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Li Rusong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Names | |
|---|---|
| Chinese: | 李如松 |
| Pinyin: | Lǐ Rúsòng |
| Courtesy Name: | 子茂 (Zǐ Mào) |
| Posthumous Name: | Lord of Fidelity 忠烈(Zhōng Liè) |
Li Ru-song (Chinese: 李如松; pinyin: Lǐ Rúsòng) (1549-1598) was the Commander-in-chief of the Ming Empire's army that was sent to defend Korea at the request of Korean King Seonjo against the Japanese invasion masterminded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His father was Li Chengliang, a famed Ming army commander who was of Korean Descent.
Li Ru-song distinguished himself in a series of battles by leading the defending army comprised of Chinese and Korean troops against the Japanese invasion force led by Kato Kiyomasa and Konishi Yukinaga. Together with Ming general Song Ying-chang (宋應昌) and Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin, he suffered from several serious defeats such as the Battle of Byokchekwan, but eventually defeated the Japanese in a series of victories on the Korean peninsula. Li Ru-song succeeded in recapturing the Korean capital of Hanyang (漢陽) and the city of Pyongyang (平壤). He ordered Chinese and Korean troops to refrain from killing all Japanese soldiers and grant them the right to retreat.
In April 1598, the Tartars invaded the Ming province of Liaodong (遼東) from the north when Li Ru-song was leading a small scouting group around its forests. Surrounded by thousands of Tartar cavalry, he could not escape, and was captured and subsequently killed. He was posthumously given the title of Zhong Lie (忠烈) (Lord of Fidelity).