Siege of Caizhou

The siege of Caizhou between 1233 and 1234 was fought between the Jurchen Jin dynasty and the Mongol Empire, allied with the Song Dynasty. It was the last major battle in the war between the Mongols and the Jin. They had fought for decades beginning in 1211, when the Mongols first invaded under the command of Genghis Khan.^[1] The Jin capital of Zhongdu had been besieged in 1213,^[2] then captured by the Mongols in 1215. In the intervening years, the Jin moved their capital to Kaifeng.^[3] Ögedei Khan, the successor of Genghis, rose to power after his predecessor died in 1227.^[4] In 1230, the war effort against the Jin recommenced.^[5] Emperor Aizong, the Jurchen emperor, fled when the Mongols besieged the Jin capital of Kaifeng.^[6] On February 26, 1233, he reached the town of Guide, and then moved on to the town of Caizhou,^[6] now Ru'nan in Henan,^[7] on August 3.^[6] The Mongols arrived at Caizhou in December, 1233. The Song Dynasty had rebuffed Aizong's plea for assistance, and joined forces with the Mongols. Warnings that the Song would be invaded next were ignored.^[6]

Aizong tried to retreat, and committed suicide when the likelihood of escaping from Caizhou was no longer plausible.^[6] He was succeeded by Emperor Modi, a member of the royal family living in the town, on February 9, 1234. Caizhou was breached by the Mongols on on the same day,^[6] and Modi died in the ensuing melee, ending a reign that spanned less than a day.^[6][8] The Jin dynasty came to a close with the fall of Caizhou.^[9] The Song were eager to exploit the destruction of the Jin by annexing Henan. They did not succeed and were repelled by the Mongols.^[10]

References

• Allsen, Thomas (1994). "The rise of the Mongolian empire and Mongolian rule in north China". In Denis C. Twitchett; Herbert Franke; John King Fairbank. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 710–1368. Cambridge University Press. pp. 321–413. ISBN 978-0-521-24331-5. 
• Franke, Herbert (1994). "The Chin dynasty". In Twitchett, Denis C.; Herbert Franke; John King Fairbank. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 710–1368. Cambridge University Press. pp. 215–320. ISBN 978-0-521-24331-5. 
• Mote, Frederick W. (1999). Imperial China: 900–1800. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-44515-5.  (hardcover); ISBN 978-0-674-01212-7 (paperback).

Citations