- Xu Shouhui
Xú Shòuhuī (徐壽輝, in
Wade-Giles Hsü Shou-hui (died ) was a 14th century Chinese rebel leader who proclaimed himself emperor during the lateYuan Dynasty period. He was also known as Xu Zhenyi (真一 or 真逸, in WG Hsü Chen-i).Born in
Luotian (羅田, now inHubei ), Xu was a cloth vendor by profession. In August 1351, he worked with others in Qízhōu (蘄州) to establish the rebel army ofRed Turbans under the pretense of theBuddhist White Lotus Society . In the following months, they captured Qishui (蘄水) and made it the command centre of the Red Turbans and the capital of the newly declared Empire of Tianwan (天完), with himself as the emperor with theera name of Zhiping (治平).The number of his supporters increased rapidly as he claimed to be a
Milofo reincarnate (彌勒佛下生) who sought to "destroy the rich to benefit the poor" (摧富益貧). In 1352, he invaded more of Hebei, and moved on to takeJiangxi ,Anhui ,Fujian ,Zhejiang ,Jiangsu , andHunan .After being temporarily defeated by the
Mongol army, he fled toHuangmei Mountain (黃梅山), but returned in 1355 to invade once again and move the capital toHanyang .Five years later, Xu Shouhui was assassinated by his former co-fighter,
Chen Youliang , thus causing the collapse of the Tianwan Empire.
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