Yuan Chonghuan
| Yuan Chonghuan | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Yuan Chonghuan
|
|
| General of the Ming dynasty | |
| Born | 6 June 1584 |
| Died | 22 September 1630 (aged 46) |
| Names | |
| Traditional Chinese | 袁崇煥 |
| Simplified Chinese | 袁崇焕 |
| Pinyin | Yuán Chónghuàn |
| Wade–Giles | Yüan Ch'ung-huan |
| Courtesy name |
|
| Other names | Yun4 Sung4-wun6("Yuan Chonghuan" in Jyutping) |
Yuan Chonghuan (6 June 1584 – 22 September 1630), courtesy name Yuansu or Ziru, was a politician, military general and writer who served under the Ming dynasty. Widely regarded as a patriot in Chinese culture, he is best known for defending Liaoning from Jurchen invaders during the Later Jin invasion of the Ming. 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 Jurchen ruler, Nurhaci, and his army in the first Battle of Ningyuan. Later on, Yuan also defeated Nurhaci's son and successor, Hong Taiji, and his 200,000-strong army composed of mostly 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 Jurchens.
Yuan was born in Dongguan, Guangdong. 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 passed the imperial examination in 1619 and was appointed as the magistrate of a remote county. 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.
...
Wikipedia