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Zong Ze
Official of the Song's fall to the Jin who held Cizhou, then as custodian of Kaifeng rallied volunteer armies and begged Emperor Gaozong more than twenty times to return north
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Rulin · Zhong Jian
Zong Ze, courtesy name Rulin, was born in January 1060 at Yiwu in Wuzhou, in present-day Zhejiang, passed the jinshi examination in 1091. In 1126 he became prefect of Cizhou, repairing the walls and raising troops, and when Zhao Gou, Prince of Kang, passed through on a mission to the Jin camp, Zong Ze urged him not to go on. In 1127 he was appointed custodian of the eastern capital Kaifeng, where he took in Wang Shan and other irregular bands, linked up with loyalist militias north of the Yellow River and threw back repeated Jin attacks. More than twenty times he wrote begging Emperor Gaozong to return to Kaifeng and send the army across the river, without success. Yue Fei fought under him and was given battle plans by him. In the seventh month of 1128 an abscess on his back killed him; he is said to have cried 'Cross the river!' three times before he died. His posthumous name is Zhongjian.
Life and times
Dates 1060 CE–1128 CE