Biography.guide
Home › People › Xu Shouhui
Portrait of Xu Shouhui

Xu Shouhui

1301 – 1360

Chinese rebel, Tianwan emperor

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Xu Shouhui

Lived 1301 – 1360 (aged 58–59). Xu Shouhui was a Chinese.

Rebels and warlords at the end of Yuan Dynasty, including the location of Xu Shouhui's force. Xu Shouhui (1320–1360) was a 14th-century Chinese rebel leader who proclaimed himself emperor of the Tianwan (天完) dynasty during the late Yuan dynasty period of China. He was also known as Xu Zhenyi (徐真一 or 徐真逸, romanized in Wade–Giles as Hsü Chen-i).

Born in Luotian (羅田, now in Hubei), Xu was a cloth vendor by profession.

Emperor In August 1351, he worked with others in Qízhōu to establish the rebel army of Red Turbans under the pretense of the Buddhist White Lotus Society. In the following months of the Red Turban Rebellion, they captured Qishui and made it the command centre of the Red Turbans and the capital of the newly declared Empire of Tianwan , originally called Song with himself as the emperor with the era name of "Zhiping" .

The number of his supporters increased rapidly as he claimed to be Maitreya Buddha who sought to "destroy the rich to benefit the poor" . In 1352, he invaded more of Hebei, and moved on to take Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Hunan.

After being temporarily defeated by the army of the Yuan dynasty, he fled to Huangmei Mountain , but returned in 1355 to invade once again and move the capital to Hanyang District.

In 1358, after Chen Youliang took control of the city Longxing (now Nanchang 南昌市), Xu Shouhui wanted to move the capital from Hanyang to Longxing. Chen Youliang opposed this idea, as Longxing was not far from Jiangzhou, which would make Xu Shouhui a threat to him. However, Xu Shouhui insisted on the relocation, and in December of 1359 ordered his troops to sail down the Yangtze River to Jiangzhou. Anticipating this, Chen Youliang ordered his men to lay an ambush to the city. Once Xu Shouhui arrived, he and his men fell ambush and Chen Youliang detained him, killing the rest of his men before proclaiming himself King of the State of Han. Xu Shouhui would die shortly in 1360 in Chen Youliang's captivity, however, it is not known if he was executed or died from an illness.

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Born
1301, Huanggang
Birth century
Died
1360
Nationality
Positions held
Emperor of China
Also known as
Tianwan, Zhenyi

People in Xu Shouhui's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Xu Shouhui's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Xu Shouhui?

Chinese rebel, Tianwan emperor

When was Xu Shouhui born?

Xu Shouhui was born in 1301 in Huanggang.

When did Xu Shouhui die?

Xu Shouhui died in 1360.

What nationality was Xu Shouhui?

Xu Shouhui was Chinese.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Xu Shouhui

· Wikidata: Q1185018

· DBpedia: Xu Shouhui

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Xu Shouhui. https://biography.guide/xu-shouhui/

MLA: "Xu Shouhui." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/xu-shouhui/.

Chicago: "Xu Shouhui." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/xu-shouhui/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:03 UTC