Qualla: Battle of Yamen https://qualla.com/battle-of-yamen en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:17 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/b/q/battle-of-yamen-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Yamen https://qualla.com/battle-of-yamen Battle of Yamen: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-yamen/ Photo credit (Long night without wind) 长夜无风, CC BY 3.0. The boy was seven years old. His name was Zhao Bing, and he was the last emperor of the Song dynasty, a civilization that had lasted three hundred years and produced gunpowder, printing, the compass, and paper money. On March 19, 1279, with his fleet surrounded in the bay at Yamen and every hope of escape gone, his Prime Minister Lu Xiufu gathered him in his arms and jumped into the sea. Both drowned. Many of the officials and court ladies who witnessed this followed suit. Seven days later, the History of Song records, thousands of corpses floated to the surface of the water. The Song dynasty was over. The Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, under Kublai Khan, now controlled all of China — an outcome that had taken decades of relentless conquest to achieve and one afternoon to finalize.

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Image: (Long night without wind) 长夜无风 | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/b/q/battle-of-yamen-wp/webq-battle-of-yamen-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Yamen: Flight Context https://qualla.com/battle-of-yamen/ Photo credit (Long night without wind) 长夜无风, CC BY 3.0. The battle site lies at approximately 22.27°N, 113.08°E near the town of Yamen in Xinhui District, Jiangmen, Guangdong. The bay opens toward the south into the South China Sea. At 3,000–5,000 feet, the coastal geography of the Pearl River estuary is clearly visible — the broad water channels, the low-lying delta islands, and the industrial development that now lines much of the shore. Nearby airports include Guangzhou Baiyun International (ZGGG), roughly 100 km north, and Zhuhai Jinwan Airport (ZGSD), about 50 km to the southeast. The area is often hazy; best visibility in cooler months.

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Image: (Long night without wind) 长夜无风 | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/b/q/battle-of-yamen-wp/webq-battle-of-yamen-a-dynasty-in-flight.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Yamen: The Chained Fleet https://qualla.com/battle-of-yamen/ Photo credit (Long night without wind) 长夜无风, CC BY 3.0. Zhang Shijie's defensive strategy at Yamen was desperate and, in retrospect, fatally flawed. He ordered about a thousand Song ships chained together in a long formation across the bay, with the emperor's vessel in the center. The intent was to prevent individual ships from breaki...

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Image: (Long night without wind) 长夜无风 | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/b/q/battle-of-yamen-wp/webq-battle-of-yamen-the-chained-fleet.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Yamen: The Afternoon of March 19 https://qualla.com/battle-of-yamen/ Photo credit (Long night without wind) 长夜无风, CC BY 3.0. Zhang Hongfan divided his naval forces into four parts for the assault. The north flank attacked first and was repelled. Then the Yuan fleet played festive music, leading the exhausted, starving Song forces to relax their guard, believing the enemy was celebrating rather than reg...

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Image: (Long night without wind) 长夜无风 | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/b/q/battle-of-yamen-wp/webq-battle-of-yamen-the-afternoon-of-march-19.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Yamen: What the Water Gave Back https://qualla.com/battle-of-yamen/ Photo credit (Long night without wind) 长夜无风, CC BY 3.0. Seven days after the battle, thousands of bodies floated to the surface of Yamen Bay. The Song chronicle records that the body of the boy emperor was found near what is today Shekou in Shenzhen, though no confirmed grave has ever been located. Zhang Shijie, who had escaped, tried...

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Image: (Long night without wind) 长夜无风 | CC BY 3.0

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/b/q/battle-of-yamen-wp/webq-battle-of-yamen-what-the-water-gave-back.mp3 0:06 5 full