Wen Tianxiang 文天祥

chief minister · Song China · 1236–1283

The last chief minister of the Southern Song. Captured by the Yuan, he refused to surrender for more than three years and was executed.

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1279 · Captured by the Yuan army and told to write a letter urging surrender, he answered with this poem

Since ancient times, who has lived and not died? Let me leave a loyal heart to shine in the pages of history.

人生自古誰無死，留取丹心照汗青。

"Crossing the Lonely Sea," in the Complete Song Poems