Xu Shouhui
Xu Shouhui (simplified Chinese: 徐寿辉; traditional Chinese: 徐壽輝; pinyin: Xú Shòuhuī; Wade–Giles: Hsü Shou-hui) (died 1360) was a 14th-century Chinese rebel leader who proclaimed himself emperor during the late Mongol Yuan Dynasty period. He was also known as Xu Zhenyi (真一 or 真逸, in WG Hsü Chen-i).
| Xu Shouhui | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruler of Tianwan | |||||||||
| Reign | 1351 - 1360 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | (none) | ||||||||
| Successor | (none) | ||||||||
| Died | 1360 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Dynasty | Tianwan (天完) | ||||||||
Born in Luotian (羅田, now in Hubei), Xu was a cloth vendor by profession.
Empire of Tianwan
In August 1351, he worked with others in Qízhōu (蘄州) to establish the rebel army of Red Turbans under the pretense of the Buddhist White Lotus Society. In the following months of the Red Turban Rebellion, they captured Qishui (蘄水) and made it the command centre of the Red Turbans and the capital of the newly declared Empire of Tianwan (天完), with himself as the emperor with the era name of Zhiping (治平).
The number of his supporters increased rapidly as he claimed to be Maitreya Buddha (彌勒佛下生) who sought to "destroy the rich to benefit the poor" (摧富益貧). In 1352, he invaded more of Hebei, and moved on to take Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Hunan.
After being temporarily defeated by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty army, he fled to Huangmei Mountain (黃梅山), but returned in 1355 to invade once again and move the capital to Hanyang District.
Five years later in 1360, Xu Shouhui was assassinated by his former co-fighter, Chen Youliang, thus causing the collapse of the Tianwan Empire.