After Shi Chonggui ascended the throne of the Later Jin, he addressed the Khitan ruler as "Grandson." The Khitan ruler Yelü Deguang led a massive southern invasion, and the young emperor Shi Chonggui personally marched north; the two sides engaged in repeated battles, with victories and defeats on both sides.
In March 945 AD, the Khitan vanguard pressed toward Tai City, and Later Jin generals Du Zhongwei and Li Shouzhen abandoned the city, fleeing south to Yangcheng, where over 100,000 Khitan troops besieged them. Cut off from supplies, the Later Jin army faced dire conditions—wells collapsed as they dug, soldiers fought to suck moisture from mud, and reports of men and horses dying of thirst spread, stirring panic. Amid the chaos, General Du Zhongwei declared, 'We are trapped without water—our only hope is to break out and fight to the death!' Li Shouzhen replied, 'The Khitan surround us on all sides; a reckless charge would doom us all. We must wait for a sign from heaven.' Du Zhongwei pressed, 'Heaven helps those who act—delay will kill us before the enemy does!' This tense debate highlighted their desperation, yet the story's modern lesson is that in crises, decisive action often outweighs passive waiting.
The Later Jin army found itself positioned downwind, rendering their bows and arrows useless in battle—a dire situation that left the generals helpless and frantic with worry.
General Fu Yanqing of Jin was both brave and resourceful, skilled in military strategy. Seeing the Jin army trapped like a cornered beast, he knew this situation could not continue. He advised Zhang Yanze and Huangfu Yu, "Rather than waiting here to be captured with our hands tied, we should fight to the death—perhaps we can carve out a path to survival."
Zhang Yanze and his commanders analyzed the timing, terrain, and morale, all agreeing with Fu Yanqing's plan to launch a surprise attack by circling behind the Khitan forces.
The Jin army quietly circled behind the Khitan forces, then seized a favorable wind to launch a surprise attack. Caught completely off guard, the Khitan troops were routed in chaos, and their leader, Yelü Deguang, fled in panic on a camel.
The Jin army achieved a great victory, seizing tens of thousands of weapons, armor, and banners abandoned by the Khitan forces as they returned in triumph.
Later, Zhang Yanze and Du Zhongwei surrendered to the Khitan with their 200,000 troops. When Yelü Deguang confronted Fu Yanqing about the Battle of Yangcheng, Fu replied calmly, "In the past, I was a subject of the Jin emperor and dared not cling to life out of cowardice. Now that I am in your hands, life or death is up to fate." Impressed by his courage, Yelü Deguang released him and dropped the matter.
"Shou shou jiu qin" means to bind one's own hands and let oneself be captured. Later, it came to describe offering no resistance and willingly being taken prisoner.
Source: *History of Song*, "Biography of Fu Yanqing"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "束手就擒" came to describe offering no resistance and willingly being taken prisoner.