Xue Rengui

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Xue Rengui (Chinese: 薛仁贵 pinyin:Xuē Rénguì; Wade-Giles: Hsüeh Jengui, 614-683), also known as Xue Li (薛礼), was one of the most famous Chinese general during the early Tang Dynasty. He was born in Longmen (龙门, now under the Yuncheng, Shanxi jurisdiction) and was excellent at horse riding and archery.

End of Zhenguan(贞观), Xue joined the army and participated in the battles between Tang and Koguryo(高句丽). In the battle in Anxi City against Koguryo (located in the south of Haicheng City in Liaoning Province). The retreating Tang under Taizong were trapped by the Koguryo troops that were familiar wih their country's environment and outnumbered the Tang, Xue arrived with reinforcements; he wore white and fought bravely to push the Koguryo back. After the slaying of a few of the Koguryo commanders, the Koguryo troops surrendered. It is recorded that the general dressed in white caught Taizong's attention, whom ask his deputies who is this young general, and they give him the reply, "It is Xue Renqui." After the victory, he was appreciated by Taizong (太宗) and soon rose to the rank of Youji General (游击将军). Although the first war against Koguryo was a losing cause for the Tang, Xue distinquished himself in the war that would allow him to take revenge years later under the banner of Gaozong.

After the death of Taizong, Gaozong decide to ally with Silla to launch another attack against Koguryo, Xue Renqui have distinquished himself in battles against the Western Turks prior to the last battle and joined the war this time as a garrison commander. He quickly distinquished himself by pushing his army all the way to Pyeongyang, with few losses throughout the years. Against Xue, even the elite soldiers of Koguryo found themselves challenged. During one of the battles against Koguryo, it is stated a general of Koguryo have boosted to have more than a hundred Tang soldiers, Xue angered by this fact, lead his cavalry into the enemy's camp, and upon seeing the general, rushed into him and captured him alive. After Koguryo was destroyed, Gaozong felt that the Korean peninsula was pacified, and sent Xue to fight the Khitans.

Xue spent most of his later years fighting against the Tibetans and Uyghurs, who were rising in power. He was dismissed at one point since many of his fellow generals envious of his deeds, were also opposed to the fact he was not of noble birth (and had no family members in the Yang imperial court) makes him lose the chance to stop the early Tibetian advance in central Asia and the rebellion in Silla raged on the Tang. Folklore states that upon the fact Xue did not participate in the battles against Silla, the Tang troops lose hope and began to desert, the Silla troops took advantage of it and begin to advance. When Gaozong knew this, it was too late and the Silla were pushing into the border, he again asked Xue for help and once he is in the post, the Silla troops dared not to cross into Manchuria where his forces were garrisoned. Xue Renqui is reputed to be the general that guide Tang to its peak of power.

He also appears famously as a hero in Chinese folklore in which he is the father of the fictional general Xue Dingshan and the father-in-law of the Turkic princess Fan Lihua. The story of Xue Dingshan and his wife Fan Lihua is often used as a subject for Chinese opera. Because of his campaigns in Korea against both Koguryo and Silla, he was referred as the "The General who Pacified the East" for the Tang. It is ironic, since Xue's fictional son is referred as the "The General who Pacified the West" for the Tang because of his fictional campaigns against the Turks, however, the campaigns against the Turks should also be attributed to the latter Xue. In the folklore, Xue Rengui was known to have a massive appetite in which he was thought to be possess by the "hungry god." The legend of Xue Dingshan and Fan Lihua takes place between the Tang and the fictional Turkic kingdom of Western Liang, ironically there was a real Western Liang during the Sixteen Kingdoms period that was thought to be the ancestors of the Tang.