to Western Xia and pressing Song over its reception of Zhang Jue.

Travels and Campaign Geography

Zongwang's military movements covered the two major theaters of early Jin. They began in the Heilongjiang region, extended westward to Yinshan and Qingzhong south of present-day Hohhot, and reached south to Bianjing, present-day Kaifeng. During the Liao campaign he fought around Yuanyangpo, Shinianyi northwest of present-day Datong, Tiande, Yinshan, and Qingzhong. During the Song war he advanced from Pingzhou, present-day Lulong in Hebei, through Yanshan Prefecture, present-day Beijing, Zhending Prefecture, present-day Zhengding, and Zhongshan, present-day Dingzhou, before crossing the Yellow River to Bianjing. His recorded movements therefore span large areas of present-day Hebei, Shanxi, and Henan.

Relations with Contemporaries

Zongwang and Zonghan were the two leading commanders of early Jin. They jointly promoted war against Song, commanded the eastern and western armies respectively, and ultimately joined forces at Bianjing. Zongwang and his brother Zongbi had earlier led one hundred cavalry together in pursuit of Liao soldiers. At the Battle of Shinianyi he cooperated closely with the surrendered Liao commander Yelü Yudu, who identified the Liao emperor's canopy. Zongwang captured Yelü Dashi, the Liao commander known as Linyin Dashi, and used him as a bound guide in the advance on the Liao camp. Emperor Taizu gave him Princess Yuliyan of Shu of Liao as a wife, which the source presents as part of early Jin's political use of marriage ties with the Liao imperial house.

Personal Relations

Family

• Wanyan Aguda, Emperor Taizu of Jin: father
• Wanyan Zongbi, Wuzhu: younger brother
• Wanyan Zonghan: cousin and colleague
• Wanyan Gao: imperial clansman and commander-in-chief
• Wanyan Zonggan: brother
• Wanyan Zongjun: brother
• Wanyan Zongyao: brother
• Yelü Yuliyan, Princess of Shu of Liao: wife
• Wanyan Qi: son
• Wanyan Jing: son
• Wanyan Wen: son
• Wanyan Shigu, Princess Zhaoning: daughter

Teachers and Associates

• Wanyan Gao: commander-in-chief and superior during the Liao campaigns
• Pujianu, Wanyan Yu: colleague during the Liao campaigns
• Wanyan Loushi: colleague during the Liao campaigns
• Wanyan Yinshuke: colleague during the Liao campaigns
• Yelü Yudu: surrendered Liao commander and collaborator during the Liao campaign

Ruler-Minister Relations

• Wanyan Aguda, Emperor Taizu of Jin: father and ruler
• Wanyan Wuqimai, Emperor Taizong of Jin: ruler
• Wanyan Dan, Emperor Xizong of Jin: posthumously enfeoffed him as Prince of Wei
• Wanyan Liang, Prince Hailing: posthumously appointed him Grand Preceptor
• Wanyan Yong, Emperor Shizong of Jin: redesignated him Prince of Song

Enemies

• Yelü Yanxi, Emperor Tianzuo of Liao
• Yelü Chun, Prince of Qin and Jin who established himself at Yanjing
• Yelü Dashi, Liao commander known as Linyin Dashi
• Zhang Jue, former Liao officer who rebelled against Jin
• Zhang Dungu, commander at Nanjing
• Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of Song, captured
• Zhao Huan, Emperor Qinzong of Song, captured
• Li Gang, Song defender who resisted Jin at Bianjing
• Guo Yaoshi, Song general who later surrendered to Jin
• Yao Pingzhong, Song general who launched a night attack on the Jin camp

Historical Assessment

Jin and Contemporary Assessments

• Emperor Taizu Wanyan Aguda praised Zongwang for traveling thousands of li through enemy-held territory with only a little more than ten riders, calling the achievement worthy of commendation, as recorded in the History of Jin biography of Zongwang.
• Emperor Taizong Wanyan Wuqimai repeatedly rewarded his military achievements and entrusted frontier affairs to his sole decision, demonstrating exceptional confidence in him.
• The History of Jin praises him for remaining frequently at Taizu's side during campaigns and repeatedly winning distinguished merit, affirming his position as a founding general.

Song and Yuan Periods

• Song historians called him the Jin army's “Second Prince” and treated him, together with Zonghan, as one of the principal commanders responsible for the destruction of Northern Song.
• The Record of the Great Jin State describes him as extraordinarily capable in warfare; even Song records acknowledged his military talent.
• The Yuan compilers of the History of Jin included him among the leading imperial-clan generals and recorded his campaigns in detail, recognizing his contributions in the wars against Liao and Song.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Wang Fuzhi, discussing the fall of Northern Song in Song Lun, paired Zongwang with Zonghan as commanders responsible for the conquest and regarded the two-pronged Jin offensive as a key factor in Northern Song's collapse.
• Qing scholar Zhao Yi, in Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories, highlighted Zongwang's pursuit of the Liao emperor with one hundred cavalry and his defeat of twenty-five thousand with one thousand, treating his courage and military judgment as among the foremost of early Jin commanders.
• Qing historians often focused on his military ability and also repeated the designation “Bodhisattva Prince,” portraying him as relatively benevolent when contrasted with the harsher Zonghan.

Modern Assessments

• Modern historian Fan Wenlan, in A Concise General History of China, treats Zongwang as one of the most outstanding military commanders of early Jin and regards his early advocacy of war against Song as a strategic decision that altered the course of Chinese history.
• The General History of China edited by Cai Meibiao and others identifies Zongwang's military actions as directly contributing to the destruction of Northern Song and to the political transformation of twelfth-century China.
• Modern scholars also note the tension between Zongwang's “Bodhisattva Prince” reputation and his role as a commander in the conquest of Song, often regarding him as relatively moderate among early Jin commanders while still emphasizing his central historical role in Northern Song's fall.