Yue Fei
Yue Fei (1103 – 1142) was one of China’s greatest generals. In Chinese culture, he is considered the epitome of patriotism and loyal service to the nation, and is viewed today as one of that country’s greatest national folk heroes. During his lifetime, however, Yue Fei was treated quite shabbily by his government. For his heroism, self sacrifice, and devotion to duty, he got screwed over royally.
Born into a poor peasant family, Yue Fei joined the ruling Song Dynasty’s military in 1122. From an early age, he possessed great power and near supernatural strength, which made him a formidable warrior. He rose to prominence during a war against the nomadic Jurchen tribes, who invaded and overran northern China in 1126. The Jurchen captured the Song Dynasty’s capital of Kaifeng, along with the emperor and his father. The emperor’s brother fled to southern China, where he reestablished the dynasty, known thereafter as the Southern Song, and was declared the Gaozong emperor.
Accompanying the Gaozong emperor during the flight to the south, Yue Fei assumed military command of the remnants of the Song forces. He managed to defeat the pursuing Jurchen, preventing them from advancing further into China. However, his efforts to recover the lost northern territories were foiled by a powerful peace faction, which balked at the expense of continuing the war.
Yue Fei was poised with his armies to recapture the lost Song capital of Kaifeng, when courtiers advised the Gaozong emperor to recall him and open peace negotiations with the Jurchens. Gaozong worried that a final victory over the Jurchen would end with the release of his captive brother, the previous Song emperor taken prisoner in the fall of Kaifeng. As that would threaten his own claim to the throne, the Gaozong emperor accepted his courtiers’ advice, and recalled Yue Fei to the capital in 1141. There, the brilliant general was imprisoned, and eventually executed on trumped up charges in 1142. Ironically, Yue Fei had tattooed on his back the phrase “serve the country with the utmost loyalty“.
