YUEH FEI

born 1103, T'ang-yin, Honan province, China died 1141, China Pinyin Yue Fei, or Yo Fei 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 1125/2627), was carried into captivity. Another son of Hui-tsung, later known as Kao-tsung (reigned 112762/63), reestablished the dynasty in the south, hence its designation as the Nan, or Southern, Sung (11271279). Retreating southward with Kao-tsung, Yeh 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 Yeh Fei was imprisoned and executed, and a peace treaty was signed that relinquished the northern territory. Yeh Fei became revered as a great national hero, and Ch'in Kuei came to be viewed as a traitor. In the 20th century, Yeh has been extolled as a champion of national resistance in the face of foreign domination.