Biography
Family Background and Early Years
Wei Rui came from the Jingzhao Wei clan and was said to descend from the Western Han chancellor Wei Xian. His family was one of the prominent lineages of the Sanfu region. His grandfather Wei Xuan, also recorded as Wei Zusi, reportedly withdrew to the Zhongnan Mountains to avoid office and declined appointment when Liu Yu entered the passes. His uncle Wei Zuzheng later served as Minister of Splendid Happiness under Liu Song, while his father Wei Zugui rose to chief secretary under a General Who Pacifies Afar.
Wei Rui was known from youth for filial devotion to his stepmother. His uncle Wei Zuzheng often took him along while serving as a commandery administrator and treated him like a son. Wei Rui's wife's elder brother Wang Cheng and his maternal cousin Du Yun were both locally renowned. When Wei Zuzheng once asked Wei Rui how he compared with them, Wei modestly declined to answer. Wei Zuzheng said that Wei's literary talent might be slightly inferior, but his learning was greater and, when it came to serving the state and accomplishing great affairs, neither man could equal him. His cousin Du Youwen, Inspector of Liangzhou, invited him to accompany him to office. Liangzhou was wealthy and many predecessors had been ruined by corruption, but the young Wei Rui became known for integrity.
Liu Song Period
In 465, Yuan Bian, Inspector of Yongzhou, regarded Wei Rui as unusual and appointed him secretary. When Yuan later joined Deng Wan in rebellion against Emperor Ming of Song, Wei Rui had already requested an outside appointment in Yicheng Commandery and thereby escaped the disaster. He subsequently served as Left Regular Attendant to the Prince of Jinping and as a staff officer under the Prince of Guiyang, who held the office of Minister of Works.
Wei later joined Liu Shilong in defending Yingcheng against Shen Youzhi, Inspector of Jingzhou. After Shen's defeat, Wei became a central military staff officer in the Forward Army. He later served as magistrate of Guangde and successively as Administrator of Qixing, Biejia of Yongzhou, Commandant of Changshui, and General of the Right Army.
Southern Qi Period
During the disorder at the end of Southern Qi, Wei Rui preferred not to serve far from his home region and requested appointment as Administrator of Shangyong, with the additional title General Who Establishes Might. Between 499 and 500, Chen Xianda and Cui Huijing successively rebelled against Xiao Baojuan and repeatedly threatened Jiankang with large armies. When men in Yongzhou discussed the political future with him, Wei judged Chen an old soldier but not an extraordinary leader and Cui experienced but timid. He said that the man capable of accomplishing a great enterprise might well come from their own province.
Wei therefore sent two sons to make contact with Xiao Yan, then Inspector of Yongzhou. After Xiao raised troops, Wei cut bamboo into rafts, hurried to join him, and brought about two thousand men and two hundred horses. Xiao Yan was delighted and declared that after previously seeing only Wei's face, he now saw his heart and knew his undertaking would succeed. Wei thereafter contributed plans during the seizure of Ying and Lu and the pacification of Jiahu, and his advice was repeatedly adopted.
When Xiao Yan prepared to take his main force east from Yingzhou, he struggled to choose a commander to remain behind. He ultimately selected Wei Rui, comparing the choice to refusing to leave a fine steed unused. Wei was appointed Champion General and Administrator of Jiangxia with acting authority over the Yingzhou administration. Yingcheng had endured a year of siege, and disease had killed seven or eight people out of ten; corpses were piled beneath beds while survivors slept above them. Wei cleared the bodies, comforted the people, and restored order.
Founding of Liang and Northern Campaigns
In February 502, Xiao Yan was made chancellor and Duke of Liang and established his governing headquarters. Wei Rui was summoned to serve in judicial administration. In April Xiao took the throne and founded Southern Liang. Wei became Chief Justice and was created Viscount of Duliang with three hundred households. In 503 he was redesignated Viscount of Yongchang, appointed Commander of the Crown Prince's Right Guard, then sent out as General Who Assists the State and Inspector of Yuzhou while concurrently serving as Administrator of Liyang. In 504 he repelled a Northern Wei attack on Yuzhou.
In 505 Emperor Wu placed Prince Linchuan Xiao Hong in nominal command of a northern expedition while Wei Rui directed the armies. Wei sent Wang Chaozong and Feng Daogen to attack Xiaoxian. After an initial setback, Wei inspected the defenses himself. Seeing several hundred Wei troops arrayed outside the gate, he judged them elite soldiers and decided to strike. His officers asked to return to camp for armor, but Wei raised his staff of authority and declared that it had not been given as decoration and that his orders could not be violated. He attacked, routed the defenders, and captured Xiaoxian that night before advancing on Hefei.
Hu Jinglüe had already besieged Hefei without success. Wei surveyed the terrain, diverted the Fei River, and built a dam to flood the city. Once the water rose, Liang warships could approach. Northern Wei had built two smaller forts east and west of Hefei, and Wei attacked them first. When the Northern Wei relief commander Yang Lingyin approached with fifty thousand troops, Wei rejected calls for further reinforcement. He argued that once an enemy was at the walls it was too late to begin forging weapons, and that if Liang sought more troops the enemy could do the same; what mattered was unity rather than mere numbers. He then moved against Yang and defeated him.
When one of the Liang positions near the dam was lost and the situation became dangerous, military supervisor Pan Lingyou advised retreat toward Chaohu and other officers proposed withdrawing to Sancha. Wei angrily rejected retreat, invoking the principle that a general should die holding the line. He ordered his parasols, fans, banners, and command emblems planted beside the dam to show that he would not move. Physically weak and unable to ride a horse, he normally directed battle from a board litter. When Northern Wei troops cut the dam, Wei personally supervised the fighting, repelled them, and strengthened the defenses. He also constructed tower ships as high as the Hefei walls and attacked from all sides. The defender Du Yuanlun was struck and killed by a crossbow bolt, and the city fell. More than ten thousand were said to have been captured or killed, and large numbers of cattle, horses, and bolts of silk were taken. Wei distributed the booty to the army and kept none for himself.
Battle of Zhongli and Later Years
In the tenth lunar month of 506, Northern Wei commanders Yuan Ying, Xiao Baoyin, Yang Dayan, and others led several hundred thousand troops to besiege Zhongli. The city lay behind the Huai River. Wei forces built bridges and palisades over Shaoyang Isle to connect both banks. The Liang defender Chang Yizhi held the city with only three thousand troops and repeatedly repelled assaults. In the eleventh lunar month Emperor Wu sent Cao Jingzong with a large relief army, but Cao halted at Daoren Isle and launched an unauthorized attack; a storm drowned many of his men.
In the first lunar month of 507, Emperor Wu ordered Wei Rui to reinforce Zhongli. Wei moved by a direct route from Hefei, marching rapidly while establishing orderly fortified camps along the way. People called him “Wei the Tiger.” After joining Cao Jingzong, he camped on Shaoyang Isle. About twenty li in front of Cao's camp, Wei dug a long trench by night, planted chevaux-de-frise, and turned part of the island into a fortified position only about one hundred paces from the Northern Wei army, alarming Yuan Ying.
When the Huai River rose sharply, Wei led the river force against the floating bridges. Small boats were loaded with dry grass and soaked with oil, then set ablaze. With the wind strengthening the flames, the bridges burned while Liang troops attacked. The Northern Wei army collapsed; Yuan Ying and Yang Dayan fled on horseback. Accounts state that more than one hundred thousand drowned and more than one hundred thousand were beheaded, even claiming that the Huai River was blocked by the dead. The victory at Zhongli was described as an unprecedented triumph for the southern regimes in their wars with the north. Wei was advanced to Marquis of Yongchang and appointed General of the Right Guard.
In 508 Wei was ordered to guard Anlu. Yuan Ying came to attack, but Wei held firmly without offering battle; seeing no opportunity, Yuan withdrew. Wei later served as Intendant of Danyang, Inspector of Yongzhou, and General of the Guards. In 515 he again became Inspector of Yongzhou. In 520 he was promoted to Attendant-in-Ordinary and General of Chariots and Cavalry but, because of illness, never assumed the posts. He died at home on September 20, aged seventy-nine. Emperor Wu came personally to mourn him and granted money, cloth, ceremonial burial goods, court dress, and clothing. Wei was posthumously confirmed as Attendant-in-Ordinary, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Grand General Who Opens the Office, and received the posthumous name Yan.