Hu Zongxian
| Hu Zongxian | |
|---|---|
| 胡宗憲 | |
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| Minister of War of the Ming dynasty | |
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In office June 1560 – 1563 |
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| Monarch | Jiajing Emperor |
| Supreme Commander of the Southern Metropolitan Region, Zhejiang, and Fujian | |
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In office April 1556 – 1563 |
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| Preceded by | Wang Gao |
| Succeeded by | Post abolished |
| Grand Coordinator of Zhejiang | |
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In office July 1555 – April 1556 |
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| Preceded by | Li Tianchong |
| Succeeded by | Ruan E |
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In office February 1557 – 1563 |
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| Succeeded by | Zhao Bingran |
| Magistrate of Yuyao | |
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In office July 1547 – 1548 |
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| Magistrate of Yidu | |
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In office 1540 – May 1542 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | November 4, 1512 Jixi County, China |
| Died | November 25, 1565 (aged 53) Beijing, China |
| Occupation | Official, censor, general |
| Courtesy name | Ruzhen (汝貞) |
| Art name | Meilin (梅林) |
| Posthumous name | Xiangmao (襄懋) |
| Military service | |
| Battles/wars | Jiajing wokou raids |
Hu Zongxian (Chinese: 胡宗憲; November 4, 1512 – November 25, 1565), courtesy name Ruzhen (汝貞) and art name Meilin (梅林), was a Chinese general of the Ming dynasty who presided over the government's response to the wokou pirate raids during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. As supreme commander, he was able to defeat Xu Hai's (徐海) substantial raid in 1556 and capture the pirate lord Wang Zhi the next year through ruses. Despite his accomplishments, Hu Zongxian's reputation had been tarnished by his association with the clique of Yan Song and Zhao Wenhua, traditionally reviled figures in Ming historiography. He was rehabilitated decades after his death and was given the posthumous name Xiangmao (襄懋) by the emperor in 1595.
He is a direct ancestor of Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Chinese paramount leader from 2002 to 2012.
Hu Zongxian was born in the year 1512, in the Hu ancestral village of Longchuan (龍川) in Jixi County, part of Huizhou prefecture at the time. At the age of 23, he passed the provincial imperial examination and became a juren (舉人). This was followed him passing the palace examination in 1538, becoming a jinshi (進士) and paving the road to officialdom.
Hu was first assigned to be the magistrate of Yidu in Shandong province, where his administration of justice won him the love of the people, who claimed that he brought rains during a drought and magpies to eat the locusts destroying the crops. He raised a thousand volunteer troops from miners out of work and sent them to the northern frontiers under the command of the Shandong grand coordinator Zeng Xian. For this Hu Zongxian was earmarked for promotion, but he had to retire due to the death of his mother in May 1542 to observe the three years-long period of mourning per Confucian rituals. Two years later, his father also died, and Hu Zongxian stayed at his home village for another three years.
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Wikipedia