Hu Zongxian

Hu Zongxian
胡宗憲
Minister of War
In office June 1560 – 1563
Monarch	Jiajing Emperor
Supreme Commander of the Southern Metropolitan Region, Zhejiang, and Fujian
In office April 1556 – 1563
Preceded by	Wang Gao
Succeeded by	Post abolished
Grand coordinator of Zhejiang
In office July 1555 – April 1556
Preceded by	Li Tianchong
Succeeded by	Ruan E
In office February 1557 – 1563
Succeeded by	Zhao Bingran
Magistrate of Yuyao
In office July 1547 – 1548
Magistrate of Yidu
In office 1540 – May 1542
Personal details
Born	November 4, 1512 Jixi County, China
Died	November 25, 1565(1565-11-25) (aged 53) Beijing, China
Occupation	censor, military general, politician
Courtesy name	Ruzhen (汝貞)
Art name	Meilin (梅林)
Posthumous name	Xiangmao (襄懋)
Military service
Battles/wars	Jiajing wokou raids

Hu Zongxian (Chinese: 胡宗憲; November 4, 1512^[1] – November 25, 1565^[2]), courtesy name Ruzhen (汝貞) and art name Meilin (梅林), was a Chinese general and politician of the Ming dynasty who presided over the government's response to the wokou pirate raids during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. As supreme commander, he was able to defeat Xu Hai's (徐海) substantial raid in 1556 and capture the pirate lord Wang Zhi the next year through ruses. Despite his accomplishments, Hu Zongxian's reputation had been tarnished by his association with the clique of Yan Song and Zhao Wenhua, traditionally reviled figures in Ming historiography. He was rehabilitated decades after his death and was given the posthumous name Xiangmao (襄懋) by the emperor in 1595.

He is a direct ancestor of Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012.^{[3][better source needed]}