Early life and career

Du Sengming was from Linze County (臨澤縣, in modern-day Gaoyou, Jiangsu) in Guangling Commandery. He was described as having a short stature but brave personality, excelling in both horse riding and archery. During the middle of the Datong era (大同, 535–546), he and his brother, Du Tianhe (杜天合), were subordinates of the Protector of Nanjiang Prefecture (南江州), Lu Anxing (盧安興). They helped him put down the revolts of the Lǐliáo (俚僚) people and were stationed as Xinzhou (新洲, in modern-day Xinxing County, Guangdong) to defend the area. After Anxing died, the brothers continued to serve his son, Lu Zixiong who took his father's position.^[1]

Avenging Lu Zixiong

In 542, a rebellion headed by Lý Bôn in Jiaozhou broke out in response to the cruel administration of the Inspector of Jiaozhou, Xiao Zi (蕭諮). The Inspector of Guangzhou, Xiao Ying (蕭映), was tasked in quelling the rebellion with Lu Zixiong and Sun Jiong (孫冏) serving as his generals. At the time, the summer was unusually hot, so Zixiong and Jiong advised Xiao Ying to wait for autumn. However, Xiao Ying ignored them, and in 343, he was badly defeated by the rebels. Xiao Zi was quick to accuse Zixiong and Sun Jiong of collaborating with the rebels. Emperor Wu believed Xiao Zi and issued the two's execution in December of that year.^[2]

The death of Zixiong greatly angered Du Tianhe, who felt that the Lu family had treated him well. He conspired with Lu Zixiong's brothers, Lu Zilüe (盧子略) and Lu Zilie (盧子烈) in Nanjiang, telling them:^[3]

"Lord Lu had long treated me kindly but had been wrongfully killed. If we do not take revenge now, we can never consider ourselves men. My brother, Sengming, is an enemy of ten thousands. If we were to attack the city and rally the masses, none would dare not to follow. Once the city is broken, the two princes must be sacrificed for Sun and Lu, and we shall wait for the envoys to come and present us before the Minister of Justice with our hands bounded. To die is better than to continue living. Even if we were to fail, we will not be scorned."

The brothers agreed, and together with Du Sengming and his peer, Zhou Wenyu, they rose in rebellion and arrested the new Protector of Nanjiang, Shen Yi (沈顗). They marched onto Guangzhou and placed the provincial capital under siege as the rebels rapidly grew in number, creating an entirely new crisis in the region. In 544, the Prefect of Gaoyao, Chen Baxian, was ordered by Xiao Ying to put down the rebels. With 3,000 elite soldiers, Chen crushed the rebellion. Du Tianhe was killed in battle while Du Sengming and Zhou Wenyu were both captured by Chen. Chen was impressed by Du and Zhou's display of bravery and thought of them as model soldiers. Because of that, he did not punish them but instead released them. Du became a member of Chen's staff while Zhou would do the same a bit later.^[4]

Hou Jing Disturbance (548–552)

In 548, the general Hou Jing, who had defected from Eastern Wei to Liang, rebelled and by 549 had captured the capital of Jiankang. Emperor Wu was placed under house arrest and died in captivity. The governor of Guangzhou and member of the Northern Wei Yuan imperial family, Yuan Jingzhong (元景仲), was asked by Hou Jing to join him. When Chen heard this, he denounced Jingzhong and led his troops to attack him. During this, Du and Zhou were both said to be meritorious, and after their victory, Chen compelled Jingzhong to commit suicide.^[5]

Later, the former Inspector of Gaozhou, Lan Yu (蘭裕), revolted in Shixing, so Chen went to quell his revolt. Du served as the vanguard general and with him, the revolt was crushed and Lan Yu was captured. With Shixing pacified, Du together with Hu Ying were ordered to garrison themselves at Dayu and gather the talents of Shixing before embarking north. However, Chen's plans to go to Jiankang was opposed by Emperor Wu's nephew, Xiao Bo, who he had initially invited Chen to occupy Guangzhou. Chen ignored him, so Bo colluded with the Nankang warlord Cai Luyang (蔡路養) to make sure that Chen never makes it to the capital. Du Sengming fought in the battle with Cai when his horse was injured amidst the fighting, leaving him vulnerable. Chen quickly rode to battle and gave him his horse. With Chen's horse, Du resumed the battle and shifted the tide. Cai was defeated and Chen occupied Nankang.^[6]

The Inspector of Gaozhou and Hou Jing's ally, Li Qianshi (李遷仕), occupied Dagaokou and sent his general Du Ping to Ganshi (灨石, located along the modern day Gan River) to reinforce the area. Zhou defeated Du Ping and captured Ganshi, causing Li to personally led his troops to retake the city. Zhou and Li were caught in a stalemate, but reinforcements from Du Sengming allowed Zhou to repel Li in the end. Later, Li allied himself with a native of Ningdu, Liu Xiaoshang (劉孝尚), and together they laid siege on Chen's army at Nankang. Du and Zhou fought the enemy for 100 days, and in 551 they finally captured Li and executed him in Nankang.^[7]

Chen continued his advance along the Ganjiang river from Nankang. Du stayed in Xichang (西昌, in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), where he served as Chief Controller of Ancheng (安成, in modern Ji'an, Jiangxi) and Luling (盧陵; in modern Ji'an County, Jiangxi). Emperor Wu's son and de facto leader, Xiao Yi, awarded Du with the offices of General Who Clears the Fields and Inspector of Xinzhou (信州, modern eastern Chongqing) as well as the title of Viscount of Linjiang. Du was also granted 300 taxable households.^[8]

In 552, Chen set out from Yuzhang (豫章郡; around present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi) to help reclaim Jiankang from Hou Jing. He had Du serve as his vanguard once more, and he consecutively defeated Hou's army. When his army reached Caizhou, Du set fire to the rebel ships. Hou was defeated and killed that year, and Xiao Yi ascended the throne, later to be known as Emperor Yuan. For his merits in the war, Du was awarded Cavalier In Regular Attendance, General Who Illuminates Might, Inspector of Southern Yanzhou and acting Prefect of Jinling. He was also promoted to Marquis of Linjiang County, and his taxable households were increased to 500.^[9]

Relieving Dongfang Guang (554)

In 554, Du participated in the expedition to reclaim Guangling from Northern Qi. After Guangling was captured, he was awarded Commissioner Bearing Credentials and was promoted to Cavalier in Regular Attendance with Direct Access and General Who Pacifies the North. Around the time, a man named Dongfang Guang (東方光) rebelled against Qi in Suyu. The Qi general, Wang Qiu (王球) went to suppress him but Du came in support of Dongfang and repelled Wang.^[10]

Death and posthumous honours

At the end of that year, Western Wei forces besieged Jiangling, where Emperor Yuan was situated. Du was supposed to lead his troops to rescue the city but on the way, he died in Jiangzhou at the age of 46. He was posthumously appointed Cavalier In Regular Attendance and named Marquis of Wei. He was succeeded by his son, Du Jin (杜晉). Three years later in 557, Chen dissolved the Liang and established his Chen dynasty, becoming known in history as Emperor Wu of Chen. His nephew, Emperor Wen, succeeded him in 559 after he died, and further awarded Du the privilege of a Separate Office with equal ceremonial to the Three Excellencies.^[11]