Hero’s Awe-Inspiring Courage and Political Sense Saved the Nation

The other day I visited Yu Qian Memorial at the foot of Santai Mountain on the west side of the West Lake in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern China’s coastal Zhejiang Province. Yu Qian (1398-1457), a Hangzhou native who saved the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and died of treason, is honored as a hero in history. He now sleeps in eternal peace and glory in his hometown. The visit to his memorial temple on the West Lake reminded me of his integrity as an official, his heroic deeds in fighting the invading Mongols and his death as a political tragedy.

Yu Qian became a government official through the conventional national imperial examination system. He became a provincial graduate at 23and a cosmopolitan graduate at 24. Then over years, he served as a provincial-level official in various posts across the country. In 1447, he was summoned to the capital and appointed a deputy defense minister.

He was summoned for a reason. As the Mongols in the northern under the military strongman Esen were increasingly becoming a threat, the Ming Dynasty wanted to build up its military strengths. In 1449, the Mongols invaded southward. Emperor Yingzhong of the Ming led an army of 500,000 to fight the invaders. Not strategically prepared for the decisive battle and owing to the erroneous tactical command of a eunuch named Wang Zhen, the Ming army was routed at Tumu Fortress and Emperor Yingzhong was captured.

Beijing was plunged into total chaos when the shocking news reached the capital. At that time, the capital was defended by a troop of less than 100,000. Zhu Qiyu, the younger brother of the captured emperor, summoned a hasty meeting and discussed the issue with court ministers. Xu Cheng, an imperial advisor, advised the royal house to relocate to the south and establish a new capital. Yu Qian objected resolutely. He argued, “The capital is the foundation of the country which can’t afford to be shaken. Don’t we all know what happened to the Song Dynasty after it relocated to the south?” Yu Qian called for resistance and he was supported by most present at the meeting.

With the instruction of the queen mother, Zhu Qiyu became Emperor Jingdi and appointed Yu Qian defense minister in charge of the defense of the capital city. Yu began to expand the army and prepared them for the inevitable battle. He issued many instructions to his soldiers. The most famous one is the captured emperor’s life is not as important as the fate of the country.

In 1449, the siege of Beijing began. Yu Qian armed himself and fought with his soldiers. For five days, the Ming military force fought heroically under Yu Qian’s command. The Mongol army was repelled.

The captured emperor was sent back by the defeated Mongols to Beijing. After a palace coup in 1457 when Emperor Jingdi was ill, the retired emperor was restored. Yu Qian was arrested and charged by Xu Cheng, the official who had first proposed not to fight and to flee to the south, and other officials. Six days after the old emperor’s comeback, Yu Qian was found guilty of treason and executed.

Yu Qian was politically rehabilitated after Emperor Yingzong died and his son ascended the throne. He was reburied in Hangzhou, his hometown, and a memorial temple was built. In 1466, Emperor Xianzong sent an envoy to Hangzhou and held a memorial ritual at the temple.

Yu Qian, in his early years, once visited the tomb of Yu Fei, a heroic general of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Yue Fei tried to reunite China but was framed and executed with a groundless accusation. Yu Qian wrote a poem in honor of the hero and expressed in the poem his indignation over the fate of the wronged general. Tragically, he came to the same fate.

Yuan Mei, a poet of national renown of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and native of Hangzhou, once commented that only after Yue Fei and Yu Qian added a heroic touch to the West Lake did the West Lake become really significant and relevant in the hearts of the nation.

A large compound with two rows of halls punctuated with a yard in between, Yu Qian Memorial Temple stands in majesty and serenity. In the second hall is a bronze statue of Yu Qian with an inscription by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. On the three walls of the hall are sculptures of Yu Qian’s heroic deeds. In the yard is a stone well called “Loyalty Spring”. The tomb lies to the north of the memorial temple. A 100-m-long tomb passage, flanked by pine trees and stone statues, leads to the tomb. The top of the tomb is now totally covered with grass. The tomb was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The present temple and tomb were restored in 1982.

Yu Qian’s former residence, a Ming-architecture in three-row-house compound, is also well restored in a back lane in downtown Hangzhou.