Yang Zaixing

Overview

杨再兴是南宋抗金名将，也是杨家将的后代，以骁勇善战、敢于孤军冲阵而著称。他早年曾是曹成部将，与岳飞交战时杀死岳飞之弟岳翻，兵败后被岳飞收降，此后成为岳家军中的重要猛将。绍兴十年（1140），岳飞北伐期间，杨再兴曾率少数骑兵突入金军阵中，试图生擒金军主帅兀术，在敌军重围中纵横冲杀而还。不久，他又在小商桥遭遇大批金军，率部奋战，身中多箭而死。相传其遗体火化后，从中所得箭镞多达二升。杨再兴承继杨家将世代征战的武勇，又成为岳飞麾下最勇猛的将领之一，使杨家将与岳家军两条英雄谱系在他的故事中连接起来。

Yang Zaixing was a renowned Southern Song general, a descendant of the celebrated Yang military family, and one of the fiercest warriors in Yue Fei’s army. Originally serving under the warlord Cao Cheng, he fought against Yue Fei and killed Yue’s younger brother Yue Fan before eventually being defeated and brought into Yue Fei’s forces. During Yue Fei’s northern campaign in 1140, Yang Zaixing led a small cavalry force deep into the Jin army in an attempt to capture its commander Wuzhu, fighting his way through overwhelming numbers and returning alive. Soon afterward, at Xiaoshang Bridge, he encountered a much larger Jin force and fought until he was killed by numerous arrows. After his body was cremated, tradition holds that an extraordinary quantity of arrowheads was recovered from his remains. As a descendant of the Yang generals who became one of Yue Fei’s greatest warriors, Yang Zaixing connects two of the most important martial lineages in the Chinese heroic tradition.