Hu Dahai
Encyclopedia
Hu Dahai 胡大海 styled Tongfu 通甫, was a noted Chinese general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 of the 14th century who helped Zhu Yuanzhang establish the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

. He was born in what is now Si County
Si County
Si County is a county of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Suzhou city....

 in Anhui Province.

Hu's family was of Persian extraction (though he was almost certainly of mixed Persian-Chinese blood), having come to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 through the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...

 and settled in Anhui as simple you tiao vendors. Hu joined the army of Zhu Yuanzhang sometime around the fall of the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

. After Zhu's forces crossed the Yangtze they captured all of southern Anhui, most of Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

, and other surrounding areas. Hu received positions of leadership and led troops which defeated rival warlord Yang Wanzhe, leading other Miao
Miao people
The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...

 chieftains Jiang Ying, Liu Zhen, and Li Fu to surrender. Hu served as administrator of the entire Jiangnan
Jiangnan
Jiangnan or Jiang Nan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of the Yangtze Delta...

 region, and was responsible for safeguarding the Jinhua
Jinhua
Jinhua is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, and Shaoxing to the northeast....

 area of Zhejiang.

Although Hu Dahai was illiterate, he was renowned for his humility and willingness to accept suggestions from his subordinates. Hu recommended several well-known scholars and officials from Zhejiang to the service of Zhu Yuanzhang, who later became Emperor Hongwu, including Liu Bowen, Song Lian
Song Lian
Song Lian , style name Jinglian , was a literary and political adviser to the Ming dynasty founder, and one of the principal figures in the Mongol Yuan Dynasty Jinhua school of Neo-Confucianism...

, Ye Chen, Zhang Yi
Zhang Yi
Zhang Yi may refer to:*Zhang Yi , strategist during the Warring States Period*Zhang Yi , official of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period*Zhang Yi , general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period...

. Hu's troops were highly disciplined, and Hu once said of them: "My fighting men do not know writing, they only know three duties: do not kill, do not violate women and girls, and do not burn down huts or farmhouses."

In early 1362, Miao
Miao people
The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...

 chieftains Jiang Ying, Liu Zhen, and Li Fu came to came to appear before Hu in Yanzhou (now part of Jinhua and Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

, not to be confused with Yanzhou
Yanzhou
Yanzhou is a county-level city of Jining, in the southwest of Shandong province, People's Republic of China.-Administration:The County-level city of Yanzhou administers 10 township-level divisions.-Transportation:*Beijing-Shanghai Railway...

 in Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

) and offer their surrender and allegiance. Hu lauded the men for their courage and made them honorary officers under his command. However, the three chieftains had no intentions of ever serving Hu. Soon after their surrender, Jiang Ying invited Hu to perform a review of some crossbowmen at the Bayong Tower in Jinhua. As Hu prepared to mount his horse and leave the review, a Miao soldier came running up and fell on his knees in front of Hu's horse, and declared that Jiang Ying was trying to kill him. Hu turned and looked at Ying, who withdrew a wooden club he had hidden in his sleeve and attacked Hu, bashing his skull and killing him. At the same time, other Miao men attacked and killed Hu's son Hu Guanzhu, as well as Geng Zaicheng. The Miao men looted the city and fled back into their mountain homes.

Hu is believed to have been Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

.
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