Month: July 2016

Lines 41-50

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment
(In this 5th section of the Huangling Bei 皇陵碑, Zhu Yuanzhang mulls over whether he should become a Red Turban. Click here to see the previous section. Also – click on any line number to see complete annotations of each section.)

Line 41: 未幾陷城，深高城隍。  The city was taken by only a few who surmounted the walls and moats;

Shaoxing gate
Bridge over a moat before a Chinese city wall.

Line 42: 拒守不去，號令彰彰。  They encountered no defenders and took clear control.

Line 43: 友人寄書，云及趨降。  A friend sent me a letter saying that I should hasten to submit;

Line 44: 既憂且懼，無可籌詳。  But I was too worried and afraid to make any plans.

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Annotations to Lines 41-50

~ Laurie Dennis ~ Leave a comment
TangHe
Zhu Yuanzhang’s friend Tang He, depicted above, encouraged him to join the Red Turbans.

Line 41: The city was taken 陷城. This refers to the walled city of Haozhou 濠州, which Guo Zixing 郭子兴 captured with a small force of Red Turbans. Haozhou no longer exists. After the Ming founding, Zhu Yuanzhang reorganized his home district and created Fengyang. Haozhou was situated at the confluence of the Hao River with the larger Huai River 淮河.

Line 42: They encountered no defenders 拒守不去.  According to Wu Han’s biography of Zhu Yuanzhang (see Sources, “Wu Han”), “On the 27th day of the second month (of 1352), Guo Zixing led several thousand men on a midnight raid of Haozhou.  When the signal cannon sounded, the raiders charged the yamen gate and killed the magistrate…The Yuan general Cheli Buqa was camped many li away from Haozhou and feared the ferocity of the Red Army to the point that he refused to attack.” Continue reading →