Yang Dayan

A fierce Northern Wei general who could outrun a galloping horse; defeated by Wei Rui at the Battle of Zhongli.

Life

Could outrun a galloping horse

Yang Dayan was of the Di people and exceptionally brave and strong. When he enlisted, he tied a rope three zhang long to his topknot and ran, and the rope stretched out straight behind him like an arrow; he could outrun a galloping horse and was promoted to commander.

Struck fear into the Southern Dynasties

He followed Emperor Xiaowen on his southern campaigns and won repeated distinctions. People in the Southern Dynasties feared his very name, and it was said that they used it to frighten crying children.

Defeat at Zhongli

In 507 he followed Yuan Ying, Prince of Zhongshan, in besieging Zhongli, and was crushingly defeated by the Liang generals Wei Rui and Cao Jingzong, his entire force nearly annihilated. As a result he was dismissed from office and exiled, though he was later reinstated.

Legacy

Yang Dayan was one of the most famous fierce generals of the late Northern Wei, and his crushing defeat at the Battle of Zhongli marked the end of Northern Wei's southward expansion.

Major works & achievements

• Repeated merits in southern campaigns

Did you know? He could not read, yet he had others read books to him and then dictated his own writings, which were always apt in meaning.

Key dates

• 494Joined Emperor Xiaowen's southern campaign (approx.)
• 507Crushing defeat at the Battle of Zhongli
• 508Dismissed from office and exiled