1. Yuchi Gong or Yuchi Rong, courtesy name Jingde, known by his posthumous name Duke Zhongwu of E, was a Chinese military general who lived in the early Tang dynasty.
35 Facts About Yuchi Gong
1. 2.
Yuchi Gong's tomb was found at Liquan County in 1971.
3.
Yuchi Gong Jingde was born in 585, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui.
4.
Yuchi Gong's surname was likely from Xianbei origin, and he was from Shuo Province.
5.
Subsequently, at the suggestion of the captured Tang Jian, Yuchi Gong released Liu Shirang in order to negotiate peace with Tang, but those negotiations appeared to go nowhere at the moment.
6.
In 620, Yuchi Gong Jingde was serving under Li Shimin in Li Shimin's campaigns against a major enemy for Tang, Wang Shichong the Emperor of Zheng.
7.
Li Shimin pointed out that if Yuchi Gong really wanted to defect, he would not have waited to do so after Xun's defection.
8.
The Zheng general Shan Xiongxin directly attacked Li Shimin himself, and almost killing Li, Yuchi Gong arrived and hit Shan with a spear, knocking Shan off his horse.
9.
Meanwhile, Li Shimin's younger brother Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi, who was himself a ferocious warrior, heard that Yuchi Gong had the particular skill of disarming opponents' lances, and requested a combat demonstration with Yuchi Gong.
10.
In engagement with Xia forward troops in spring 621, Yuchi Gong was serving directly next to Li Shimin himself, and after they defeated Dou's forward troops, Li Shimin wrote to Dou, trying to dissuade him from aiding Zheng, but Dou did not relent.
11.
At that point, Yuchi Gong was not under Li Shimin's command, as he was fighting invading Eastern Tujue forces at Yuan Prefecture.
13.
Li Shimin was saved only after Yuchi Gong fought his way in to rescue him.
14.
Li Jiancheng sent large sums of gold and silver to Yuchi Gong to try to persuade him to join Li Jiancheng.
15.
Yuchi Gong wrote back, declining the gift, and pointed out that he needed to be faithful to Li Shimin.
16.
Yuchi Gong took precautions and the assassination was not successful.
17.
Yuchi Gong was able to persuade Fang and Du that Li Shimin was about to take action and that they should not fear, and then divided up with Fang and Du, arriving at Li Shimin's mansion separately.
18.
Subsequently, Yuchi Gong arrived with 70 men, and they killed Li Yuanji's horse, causing Li Yuanji to fall off his horse.
19.
Yuchi Gong then arrived, and Li Yuanji fled, trying to get back to his own palace Wude Palace.
20.
When Li Shimin's subordinates wanted to massacre Li Jiancheng's and Li Yuanji's associates and confiscate their wealth, Yuchi Gong earnestly opposed, stating that this would lead to more turmoil, and Li Shimin agreed.
21.
Subsequently, Li Shimin awarded Li Yuanji's treasures to Yuchi Gong and promoted him to a major general title.
22.
Later that year, when Eastern Tujue's Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi launched a major attack against Tang, Yuchi Gong was one of the generals sent to resist Eastern Tujue; he was able to defeat and kill an Eastern Tujue general that he faced.
23.
Meanwhile, Yuchi Gong, who was known for being blunt, was proud of his achievements.
24.
In 629, Yuchi Gong was made the commandant at Xiang Prefecture.
25.
Only thereafter did Yuchi Gong began to fear Emperor Taizong and start to modify his behavior.
26.
In 637, as part of Emperor Taizong's scheme to bestow prefectures on his relatives and great generals and officials as their permanent domains, Yuchi Gong's title was changed to Duke of E, and he was given the post of prefect of Xuan Prefecture, to be inherited by his heirs.
27.
In 643, he offered to retire, and the retirement was granted, but Emperor Taizong still requested that Yuchi Gong attend imperial gatherings once every five days.
28.
Later that year, when Emperor Taizong commissioned the Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion to commemorate the 24 great contributors to Tang rule, Yuchi Gong's was one of the portraits commissioned.
29.
In 645, when Emperor Taizong wanted to personally attack Goguryeo, Yuchi Gong submitted a petition opposing it, arguing that he should just send generals and not go himself, lest that someone rises against Emperor Taizong's crown prince Li Zhi.
30.
Emperor Taizong did not agree, and instead had Yuchi Gong follow him on the campaign, apparently as a consultant.
31.
Yuchi Gong lived luxuriously within his mansion but did not take in visitors, instead spending time enjoying Qingshang, a musical style said to originate from Cao Cao.
32.
Yuchi Gong Jingde died later that year, and Emperor Gaozong ordered that all mid-level and above officials attend the wake.
33.
Yuchi Gong buried Yuchi with great honors, near Emperor Taizong's tomb.
34.
Yuchi Gong continues to be venerated as a door god in Chinese folk religion.
35.
Yuchi Gong Jingde is one of the 32 historical figures who appear as special characters in the video game Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI by Koei.