Weng Wanda

Life

His genealogy includes the sixth-generation ancestor 翁雄, the fifth-generation ancestor 翁保, the great-grandfather 翁肇綱, and the grandfather 翁可; his younger brother was 翁萬程, his sons were 翁思任 and 翁思佐, and his grandson was 翁銳. He first passed the Guangdong provincial examination and qualified as a juren; in 1526 he passed in succession as a second-class jinshi in the bingxu cohort, ranked thirty-third.

In 1527 he was appointed a principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue, where he managed the Hexiwu cash office; he was later promoted to acting vice director and supervised grain transport at Tongzhou, becoming a langzhong in 1531. In 1533 he became prefect of Wuzhou in Guangxi. During his four years in office, he punished particularly overbearing men among the troops whom the Marquis of Xinning, Qiu Luan, allowed to abuse the population, and his reputation grew.

When the court discussed a campaign against Annam, Wanda was promoted to vice surveillance commissioner of Guangxi and placed in charge of Annam affairs. He proposed a military strategy and used troops from the two Guang regions to suppress the rebellion; he subsequently served as right administration commissioner of Zhejiang and of Guangxi, and advocated Mao Bowen’s policy of making submission the preferred course, after which the Annam crisis was settled. He was then promoted to surveillance commissioner of Sichuan and successively served as left and right administration commissioner of Shaanxi; in 1544 he became Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Surveillance Office and governor of Shaanxi, soon taking the post of Vice Minister of War concurrently with Vice Censor, and replacing Zhai Peng as governor-general of the military affairs of Xuan-Da, Shanxi, and Baoding.

As governor-general of Xuan-Da, he impeached and removed the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu, Xi Yong, and the deputy commander Jiang Shi, recommending He Qing, Zhao Qing, and Shen Xiyi as their replacements; his administration was marked by clear rewards and punishments and effective defense. When tens of thousands of Mongol troops invaded, he led the resistance and the commander Zhang Da fought them back; he also requested stronger frontier defenses and 290,000 in treasury silver. After the request was approved, defenses were built along the eastern route of Datong at Tiancheng, Yanghe, and Kaishankou: 128 li of wall, seven forts, and 154 beacon platforms; on the western route of Xuanfu, 64 li of wall and other defenses were established at Xiyanghe, Ximalin, and Zhangjiakou.

He was later promoted to Censor-in-Chief, investigated the rebellion of the Dai princely clansman Zhu Chongzhuo, and advanced to Chief Censor. Having served on the frontier for a long time, he enjoyed the confidence of the Jiajing emperor; on the questions of Altan Khan’s requests for tribute, trade, and negotiations, however, he repeatedly advocated peace and came into conflict with the emperor. In the twenty-first year of the Jiajing era, Altan Khan sent Shi Tianjue and others to seek tribute, but the court refused; when they came again they were arrested and executed by dismemberment, after which the Mongols launched major incursions and communication was broken for five years.

Altan Khan later sent envoys again to seek trade and an agreement. Wanda memorialized in favor of peace and set a date for a reply with the envoys; when they failed to appear, he retained them to avoid an imperial inquiry, but was still reprimanded. Altan Khan then used his conflict with Dayan Khan and his willingness to assist the Ming against him as evidence of good faith; Wanda did not report the matter until the envoys returned, and the emperor again rejected it. In the twenty-seventh year of the Jiajing era, he warned in March that the failure to grant tribute would bring a major invasion, and requested discretionary authority for frontier officials; the emperor reacted angrily, ending the debate over tribute relations.

That August, Altan Khan failed to take Datong and turned against the Five Forts, where Ming forces defeated him at Mitushan; the Mongols moved into Shanxi and were defeated again, then attacked Xuanfu the following month, plundering Yongning, Longmen, and Huailai and causing tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties. Wanda was penalized with the suspension of two grades of salary, but his pay was restored for the victory at Mitushan. When Altan Khan attacked Xuanfu again, Wanda proposed replacing the hesitant commander Zhao Qing with Zhou Shangwen; before Zhou arrived, the Mongols attacked Dishui Cliff, where the commanders Dong Bian, Jiang Han, Tang Chen, and Zhang Huai were killed, and then moved south to Shihe Camp at Longmen.

Wang Yue and the Datong commander Yuan Zheng came to the rescue, while Zhou Shangwen’s cavalry joined the several thousand horsemen under Tian Qi at Caojiazhuang; Wanda led Jiang Yingxiong and other officers in a relief force, and the Ming army defeated the Mongols in successive engagements. When the Jiajing emperor learned of the victory, he immediately made Wanda Minister of War concurrently with Vice Censor-in-Chief and recalled him to manage the ministry. After his father’s death, Wanda entered mourning; the following year, after the defeat at Datong led to the imprisonment of the governor-general Guo Zonggao and governor Chen Yao, the emperor appointed him governor-general again, but he was suffering from an ulcerous illness and, while tending his father’s tomb, requested leave to complete the mourning period.

When Altan Khan attacked Beijing, Ding Ruku was disgraced and the court again appointed Wanda Minister of War. He was living in Lingnan, 8,000 li from the capital, and took forty days to arrive; Yan Song used the delay against him, the emperor first appointed Wang Bangrui in his place, and after Wanda arrived he was blamed for insolence and removed from office for separate reassignment out of consideration for his mourning. Qiu Luan, then a favored grand general, again spoke against him before the emperor, and Wanda was reduced to Vice Minister of War concurrently with Vice Censor, with responsibility for the defenses around Zijing Pass.

In the thirtieth year of the Jiajing era, in the second month of 1551, Wanda requested retirement and received approval; because his farewell memorial contained words judged disrespectful, he was dismissed as a commoner. In the tenth month of the following year, the Minister of War Zhao Jin, who had been sent to the frontier for his association with Qiu Luan, again requested that Wanda be recalled in his place, but the edict had not arrived when Wanda died at the age of fifty-five. At the beginning of the Longqing era he was posthumously given the title Xiangmin and granted the rank of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent; during the Longqing period he was also posthumously given the title Xiangyi.

Thought and works

Wanda understood frontier affairs, was skilled at handling troops, and could lead and encourage soldiers by his own example; he was regarded as filial, learned in ancient and contemporary matters, upright and uncompromising, and willing to shoulder responsibility. He was fond of discussing the learning of human nature and destiny, and was a friend of Ouyang De, Luo Hongxian, Tang Shunzhi, Wang Ji, and Wei Liangzheng.

His works include 《東涯集》; 《稽衍集》 is written elsewhere as 《稽愆集》. Other titles include 《總督奏議（翁萬達）》, 《宣大山西諸邊圖》 in one juan, 《平交紀事》 in ten juan, and 《思德堂集》 in two juan.