Yongji is thirty-nine, the seventh son of Shizong by a Balhae concubine, married to a Tudan lady, and so tied to the first clan of the court.
His titles ran Xue, Sui, Lu, Han, Wei; which he bore on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. English Wikipedia calls him indecisive and weak as a ruler; that is a later judgment, not a judgment of 1200. In the likely course (below) the ministers choose him when Zhangzong dies without a son, and his reign ends in a coup.
Who he is
- Name
- Wanyan Yongji (born Yunji; childhood name Xingsheng)
- Title
- Prince (qinwang), then Prince of Wei
- Since
- 1171 first made Prince of Xue; later Sui, Lu, Han and finally Wei (dates not given)
- Born
- 1 February 1160
- Family
- Seventh son of Shizong and Lady Li, a Balhae concubine; wife of the Tudan clan (b. 1168); a second lady, Lady Qinsheng of the Yuan clan; sons Wanyan Congke, Ju, Xuan and Cao (named on the Yongji page, which gives no births, so some may not yet be born).
- Confidence
- medium
English Wikipedia's Yongji page. It gives no offices he held before 1200.
Overlord
Emperor Zhangzong
Allies and rivals
Tied by marriage to the Tushan clan. Rivals: the sons of Yungong; his elder brother Yonggong.
How things stand that morning
A prince of the blood at or near the capital, with no known office and no claim that anyone yet voices.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 29 December 1208Takes the throne as Prince of Wei on Zhangzong's death (the 'Prince Shao of Wei' name is posthumous, given in 1216).Depends on: Zhangzong leaving no son. Stopped by: A son of Zhangzong, or the ministers choosing a brother of Zhangzong.
- 11 September 1213Yongji dies in Hushahu's coup (the date of his death on the Shizong page).Depends on: The Mongol invasion and Hushahu's coup. Stopped by: A Jin victory in 1211.
Places of note
- Zhongdu: The Central Capital.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: English Wikipedia (Yongji and Shizong pages).
On the map: A person or office with no land of its own; the drawing is a marker.
Primary sources for Jin empire
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
- Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
- Essentials of the History of Goryeo, Kim Jong-seo (金宗瑞) and the Joseon history office (1452). The chronological companion to the Goryeosa, finished a year after it and drawing on the same lost records, sometimes with entries the Goryeosa omits. Read online
- Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
- Record of the Personal Campaigns of the Holy Warrior (Chinggis Khan) (presented to Khubilai in 1288, finished in Mongolian in 1290; the surviving Chinese version dates from 1369). A year-by-year Chinese account of Temujin's wars, drawn from the lost Altan Debter (the same source behind the Yuan shi's first chapter and Rashid al-Din). Read online
- The Secret History of the Mongols (1228 or 1240 (the colophon's Year of the Rat is disputed), with later additions; the surviving Chinese transcription and gloss were made under the Ming in the 1380s). The only Mongol account of Temujin's rise, written within living memory. Read online
- History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
- Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online
14 more in the sources library for North China and Manchuria.
Sources and studies
- Wanyan Yongji (English Wikipedia)
- Emperor Shizong of Jin (English Wikipedia, with the list of his consorts, sons and daughters)
- Jinshi (History of the Jin), Benji of Zhangzong, Dili zhi, Hequ zhi, Shihuo zhi and Bing zhi (recalled from memory and the secondary literature; the text itself could not be opened in this session)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.