Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Mao Wên-lung
MAO Wên-lung 毛文龍 (T. 鎭[振]南), Feb. 10, 1576–1629, July 24, Ming general, was a native of Hangchow, Chekiang. In his youth he was fond of sports and achieved fame as a horse man and bowman. While in Peking in 1605 he was introduced by his uncle to a brigade general stationed in Liaotung, and received a commission as lieutenant in the army. In 1621 Wang Hua-chên [q. v.] sent him to the east of the Liao river as a drill major. After the fall of Shên-yang and Liao-yang in May of that year he escaped by ship to Korea where he organized a fighting force including ninety-seven dare-devils (see under K'ung Yu-tê) which on September 1, 1621 performed the spectacular feat of recapturing Chên-chiang on the Yalu River from the Manchus. This success was seized on by Wang Hua-chên to justify his own policy of aggression, although Hsiung T'ing-pi [q. v.] criticized it as ill-timed and worthless. In December of the same year a Manchu force under Amin [q. v.] retook the city and drove Mao from Korea.
Mao then established himself on P'i-tao, a barren island off the mouth of the Yalu, where he remained for the next seven years, receiving supplies from northeast Shantung and carrying on guerilla warfare with the Manchus. He made many expeditions up the Yalu river with the aim of engaging the enemy from the rear. He frequently invaded Liaotung, attacking An-shan 鞍山 and Sarhû 薩爾滸 in the heart of their territory. The Manchus attempted either to win him over or induce the Koreans, with whom they had concluded a treaty, to expel him. When these devices failed, the Manchus themselves invaded Korea and in 1627 drove him again to his island. In 1629 Mao came into conflict with Yüan Ch'ung-huan [q. v.], the newly appointed commander of the Chinese forces. While making a tour of inspection, Yüan had him arrested and put to death on charges of arrogance and insubordination.
[M.1/259; Hang-chou-fu chih (1922) 128/23b; 明季北略 Ming-chi pei-lüeh 2/6b, 8a, 5/8b.]
George A. Kennedy