Wanyan Zongxiong

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Wanyan Zongxiong was born into the aristocratic Wanyan family. His grandfather was Emperor Shizu Wanyan Helibo, his father Emperor Kangzong Wanyan Uyašu, and his mother Kangzong's principal wife, Empress Jingxi of the Tangkuo clan. When Zongxiong was born, Helibo saw what he regarded as an extraordinary bearing and predicted that the child would one day become a pillar of the state. He removed his own sword and had it placed beside the infant, instructing that it be given to him when he came of age.

Zongxiong displayed remarkable archery from childhood. At nine he could hit a fleeing hare; at eleven he shot a running deer. Helibo placed him on his knee and praised him as already far surpassing his peers, then gave him a silver drinking vessel. As an adult Zongxiong was described as striking in appearance, eloquent in debate, strategically intelligent, filial, respectful, modest, and widely loved within the clan.

After Kangzong Uyašu died, the Liao envoy Yelü Axibao rode directly to the steps of the mourning tent and began selecting horses from the funeral gifts. This angered Zongxiong's uncle Aguda, who wished to kill the envoy. Zongxiong strongly remonstrated that killing a Liao envoy would give the other side an excuse for action. Aguda accepted the advice and spared Axibao. The episode is presented as evidence of Zongxiong's political judgment while still young.

Campaigns against Liao

In 1114, as Aguda prepared to rise against Liao, Zongxiong analyzed the situation and told him that the Liao ruler was arrogant and extravagant and his people knew little of war. The Liao, he noted, had repeatedly failed to capture the rebel Xiao Haili, whereas Jurchen forces had captured him quickly. Zongxiong used this comparison to argue that Liao military strength was weak, reinforcing Aguda's determination to go to war.

At Ningjiang Prefecture, Zongxiong led his own force in defeating elite Bohai troops and was awarded hereditary command of a thousand-household mouke. At Chuhedian he fought at the front and won substantial merit. At Dalugu City he led the right wing personally into battle, drove back the Liao force before him, and then, on Aguda's order, went to support the left wing, circling behind the Liao troops and routing them. The battle lasted through the night. When the Liao forces broke out, Zongxiong pursued them as far as Yilü Baishi. Aguda patted him on the back and praised him, saying, “With a son such as this, what enterprise could fail?” and awarded him imperial robes.

In 1115, Emperor Tianzuo Yelü Yanxi personally led an army that the source numbers at seven hundred thousand. Most Jin commanders feared its size and advised against immediate battle. Zongxiong rejected their objections, arguing that although the Liao army was large, its commanders were mediocre and its soldiers fearful, so it could be broken in a single battle. At Hubudagang, he led troops directly forward, ordered the front line to strike at the heads of Liao horses with clubs, and had the rear ranks shoot with bows. The Liao army suffered a major defeat. Aguda personally took Zongxiong by the hand to praise him and awarded him imperial armor, an imperial warhorse, treasures, and servants.

Campaigns and Territorial Expansion

Zongxiong continued on campaign. When Xieye attacked Chunzhou, Zongxiong, Zonggan, and Loushi took Jinshan County. Near Baiying Forest they captured seven Liao scouts and released one to carry news back. The soldiers and population of the county scattered on hearing that the Jin army was approaching, and Jinshan fell. Zongxiong then joined Xieye and captured Taizhou.

In 1120, when Aguda personally attacked the Liao Supreme Capital at Linhuang Prefecture, Zongxiong was ordered to advance ahead of the main force. He encountered five thousand Liao troops and defeated them in hard fighting; the main Jin army then arrived and inflicted a larger defeat. After the Liao garrison commander Tabuye surrendered, Aguda gave Tabuye's daughter to Zongxiong in marriage as a reward. Zongxiong later surveyed the land of Taizhou with Wanyan Yu, also known as Pujianu. He wrapped up a sample of soil and memorialized that the land was suitable for cultivation. Aguda adopted the proposal and moved more than ten thousand Jurchen households to farm there, laying a foundation for long-term Jin settlement in former Liao territory.

When the Western Capital, Datong Prefecture, surrendered and then rebelled, Jin provisions were running low and some commanders wanted to abandon the siege. Zongxiong insisted on continuing, arguing that the Western Capital was a major metropolitan center: if Jin withdrew, newly submitted populations would lose confidence and Liao remnants and Western Xia could exploit the opportunity. He announced heavy rewards to encourage the troops. That night, the source says, a meteor as large as a dou fell into the city, and Zongxiong used it as an omen that the city would fall. The Western Capital was soon captured, and he received one hundred liang of gold, ten suits of clothing, and servants.

Illness, Death, and Posthumous Honors

In 1121, Zongxiong, Zonghan, and others decisively defeated seven thousand troops under Geng Shouzhong forty li east of the Western Capital. Zongxiong later went to meet Aguda at Yuanyangbo. By the time the party reached Guihua Prefecture, he had become seriously ill. Zonggan asked for his final words. Zongxiong replied that the state's great enterprise had already been accomplished and that if the ruler enjoyed long life, the four quarters could be pacified; he would therefore die without regret. On the jiaxu day of the ninth month in the sixth year of Tianfu, October 20, 1122, Zongxiong died at only forty years of age.

Aguda came to visit him but arrived too late to see him alive. He wept and told the assembled ministers that Zongxiong's strategy surpassed that of others and that few could match his courageous decisiveness in battle. Funeral gifts were increased, and imperial son-in-law Pucha Shijianu, commander of a Hezha thousand-household unit, was ordered to escort the coffin for burial at Guihua Prefecture. A Buddhist temple was also built at the place where Zongxiong had died.

During the Tianjuan era, Emperor Xizong posthumously appointed him Grand Preceptor and Prince of Qi. In 1150, Emperor Hailing added the title Prince of Qin and Han. In 1157 this was changed to Grand Tutor and Prince of Jinyuan. In 1162, Emperor Shizong posthumously enfeoffed him as Prince of Chu, gave him the title Weimin, and enshrined him in Taizu's temple. In 1175 his portrait was ordered hung in Yanqing Palace among the founding meritorious officials.

Later Calamity of His Family

After Zongxiong's death, his wife was taken as a wife by Zonggan. Emperor Hailing Wanyan Liang, Zonggan's son, resented this matter. After seizing the throne, Emperor Hailing sent Palace Guard General Chao Xia and seal officer Lüshan to Hejian, where Zongxiong's wife was imprisoned in the government offices. The next day, she, her daughters-in-law, her grandsons including the brothers Changchun, and sons of Chazha—seven people in all—were killed and their bodies burned, with the remains thrown into a moat. Only in 1177 did Emperor Shizong order officials to gather and bury their remains.

Major Activities

Military Achievements

Zongxiong was one of the most important commanders of the Jin founding wars and participated in nearly all of the key early battles against Liao. He defeated Bohai troops at Ningjiang Prefecture, fought at the front at Chuhedian, led the right wing and helped destroy the Liao army at Dalugu City, and strongly supported fighting at Hubudagang, where the huge army of Emperor Tianzuo was routed. He later captured Jinshan County and Taizhou, defeated a Liao force near Linhuang Prefecture, helped take the Western Capital, and defeated Geng Shouzhong. Qi Zai, describing early Jin ministers, paired Zonghan and Zongxiong as “ministers of strategy and courage,” reflecting his high standing among contemporaries.

Political Contributions

Zongxiong was not only a battlefield commander but also an important participant in early Jin institution-building. He loved learning and books. After being struck by a stray arrow during a hunt and confined to bed for two months, he studied both the large and small Khitan scripts until he mastered them. At the founding of Jin, he and Zonggan participated in drafting laws and institutions. During negotiations with Liao, imperial documents had to be issued in Khitan and Chinese, and Zongxiong, Zonghan, and Xiyin jointly managed the work. His mastery of Khitan writing was unusual among Jurchen nobles and gave him an important role in early Jin diplomatic correspondence.

Agricultural Settlement Proposal

In 1121, Zongxiong and Wanyan Yu inspected land at Taizhou. Zongxiong personally wrapped up a soil sample and memorialized that the area could be cultivated. Aguda accepted the recommendation and moved more than ten thousand Jurchen households to farm in Taizhou. The measure both supported frontline grain supply and physically relocated Jurchen population into newly acquired Liao territory, making it an important strategic step in Jin's consolidation of western Liao lands.

Exceptional Riding and Archery

The source describes Zongxiong as exceptionally agile and martial, able to draw a strong bow and shoot nearly three hundred paces. On one occasion he shot three deer from horseback, hitting two. As he drew again, his horse suddenly fell, but he leapt clear, kept control of the bow, and shot the remaining deer on foot. On another hunt, Talan shot an arrow at a hare from behind Zongxiong and shouted that the arrow was coming. Zongxiong turned, caught the flying arrow bare-handed, and immediately used it to shoot the hare, hitting it with one shot. Such stories present him as one of the most agile warriors among the Jurchen.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather: Wanyan Helibo, Emperor Shizu of Jin
• Father: Wanyan Uyašu, Emperor Kangzong of Jin
• Mother: Empress Jingxi of the Tangkuo clan
• Uncles: Wanyan Aguda, Emperor Taizu; Wanyan Gao, Xieye
• Wives: daughter of Tabuye, granted by Aguda; Zongxiong's widow, later taken as a wife by Zonggan
• Sons: Wanyan Puluhu, Wanyan Andahai, Wanyan Alin
• Grandsons: Wanyan Changchun, Wanyan Hulila, Wanyan Hula, Wanyan Hulu, Wanyan Chazha, Wanyan Paba, Wanyan Echu, Wanyan Huanduan, Wanyan Pudai
• Wanyan Zonggan: cousin; jointly drafted early Jin laws and institutions and received Zongxiong's final words
• Wanyan Zonghan: colleague; fought Geng Shouzhong together and jointly handled diplomatic documents for negotiations with Liao
• Wanyan Xiyin: colleague in diplomatic document work
• Wanyan Loushi: colleague in the capture of Jinshan County
• Wanyan Yu, Pujianu: colleague in surveying the land of Taizhou
• Talan: colleague and hunting companion
• Wanyan Aguda, Emperor Taizu: uncle and ruler; repeatedly rewarded Zongxiong and wept after his death
• Wanyan Dan, Emperor Xizong: posthumously appointed Zongxiong Grand Preceptor and Prince of Qi
• Wanyan Liang, Emperor Hailing: resented the remarriage of Zongxiong's widow to his father Zonggan and later killed members of Zongxiong's family
• Wanyan Yong, Emperor Shizong: posthumously enfeoffed Zongxiong as Prince of Chu, gave him the title Weimin, and enshrined him in Taizu's temple
• Yelü Axibao: Liao envoy whom Aguda wished to kill during Kangzong's mourning; Zongxiong remonstrated and prevented the killing
• Yelü Yanxi, Emperor Tianzuo of Liao: opposing ruler whose enormous army was defeated at Hubudagang

Historical Assessment

Jin and Contemporary Assessments

• After Dalugu City, Aguda praised Zongxiong: “With a son such as this, what enterprise could fail?”
• After Zongxiong's death, Aguda told his ministers that Zongxiong's strategy surpassed others and that few could equal his courage and decisiveness in battle.
• Qi Zai wrote that above were the martial rulers Emperor Wuyuan and Emperor Wenlie, while below were Zonghan and Zongxiong, “ministers of strategy and courage.”

Song and Yuan Periods

• The History of Jin praised the talents of several founding kinsmen and singled out Zongxiong's strong memory and learning together with his military achievements, placing his abilities alongside those of Aliheman and Xiyin.
• The same work records that Zongxiong “loved learning and books” and “fully mastered the large and small Khitan scripts,” emphasizing his unusual cultural education within the Jurchen ruling family.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Qing historians largely followed the History of Jin in treating Zongxiong as a representative early Jin kinsman combining civil and military talents. Works such as Narrative of Events from the History of Jin listed him among the major founding figures.
• Ming author Wang Qi's Supplement to the Comprehensive Examination of Documents and Institutions included Zongxiong among the founding meritorious commanders of Jin who received temple honors.

Modern and Contemporary Assessments

• Modern historians of Jin generally regard Zongxiong as one of the most versatile military commanders of the founding period, combining strategic judgment with extraordinary battlefield courage.
• Scholars also emphasize his contribution to institution-building, particularly his unusual mastery of Khitan writing and his participation in drafting early Jin documents and regulations.
• Japanese historian Toyama Gunji and others place him among the core group of imperial-clan commanders under Aguda and regard his military ability and political judgment as exceptional among early Jin princes.