Shumulu Yangguli

Biography

Family Background and Early Years Yangguli’s ancestors had long lived in Hunchun and belonged to the Kûrka tribe. His father, Langju, was chief of that group and submitted to Nurhaci at an early date. Nurhaci treated Langju with considerable courtesy and appointed Yangguli as a guard. When Yangguli was fourteen, his father was killed by a subordinate. Yangguli personally killed his father’s murderer. Nurhaci was deeply impressed, and his trust in Yangguli steadily increased. After the Eight Banners system was established, Yangguli’s family was assigned to the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner. Nurhaci gave an adopted daughter to Yangguli in marriage, and by the custom of the time Yangguli was known as an efu. Yangguli accompanied Nurhaci on campaigns from an early age. Nurhaci once assigned him to guard the Yalu River, where, according to the sources, his defenses were so strict that Ming troops did not dare attack. During a campaign against the Hoifa stronghold of Duo Bi Cheng, the city was protected by formidable walls and a deep moat, and the Jianzhou troops were unable to advance. Yangguli crossed the water to assault the city despite the danger. Others followed him across the river, closed on the fortifications, and took many captives, earning him distinction. ### Campaigns to Unify the Jurchen Groups In 1593, the twenty-first year of the Wanli era, Nurhaci attacked Jušeri and Neyen. In 1598, the twenty-sixth year of the Wanli era, he again attacked Anculakû. Yangguli took part in both campaigns and rendered meritorious service. In 1599, the twenty-seventh year of the Wanli era, Yangguli joined the campaign against Hada. He was the first to scale the defenses and personally captured Menggebulu, the beile of Hada. This was his first major distinction in an important campaign. In the first month of 1607, the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli era, Nurhaci relocated the people of Feiyou Cheng. Yangguli and Tonggiya Hūrhan escorted them with three hundred troops. Ula sent more than ten thousand men to block the road. Yangguli charged into the enemy formation with a spear and killed seven Ula soldiers in succession. The enemy pulled back slightly and confronted the Jianzhou forces across a river. Once the Jianzhou beile had assembled their forces, they decisively defeated the Ula army. In the fifth month of the same year, Yangguli served as vanguard under the beile Bayara and others in a campaign against Weji. During the attack on He Xi Hei Lu, the inhabitants of Ma Er Gu Li Cun fled toward the foot of a mountain as the Jianzhou troops approached. Yangguli occupied the summit and charged downhill, killing all the adult males in the village and taking women and children captive. In the ninth month, during the campaign against Hoifa, Yangguli crossed two lines of palisades, entered the city first, and seized it. In the seventh month of 1610, the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli era, he followed the taiji Abatai and others in the campaign against Mulun Lu of Weji and captured Wu Er Hu Ma Cun. On seeing smoke rising from the woods, he immediately rode toward it and made three successive sorties, taking many captives. In the ninth month of 1612, the fortieth year of the Wanli era, he campaigned against Ula. While attacking Jinzhou fortress, arrows were shot directly at the attackers from within the city, but Yangguli pressed the assault and captured it. In the first month of 1613, the forty-first year of the Wanli era, he again campaigned against Ula and took the lead in attacking Qinghe. The Ula beile Bujantai had strong forces, and Nurhaci sent an arrow order instructing the commanders to withdraw. Yangguli refused to retreat. He led his troops close to the city, chose a weak point in its defenses, launched a fierce attack, and captured it. ### Wars Against the Ming In the third month of 1619, the fourth year of the Tianming era, the Ming Liaodong commander Yang Hao launched a large offensive, with zongbing Du Song and others advancing on Jie Fan. The senior beile Daišan and others led forces to resist. The Later Jin army encamped at Ji Lin Ya, while the Ming army took position at Sarhu. As the armies closed, Yangguli and the beile Abatai and others competed to be first into battle. They decisively defeated Du Song’s western army, and Du Song was killed. That night, the northern Ming army under zongbing Ma Lin arrived and established camp at Shang Jian Ya. The following morning, the Later Jin forces attacked. Nurhaci ordered wounded men not to fight, but Yangguli bound up his wound at the wrist and led troops from ten niru in a charge from higher ground, routing Ma Lin’s army. In the seventh month of the same year, he attacked Tieling, encountered the forces of the Mongol beile Jie Sai, defeated them, and captured Jie Sai alive. In the third month of 1621, the sixth year of the Tianming era, he took part in the attack on Shenyang. The city had high walls and a deep moat, and many regarded it as difficult to take. Yangguli drew his saber, directed the soldiers of his banner to assault first, seized the bamboo stakes and other defensive works erected by the Ming army, and captured Shenyang. He then attacked Liaoyang, again leading the assault. He broke the Ming infantry, seized the river bridge, and fought the Ming at Shaling, inflicting a major defeat. After Liaoyang was captured, Nurhaci commended him for repeatedly fighting despite wounds, ordered that his rank be immediately below the Eight Beile, gave him command of the Left Wing troops, and granted him the first-class rank of zongbingguan. Nurhaci also instructed him not to expose himself personally in battle thereafter. In 1625, the tenth year of the Tianming era, Yangguli was stationed at Yaozhou. The Ming commander Mao Wenlong sent three hundred men to attack and seize Qiaomaichong south of the city. Yangguli led troops in pursuit and annihilated the invading force. For this merit he was promoted to third-class duke. In the ninth month of 1629, the third year of the Tiancong era, Yangguli and A Shan were searching for fugitives when they reached Ya Er Gu and encountered men under Mao Wenlong who had crossed the border to gather ginseng. They killed ninety-six and captured three qianzong officers and sixteen attendants before returning. In the tenth month, Yangguli followed Hong Taiji against the Ming, advancing directly toward Beijing and defeating the army of the Ming commander Man Gui north of the city. When Later Jin artillerymen were caught in a Ming ambush, Yangguli led just over ten personal guards into the encirclement and rescued them all. During the withdrawal, he followed the beile Abatai and others in raiding Tongzhou and burning more than one thousand Ming war vessels. During the attack on Jizhou, Ming reinforcements arrived. Hong Taiji personally directed three Right Wing banners against the west, while the beile Daišan and others led four Left Wing banners against the east. Troops from the two Red Banners on the right gave ground. Yangguli led the Plain Yellow Banner straight into the enemy formation and routed the Ming. Hong Taiji ordered the officers of the two Red Banners to pay property as punishment and awarded the confiscated goods to Yangguli, who distributed all of it among his soldiers and kept none for himself. In 1632, the sixth year of the Tiancong era, Hong Taiji campaigned against the Chahar Mongols and ordered the beile Abatai and Yangguli to remain behind. Ming troops attacked, and the beile resisted them. During the battle at Jinzhou, the Ming fought fiercely and all six banners withdrew. Yangguli became furious, led his own banner troops alone in a counterattack, and broke the enemy. He later again followed Hong Taiji across the Ming frontier, attacking Datong and Xuanfu. With the beile Abatai and others, he captured Lingqiu and destroyed and took Wangjiazhuang. ### Strategic Advice Against the Ming and Final Years In the sixth month of 1633, the seventh year of the Tiancong era, Hong Taiji asked his commanders for their views on military affairs. Yangguli submitted a memorial arguing that campaigns should not be separated by long intervals: if a year passed without action, the enemy would use the time to strengthen its defenses. If circumstances permitted, he argued, there should be two campaigns in a year; if not, at least one. He advocated penetrating deeply into enemy territory, taking fortified places where possible, burning villages where resistance continued, incorporating those who submitted into registered units, and allowing soldiers to keep captured property so as to sustain fighting morale. He also argued that border garrisons should endure hardship rather than rotate too freely, and that military operations need not prevent agriculture if families accompanied the troops and gathered resources as they moved. He proposed postponing campaigns against Joseon and Chahar, as well as operations against Ningyuan and Jinzhou outside Shanhai Pass, while instead striking deeply into the Ming heartland; once the interior had been taken, he argued, Joseon and Chahar would submit of their own accord. The beile and senior officials broadly shared this view, and Hong Taiji consequently adopted a strategy of campaigning against the Ming. In the fifth month of 1634, the eighth year of the Tiancong era, Hong Taiji again reviewed Yangguli’s accumulated military achievements and promoted him to supernumerary duke. His standing was immediately below that of the beile, and a pearl was set into the top of his cap. In the fifth month of 1636, the first year of the Chongde era, Hong Taiji ordered Prince Wuying Ajige, Beile Raoyu Abatai, and Yangguli to lead an army against the Ming. The army penetrated deep into the interior, captured twelve cities near the capital, won all fifty-eight engagements, captured the Ming zongbing Chao Pichang and others, and took more than one hundred thousand captives. On leaving the frontier, they again defeated Ming reinforcements from Santunying and Shanhai Pass. When the army returned in the ninth month, Hong Taiji went ten li outside Shengjing to welcome it, held a banquet of reward, and personally poured wine for Yangguli and the other two commanders. In the eleventh month, because Ajige had not personally guarded the rear while withdrawing across the frontier and Yangguli had failed to remonstrate, Yangguli was punished with a salary fine, described in the source as a forfeiture of salary. In the twelfth month of the same year, Hong Taiji personally campaigned against Joseon and Yangguli accompanied him. In the first month of 1637, the second year of the Chongde era, Qing forces crossed the Han River and encamped on its bank. Reinforcements from Joseon’s Jeolla and Chungcheong provinces arrived and camped south of Hanseong. Hong Taiji ordered Prince Yu Dodo and Yangguli to intercept them. Snow was falling and the sky was overcast as the Joseon relief army formed its lines below Gwanggyosan near Suwon. Dodo sounded the horn and summoned Yangguli to ascend the mountain and supervise the fighting. As Yangguli rode forward, defeated Joseon soldiers concealed beside a cliff suddenly opened fire with matchlock guns. Yangguli was hit and died of his wounds, aged sixty-six by traditional reckoning. According to Joseon accounts cited in the Chinese source, the man who shot him was Pu Yi, a subordinate officer under Jeolla commander Kim Jun-ryong. The following day, Dodo advanced toward the enemy camp, but the Joseon troops had withdrawn during the night. Dodo recovered Yangguli’s body. Hong Taiji personally mourned and made offerings, supplied his own crown and robes for burial, and, when the coffin was brought back, went to the outskirts to receive it. He ordered Yangguli buried near Fuling. In the eleventh month of the same year, Yangguli was posthumously created Prince Wuxun. During the Shunzhi era, he was enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. In 1698, the thirty-seventh year of the Kangxi era, the Kangxi Emperor visited Shengjing on an eastern tour to pay respects at the imperial tombs and personally went to Yangguli’s grave to make offerings. In 1700, the thirty-ninth year of the Kangxi era, a commemorative stele was erected to honor his achievements. In 1731, the ninth year of the Yongzheng era, the hereditary rank of his descendants was fixed as First-Class Duke Yingcheng.

Yangguli was a founding minister of the early Qing, his forebears living about Hunchun, a Manchu of the Plain White Banner afterward transferred to the Plain Yellow. Nurhaci valued him greatly and kept him at his side, trusting him more and more and giving him a daughter in marriage with the title of imperial son-in-law. He campaigned with Nurhaci repeatedly, taking part in the wars against the Ula and the Yehe and commanding troops at the battle of Sarhu.

Under Hong Taiji he continued as a leading commander in the campaigns against the Ming. In the Tiancong years he entered China proper with the army, fighting at Zunhua and Yongping; in 1636 he was killed by an arrow in action against the Ming at sixty-six. Hong Taiji mourned him deeply, granting him posthumously the title Prince Wuxun and a place in the ancestral temple — an honor granted to few commanders in the early Qing.

His career is recorded in the draft history of the Qing and in the veritable records of Nurhaci and Hong Taiji, his family's title descending through the generations and remaining prominent in the early dynasty.

He served long as vanguard or commander in chief in the wars of the early Qing, his operations covering Liaodong, Liaoxi and Hebei. Hong Taiji relied on him greatly and came in person to his mourning after his death, ordering his son to inherit the title. His family held office generation after generation in the early dynasty, one of its houses of founding nobles.

His career is connected also with the military institutions of the early Qing: he belonged to the Plain Yellow Banner, and the organization and deployment of his troops reflect how the banner system worked in the founding period. In studying early Qing military history and the banners, his career is often used as a concrete example.

His career is recorded in the draft history of the Qing and in the veritable records of the early dynasty.

His title passed to his son, the family remaining prominent through the early Qing.

The scale of his posthumous title and temple honors ranks among the highest granted to commanders in the early Qing.

Major Activities

Campaigns to Unify the Jurchen Groups Beginning in 1593, the twenty-first year of the Wanli era, Yangguli took part in campaigns against Jušeri, Neyen, Anculakû, Hada, Weji, Hoifa, and Ula. In 1599, the twenty-seventh year of the Wanli era, he was first over the defenses at Hada and captured the beile Menggebulu, his most important early military achievement. In 1607, the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli era, he escorted the people of Feiyou Cheng and, with three hundred men, held off ten thousand Ula troops, personally charging with a spear and killing seven men to gain time for the Jianzhou forces to assemble and eventually defeat the Ula army. In the ninth month of that year, he crossed the palisades and entered the city first during the campaign against Hoifa. In 1613, the forty-first year of the Wanli era, during the attack on Qinghe, Nurhaci sent an arrow order to withdraw, but Yangguli refused to retreat and led the assault that captured the position, demonstrating exceptional battlefield decisiveness. ### Warfare Against the Ming At the Battle of Sarhu in 1619, the fourth year of the Tianming era, Yangguli and Abatai raced forward to break Du Song’s army; despite being wounded, Yangguli then led troops from ten niru and routed Ma Lin’s forces. In 1621, the sixth year of the Tianming era, he took part in the assaults on Shenyang and Liaoyang and led the first attacks in both, after which he was granted the first-class rank of zongbingguan and command of the Left Wing troops. In 1629, the third year of the Tiancong era, he followed Hong Taiji through the passes toward the Ming capital, defeated Man Gui north of the city, and rescued artillerymen trapped in the fighting. In 1632, the sixth year of the Tiancong era, at the battle at Jinzhou, when all six banners withdrew, he led his own banner troops alone to break the enemy. In 1636, the first year of the Chongde era, he campaigned against the Ming with Ajige and Abatai, capturing twelve cities near the capital and winning fifty-eight engagements while taking more than one hundred thousand captives. The source describes this as one of the largest Later Jin/Qing operations against the Ming before the conquest of China proper. ### Military Advice In the sixth month of 1633, the seventh year of the Tiancong era, Hong Taiji solicited the views of his commanders. Yangguli proposed a strategy of conducting at least one campaign each year, penetrating deeply into Ming territory, burning resistant settlements, registering those who submitted, and using wartime gains to sustain operations. He argued that the Ming interior should be targeted first and that Joseon and Chahar would then submit. His recommendations broadly agreed with those of the beile and senior officials, and Hong Taiji adopted a strategy of campaigning against the Ming. The Chinese source states that this strategic approach provided a rationale for subsequent Qing incursions through the passes to weaken Ming power. ### Capturing Enemy Leaders Yangguli captured opposing leaders on several occasions. In 1599, the twenty-seventh year of the Wanli era, he captured Menggebulu, the beile of Hada. In the seventh month of 1619, the fourth year of the Tianming era, he attacked Tieling, defeated the Mongol beile Jie Sai, and captured him alive. The capture of these two leaders represented notable successes in the Later Jin wars of consolidation.

Personal Relations

• Nurhaci’s adopted daughter: Wife; his marriage to her gave him the status of efu. ### Ruler–Subject Relations - Nurhaci: Ruler; placed great trust in Yangguli, gave him an adopted daughter in marriage, and granted him the first-class rank of zongbingguan.
• Hong Taiji: Ruler; relied heavily on Yangguli, promoted him to supernumerary duke, personally mourned at his death, and posthumously created him Prince Wuxun.
• Shunzhi Emperor: Ordered that Yangguli be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
• Kangxi Emperor: Personally made offerings at Yangguli’s grave during an eastern tour and had a commemorative stele erected. ### Colleagues - Tonggiya Hūrhan: Colleague; fought alongside Yangguli while escorting the people of Feiyou Cheng.
• Abatai: Colleague; repeatedly campaigned with Yangguli, including expeditions against Weji, the Ming, and Joseon.
• Ajige: Colleague; jointly led the campaign against the Ming in the first year of the Chongde era.
• Dodo: Superior commander; commanded at the Battle of Gwanggyosan, where Yangguli served under him.
• Daišan: Superior commander; Yangguli fought under him at the Battle of Sarhu. ### Opponents - Menggebulu: Opponent; beile of Hada, captured alive by Yangguli.
• Jie Sai: Opponent; Mongol beile defeated and captured alive by Yangguli.
• Mao Wenlong: Opponent; Ming commander whose troops fought Yangguli on several occasions.
• Pu Yi: Opponent; a subordinate officer under Jeolla commander Kim Jun-ryong who, according to the Joseon account cited in the Chinese source, shot Yangguli at the Battle of Gwanggyosan.

Historical Assessment

Qing and Contemporary Assessments - The biographical account in the Draft History of Qing states that Yangguli first served Nurhaci and, whenever in the ranks, was usually the first to break the enemy, charging through resistance and sweeping aside opposition. Although Hong Taiji later ordered him not to expose himself in battle, he continued to fight regardless of personal danger. Over more than forty years in the army and more than one hundred engagements, his achievements were exceptional, while his personal conduct remained respectful and cautious. The assessment summarizes the defining features of his career: leading attacks, risking his life in battle, extraordinary merit, and personal restraint.

• After Yangguli’s death, Hong Taiji personally mourned and made offerings, supplied his own crown and robes for burial, posthumously created him Prince Wuxun, and ordered him buried near Fuling. The source presents this personal imperial mourning as evidence of the importance Hong Taiji attached to him.
• During an eastern tour to Shengjing, the Kangxi Emperor personally made offerings at Yangguli’s grave and had a commemorative stele erected. The Chinese source treats such an imperial visit to the tomb of a founding meritorious official as an exceptionally high honor. ### Modern Assessments - Xiao Yishan’s General History of the Qing Dynasty lists Yangguli among the most important military commanders of the Later Jin founding period and regards his military achievements and standing as exceptional among non-imperial Manchu meritorious officials.
• Modern scholarship on Qing history, as summarized in the Chinese source, generally regards Yangguli as a representative frontline commander during the Later Jin transition from the unification of the Jurchen groups to sustained warfare against the Ming; his military career spanned almost the entire process of Later Jin expansion.
• Some scholars cited by the Chinese source regard Yangguli’s death as an important episode in the 1636–1637 campaign in Joseon. Joseon sources treated his death as a major military success, and Pu Yi was recorded in Joseon historical accounts because of the incident.