Wu Weizhong () was a military commander for the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. He is from the county of Yiwu in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

province (浙江省義烏縣), his chosen name is Ruchen and his nickname is Yunfeng (字汝誠，號雲峰) he was one of the Ming generals that fought in the

Imjin War The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The river i ...

Early career

Wu was first noted in the campaign of general

Qi Jiguang Qi Jiguang (, November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588), courtesy name Yuanjing, art names Nantang and Mengzhu, posthumous name Wuyi, was a Chinese military general and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for leading the defense on the ...

against the Wako pirates in the 40th year of Jiajing Emperor in 1561. as a minor officer who fought valiantly. In 1568 he followed General Qi to his new station in the Northern garrison of Ji, and headed Qi's effort to reconstruct the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...

, in fact, much of the Great Wall we see today was contributed by Wu and other men under Qi. In 1571, he was promoted to a low ranking general. Wu continued

's method of training soldiers, and his men were often regarded as the most capable fighting force of the Ming dynasty, especially when they were put to the test in 1592 during the

Imjin War

In late 1592, the Ming dynasty decided to aid the Korean

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

, who was being overran by the Japanese invasion ordered by

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

. In their official relieve effort, Wu and his men were the first to cross the Yalu river and acted as the Ming army's vanguard along with the young general

Qian Shizhen Qian Shizhen (; 1561–1642) was a Ming dynasty general who participated in the Imjin war. His chosen name is Zhisun, and his nickname was Sanqi. He was the author of "The records of the Eastern Expedition (征東實紀)" and "Comments on archery" ...

, at

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

, he led his men to attack the northern section of Pyongyang and was wounded by teppō in battle. but still commanded his men to victory. He ran into an incident later in 1593 when his forces apparently attacked a group of Korean bandits who were attempting to raid their food supplies. He was nearly fired for this incident but was saved by the Korean court who put in many good words for his valor. Wu was one of the most active general in the war, being stationed in Korea for extensive periods of time during the peace talks, and also part taking in the second war of 1597–98.

Later life

Wu was already in his late 50s early 60s when in Korea, so he retired soon after the war and returned home.嘉慶義烏縣誌人物誌吳惟忠傳 (The local records of Yiwu county in the times of Jiajing); 萬曆二十七年三月升任為都督僉事。次年因年老病殘辭職，竟被免職回家。後蒙應天府巡撫辯護，才改任應天軍門標將。他堅持不受，遂隱居夏演裹金岩穀間。

References

Bibliography

*嘉慶義烏縣誌人物誌吳惟忠傳 (The local records of Yiwu county in the times of Jiajing) *明史 (The History of Ming) *宣祖實錄 (The Annals of Seonjo) *經略復國要編宋應昌著 (The letter collections of

Song Yingchang Song Yingchang (; 1536－1606) was an administrative official during the Ming dynasty, most famously known for managing the first Ming campaign of the Imjin war during 1592-1593 . Career Song entered public service in 1565, during his career he hel ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Weizhong Ming dynasty generals People of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) People from Jinhua Generals from Zhejiang