Tang Zude

Tang Zude

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Tang Zude (simplified: 汤祖德, traditional: 湯祖德, pinyin: Tāng Zǔdé, jyutping: Tong1 Zou2 Dak1) was a Han officer in the service of the Jin Empire and captain of the personal guard of Wanyan Honglie, Prince Zhao. He had taught the young Wanyan Kang martial arts for two years, and so everyone in Prince Zhao’s Estate called him shifu.

Biography

The banquet

Tang Zude had served the Jin for more than twenty years. He prided himself on his martial arts and his loyalty, but the Jin court had never let him command troops or given him a post with real power, and he held only a sinecure in Prince Zhao’s estate (ch. 8).

In Zhongdu, when Wang Chuyi asked to meet Wanyan Kang’s shifu, the Young Prince presented Tang to him, to Wang’s anger; from his gait Wang judged that the officer had no real skill and could not be the source of Wanyan Kang’s strange martial arts. Wang then asked Tang for a thousand liang of silver, and Tang was dumbfounded to see the Young Prince grant it. At the banquet that followed, resentful of the money and of the Daoist’s manner, he demanded to know which temple Wang came from. Wang retorted by asking which country the general belonged to and what gave him the right to hold office there. Tang hated more than anything to have his Han origins brought up, and he struck at Wang across the table. Wang caught his wrist with his chopsticks and held it fast. When Liang Ziweng reached over to press on Tang’s shoulder, Wang let go and pressed the other, and under the two masters’ force Tang’s hands were driven into a dish of fish and a bowl of hot and sour soup. Scalded and cut, he fled the hall amid laughter (ch. 8).

Pursuit of Yang Tiexin

When Bao Xiruo was carried off from the estate, Tang led the guards in the hunt for the abductors (ch. 10). As the guards closed on Yang Tiexin and his wife, Yang seized a spear and charged them, and Tang, commanding the guards, was struck in the leg and fell from his horse, after which his men scattered (ch. 11).

Personality & traits

Tang Zude was a well-dressed officer in his forties with a thick beard and an imposing air (ch. 8). He was proud of his skill and loyal to the Jin, yet bitter at being kept from real power, and he was quick to take offence at any mention of his being Han (ch. 8).

Relationships

  • Wanyan Honglie — His master, whose personal guard he captained.
  • Yang Kang — Whom he taught martial arts for two years as a boy (ch. 8).

See also

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