The Generals of the Yang Family
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| The Generals of the Yang Family | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 楊家將 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 杨家将 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Generals of the Yang clan | ||||||||||
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Yang Jia Jiang is a collection of folk tales, plays and novels detailing the exploits of a clan of generals (with the family name Yang) over four generations during the Northern Song Dynasty of China. The stories recount the unflinching loyalty of the members of the Yang clan, and of how they defended the Song Dynasty's borders from foreign invaders. However, most of these tales deviate from actual historical records.
Historical basis
Limited details about the Yang clan were provided in the historical text History of Song, written by Toktoghan during the Yuan Dynasty.
The Yang clan started with Yang Ye (楊業), a general of the Northern Han Dynasty. Yang Ye was nicknamed "Peerless" (無敵) due to his tactical prowess and unmatched gallantry in battle. He came to serve Emperor Taizong after Northern Han surrendered to the Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizong placed great faith in Yang Ye and commissioned him to defend Song's northern border from the Khitan-ruled Liao Dynasty. Yang Ye proved his capability by defeating the Khitans in a battle at Yan Pass (雁門), instilling fear in the enemy but incurring the jealousy of some Song officials as well.
In 986 the Song armies embarked on a northern campaign to attack the Liao Dynasty. One force, led by Pan Mei (潘美) and Yang Ye, swiftly conquered Yunzhou (雲州), Yingzhou (應州), Huanzhou (寰州) and Shuozhou (朔州). However, another Song army led by Cao Bin (曹彬) was defeated by Liao forces. Pan Mei and Yang Ye led their troops to protect the civilians of the four conquered cities as they retreated back to Song territory. They were attacked by the main enemy force along the way and Pan Mei forced Yang Ye to lead an army to resist the enemy. Yang Ye engaged the Liao forces in a bloody battle at Chenjia Valley (陳家谷). Yang Ye's son Yang Yanyu (楊延玉) was killed in battle while Yang Ye himself was captured by Liao forces. Yang Ye starved himself to death over the next three days.
The most outstanding of Yang Ye's surviving sons was Yang Yanzhao (楊延昭), who was initially named Yang Yanlang (楊延朗). Yang Ye even once commented that Yang Yanzhao resembled him the most of all his sons. Yang Yanzhao continued defending Song's northern border for more than two decades and the Khitans were afraid of him. In 1004 during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, when the Liao army invaded Song territory, Yang Yanzhao led his troops to attack Liao lands and captured the enemy city of Gucheng (古城).
Yang Yanzhao had three sons - oldest son Yang Chuanyong (楊傳永), second son Yang Dezheng (楊德政), third son Yang Wenguang (楊文廣). The older two sons were only mentioned in Longping Ji (隆平集) and not in the History of Song. When he was still a youth, Yang Wenguang's talent was recognized by the chancellor Fan Zhongyan, who accepted him as an assistant. Yang Wenguang also followed general Di Qing (狄青) on a southern campaign before, and was tasked with defending Song's western border from the kingdom of Western Xia. When Song and Liao fought for control over Daizhou (代州), Yang Wenguang presented a strategy to the Song emperor for conquering Liao's heartland in Youzhou (幽州). He died of illness not long afterwards.
Stories of the Yang clan
Stories about the Yang clan have been retold in the form of folk tales, stage plays and opera, novels, manhua (comics), films and television dramas. Supporting characters in these stories include historical figures such as Zhao Defang (趙德芳; also called the Eighth Virtuous Prince 八賢王), Kou Zhun (寇準), Bao Zheng (包拯), Pan Mei (潘美; sometimes known as Pan Renmei 潘仁美), Wang Qinruo (王欽若) and Pang Ji (龐籍). Some of the tales involve another famous Song general Huyan Zan (呼延贊), who also has a similar collection of stories about his clan, in the form of a novel titled Hu Jia Jiang (呼家將; Generals of the Hu Family).
In the stories, Yang Ye was also known as Yang Linggong (楊令公) and he was the patriarch of the Yang clan. He had nine children with his wife She Saihua (佘賽花), who was also known as She Taijun (佘太君) and Yang Lingpo (楊令婆). Their children are listed as follows:
- Oldest son Yang Yuanping (楊淵平), also known as Yang Yanping (楊延平), married Zhang Jinding (張金定)
- Second son Yang Yanding (楊延定), married Yun Cuiying (雲翠英)
- Third son Yang Yan'an (楊延安), married Luo Sumei (羅素梅)
- Fourth son Yang Yanhui (楊延輝), married Lady Luo (羅氏女) and Yelü Qiong'e (耶律瓊娥)
- Fifth son Yang Yande (楊延德), married Ma Saiying (馬賽英)
- Sixth son Yang Yanzhao (楊延昭), married Chai Meirong (柴美容)
- Seventh son Yang Yansi (楊延嗣), married Du Jin'e (杜金娥)
- Older daughter Yang Yanqi (楊延琪)
- Younger daughter Yang Yanying (楊延瑛)
- (Adopted) eighth son Yang Yanshun (楊延順), birth name Wang Ying (王英), son of Yang Ye's late friend Wang Ziming (王子明), married Jiang Cuiping (姜翠屏) and Yelü Yao'e (耶律瑤娥).[1][2] In most films and television series about the Yang Jia Jiang, the character of Yang Yanshun is merged with Yang Yanhui due to similarities in their respective stories.
Yang Ye's three oldest sons were killed in the battle of Golden Beach (金沙灘) when they acted as decoys for Emperor Taizong of Song to escape from a city besieged by Liao forces. Yang Yanhui was captured by the enemy during the battle and brought before the Liao regent Empress Dowager Xiao. Yang Yanhui lied that his name was Mu Yi (木昜). The empress dowager favoured him and allowed him to marry Princess Qiong'e (瓊娥), so Yang Yanhui became a prince consort of Liao. Yang Yanshun also encountered a similar fate as Yang Yanhui and he married Princess Yao'e (瑤娥). Yang Yanhui later found a chance to return to Song territory and reunite with his mother. Yang Yande fought his way out and escaped to Mount Wutai, where he became a monk.
In a later battle at Mount Twin Wolves (兩狼山), Pan Renmei, who harboured a grudge against the Yang clan, used the opportunity to take revenge. Yang Ye was at the frontline fighting Liao forces when he became outnumbered. He sent Yang Yansi to break out of the encirclement and request for reinforcements from Pan Renmei, who was commanding the main army. Pan Renmei did not send aid to Yang Ye and he had Yang Yansi killed because the latter killed his son in an earlier incident. The helpless Yang Ye firmly refused to surrender and committed suicide by knocking his head against a stone tablet bearing Li Ling's name.
The last surviving son of Yang Ye, Yang Yanzhao, married Princess Chai Meirong and they had a son named Yang Zongbao (楊宗保). His subordinates include Meng Liang (孟良) and Jiao Zan (焦贊). In a later battle between Song and Liao, Liao forces set up a Heaven Gate Formation (天門陣), which prevented the Song army from advancing. Meng Liang went to Mount Wutai to seek help from Yang Yande. Around the same time, Yang Zongbao travelled to the Muke Fort (穆柯寨) in search of the Dragon Subduing Wood (降龍木), which would help in breaking the Heaven Gate Formation. There, Yang Zongbao met Mu Guiying (穆桂英), who eventually became his wife. Yang Zongbao, Mu Guiying, Yang Yande and other members of the Yang clan combined forces to break the Heaven Gate Formation and score a victory over the Liao army.
Yang Zongbao and Mu Guiying had a daughter named Yang Jinhua (楊金花; sometimes known as Yang Xuanniang 楊宣娘) and a son named Yang Wenguang (楊文廣).
When Yang Yanzhao died, there were few males left in the Yang clan. Around that time, Western Xia invaded Song, and Yang Zongbao had been killed in action, so the twelve women in the clan participated in the campaign against Western Xia. The women generals of the Yang clan proved that they were not inferior to their male counterparts.
In literature
The stories of the Yang clan have an impact on Chinese literature as well.
- "Blue Faced Beast" Yang Zhi (楊志), a character in the classical novel Water Margin, is a fictitious descendant of Yang Ye.
- Yang Zaixing (楊再興), a general of the Southern Song Dynasty, is also said to be a descendant of Yang Ye in Shuo Yue Quanzhuan (說岳全傳), a semi-fictional biography of Yue Fei. Yang Zaixing had two sons - Yang Zhengyuan (楊正園) and Yang Zhengguo (楊正國).
- In Louis Cha's Condor Trilogy, Yang Tiexin (楊鐵心), Yang Kang (楊康) and Yang Guo (楊過) are fictitious descendants of Yang Zaixing.
In opera and music
Composer Du Mingxin wrote a Beijing opera to a Chinese libretto titled Yang Men Nü Jiang (simplified Chinese: 杨门女将; traditional Chinese: 楊門女將; pinyin: Yáng Mén Nǚ Jiàng; lit. 'Female Generals of the Yang Clan'). The opera was based on the Yangju opera Commanding the Troops at 100 Years Old, and was first performed in 1960 by the China Peking Opera Company. The opera is set during the war between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Kingdom of Western Xia, after the death of Song general Yang Zongbao. Yang Zongbao's 100 year old grandmother, She Saihua, along with Mu Guiying and other widows of the Yang clan, lead the Song army to resist the invaders.
In 2000 Du Mingxin also produced a symphonic version of the opera for the China Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO), consisting of an overture, three movements and an epilogue. This was the first symphonic work commissioned for the newly established CPO at that time.[3]
In film and television
Films
| Year | Production | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Shaw Brothers Studio (Hong Kong) |
See The 14 Amazons |
| 1983 | Shaw Brothers Studio (Hong Kong) |
See Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter |
| 2011 | Beijing Century Culture Communication Co., Ltd. & Chung Films (Mainland China) |
See Legendary Amazons |
| 2012 | Henan Province Film and Television Production Group Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong) |
See Saving General Yang |
Television series
| Year | Production | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | TVB (Hong Kong) |
Titled Young's Female Warrior (楊門女將) |
| 1984 | TTV (Taiwan) |
Titled Jagged Yang Warriors (鐵血楊家將) |
| 1985 | TVB (Hong Kong) |
See The Yang's Saga |
| 1989 | CTS (Taiwan) |
Titled The Courageous Mu Guiying (一門英烈穆桂英) |
| 1991 | SXTV (Mainland China) |
Titled Generals of the Yang Clan (楊家將) |
| 1994 | ATV (Hong Kong) |
Titled Heroic Legend of the Yang's Family (碧血青天楊家將) |
| Titled The Great General (碧血青天珍珠旗) | ||
| 1998 | Titled The Heroine of The Yangs (穆桂英) | |
| 2001 | Chinese Entertainment Shanghai (Mainland China) |
Titled Legendary Fighter - Yang's Heroine (楊門女將—女兒當自強) |
| 2004 | Beijing Supernova Cultural Exchanges Co., Ltd. (Mainland China) |
Titled Heroine Mu Guiying (巾幗英雄穆桂英) |
| 2005 | Beijing Cultural Development Co., Ltd. (Mainland China) |
Titled Warriors of the Yang Clan (楊門虎將) |
| 2006 | Chinese Entertainment Shanghai, Huayi Brothers (Mainland China) |
See The Young Warriors |
| 2011 | Shaanxi Yangjiajiang Film & Television Culture Co., Ltd. (Mainland China) |
Titled Generals of the Yang Clan (楊家將) |
| 2011 | Gold Medal Ltd. (Mainland China) |
Titled Mu Guiying In Command (穆桂英掛帥)[4] |