Zhao Kui

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Zhao Kui was born on the third day of the eighth lunar month in 1186, the thirteenth year of the Chunxi era under Emperor Xiaozong of Song. His great-grandfather was the noted Northern Song official Zhao Bian. After retirement, Zhao Bian moved his family to an area before Hengshan town, now Lingpo Township in Hengshan County, Hengyang, Hunan. Known for upright conduct in office and nicknamed the “Iron-Faced Censor,” Zhao Bian's descendants settled in Hengshan and became a prominent local family. Zhao Kui's grandfather Zhao Tang studied under Hu Anguo and Hu Hong, founders of the Huxiang school, and was one of the “Seven Disciples of the Hu School,” giving the family a deep scholarly tradition. Zhao Kui's father Zhao Fang was a student of the Southern Song Neo-Confucian scholar Zhang Shi; he later abandoned the brush for the sword, became a noted general against the Jin, rose to Military Commissioner for Jinghu, and was an important commander in the middle and late Southern Song.

Growing up in a military family with this background, Zhao Kui was educated from childhood in both literary and martial traditions. While Zhao Fang served at Xiangyang as Military Commissioner for Jinghu, Zhao Kui accompanied his father in the army and handled provisions for Xiangyang. Both he and his elder brother Zhao Fan aspired to achievement, and Zhao Fang valued them accordingly. He engaged Zheng Qingzhi and Quan Zicai as Zhao Kui's teachers and also sent him to study “practical learning” under Li Fan, a disciple of Zhu Xi. This education combining Confucian learning and military experience later made Zhao Kui one of the relatively rare late-Song commanders who led armies as a scholar-official.

Early Campaigns against the Jin

In 1217, the tenth year of Jiading under Emperor Ningzong, Jin officials Shuhu Gaoqi and Wugulun Qingshou invaded Xiangyang and besieged Zaoyang. The frontier had long been quiet, so the sudden Jin attack caused alarm. Zhao Fang led his sons Zhao Fan and Zhao Kui to meet the enemy and defeated the Jin forces. This was Zhao Kui's first participation in a major battle; he was thirty-one.

In 1220, Zhao Fang sent Zhao Kui and commander Hu Zaixing to attack Gaotou, a point the Jin were determined to hold. The Jin sent strong troops to resist. Zhao Kui led the vanguard in a vigorous assault, followed by Hu Zaixing, and the Jin troops were destroyed. The next day Zhao Kui advanced to Dengzhou, where Jin forces had erected defenses along the Bi River. Zhao directed Song troops forward, and commanders including Yang Yi arrived in succession. The Jin came out in full strength and were heavily defeated. Nearly 20,000 were killed, captured, or surrendered; more than ten officers at the rank of wanhu or below were taken, along with 800 horses. Song forces pursued the Jin north to the city walls before returning.

In 1221, Jin forces invaded Qizhou, while Zhao Kui and Zhao Fan attacked Tangzhou and Dengzhou. Zhao Fang ordered them, “If you do not defeat the enemy, do not come to see me.” On the first day of the third lunar month they reached Tangzhou and formed their lines near the city. A Hai, an imperial son-in-law of the Jin, led troops out to meet them. Zhao Kui charged with elite cavalry, Hu Zaixing followed, and the Song won a major victory, taking more than ten thousand heads. The Jin then shut their gates and refused battle.

In the eighth lunar month of the same year, after capturing Qizhou the Jin army withdrew. Several dozen cavalry from its advance guard encountered Zhao Kui at Jiuchang Township. Zhao had only fourteen horsemen, while Jin cavalry gradually increased to several hundred. Zhao fought with all his strength and repeatedly drove them back, even as more Jin infantry and cavalry arrived. Zhao Fan and Hu Zaixing then brought troops and joined the battle, which continued until evening before the pressure was relieved. The Song later divided into two formations, Zhao Fan commanding the left and Hu Zaixing the right, while Zhao Kui led elite cavalry between them in support. The Jin formed two positions against the mountains and held firm. Zhao Fan anticipated a night attack and prepared large drums, ordering the troops to charge when they heard the signal. Before long the Jin descended the mountains. Hu Zaixing attacked quickly and was pursued, drawing the enemy toward Zhao Fan's line. Zhao Fan and Zhao Kui successively committed their troops and killed several thousand Jin soldiers. When the Jin concentrated against Hu's formation, Zhao Kui led local strongmen including Zhu Wenwei in a cavalry charge across the enemy line, inflicting further losses. The two sides remained locked in combat until midnight. Zhao Fan and Zhao Kui urgently assembled their commanders and chose several thousand men for a death-defying assault. At first light they attacked from all sides, their battle cries shaking the valleys. The Jin fled, and the Song pursued, taking several thousand more heads. A Jin deputy commander surrendered, more than ten thousand civilians captured by the Jin were rescued, and enormous quantities of baggage and equipment were seized. After the battle, Zhao Kui was appointed Gentleman for Ceremonial Service and commander of Zaoyang. In the same month his father Zhao Fang died while serving as Military Commissioner for Jinghu.

Defense of the Two Huai

In 1222, the fifteenth year of Jiading, Zhao Kui was promoted to Direct Academician of the Palace Library and assistant prefect of Luzhou, present-day Hefei, Anhui. He was later promoted to Assistant Director in the Court of Judicial Review and advisory official to the Huainan West Pacification Commission. In 1224, Xu Guo, Military Commissioner for Huainan East, invited Zhao Kui to discuss military affairs concerning Li Quan, Military Commissioner of Baoning stationed at Qingzhou. Zhao bluntly warned that Xu had already fallen into a bandit trap and advised strengthening key forward defenses. Xu ignored him; rebellion soon broke out, and Xu fled and hanged himself.

In 1225, Zhao Fan became prefect of Yangzhou and requested that Zhao Kui be transferred with 5,000 troops from the Qiangyong and Xiongbian armies to Baoying to guard against Jin forces. While in Luzhou, Zhao Kui often used private funds to join commanders in ball games and archery. After falling out with Zeng Shizhong, he left his post. Remonstrance officials impeached him for abandoning his duties, and he was assigned a temple sinecure. In 1227 he was recalled as Assistant Director of the Directorate for Imperial Manufactories. The following year he became prefect of Chuzhou.

In 1229, Li Quan planned to go to western Zhejiang ostensibly to collect grain but in fact to scout the metropolitan region around Lin'an. Zhao Kui memorialized Chancellor Shi Miyuan, arguing that the incipient threat should be “severely suppressed” in order to stabilize the capital region. After reaching Chuzhou, Zhao recognized that his jurisdiction lay on Li Quan's route into the Southern Song interior and also faced the Jin, making it a gateway to the Two Huai. He therefore repaired the walls, dredged the moat, and trained troops without respite. He deployed his commanders, ordering Qin Xi to hold Qingping and Zhao Bisheng to garrison Wanshan in order to strengthen the military position.

Li Quan meanwhile manufactured warships and weapons on a large scale. Zhao wrote again to Shi Miyuan that Li Quan's rebellion was already as obvious as fire in plain sight and urged an immediate punitive expedition. Otherwise, he wrote, “security or danger, order or disorder, depends only on whether the court punishes rebellion. If Huainan East is secure, Jiangnan is secure; if Jiangnan is secure, the state is secure; and if the state is secure, the chancellor is secure.” Shi Miyuan nevertheless remained unwilling to attack. In the second lunar month of 1230, Assistant Grand Councilor Zheng Qingzhi decided on a campaign and recalled Zhao Kui, then observing mourning for his mother, as Direct Academician of the Baozhang Pavilion, Judicial Commissioner for Huainan East, and concurrently prefect of Chuzhou. Zhao Fan immediately coordinated with Zhao Kui, arranging for 14,000 infantry and cavalry from the Xiongsheng, Ninghuai, Wuding, and Qiangyong armies to advance, while Zhao Kui also served as advisory official.

Soon afterward Li Quan attacked the east gate of Yangzhou. Zhao Kui personally went out to confront him. Rebel general Zhang You called for Zhao Kui, and Zhao came forward to exchange words with Li Quan on horseback across the moat. When Zhao asked why Li had come, Li replied: “The court is constantly suspicious of me, and now it has cut off our provisions. I do not intend to betray the court; I am only demanding money and grain.” Zhao answered: “The court has supplied you with money and grain and favored you with office; it has not treated you ungenerously. The court treated you as loyal ministers and filial sons, yet you turned your weapons around and seized cities. How could the court not cut off your supplies? You say yourselves that this is not rebellion. Are you deceiving men, or deceiving Heaven?” Li Quan had no answer, and Zhang You drew his bow and shot an arrow at Zhao. Zhao then led his troops in repeated attacks and defeated Li Quan several times. In 1231, the fourth year of Shaoding, Zhao finally captured and executed Li Quan, bringing the years-long rebellion to an end. For this achievement he was promoted to Regional Inspector of Fuzhou and Senior General of the Left Brave Guard, and was subsequently appointed Military Commissioner for Huainan East and concurrently prefect of Yangzhou.

Duanping Advance into Luoyang and Later Years

In 1234, the first year of Duanping, the Southern Song allied with the Mongols to destroy the Jin. After the Mongol army withdrew north, Henan was left without an occupying power. Zhao Fan, Zhao Kui, and Quan Zicai believed the strength of the Mongol armies posed a major danger and that the state could not be defended without holding strategic passes. They proposed sending troops to recover Henan, relying on the Yellow River and holding Tong Pass. Emperor Lizong adopted the proposal and appointed Zhao Kui Military Commissioner for Jingxi and Hebei and to other posts, sending him on the northern expedition. Song forces briefly recovered the Three Capitals—Kaifeng in the east, Luoyang in the west, and Yingtian in the south—but Mongol forces soon counterattacked and the Song army suffered a major defeat, an episode known as the Duanping Advance into Luoyang. After the defeat Zhao Kui was demoted to Military Commissioner for Huainan East and successively served as prefect of Yangzhou, Tanzhou, Fuzhou, and elsewhere.

He became prefect of Yangzhou in 1237, the first year of Jiaxi. In 1242, the second year of Chunyou, he was prefect of Tanzhou and Pacification Commissioner of Hunan. In 1249, the ninth year of Chunyou, he was appointed Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, Right Chancellor, and Military Affairs Commissioner, but he firmly declined the chancellorship. He later rose through the ranks to Pacification Commissioner of the Two Huai and Junior Preceptor, retired with the titles Junior Grand Preceptor and Military Commissioner of Wu'an, and was enfeoffed as Duke of Ji. In 1254, the second year of Baoyou, he served as Pacification Commissioner of Guangxi and enjoyed an established reputation. In 1260, the first year of Jingding, he became Pacification Commissioner of the Two Huai and administrator of Yangzhou. In 1265, the first year of Xianchun, he was promoted to Junior Preceptor. In 1266, the second year of Xianchun, while traveling by boat back to Hunan, he died aboard ship near Mount Xiaogu, north of present-day Pengze County, Jiangxi, at the age of eighty-one. He was posthumously appointed Grand Tutor and granted the posthumous name Zhongjing.

Major Activities

Military Contributions

Zhao Kui was known throughout his life for military achievement. In his youth he followed his father Zhao Fang in fighting the Jin and participated in major engagements at Zaoyang, Dengzhou, Tangzhou, and Jiuchang Township. In the 1221 battle at Jiuchang, Zhao encountered several hundred Jin cavalry with only fourteen horsemen and fought repeatedly against them; later, in cooperation with Zhao Fan and Hu Zaixing, he launched a dawn assault with several thousand death-defying troops, heavily defeated the Jin, and rescued more than ten thousand civilians who had been taken captive. The battle displayed both his bravery and his command ability.

During the Shaoding era, Zhao played a decisive role in suppressing Li Quan's rebellion. He strongly advocated punitive action, personally went to the front, confronted Li Quan outside Yangzhou, and ultimately captured and executed him, removing a major internal threat to the Southern Song. Zhao thereafter defended the Two Huai for a long period, holding posts such as Military Commissioner for Huainan East and Pacification Commissioner of the Two Huai and making an important contribution to the Southern Song's ability to maintain its position. The History of Song said that “the court relied upon him as upon a Great Wall.”

Duanping Advance into Luoyang

In 1234, Zhao Kui, Zhao Fan, Quan Zicai, and others advocated taking advantage of the Mongol withdrawal to recover Henan, rely on the Yellow River, and hold Tong Pass to strengthen national defense. Emperor Lizong accepted the proposal, and Zhao Kui became Military Commissioner for Jingxi and Hebei and directed the northern expedition. Song forces briefly recovered the Three Capitals, but Mongol armies quickly counterattacked. With insufficient logistics and flawed deployments, the Song army suffered a major defeat. The failure of the Duanping Advance into Luoyang not only inflicted severe losses on the Southern Song but also gave the Mongols a pretext to attack south, becoming a trigger for the full-scale Song-Mongol War. As one of the principal commanders, Zhao bore significant responsibility and was demoted afterward to Military Commissioner for Huainan East.

Literature and Art

Zhao Kui wrote poetry and painted. He authored Xingying zalu, and a surviving painting attributed to him is the handscroll Painting on a Poetic Theme by Du Fu. As a scholar-official who commanded armies, he continued literary and artistic pursuits even during military service and was a rare figure of both civil and martial accomplishment in the late Southern Song. His paintings reflected literati taste in striking contrast to his identity as a general.

Relations with Contemporaries

Zhao Kui maintained close relationships with Zheng Qingzhi and Quan Zicai. Both had once been his teachers, and later Zheng strongly supported punitive action against Li Quan during the Shaoding era, giving important backing to Zhao's military operations. Zhao Kui and his elder brother Zhao Fan fought alongside each other for many years against the Jin and in suppressing Li Quan, becoming noted brother-generals of the late Southern Song. Zhao Kui's relationship with Chancellor Shi Miyuan was more complicated: Zhao repeatedly memorialized Shi to urge an attack on Li Quan, while Shi initially hesitated and only later decided to use force under Zheng Qingzhi's influence.

Personal Relations

Family

• Great-grandfather: Zhao Bian, prominent Northern Song official known as the “Iron-Faced Censor”
• Grandfather: Zhao Tang, scholar of the Huxiang school and one of the “Seven Disciples of the Hu School”
• Father: Zhao Fang, Southern Song Military Commissioner for Jinghu and noted general against the Jin
• Elder brother: Zhao Fan, prefect of Jingjiang who fought alongside Zhao Kui

Teachers and Friends

• Zheng Qingzhi: teacher; later Assistant Grand Councilor who strongly advocated attacking Li Quan
• Quan Zicai: teacher and participant in the Duanping Advance into Luoyang
• Li Fan: disciple of Zhu Xi under whom Zhao Kui studied “practical learning”

Ruler-Subject Relationships

• Emperor Ningzong of Song: emperor during Zhao Kui's early campaigns against the Jin
• Emperor Lizong of Song: ruler during the main part of Zhao Kui's career and decision-maker behind the Duanping Advance into Luoyang
• Emperor Duzong of Song: emperor during Zhao Kui's later years

Colleagues and Conflicts

• Hu Zaixing: commander who fought alongside Zhao Kui in multiple campaigns
• Shi Miyuan: chancellor to whom Zhao Kui repeatedly submitted advice; initially hesitant over action against Li Quan
• Li Quan: rebel general whom Zhao Kui strongly advocated attacking and ultimately captured and executed
• Xu Guo: Military Commissioner for Huainan East who ignored Zhao Kui's warning and met defeat and death
• Zeng Shizhong: Military Commissioner who fell out with Zhao Kui

Historical Assessment

Song and Contemporary Assessments

• The History of Song said that “the court relied upon him as upon a Great Wall,” giving high praise to Zhao Kui's role as a defensive bulwark of the Southern Song.
• Emperor Lizong relied heavily on Zhao Kui. In 1249 he appointed him Right Chancellor and Military Affairs Commissioner; although Zhao firmly declined, the appointment demonstrates the court's confidence in him.
• After Zhao Kui's death, the court posthumously appointed him Grand Tutor and granted the posthumous name Zhongjing, an official affirmation of his life's service.

Song-Yuan Period

• Yuan historians under Toqto'a gave Zhao Kui a biography in the History of Song, recording his career in detail and treating him as an important military commander of the late Southern Song.
• Events of the History of Song from Beginning to End treated Zhao Kui's suppression of Li Quan's rebellion as an important historical event and recognized his role in maintaining Southern Song rule.
• Historians around the Song-Yuan transition criticized the Duanping Advance into Luoyang, and Zhao Kui, as one of its principal commanders, also received a measure of blame.

Ming-Qing Period

• Ming historian Chen Bangzhan described Zhao Kui's activities in detail in Events of the History of Song from Beginning to End, praising his achievements against the Jin and rebels.
• Qing scholar Bi Yuan recorded Zhao Kui's career in the Xu Zizhi Tongjian and frequently acknowledged his military ability.
• Ming and Qing historians discussed the failure of the Duanping Advance into Luoyang extensively and offered differing assessments of Zhao Kui's strategic decisions.

Modern Assessments

• Modern scholarship on Zhao Kui has focused mainly on his military activities, particularly the Duanping Advance into Luoyang.
• Some scholars regard Zhao Kui as one of the few late-Southern Song commanders with strategic vision and consider his achievements against the Jin and internal rebellions worthy of recognition.
• Others note that the failure of the Duanping Advance into Luoyang exposed deep problems in late-Southern Song military organization and logistics and argue that Zhao Kui, as a principal commander, cannot escape responsibility.