Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli Emperor

The Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli Emperor (simplified Chinese: 万历三大征; traditional Chinese: 萬曆三大征; pinyin: Wànlì sān dàzhēng) is a term used in classical Chinese historiography to refer to the three major wars fought by the Ming dynasty during the reign of the Wanli Emperor from 1592 to 1600. These wars were the Ningxia rebellion, the Imjin War, and the Yang Yinglong rebellion.^[a]

The three campaigns

A painting of a Ming army unit in the Wanli era

The term "Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli Emperor" was first used by late Ming scholars Feng Menglong (1574–1646) and Gu Yingtai (谷應泰; 1620–1690). They used this term to refer to the three significant wars fought by the Ming dynasty during the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1572–1620). These wars were the rebellion of the native tribes in the southwest, the rebellion of Chinese and Mongol troops of the Ming army in the northwest, and the Imjin War in the east.^[1]

The three great campaigns were:

Ningxia rebellion (March–October 1592)—A revolt led by Chinese and Mongol garrison soldiers in the city of Ningxia. The insurgents had a force of 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers, while the city itself was home to 300 thousand inhabitants. In response, the Ming government mobilized an army of 40,000 soldiers, armed with hundreds of cannons, to suppress the rebellion. Despite ongoing clashes, neither side was able to gain the upper hand during the months-long siege. The rebels attempted to gain support from the Mongol khans, but the Ming generals remained steadfast and rejected any attempts at aid from the Mongols. Ultimately, the stalemate was broken by the construction of a dam around the city. Once the dam was filled with water, the city was flooded and the water breached the city's defenses. The defenders' morale was further weakened by a lack of food. On 20 October 1592, the city was captured and the rebel leaders were either killed or captured and executed.^[2]^[3]

Imjin War (1592–1598)—In the early 1590s, Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi successfully unified Japan under his rule. However, his ambitions extended beyond Japan, leading him to set his sights on conquering Korea and Ming China. In May 1592, Japanese troops landed in Korea. Due to the Korean army's lack of preparation, they were unable to put up much resistance and the Japanese quickly advanced, taking control of Seoul in just twenty days before continuing further north. However, this occupation sparked a wave of popular resistance that eventually evolved into a guerrilla war. The Korean navy, led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin, played a crucial role in organizing the resistance with their victories in the summer and autumn of 1592. The Korean land army also rallied, and in early 1593, the Chinese government sent a large corps, led by General Li Rusong, to aid the Koreans. By May 1593, the Sino-Korean troops had pushed the Japanese to the vicinity of Busan in southeastern Korea. In 1593, the Japanese agreed to negotiate an armistice in order to buy time for a new offensive. However, their next invasion in 1597 was unsuccessful, and they were once again pushed to the southeast. After Hideyoshi's death in September 1598, the Japanese withdrew from Korea by the end of the year.^[4]

Yang Yinglong rebellion (1590–1600)—A significant uprising led by Yang Yinglong, the chieftain of the Miao tribes located on the border of the Ming provinces of Huguang, Guizhou, and Sichuan in southwest China. The Ming authorities had been facing issues with Yang Yinglong since 1587, and the conflict escalated into open fighting in 1590. This continued with intermittent breaks until 1600. In 1599, after the conclusion of the war in Korea, the Ming government appointed Li Hualong, an official with military experience, to suppress the rebellion. Li Hualong was joined by experienced generals from Korea, and after months of careful preparation, he led an army of approximately 240,000 soldiers divided into eight corps. The final offensive was launched in March 1600. The rebel forces, estimated to be around 150,000 soldiers, put up a fierce fight, but were ultimately defeated in mid-July when the Ming army captured Yang Yinglong's stronghold at Hailongtun. Yang Yinglong took his own life, and his territory was incorporated into the standard Chinese administrative system.^[5]^[6]

Notes

^ In reality, the Wanli era saw several large-scale military operations, including the Ming-Burma War from 1583 to 1606 and the Battle of Sarhū in 1619 against the Later Jin. However, these battles did not yield the same level of success as the Three Great Campaigns, particularly the Battle of Sarhū, in which the Ming army suffered a complete defeat at the hands of the Later Jin army.

References

Citations

^ Huang (1988), pp. 563–564.
^ Swope (2009), pp. 25–33.
^ Huang (1988), pp. 566–567.
^ Huang (1988), pp. 567–572.
^ Swope (2009), pp. 34–39.
^ Huang (1988), pp. 564–565.

Works cited

Huang, Ray (1988). "The Lung-ch'ing and Wan-li reigns, 1567—1620". In Twitchett, Denis C; Mote, Frederick W. (eds.). The Cambridge History of China Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 511–584. ISBN 0521243335.
Swope, Kenneth M (2009). A Dragon's Head and a Serpent's Tail: Ming China and the First Great East Asian War, 1592-1598 (Campaigns and Commanders Series ed.). Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-4056-8.