Sung Dynasty National Hero: Hakka Yue Fei

["Dixie" <Dixie@singnet.com.sg>]

Y|eh Fei,

Pinyin YUE FEI, or YO FEI (b. 1103, T'ang-yin, Honan province, China--d.
1141, China), one of China's greatest generals and national heroes. 

In 1126 North China was overrun by the nomadic Juchen and the Sung capital
at K'ai-feng taken. The former emperor Hui-tsung, who had abdicated in
1125/26, together with his son, the emperor Ch'in-tsung (reigned
1125/26-27), was carried into captivity. Another son of Hui-tsung, later
known as Kao-tsung (reigned 1127-62/63), reestablished the dynasty in the
south, hence its designation as the Nan, or Southern, Sung (1127-1279). 

Retreating southward with Kao-tsung, Y|eh Fei assumed command of the Sung
forces. He prevented the advance of the Juchen by taking advantage of their
difficulty in using their cavalry in hilly South China. Assuming the
offensive, he was able to recover and secure some of the occupied territory
in central China south of the Yangtze and Huai rivers. 

His attempt to push north and recover all the lost Chinese territory was
opposed, however, by a peace party within the capital headed by the
minister Ch'in Kuei, who believed that further prosecution of the war would
be too costly. Ch'in Kuei's faction proved more influential, and in 1141
Y|eh Fei was imprisoned and executed, and a peace treaty was signed that
relinquished the northern territory. Y|eh Fei became revered as a great
national hero, and Ch'in Kuei came to be viewed as a traitor. In the 20th
century, Y|eh has been extolled as a champion of national resistance in the
face of foreign domination.