Battle of Yamen

The Battle of Yamen that on March 19, 1279 at Yamen (Chinese崖门/崖门, Klippentor ') in today's District Xinhui (新 会/新 会) on the left bank of the Pearl River Delta ( lower reaches of the West River (Chinese西江, Pinyin Xī jiāng, Western River ')) took place, was one of the largest naval battles in world history. Despite the numerical superiority of the armed forces of the Song Dynasty under their Admiral Zhang Shijie won the fleet of Kublai Khan, ending the reign of the Song Dynasty.

Background and History

Large parts of southern China ( Hangzhou as the capital ) were captured since 1276 by ​​the Mongols under Kublai Khan. So tried the leaders of the Song Dynasty, to turn through a naval battle in the delta region of the Pearl river, the leaf. The battle was despite multiple numerical superiority of the Song forces to the disaster, which claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people. The Prime Minister and imperial adviser Xiufu Lu (Chinese陆秀夫, W.-G. Lu Xiufu, 1232-1279 ) recognized the hopelessness of the situation, took the child Emperor Song Bing and jumped with him at Yaishan in the river to themselves and their rulers to take his life before the mountain Ya near the river reached the Mongol army, so the battle is also called " battle at Mount Ya ". The fact should be considered as a sign of resistance and inflexibility towards the foreigners. Thus the Song Dynasty ended after 314 years and began the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.

• Battle
• Song Dynasty
• Yuan Dynasty
• 1279