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Yu Qian
Ming minister of war who organized the defence of Beijing after the emperor's capture at Tumu in 1449 and was executed when that emperor regained the throne
Mural of the event “Tumu Crisis”, which this person took part in.
In mid Ming, court politics gradually decayed, the eunuch Wang Zhen wielded power, and the northern Mongol Oirats gradually rose and harassed the frontier. Facing Oirat provocation, the young Emperor Yingzong under instigation blindly chose to lead the army in person.
Also known as Zi Tingyi · Hao Jiean
Yu Qian, courtesy name Tingyi, styled Jie'an, came from Qiantang (modern Hangzhou) and passed the jinshi examination in 1421. From 1430 he spent nearly twenty years as grand coordinator of Henan and Shanxi. When the Oirat captured Emperor Yingzong at Tumu in 1449 and some officials urged a retreat south, Yu Qian rejected the idea; promoted to minister of war, he helped enthrone the emperor's brother Zhu Qiyu and directed the fighting outside the Desheng Gate that drove Esen's army from Beijing. In 1457 Shi Heng and Xu Youzhen restored Yingzong in the Duomen coup, and Yu Qian was beheaded on a false charge of plotting to enthrone another prince. His offices were restored in the Chenghua reign, he was named Sumin in 1489, and under Wanli the name was changed to Zhongsu. He is buried at Santai Hill by West Lake, and with Yue Fei and Zhang Huangyan he is counted among the three heroes of West Lake.
Life and times
- 1398 CEBorn
Ming - 1449Tumu Crisis
Took partage 51Oirat forces destroyed the Ming army at Tumu and captured the emperor, throwing Beijing into crisis and pushing Ming strategy toward frontier defense.- Defense of Beijing (1449 CE)Yu Qian's Resolute Defense of Beijing Rallying Ming Nation
- Defense of Beijing (1449 CE)
- 1457 CEDied
Works
Literature · Poetry4- Chant of the LimeMingYoung Yu Qian's quatrain on lime burned in the kiln, a vow to stay clean whatever the cost
- Ode to CoalMingYu Qian's regulated verse on coal, a governor's pledge to burn himself out to warm the people
- Going to the CapitalMingYu Qian's quatrain on going to court without gifts, origin of 'two sleeves of clean breeze'
- Reading BooksMingYu Qian's regulated verse on books as old friends and a spring that never runs dry
- Literature · Sayings2
- Nothing in His Sleeves but a Clear BreezeMingIdiom made famous by Yu Qian's poem Going to the Capital: an official with empty sleeves
- Ground to Powder Without Fear: Yu Qian's Ode to LimeMingIdiom in Yu Qian's Ode to Lime: bones crushed to powder, integrity kept white
