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Yue Fei
Southern Song general who defeated Jin armies at Yancheng, was recalled and stripped of command, and was put to death on charges Qin Hui never substantiated
Mural of The River Turns Red · Hair Bristles in Wrath, a work by this person.
A general leans on a railing in the rain, looking north toward lost lands beyond the Helan Mountains as banners stir behind him. The solitary watch holds the lyric’s resolve to reclaim the homeland.
Also known as Zi Pengju · Yue Wumu · Yue Zhongwu · E Wang
- Roles
- Commanders
Yue Fei, courtesy name Pengju, came from a farming family in Tangyin, Xiangzhou, enlisted in the early 1120s and fought the Jin under Zong Ze and Zhang Suo. In 1134 he recovered Xiangyang and five neighbouring prefectures, and in 1140 he defeated the main Jin army under Wuzhu at Yancheng and Yingchang and advanced to Zhuxian. Emperor Gaozong and Qin Hui, intent on peace, ordered him back, and the next year he was relieved of command, made vice-commissioner of military affairs and then thrown into the Court of Judicial Review on a charge of treason. Under interrogation he bared his back, tattooed with the words serve the country with utmost loyalty. He was put to death in January 1142, and his son Yue Yun and officer Zhang Xian were executed; when Han Shizhong demanded the evidence, Qin Hui replied that it need not exist. Emperor Xiaozong cleared his name and reburied him by the West Lake; he was later named Wumu, made King of E, and finally renamed Zhongwu.
Life and times
- 1103 CEBorn
Song - 1130Yue Fei's Campaigns
Took partage 27Yue Fei's army defeated Jin forces and recovered territory around Yancheng, but he was recalled during the northern advance and later executed.- Yue Fei's Campaigns Historical MilestoneYue Fei's army defeated Jin forces and recovered territory around Yancheng, but he was recalled during the northern advance and later executed.
- Yue Fei Battle at Zhuxianzhen1140age 37In 1140, Yue Fei's northern campaign advanced to Zhuxian Town and engaged the Jin army, forming the historical memory of the Zhuxian fighting.
- Yue Fei's Campaigns Historical Milestone
- 1141Treaty of Shaoxing
Took partage 38Fixing the Huai River boundary between Song and Jin, establishing a century of Southern prosperity. - 1142 CEDied
Works
Literature · Sayings7- Hair Bristling Against the CapSongIdiom made famous by the lyric The River Turns Red attributed to Yue Fei: blazing fury
- Thirty Years of Fame, Mere Dust and EarthSongLine from Yue Fei's The River Turns Red: thirty years of fame are nothing beside the cause
- Eight Thousand Leagues Under Cloud and MoonSongFamous line from the lyric The River Turns Red attributed to Yue Fei: endless roads of campaign
- Recovering the Old Hills and Rivers of the RealmSongFamous line from the lyric The River Turns Red, vowing to win back the lost northern lands
- Returning in Triumph to the Palace GatesSongFamous line from the lyric The River Turns Red: the dream of a victorious return to court
+2 more
- Grieving in Vain When Hair Turns WhiteSongFamous line from The River Turns Red: a warning that wasted youth ends in useless regret
- Do Not Let Youth Slip By IdlySongFamous line from the lyric The River Turns Red urging the young to waste no time
- Literature · Lyrics2
- The River Turns Red · Hair Bristles in WrathSongPatriotic ci attributed to the Southern Song general Yue Fei, vowing to recover the lost north
- Little Layered Hills · Last Night the Autumn Crickets Chirped Without CeaseSongYue Fei's quiet ci of a sleepless autumn night, a general with no one to hear his music
- Literature · Poetry1
- Cuiwei Pavilion at ChizhouSongYue Fei's quatrain on a brief climb at Chizhou, riding back by moonlight to his army
- Literature · Prose1
- Oath Written at the Shrine of the Five PeaksSongYue Fei's 1130 oath on a shrine wall at Yixing, vowing to drive out the Jin
