Basalawarmi (, , died January 6, 1382), commonly known by his hereditary noble title, the Prince of Liang, was a

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

prince and loyalist who fought against the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. He was a descendant of Khökhechi, the fifth son of

Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...

. After the Ming took over Yunnan, the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

exiled Basalawarmi's family to Korea.Zhang, Tingyu et al.History of Ming.vol.124

Before the fall of the Yuan

Before the

's fall in 1368, Basalawarmi had been the Yuan

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

and

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

, in southwestern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He held the title of Prince of Liang, a

hereditary title Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are nobility titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families. Though both monarchs and nobles usually inherit their titles, the mechanisms often d ...

passed down from one of his forebears, a son of

. Following the

's overthrow of the Yuan, Basalawarmi, from his capital city of

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

, led one of the last pockets of Yuan resistance to Ming rule. He was able to withstand the advance of other forces of his time due to the relatively remote location of his domain. Meanwhile, the

, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, decided to approach Basalawarmi with an overture of peace, believing that conquering a remote region with force would be a costly action. The connection between Basalawarmi and the remnant Yuan forces was limited but not terminated. Ayusiridara Khan dispatched a messenger to Basalawarmi in order to confirm his sovereignty over Yunnan. Despite the fact that Basalawarmi was truly loyal to the falling Yuan dynasty, Yunnan was independent of any external political forces during the reign of Basalawarmi. The King of Dali Duan Gong was married to the Borjigin princess Agai, daughter of the Prince of Liang, Basalawarmi. They had a son and a daughter, Duan Sengnu. their children were also called Duan Qiangna and Duan Bao. Duan Sengnu raised Duan Bao to take revenge against Basalawarmi for the killing of Duan Gong. A play was made based on these events. According to Yuan documents, the Duan family were originally ethnic Han from Wuwei commandery, Gansu. Other Duan families also originated from Wuwei.

Defeat and death

The

initially sent a diplomat, Wang Wei, to attempt to negotiate with Basalawarmi in 1372, but Basalawarmi executed Wang Wei in 1374 after negotiations broke down. The Hongwu Emperor then dispatched the generals Fu Youde and Ma Hua to deal with Basalawarmi. In 1381, Ma Hua attacked Basalawarmi from

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

while Fu Youde's deputies, Mu Ying and Lan Yu, attacked from another direction. The combined Ming forces, which numbered 300,000 men, met Basalawarmi's 100,000 units. Basalawarmi's forces were decisively defeated. Following his defeat, Basalawarmi drowned his wife, ordered his ministers to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

, and committed suicide himself on January 6, 1382. After his death, his family was exiled to the state of

Tamna Tamna () was a kingdom based on Jeju Island from ancient times until it was absorbed by the Korean Joseon dynasty in 1404, following a long period of being a tributary state or autonomous administrative region of various Korean kingdoms. The Go ...

(modern-day

Jeju Island Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The i ...

, South Korea) according to the edict of the Hongwu Emperor.

Mythical account

In '' The Deer and the Cauldron'', a novel written by

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), was a Hong Kong wuxia novelist and co-founder of '' Ming Pao.'' Cha authored 15 novels between 1955 and 1972 and became one of the most pop ...

, the main character retells a humorous mythical account of Basalawarmi's defeat. In this legend, Basalawarmi is said to have hundreds of

war elephant A war elephant is an elephant that is Animal training, trained and guided by humans for combat purposes. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge (warfare), charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. Elep ...

s, obtained from what is now

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, in his army. The Ming general Ma Hua defeats Basalawarmi by unleashing ten thousand

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

which drive Basalawarmi's war elephants to terror, alluding to the widespread

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

that elephants are afraid of mice. Basalawarmi himself is not presented favorably; he is described as a drunken, fat, and cowardly old man.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basalawarmi Yuan dynasty people 1382 deaths People from Kunming Year of birth unknown Prince of Liang Borjigin Transition from Yuan to Ming Suicides in the Ming dynasty Suicides by hanging in China

Before the fall of the Yuan

Defeat and death

Mythical account

See also

References