Yang Zongbao (楊宗保) is a character in the '' Generals of the Yang Family'' legends. In these largely fictionalized stories, he is the son of general Yang Yanzhao and Princess Chai, the husband of Mu Guiying and the father of Yang Wenguang.

Historical Basis

According to '' History of Song'', Yang Wenguang was the son rather than the grandson of Yang Yanzhao, and no "Yang Zongbao" was found in either this record or the ''Records of Longping'' (隆平集), which mentioned the names of Yang Yanzhao's 2 other sons. However, two surviving

genealogy book A genealogy book or register is used in Asia and Europe to record the family history of ancestors. Greater China It is the Chinese tradition to record family members in a book, including every male born in the family, who they are married to, e ...

s of the Yangs from

Dai County Dai County, also known by its Chinese name Daixian, is a county in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, China. Its county seat at Shangguan is also known as Daixian. The county has an area of and had a population of 178,870 at the time of the 2020 c ...

and Yuanping City - both in

Shanxi province Shanxi; formerly romanised as Shansi is a province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi and Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is ( ...

where the legendary Yang Family originally came from - both recorded Yang Zongbao as one of the three sons of Yang Yanzhao. A "soul-resting"

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

discovered in 1985 in

Xin'an County Xin'an County () is a county in the west of Henan Province, bordering Shanxi Province to the north across the Yellow River. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Luoyang, and contains its northernmost point. History In an ...

Henan province Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...

suggest that a "Yang Zongbao" was indeed a grandchild of Yang Ye's - except a granddaughter rather than a grandson. (Chinese historical records and genealogy books don't usually record names of women.)

Legends

In fiction, Yang Zongbao met his eventual wife Mu Guiying when he was ordered to acquire the Dragon-Taming Wood (降龍木) at the Muke Fortress (穆柯寨) where Mu ruled. He was captured by Mu Guiying but married her when she made a

marriage proposal A marriage proposal is a custom or ritual, common in Western cultures, in which one member of a couple asks the other for their hand in marriage. If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement, a mutual promise of later marriage. Norms a ...

. He died very young in a battle against

Western Xia The Western Xia or the Xi Xia ( zh, c=, w=Hsi1 Hsia4, p=Xī Xià), officially the Great Xia ( zh, c=大夏, w=Ta4 Hsia4, p=Dà Xià, labels=no), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts ...

, where he was shot to death by arrows. After his death, Mu Guiying led the other widows in a western expedition against Western Xia.

Portrayal in films and TV series

* Tsung Hua in ''

The 14 Amazons ''The 14 Amazons'' is a 1972 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film directed by Cheng Kang and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. The award-winning film featured a predominantly female cast. The story is about the female generals of the Yang Family. Ove ...

'' (1972) * Norman Chu in The Great General (1979) * Ha Yu in ''Young's Female Warrior'' (1981) * Su Rongzhou in ''Generals of the Yang Family'' (1984) * in ''A Courageous Clan: Mu Kuei-ying'' (1989) * Xu Chenglin in ''Generals of the Yang Family'' (1991) * Norman Chu in '' Heroic Legend of the Yang's Family'' & '' The Great General'' (1994) * Vincent Chiao in '' The Heroine of the Yangs'' (1998) * Ken Chang in '' Legendary Fighter: Yang's Heroine'' (2001) * Lu Shiyu in ''The Heroine Mu Guiying'' (2004) *

Richie Jen Richie Jen Hsien-chi (, born 23 June 1966), also known as Richie Ren, is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He graduated from the Chinese Culture University's physical education department. Jen debuted in December 1990 with the studio album ''Ask ...

in ''

Legendary Amazons ''Legendary Amazons'' is a 2011 Chinese historical drama, historical drama film directed by Frankie Chan and written by Chan, Liu Heng and Ma Honglu. The film is based on the Yang Jia Jiang#Stories of the Yang clan, stories of the Yang Clan Gener ...

'' (2011) * Luo Jin in ''Mu Guiying Takes Command'' (2011)

Historical Basis

Legends

Portrayal in films and TV series

References

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