Sun Chuanting

Sun Chuanting (1 January 1593 – 3 November 1643), courtesy name Boya (百雅), art name Baigu (白谷), was born in Shanxi; he was the late Ming dynasty's Minister of War (Bingbu Shangshu), and Field Marshal (Dushi). He led 10,000 Ming troops against Li Zicheng's 70,000 troops. He was defeated and killed by Li in the Battle of Tongguan (1643).

Sun Chuanting was described by history records as a tall and muscular man who was physically strong and excelled in horseback archery in his early days. Graduating as jinshi in 1619, he rose in 1635 to be Governor of Shaanxi, and by active measures stamped out the existing rebel movement. After an unsatisfactory campaign in Henan against the rebels there, he became Viceroy of Shandong and a part of Zhili. The fall of Jinan in 1639 was made a pretext for imprisoning him; however, in 1642 he was appointed Vice President of the Board of War and hastened with the garrison of Beijing to relieve Kaifeng, long besieged by Li Zicheng.

After Sun scored some initial victories, Li retreated his forces while leaving behind mass amounts of valuables. The Ming troops were undisciplined and broke rank to loot the valuables. Li then countered attacked and scattered the Ming troops. Sun had no choice but to retreat to Shaanxi as Viceroy. He planned to hold off Li's forces until Ming reinforcements could arrive. But in spite of Sun's objections that all the trained soldiers were dead and the new recruits not yet serviceable, Chongzhen Emperor wanted a quick victory against the rebels and Sun was obliged to advance against Li. Li soon scattered his raw levies.

With great difficulty he raised fresh forces and again advanced. At first successful, he reached the Jia District only to find that heavy rains had made it impossible for supplies to come forward. He therefore fell back with two divisions, pursued by the rebels. The inexperienced artillerymen deserted their guns and a rout ensued, 40,000 men being lost. Li followed up his advantage, and in November the Tong Pass was forced and Sun was killed, fighting to the last.

In popular culture
Sun Chuanting is a primary character in the 2013 Chinese historical film Fall of Ming, played by actor Leon Dai.