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{{family name hatnote|[[Yuan (surname)|Yuan]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Unreferenced|biography|date=January 2007}}
{{short description|Patriot and military commander of the Ming dynasty}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Yuan Chong huan
| native_name = {{nobold|袁崇煥}}
| image = Yuan Chonghuan.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| alt =
| caption = Portrait of Yuan Chonghuan
| birth_date = {{birth date|1584|6|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Dongguan]], [[Guangdong]], [[Ming dynasty|Ming China]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1630|9|22|1584|6|6|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Xisi]], [[Xicheng District]], [[Beijing]], Ming China
| other_names = {{unbulleted list|Yuansu (元素)|Ziru (自如)}}
| occupation = Politician, general, writer
}}


'''Yuan Chonghuan''' ({{zh|c=袁崇煥|j=jyun4 sung4 wun6|p=Yuán Chónghuàn|first=j}}; 6 June 1584 – 22 September 1630), [[courtesy name]] '''Yuansu''', [[art name]] '''Ziru''', was a Chinese politician, military general and writer who served under the [[Ming dynasty]]. Widely regarded as a patriotic [[culture hero]] in Chinese culture, he is best known for defending [[Liaoning]] from invasions launched by the [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]]-led [[Later Jin (1616-1636)|Later Jin dynasty]]. As a general, Yuan Chonghuan excelled as a cannoneer and sought to incorporate European cannon designs into the Ming arsenal.
'''Yuan Chonghuan''' (袁崇煥; [[style name]]: Yuansu 元素 and Ziru 自如; [[June 6]], [[1584]] – [[September 22]], [[1630]]) was a famed patriot and military commander of the [[Ming Dynasty]] who battled the [[Manchu]]s in [[Liaoning]]. He was known to have excelled in artillery warfare and successfully incorporated western tactics into the East. Yuan's military career reached its height when he defeated [[Nurhaci]] and the Manchurian army in the first [[Battle of Ningyuan]]. [[Nurhaci]]'s son and successor, [[Huang Taiji]], was defeated by him in the second [[Battle of Ningyuan]]. However, Yuan was a tragic figure, and was executed by his emperor under false charges which [[Huang Taiji]] deliberately planted against him.

Yuan's military career reached its height when he defeated the Later Jin ruler, [[Nurhaci]], and his army in the first [[Battle of Ningyuan]], that resulted in Nurhaci's death. Later on, Yuan also defeated Nurhaci's son and successor, [[Hong Taiji]], and his 200,000-strong army composed of mostly ethnic [[Mongols|Mongol]] soldiers at the second Battle of Ningyuan. Yuan met his end when he was arrested and executed by ''[[lingchi]]'' ("slow slicing") on the order of the [[Chongzhen Emperor]] under false charges of treason, which were believed to have been planted against him by the Later Jin.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Yuan was born in [[Dongguan]], [[Guangdong]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/LH04Ad01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806074705/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/LH04Ad01.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2010-08-06|title=Cantonese cultural warriors fight back|website=Asia Times Online|access-date=2016-05-18}}</ref> Another source suggest his ancestors came from [[Guangxi]].<ref>《明季北略》：袁崇煥號自如，廣西梧州府藤縣人，萬曆己未進士。</ref> During his adolescence, he spent time traveling from town to town. Although he took the [[imperial examination]] repeatedly with little success, he gained a lot of practical experience during his travels to the capital. It is said that he befriended several [[Jesuits]] during this time and spent much time working on modifying European cannons.
Yuan Chonghaun was born in [[Dongguan]], [[Guangdong]] province. During his adolescence, Yuan spent time travelling from town to town. It is during these journeys that he befriended many Jesuits and foreigners. He had taken imperial examinations a few times with little success, but in his journeys to the capital, he was able to see a lot more than the average examiners could see. Some say that in this time, he befriended westerners and together, they spent time modifying European cannons.


==Early military career==
==Early military career==
He passed the imperial examinations in 1619 and was appointed to the minor post of magistrate in a remote place. In 1619, the imperial Ming army was very badly defeated by the Manchus in the [[Battle of Sarhu]]. Subsequently, the Chinese armies suffered successive defeats and in 1622 they were forced to retreat to [[Shanhaiguan]], abandoning all of Liaoning to the Manchus. After a visit to the front, Yuan was appointed second-class secretary in the Board of War, promoted almost immediately to secretary, and supplied with funds for enlisting troops. (Note: It should be noted that Yuan did not have any formal military training at all. Of course, he had to study the Confucian classics in order to pass the imperial examinations. It is some sort of minor miracle that he could move from a junior civilian officer to a high-ranking military commander in just a couple of years.)
Yuan passed the imperial examination in 1619 and was appointed as the magistrate of [[Shaowu]] county, [[Fujian]]. In 1619, the Ming imperial army was defeated by the Jurchens in the [[Battle of Sarhu]]. Ming forces suffered successive defeats and in 1622 they were forced to retreat to [[Shanhai Pass]], abandoning all of Liaoning to the Jurchens. After a visit to the front, Yuan was appointed as a second-class secretary in the [[Three Departments and Six Ministries|Ministry of War]], then promoted almost immediately to full secretary and supplied with funds for enlisting troops. Yuan's rapid promotion was quite notable at the time as he did not have any formal military training at all, save for studying the [[Confucian classics]] in order to pass the imperial examination.


Yuan cooperated with the commander-in-chief [[Sun Chengzong]] in pushing the frontiers steadily northward, fortifying [[Xingcheng|Ningyuan]] in 1623. The elderly Sun was an able commander but refused to bribe [[Wei Zhongxian]], an influential court eunuch under the [[Tianqi Emperor]]. Consequently, Sun was recalled in 1625 and replaced by Gao Di ({{lang|zh-Hant|高第}}), who ordered a general retreat to Shanhai Pass. However, Yuan flatly refused to leave Ningyuan.
Yuan Chonghuan worked harmoniously with the commander-in-chief [[Sun Chengzong]] (孫承宗) and pushed the frontiers steadily northward, fortifying [[Xingcheng|Ningyuan]] (寧遠) in [[1623]]. The elderly Sun was an able commander with a good moral character and refused to bribe the Emperor's eunuch. Consequently, in [[1625]] Sun was recalled and replaced by [[Gao Di]] (高第), who ordered a general retreat to Shanhaiguan, but Yuan flatly refused to leave Ningyuan. Early in the next year, [[Nurhaci]] led the Manchus back across the [[Liao River]]. Yuan Chonghuan and his Deputies successfully held Ningyuan with the newly-mounted and modified "red-barbarian cannon" (紅衣大炮, 紅夷大炮) and wounded the Manchurian Emperor, Nurhaci. As a result of this victory, the Imperial Court at [[Beijing]] appointed Yuan on [[27 February]] [[1626]] as the Governor of Liaodong, with full authority to handle all forces outside the passes. This battle was an amazing deed since Yuan had only 9000 soldiers (of whom many were simply militia), eventhough Nurhaci's men consisted of 130,000 strong men (some say 200,000). This battle prevented China from being conquered and boosted the hopes of Ming and its allies that the Manchurians were defeatable. It is noted that Yuan was said to have studied every aspect of the cannon for it to fire correctly at the position he wanted, and this is the reason why Nurhaci, even though well protected by his elite guards in a relatively safe position, was fatally wounded. This battle was remembered as the [[Battle of Ningyuan]]. It is said that after the battle, Yuan sent letters to ask the well-being of Nurhaci, as what traditionally Chinese generals would do, but Nurhaci returned an insult by calling him a faker.


Early in the next year, [[Nurhaci]] led the Jurchens back across the [[Liao River]]. Yuan and his deputies successfully held Ningyuan with the newly mounted and modified "[[hongyipao]]" and only 9,000 militiamen against Nurhaci's 130,000-strong army. The [[Battle of Ningyuan|victory at Ningyuan]] prevented immediate advances by the Jurchens.
During this time, he executed Mao Wenlong (毛文龍), a somewhat talented commander but who had a terrible moral character. Various texts have different perspectives of his actions. Many stated this was a terrible mistake since Mao could still be used to defend against the Manchus. However, Yuan took in account of how Mao committed his battles. Mao's tactics usually involved using civilian settlements as a shield for his troops and during the occupation, civilians suffered tremendously. It is also Mao's fault for using Korea, Ming's ally, as a base to attack Manchuria, which resulted in Korea being conquered by Manchus as Mao ordered a general retreat when the Manchus entered Korea. This angered many merchants in the Beijing area since Mao had never dared to drag major cities into war even when there was a strategic advantage. In addition, Mao had bribe many eunuchs and corrupted officials. Thus, Yuan made enemies with the most influential and corrupted people in China.


Yuan was said to have studied every aspect of the cannon for it to fire accurately at the position he wanted, and this is given as the reason why Nurhaci, although well-protected by his elite guards in a safe position, was wounded by cannon fire. After the battle, Yuan sent letters to ask the well-being of Nurhaci, as traditionally done by Chinese generals, but Nurhaci returned an insult by calling him duplicitous.
Taking advantage of Nurhaci's death later in the year, Yuan reoccupied [[Jinzhou]]. The Manchus reappeared in June and withdrew after a series of indecisive battles. (Note: This is known as the Battle of Ningyuan-Jinzhou or the Second Battle of Ningyuan.) The campaign gave opportunity for Yuan to be criticised by the partisans of the eunuch official [[Wei Zhongxian]], stating that he took too long to fight off the "Barbarian" Manchurians, in consequence of which he retired.


As a result of this victory, the Ming imperial court in [[Beijing]] appointed Yuan as the Governor of Liaodong on 27 February 1626, with full authority to handle all forces outside the passes.
==Later military career and death==
In [[1628]], under a new government, Yuan Chonghuan was reinstated as field marshal of all the forces of the northeast. He embarked on an ambitious five year plan for the complete recovery of Liaodong. In 1629 he was granted the title of Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. The [[Chongzhen Emperor]], the new emperor gave him his Imperial Sword and stated that he would fully support Yuan's decisions.


During this time, Yuan executed [[Mao Wenlong]], a Ming general regarded as ruthless but talented. Various texts have different opinions of his actions. Many stated this was a mistake since Mao could still be used against the Jurchens. However, Yuan took into account how Mao conducted his battles: Mao's tactics usually involved using civilian settlements as a shield for his troops, and during the occupation the civilians suffered tremendously. Mao also used the [[Joseon]] kingdom, Ming's ally, as a base to launch expeditions against the Jurchens. When the Jurchens entered Joseon, Mao ordered a general retreat of Ming forces. This angered many merchants in the Beijing area who traded in the [[Korean Peninsula]]. In addition, Mao was known to have bribed many corrupt eunuchs and officials. Consequently, by executing Mao, Yuan made enemies with some of the most influential people in China.
This time Yuan had to face again a larger Manchurian force (slightly above 200,000) under [[Huang Taiji]]. This time the Manchurians had incorporated many more men including the newly surrendered Mongols, rebel Ming army and the conquered Korea and various small states of the North. However, the Manchus were not confident to attack Jinzhou or Ningyuan again.


Taking advantage of Nurhaci's death later in the year, Yuan reoccupied [[Jinzhou]]. The Jurchens reappeared in June and withdrew after [[Battle of Ning-Jin|a series of indecisive battles]]. Yuan was criticised by the partisans of Wei Zhongxian, who stated that he took too long to fight off the Jurchens. Shortly thereafter Yuan was forced into retirement.
Th Manchus changed their strategy. They bypassed Jinzhou, Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass. They broke through the Great Hall west of Shanhai Pass and suddenly appeared north of Beijing in the winter of 1629. Yuan rushed back with an elite army from Ningyuan to defend the capital. He reached Beijing only one or two days before the Manchus arrived at Beijing. Outside the city wall of Beijing, he defeated the Manchurian "Eight Flags" (八旗) which numbered one hundred thousand. (Note: The Manchus failed to destroy the Imperial Ming army at the city wall of Beijing and thus failed to launch a direct assault on the city wall. Thus the Manchus failed in their main objective of launching a surprise attack on Beijing. Yuan's army was not strong enough to destroy the Manchu army. He only managed to make the Manchus fail in their main objective.) As he arrived into Beijing, instead of being welcome, he was heavily criticized. Some eunuchs even accused Yuan of collaborating with the enemy. In fact, they were actually tricked by Huang Taiji into thinking that Yuan had backstabbed them.


==Later military career and death==
Without much evidence, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered his arrest during an interview with the Emperor on [[January 13]] [[1630]]. He was accused of collusion with the enemy and condemned to death by "[[death by a thousand cuts]]" at Ganshiqiao (甘石橋) in [[Beijing]]. It is stated the merchants, eunuchs and corrupt officials rushed to buy his body parts so they could eat it. When Yuan was asked for last words before his execution, he produced the poem: "A life's work always ends up in vain; half of my career seems to be in dreams. I do not worry about lacking brave warriors after my death, for my loyal spirit will continue to guard [[Liaodong]]." (一生事業總成空，半世功名在夢中。死後不愁無將勇，忠魂依舊保遼東！) His family was also exiled.


[[File:Yuan chonghuan-2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Yuan Chonghuan's tomb in the [[Huashi, Beijing|Huashi]] neighborhood, near [[Beijing city fortifications#Guangqumen|Guangqumen]], in [[Chongwen District]], [[Beijing]].]]
Mourning was given to the general's honor throughout most part of the country and even Korea; everyone regarded the fate of Ming and its allies was in boiling water with the death of Yuan. His head, the only recognizable part after the torture, was taken outside the Inner City Wall by a city guard, whose surname is She, and buried near Guanqu Men. The guard's family have guarded it from one generation to the next ever since. His tomb was renovated to Yuanchonghuan Memorial recently.


In 1628, under the reign of the [[Chongzhen Emperor]], Yuan was reinstated as the field marshal of all the Ming forces in the northeast. He embarked on an ambitious five-year plan for the complete recovery of [[Liaodong]]. The Chongzhen Emperor had begun his reign in 1627 at the age of 16, and in 1629 (at the age of 18) he appointed Yuan. In 1629, Yuan was granted the title of "Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent". The emperor gave Yuan his Imperial Sword and stated that he would fully support Yuan's decisions.
Huang Taiji publicly stated that he would never able to beat Yuan in a fair game, thus, making the Chongzhen Emperor kill him the only method to get rid of him. Just as the message of Yuan's death reach Huang Taiji's ears, he changed his state name from [[Jin]] to Qing and proclaimed himself Emperor Qing Taizong. Some historical information states that Huang Taiji fear Yuan's last word stating his soul will always guard Liaodong Peninsula: As the name Chonghuan, means Undying Flames, contains the [[Five elements (Chinese philosophy)|element]] "Fire", he put the word Qing, meaning cleanse, which contains the element "Water", to overcome it; however, even if this is the case, the main reason is probably because the "Ming" of the [[Ming Dynasty]] contains the element "Fire" itself.


This time Yuan had to face again a larger Jurchen force of over 200,000 troops under Nurhaci's successor, [[Hong Taiji]]. The Jurchens had incorporated more men into their army, including the newly surrendered Mongols and Ming rebels. They conquered various small tribes in northern China, and defeated Joseon in order to secure it as a tributary. However, the Jurchens never attacked [[Jinzhou]] or [[Xingcheng|Ningyuan]] again. Instead, they bypassed Jinzhou, Ningyuan and [[Shanhai Pass]] altogether. They broke through the [[Great Wall of China|Great Wall]] west of Shanhai Pass and reached the north of [[Beijing]] in the winter of 1629. Yuan rushed back with a selected veteran force from Ningyuan to defend the capital. He reached Beijing just days before the Jurchens. Outside the city wall of Beijing, he defeated the Jurchen [[Eight Banners]] which numbered around 100,000 men, but failed to destroy the Jurchen army. The Jurchens' surprise attack on Beijing was foiled. Despite the fact that Yuan prevented the Jurchens from even reaching the city wall, Yuan was heavily criticized when he arrived in Beijing, and some eunuchs even accused Yuan of collaborating with the enemy.
==Modern judgment of Yuan Chonghuan==
For many years of the Manchurian regime, Yuan was characterized as a villain by the Qing government, but locals still revered him as a great patriot, especially in Taiwan and South China, where Chinese diehards spent a much longer time resisting the Manchurian invaders. During the regime of Qianlong, Yuan was reverted back to a "patriot."


The Chongzhen Emperor ordered Yuan's arrest during an audience on 13 January 1630. Despite little evidence, Yuan was accused of collusion with the enemy and sentenced to death by ''[[lingchi]]'' ("slow slicing") at Ganshiqiao ({{lang|zh-Hant|甘石橋}}) in Beijing. When Yuan was asked for last words before his execution, he produced the following poem: "A life's work always ends up in vain; half of my career seems to be in dreams. I do not worry about lacking brave warriors after my death, for my loyal spirit will continue to guard Liaodong." ({{lang|zh-Hant|一生事業總成空，半世功名在夢中。死後不愁無將勇，忠魂依舊守遼東！}})
Many historians have stated that Yuan's death marked the end of the Ming dynasty because Yuan was the only general capable of turning back such odds in the late years of the Ming.


Imperial records showed he took half a day to die.<ref name="vol5">計六奇. ''明季北略'', vol. 5</ref>
However, recently a new theory begins to gain popularity in many Chinese history forums, bringing a new very different view of Yuan Chonghuan. The theory argues that Yuan in fact did more damage than good, and he was just a puppet for the propaganda used by Manchurian emperors.


Yuan was mourned throughout most of the country outside Beijing and even in the kingdom of [[Joseon]]. After his death, many took note of the Ming and their allies' weak position as favorable conditions for another Jurchen invasion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bjmem.com/bjm/bjwh/rwdl/200711/P020071117533094217342.pdf |title=程本直墓記修廣東新義園碑記 |access-date=2010-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910181517/http://www.bjmem.com/bjm/bjwh/rwdl/200711/P020071117533094217342.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
First of all Yuan was known to speak in superlatives, for example while emperor Chongzhen asked him how many years he needs to finish Manchurians off and reestablish the Ming control of Liaodong, Yuan said he needed 5. This proclaims was the key to Chongzhen’s trust, which turned out to be nothing but big talks.


It was said that upon hearing of his apparent "betrayal", many Beijing residents hated Yuan so much that they rushed to buy his body parts so they could eat them as soon as they were sliced off his body. He was left there after the torture, shouting for half a day before stopping.<ref name="vol5"/> His head, the only recognisable part after the execution, was taken outside the Inner City Wall by a city guard, whose surname was [[She (surname)|She]] ({{lang|zh|佘}}), and buried in [[Huashi, Beijing|Huashi]] near [[Beijing city fortifications#Guangqumen|Guangqumen]]. The guard's family have guarded it for generations since.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.southcn.com/weekend/top/200205230055.htm |title=372年守墓史曲終人散 |access-date=2010-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927053309/http://www.southcn.com/weekend/top/200205230055.htm |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His tomb was recently renovated and renamed the Yuan Chonghuan Memorial, located at [[Longtan Park]].
2. The success of Battle of Ningyuan was highly doubted by the Ming government, and the result of the battle seems strange, since the Jin casualty is told to be over 10.000, only 200 heads was notated(the Ming soldiers uses the cut head of the enemy to prove their achievement) . According to Yuan, the reason why the 9.800 heads missed is because the Jins had a ‘tradition’ to take back their fallen comrade’s bodies, thus making many bodies impossible to notate. What is strange is that in Yuan’s report to the emperor, he mentioned that he defeated the Jins three times on the open field. If we should believe that, then Yuan had more than plenty of fallen Jin soldiers to cut their heads, thus making a number of only 200 doubtable. Another question about Battle of Ningyuan is the mysterious death of Nurhachi, whom according to Yuan died by a hit from a cannonball shot by Ming soldiers. This event could be pure luck, but the unbelievable thing is that Nurhachi died 5 months after the Battle of Ningyuan. So unless his body is hard as steel or he transformed to superman, he couldn't possibly survive the canon hit and then live for another 5 months.


==Legacy==
3. When Jin attacked Korea, Yuan did nothing to help his allied, even though he had a direct order from the emperor to attack Mukden and thus ease the pressure of Korea. In Yuan’s reply he argued for his denial, saying that the Jin’s are laying traps in Mukden with 100.000 professional soldiers. But in another letter he told the emperor that the amount of Jin soldiers in Korean campaign are more than 150.000. If he spoke true in both letters, then Jin will have an army of 250.000 professional. A number that is even more than the total population of Manchurians! The result of Yuan’s stand aside was that the Ming Empire lost its most important ally, plus the total defeat of Mao Wenlong, a skilled Ming general whom had won many victories against Jin.
{{self-contradictory|about=whether Yuan had any direct descendants|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Yuan chonghuan-1.jpg|thumb|"Listening to the rain" (聽雨) by Yuan Chonghuan, kept at his memorial in Beijing.]]


Yuan's name was cleared nearly a century later by the [[Qianlong Emperor]] of the [[Qing dynasty]], after conclusive evidence was found in old archives of the Qing imperial court supporting his innocence. The Qianlong Emperor tried to express his kindness by searching for and rewarding Yuan's direct descendants, but failed to find any.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}
4. The strategy used by Yuan to defend against Jin was to build a hundreds of fortresses in large area, thus making Jin unable to sneak attack without being detected. The emperor agreed the solution. The Yuan then used half of his budget and three years to build the fortresses, just to abandon them all in 1626, wasting a huge number of time, manpower and money for nothing good.


Yuan Chonghuan's son defected from the Ming to the Qing and in 1642 was placed in the [[Han Chinese Eight Banners|Han Chinese]] [[Plain White Banner]]. Yuan Chonghuan's sixth generation descendant lived during the Taiping rebellion and was the Qing [[Jiangsu]] governor, Fumingga (Fuming'a) ([[w:zh:富明阿 (吉林将军)|富明阿]] [[w:zh:フミンガ|フミンガ]]) (Han Chinese name Yuan Shifu 袁世福, [[courtesy name]] Zhi'an 治安). Despite being a Han Chinese bannerman ([[w:zh:漢軍八旗|漢軍八旗]] [[w:ja:漢軍八旗|漢軍八旗]]) he used a Manchu personal name. From 1866 to 1870 the Qing appointed Fumingga as the [[Jilin]] governor in Manchuria. Fumingga had a son named Shoushan (Shou Shan) ([[w:zh:寿山 (清朝)|寿山]] [[w:ja:寿山 (清)|寿山 (清)]]) (courtesy name Meifeng 眉峰) born in 1860 in [[Aigun]], [[Heilongjiang]] in Manchuria. Shoushan along with his younger brother fought in [[Liaoning|Fengtian]] and was wounded against the Japanese in the [[First Sino-Japanese war]] in 1894. His brother died in the war. Before that Shoushan spent the last 6 years holding hereditary posts in Beijing. After the war he was sent in central China to be appointed to a position in [[Kaifeng]] and after that he was sent back to his [[Aigun]] hometown as military lieutenant-governor or brigade-general (fudutong). He could speak some Russian, had visited [[Blagoveshchensk]] and was an Amur native. The Qing promoted him to [[Heilongjiang]] military governor in January 1900. The Fengtian and Jilin governors along with Shoushan all received orders to fight the Russian empire during the [[Boxer Rebellion]] in July 1900 from Beijing. [[Russian invasion of Manchuria|The war started]] with [[Blagoveshchensk massacre and Sixty-Four Villages East of the River massacre|Blagoveshchensk being]] shelled [[Sixty-Four Villages East of the River|and]] Aigun being destroyed by the Russians. A ceasure was attempted by Shoushan to prevent [[Qiqihar]], the capital of Heilongjiang from being occupied. He received no response so Major General Pavel Rennenkampf received Shoushan's surrender on 28 August since no response to the ceasefire proposal was made. Shoushan then committed suicide by asking subordinate or a son to kill him by shooting after swallowing gold. Because Shoushan was married to a Mongol woman, his body was sent to Inner Mongolia from Qiqihar before the Russians occupied Qiqihar. Shoushan called for Heilongjiang to be further colonized by Han people to prevent Russian encroachment.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gamsa |first=Mark |author-link= |date=2020 |title=Harbin: A Cross-Cultural Biography |url= https://ebin.pub/harbin-a-cross-cultural-biography-1487506287-9781487506285.html |location= |publisher= University of Toronto Press|pages=26, 27, 28 |isbn=978-1487533762|quote=Born in Aigun in 1860, Shou Shan was the son of Fumingga (Chinese: Fuming'a), who was governor of Jiangsu province during the.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://debtelin.nl/onderweg/weerzien-aan-de-grens |title=Weerzien aan de grens — Aola Changxing en Fumingga |last1=Helm |first1=Daniella van der |last2=Sam-Sin |first2= Fresco |date=2021 |website=DEBTELIN |publisher= |access-date= |quote=Weerzien aan de grens {{!}} Aola Changxing en Fumingga. Het zit ons mee met de vreedzame grenzen. / Geheel in die geest trof ik mijn oude vriend.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://leidenuni.academia.edu/FSamSin/CurriculumVitae |title=Curriculum Vitae |first= Fresco |last=Sam-Sin|date=2021 |website=leidenuni.academia.edu|publisher= |access-date= |quote=Aola Changxing & Fumingga "Weerzien aan de grens" in Debtelin. April 2016 {{!}} “The Eating Crab jongenliedentekst” ⼦弟书 (Katuri jetere ) in Trage Vuur.}}</ref> Shoushan's Mongol wife was a daughter of the Mongol chief of the [[Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County|Dorbod Banner]]. One of his family members, Yuan Ruizhang (袁瑞昌) who was a northern route barracks officer (北路营官) died in battle against the Tsarist Russian forces in [[Heihe]].
5. By the order of Chongzhen, Yuan was allowed to execute all officers under rank 3 (Yuan himself was given rank 2). This allowance was used later as an argument for executing Mao Wenlong, a general of rank 1! Furthermore, the arguments for executing Mao are both incredible and foolish. For example, one of the arguments was that Mao had all the support he needed, but he didn't yet regain any former Ming territories. This is a lie, since the Mao created his bases and army from nothing, and was even close to retake Mukden! Another example of Yuan’s foolish argument was that Mao had secretly worshipped the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, in a secret island where no one but Mao knew. The problem is then, how did Yuan found it out, when no one knew about it, and he couldn't give an exact location of the island? Despise the retarded arguments Yuan executed Mao, one of the general who had cut of most heads of Jin.


==Physical appearance==
6. Yuan was trading iron and corns with some Mongolian clans, whom turned out to be allies of Jin. When asked why he supported the allies of the enemy with food and weapon, Yuan answered that his moves will ultimately convince the Mongolian clans to stop collaborating with Jin. It later showed that instead of being ‘convinced’, the Mongolian tribe supported Jin with food and weapon bought from Ming.
Ming dynasty scholars described Yuan as a short-tempered person with a tiny body frame, and because of his appearance, the Chongzhen Emperor was highly doubtful about his abilities when he first met Yuan.


==In popular culture==
7. Yuan was given direct command of the defense of the Great Wall. When asked why he reinforced his already well-doing Guanning army from soldiers of Great Wall, he answered that the soldiers are doing nothing on Great Wall, and it was a waste of resource to keep them there. However two months after the main forces leaved the Great Wall, Huang Taiji broke through it. An event that was ‘unknown’ to Yuan, even though he and his army was only 20 km. from the Jin army! He was then ‘informed’ two days after the breakthrough. After the breakthrough he was then given command to all the northern Ming army and garrisons. A wrongness that turned to a disaster, as Yuan ordered every soldier and garrison to assembly in Yuzhou, making the way clear for Huang Taiji to surpass the Ming strongholds and cities without a fight!
In the ''[[wuxia]]'' novel ''[[Sword Stained with Royal Blood]]'' by [[Jin Yong]], Yuan is survived by a fictional son, [[List of Sword Stained with Royal Blood characters|Yuan Chengzhi]], the protagonist of the novel. Yuan Chengzhi was saved by his father's subordinates after his father was executed and taken to the [[Mount Hua School]], where he learnt martial arts. Several years later, when he had grown up, he left Mount Hua and traveled around in search of adventure and to redress his father's legacy.


Celebrated as a [[Cantonese people|Cantonese]] hero,<ref name=":0" /> during a [[Guangzhou Television Cantonese controversy|2010 rally]], protesters in [[Guangzhou]] used Yuan's battle cry against his Jurchen enemies during the [[Battle of Ningyuan]]: "Fuck his mom! Hit the hard!"{{sic}} ({{zh|t=掉哪媽! 頂硬上!|first=t|labels=no}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=The obscene battle-cry of a Ming Dynasty war hero |url=http://www.danwei.org/language/yuan_chonghuan_profanity.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709094214/http://www.danwei.org/language/yuan_chonghuan_profanity.php |archive-date=9 July 2010}}</ref> as a chant, in reference to the removal of the relevant (English-Cantonese bilingual) plaque from a statue of Yuan.
8. The diplomacy that Yuan used was directly against the laws of Ming, as he tried to sign a peace treaty with Jin by following terms: Ming will treat Jin as equals, Ming must each year pay 10% of its taxes and 20.000 dan grain as a gift to Jin, Ming must declaim its sovereign of Mongolia and transfer it to Jin, and Ming should declaim all its former territories in Liaoxi, Jianzhou and Liaodong. Fortunately Yuan was forced to stop the peace-progress by harsh warnings of the emperor. The result was a huge depression amongst Ming army, as many of them lost family members to Jin and had a bitter hatred against Manchurians. This also led that the Mongolians allied with Ming lost their trust to Ming, as the peace-progress was hold in secret and without their present.


In the 2017 [[TVB]] drama ''[[A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch]]'', Yuan Chonghuan was portrayed by [[Edwin Siu]].
The supporters of this theory see Yuan rather as an idiotic and useless governor than a patriot, and he should be directly responsible for the Ming failures in Liaodong, and the ultimate end of Ming dynasty.


==See also==
Twentieth century intellectual [[Liang Qichao]] characterised Yuan Chonghuan as China's greatest soldier. Some Japanese scholars were exceptionally fond of Yuan, and they revered him as the Master of Artillery Warfare (砲戦の神).
* [[Zu Dashou]]
* [[Wu Sangui]]
* [[Hong Chengchou]]
* [[Man Gui]]


===Other admired generals falsely executed for treason===
(Note: The imperial Ming army had fire arms like cannons before the [[Battle of Ningyuan]]. The Manchus managed to defeat the imperial Ming army in the [[Battle of Sarhu]] even though the imperial Ming army had cannons. Thus Yuan won the [[Battle of Ningyuan]] not just because of cannons. The human factor was also very important.)
* [[Yu Qian]]
* [[Yue Fei]]
* [[Gao Jiong]]
* [[Yuwen Xian]]
* [[Gao Changgong]]
* [[Hulü Guang]]
* [[Zhou Yafu]]
* [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]]
* [[Flavius Stilicho]]
* [[Flavius Aetius]]


==Popular culture==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
Although history states that his entire family was executed, in [[Jinyong]] [[wuxia]] novel [[Sword Stained with Royal Blood]] (碧血劍), Yuan is survived by a son. The protagonist of the novel, he learns amazing martial arts on [[Mount Hua]] and tries to avenge his father's death. Jinyong also put forward a theory by some other historians that it was the [[Chongzhen Emperor]], not [[Huangtaiji]], that had Yuan Chonghuan killed, and that the Chongzhen Emperor knew perfectly well that Yuan was not a traitor. As in the case of [[Yue Fei]], Jinyong proposed that the cause of Yuan's death was the Chongzhen Emperor's fear of his popularity with the people and of his disrespect of the throne.


== Further reading ==
His name was conclusively cleared about 100 years after his death by the [[emperor Qianlong]], a descendant of his arch enemy, [[Huangtaiji]], who plotted his death. This happened after people found conclusive evidence in old archives of the Imperial Qing court. The Manchu [[emperor Qianlong]] tried to show off his unusual kindness by searching for Yuan's descendants for reward but none could be found. Then he rewarded some descendants of Yuan's brother.
* {{cite ECCP|title=Yüan Ch'ung-huan}}


{{-}}
Various books have been written on him. Various TV dramas or films have been made in his honor.
{{Authority control}}

==See also==

*[[Zu Dashou]]
*[[Wu Sangui]]
*[[Chongzhen Emperor]]
*[[Huang Taiji]]
*[[Nurhaci]]
*[[Tianqi Emperor]]
*[[Man Gui]]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuan, Chong huan}}
[[Category:1584 births]]
[[Category:1584 births]]
[[Category:1630 deaths]]
[[Category:1630 deaths]]
[[Category:Hakka people]]
[[Category:Ming dynasty generals]]
[[Category:Ming Dynasty generals]]
[[Category:Executed Ming dynasty people]]
[[Category:People from Dongguan]]
[[Category:People executed by the Ming dynasty]]
[[Category:17th-century executions by China]]

[[Category:Politicians from Dongguan]]
[[es:Yuan Chonghuan]]
[[Category:Cantonese people]]
[[id:Yuan Chonghuan]]
[[Category:Cantonese folklore]]
[[ja:袁崇煥]]
[[Category:Ming dynasty government officials]]
[[vi:Viên Sùng Hoán]]
[[Category:People executed by flaying]]
[[zh:袁崇焕]]
[[Category:Executed people from Guangdong]]
[[Category:Generals from Guangdong]]

Latest revision as of 00:52, 23 March 2024

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yuan.
Yuan Chong huan
袁崇煥
Portrait of Yuan Chonghuan
Born(1584-06-06)6 June 1584
Dongguan, Guangdong, Ming China
Died22 September 1630(1630-09-22) (aged 46)
Xisi, Xicheng District, Beijing, Ming China
Other names
  • Yuansu (元素)
  • Ziru (自如)
Occupation(s)Politician, general, writer

Yuan Chonghuan (Chinese: 袁崇煥; Jyutping: jyun4 sung4 wun6; pinyin: Yuán Chónghuàn; 6 June 1584 – 22 September 1630), courtesy name Yuansu, art name Ziru, was a Chinese politician, military general and writer who served under the Ming dynasty. Widely regarded as a patriotic culture hero in Chinese culture, he is best known for defending Liaoning from invasions launched by the Jurchen-led Later Jin dynasty. As a general, Yuan Chonghuan excelled as a cannoneer and sought to incorporate European cannon designs into the Ming arsenal.

Yuan's military career reached its height when he defeated the Later Jin ruler, Nurhaci, and his army in the first Battle of Ningyuan, that resulted in Nurhaci's death. Later on, Yuan also defeated Nurhaci's son and successor, Hong Taiji, and his 200,000-strong army composed of mostly ethnic Mongol soldiers at the second Battle of Ningyuan. Yuan met his end when he was arrested and executed by lingchi ("slow slicing") on the order of the Chongzhen Emperor under false charges of treason, which were believed to have been planted against him by the Later Jin.

Early life[edit]

Yuan was born in Dongguan, Guangdong.[1] Another source suggest his ancestors came from Guangxi.[2] During his adolescence, he spent time traveling from town to town. Although he took the imperial examination repeatedly with little success, he gained a lot of practical experience during his travels to the capital. It is said that he befriended several Jesuits during this time and spent much time working on modifying European cannons.

Early military career[edit]

Yuan passed the imperial examination in 1619 and was appointed as the magistrate of Shaowu county, Fujian. In 1619, the Ming imperial army was defeated by the Jurchens in the Battle of Sarhu. Ming forces suffered successive defeats and in 1622 they were forced to retreat to Shanhai Pass, abandoning all of Liaoning to the Jurchens. After a visit to the front, Yuan was appointed as a second-class secretary in the Ministry of War, then promoted almost immediately to full secretary and supplied with funds for enlisting troops. Yuan's rapid promotion was quite notable at the time as he did not have any formal military training at all, save for studying the Confucian classics in order to pass the imperial examination.

Yuan cooperated with the commander-in-chief Sun Chengzong in pushing the frontiers steadily northward, fortifying Ningyuan in 1623. The elderly Sun was an able commander but refused to bribe Wei Zhongxian, an influential court eunuch under the Tianqi Emperor. Consequently, Sun was recalled in 1625 and replaced by Gao Di (高第), who ordered a general retreat to Shanhai Pass. However, Yuan flatly refused to leave Ningyuan.

Early in the next year, Nurhaci led the Jurchens back across the Liao River. Yuan and his deputies successfully held Ningyuan with the newly mounted and modified "hongyipao" and only 9,000 militiamen against Nurhaci's 130,000-strong army. The victory at Ningyuan prevented immediate advances by the Jurchens.

Yuan was said to have studied every aspect of the cannon for it to fire accurately at the position he wanted, and this is given as the reason why Nurhaci, although well-protected by his elite guards in a safe position, was wounded by cannon fire. After the battle, Yuan sent letters to ask the well-being of Nurhaci, as traditionally done by Chinese generals, but Nurhaci returned an insult by calling him duplicitous.

As a result of this victory, the Ming imperial court in Beijing appointed Yuan as the Governor of Liaodong on 27 February 1626, with full authority to handle all forces outside the passes.

During this time, Yuan executed Mao Wenlong, a Ming general regarded as ruthless but talented. Various texts have different opinions of his actions. Many stated this was a mistake since Mao could still be used against the Jurchens. However, Yuan took into account how Mao conducted his battles: Mao's tactics usually involved using civilian settlements as a shield for his troops, and during the occupation the civilians suffered tremendously. Mao also used the Joseon kingdom, Ming's ally, as a base to launch expeditions against the Jurchens. When the Jurchens entered Joseon, Mao ordered a general retreat of Ming forces. This angered many merchants in the Beijing area who traded in the Korean Peninsula. In addition, Mao was known to have bribed many corrupt eunuchs and officials. Consequently, by executing Mao, Yuan made enemies with some of the most influential people in China.

Taking advantage of Nurhaci's death later in the year, Yuan reoccupied Jinzhou. The Jurchens reappeared in June and withdrew after a series of indecisive battles. Yuan was criticised by the partisans of Wei Zhongxian, who stated that he took too long to fight off the Jurchens. Shortly thereafter Yuan was forced into retirement.

Later military career and death[edit]

Yuan Chonghuan's tomb in the Huashi neighborhood, near Guangqumen, in Chongwen District, Beijing.

In 1628, under the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor, Yuan was reinstated as the field marshal of all the Ming forces in the northeast. He embarked on an ambitious five-year plan for the complete recovery of Liaodong. The Chongzhen Emperor had begun his reign in 1627 at the age of 16, and in 1629 (at the age of 18) he appointed Yuan. In 1629, Yuan was granted the title of "Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent". The emperor gave Yuan his Imperial Sword and stated that he would fully support Yuan's decisions.

This time Yuan had to face again a larger Jurchen force of over 200,000 troops under Nurhaci's successor, Hong Taiji. The Jurchens had incorporated more men into their army, including the newly surrendered Mongols and Ming rebels. They conquered various small tribes in northern China, and defeated Joseon in order to secure it as a tributary. However, the Jurchens never attacked Jinzhou or Ningyuan again. Instead, they bypassed Jinzhou, Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass altogether. They broke through the Great Wall west of Shanhai Pass and reached the north of Beijing in the winter of 1629. Yuan rushed back with a selected veteran force from Ningyuan to defend the capital. He reached Beijing just days before the Jurchens. Outside the city wall of Beijing, he defeated the Jurchen Eight Banners which numbered around 100,000 men, but failed to destroy the Jurchen army. The Jurchens' surprise attack on Beijing was foiled. Despite the fact that Yuan prevented the Jurchens from even reaching the city wall, Yuan was heavily criticized when he arrived in Beijing, and some eunuchs even accused Yuan of collaborating with the enemy.

The Chongzhen Emperor ordered Yuan's arrest during an audience on 13 January 1630. Despite little evidence, Yuan was accused of collusion with the enemy and sentenced to death by lingchi ("slow slicing") at Ganshiqiao (甘石橋) in Beijing. When Yuan was asked for last words before his execution, he produced the following poem: "A life's work always ends up in vain; half of my career seems to be in dreams. I do not worry about lacking brave warriors after my death, for my loyal spirit will continue to guard Liaodong." (一生事業總成空，半世功名在夢中。死後不愁無將勇，忠魂依舊守遼東！)

Imperial records showed he took half a day to die.[3]

Yuan was mourned throughout most of the country outside Beijing and even in the kingdom of Joseon. After his death, many took note of the Ming and their allies' weak position as favorable conditions for another Jurchen invasion.[4]

It was said that upon hearing of his apparent "betrayal", many Beijing residents hated Yuan so much that they rushed to buy his body parts so they could eat them as soon as they were sliced off his body. He was left there after the torture, shouting for half a day before stopping.[3] His head, the only recognisable part after the execution, was taken outside the Inner City Wall by a city guard, whose surname was She (佘), and buried in Huashi near Guangqumen. The guard's family have guarded it for generations since.[5] His tomb was recently renovated and renamed the Yuan Chonghuan Memorial, located at Longtan Park.

Legacy[edit]

"Listening to the rain" (聽雨) by Yuan Chonghuan, kept at his memorial in Beijing.

Yuan's name was cleared nearly a century later by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty, after conclusive evidence was found in old archives of the Qing imperial court supporting his innocence. The Qianlong Emperor tried to express his kindness by searching for and rewarding Yuan's direct descendants, but failed to find any.[citation needed]

Yuan Chonghuan's son defected from the Ming to the Qing and in 1642 was placed in the Han Chinese Plain White Banner. Yuan Chonghuan's sixth generation descendant lived during the Taiping rebellion and was the Qing Jiangsu governor, Fumingga (Fuming'a) (富明阿 フミンガ) (Han Chinese name Yuan Shifu 袁世福, courtesy name Zhi'an 治安). Despite being a Han Chinese bannerman (漢軍八旗 漢軍八旗) he used a Manchu personal name. From 1866 to 1870 the Qing appointed Fumingga as the Jilin governor in Manchuria. Fumingga had a son named Shoushan (Shou Shan) (寿山 寿山 (清)) (courtesy name Meifeng 眉峰) born in 1860 in Aigun, Heilongjiang in Manchuria. Shoushan along with his younger brother fought in Fengtian and was wounded against the Japanese in the First Sino-Japanese war in 1894. His brother died in the war. Before that Shoushan spent the last 6 years holding hereditary posts in Beijing. After the war he was sent in central China to be appointed to a position in Kaifeng and after that he was sent back to his Aigun hometown as military lieutenant-governor or brigade-general (fudutong). He could speak some Russian, had visited Blagoveshchensk and was an Amur native. The Qing promoted him to Heilongjiang military governor in January 1900. The Fengtian and Jilin governors along with Shoushan all received orders to fight the Russian empire during the Boxer Rebellion in July 1900 from Beijing. The war started with Blagoveshchensk being shelled and Aigun being destroyed by the Russians. A ceasure was attempted by Shoushan to prevent Qiqihar, the capital of Heilongjiang from being occupied. He received no response so Major General Pavel Rennenkampf received Shoushan's surrender on 28 August since no response to the ceasefire proposal was made. Shoushan then committed suicide by asking subordinate or a son to kill him by shooting after swallowing gold. Because Shoushan was married to a Mongol woman, his body was sent to Inner Mongolia from Qiqihar before the Russians occupied Qiqihar. Shoushan called for Heilongjiang to be further colonized by Han people to prevent Russian encroachment.[6][7][8] Shoushan's Mongol wife was a daughter of the Mongol chief of the Dorbod Banner. One of his family members, Yuan Ruizhang (袁瑞昌) who was a northern route barracks officer (北路营官) died in battle against the Tsarist Russian forces in Heihe.

Physical appearance[edit]

Ming dynasty scholars described Yuan as a short-tempered person with a tiny body frame, and because of his appearance, the Chongzhen Emperor was highly doubtful about his abilities when he first met Yuan.

In popular culture[edit]

In the wuxia novel Sword Stained with Royal Blood by Jin Yong, Yuan is survived by a fictional son, Yuan Chengzhi, the protagonist of the novel. Yuan Chengzhi was saved by his father's subordinates after his father was executed and taken to the Mount Hua School, where he learnt martial arts. Several years later, when he had grown up, he left Mount Hua and traveled around in search of adventure and to redress his father's legacy.

Celebrated as a Cantonese hero,[1] during a 2010 rally, protesters in Guangzhou used Yuan's battle cry against his Jurchen enemies during the Battle of Ningyuan: "Fuck his mom! Hit the hard!" [sic] (掉哪媽! 頂硬上!)[9] as a chant, in reference to the removal of the relevant (English-Cantonese bilingual) plaque from a statue of Yuan.

In the 2017 TVB drama A General, a Scholar and a Eunuch, Yuan Chonghuan was portrayed by Edwin Siu.

See also[edit]

Other admired generals falsely executed for treason[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Cantonese cultural warriors fight back". Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  2. ^ 《明季北略》：袁崇煥號自如，廣西梧州府藤縣人，萬曆己未進士。
  3. ^ a b 計六奇. 明季北略, vol. 5
  4. ^ "程本直墓記修廣東新義園碑記" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-10. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  5. ^ "372年守墓史曲終人散". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  6. ^ Gamsa, Mark (2020). Harbin: A Cross-Cultural Biography. University of Toronto Press. pp. 26, 27, 28. ISBN 978-1487533762. Born in Aigun in 1860, Shou Shan was the son of Fumingga (Chinese: Fuming'a), who was governor of Jiangsu province during the.
  7. ^ Helm, Daniella van der; Sam-Sin, Fresco (2021). "Weerzien aan de grens — Aola Changxing en Fumingga". DEBTELIN. Weerzien aan de grens | Aola Changxing en Fumingga. Het zit ons mee met de vreedzame grenzen. / Geheel in die geest trof ik mijn oude vriend.
  8. ^ Sam-Sin, Fresco (2021). "Curriculum Vitae". leidenuni.academia.edu. Aola Changxing & Fumingga "Weerzien aan de grens" in Debtelin. April 2016 | "The Eating Crab jongenliedentekst" ⼦弟书 (Katuri jetere ) in Trage Vuur.
  9. ^ "The obscene battle-cry of a Ming Dynasty war hero". Archived from the original on 9 July 2010.

Further reading[edit]

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