生平

薛仁貴是北魏將領薛安都的六世孫，北魏新野、武關二郡太守、都督、澄城縣公薛榮的曾孫，北周御伯中大夫薛衍的孫子，隋朝襄城郡贊治薛軌的兒子。

貞觀十九年(645年)，唐太宗下令遠征高句麗，將軍張士貴招募士兵。薛仁貴年少時家境貧寒，以種田謀生。準備遷葬祖先的墳墓時。其妻柳氏說：「一個人有出眾的才幹，也要等到合適的時機才能展現出來。如今皇帝親征遼東，招募驍勇的將士，這是難得的時機，您為何不爭取功名使自己顯達？富貴之後回家，再遷葬也不晚。」薛仁貴應允，遂應募從軍。唐軍攻安地，郎將劉君昂為敵軍圍困，薛仁貴救援劉君昂，斬敵將首級，綁在馬鞍上，震懾敵軍，由此知名。高句麗莫離支淵蓋蘇文手下將領高延壽的20萬大軍救援安市城（今遼寧海城南），唐太宗派遣諸將進擊。薛仁貴自恃驍勇善騎射，欲立奇功，便穿上異於眾人的白色衣甲，手持方天畫戟，腰間別著兩張弓，于萬軍中所向披靡。自此得到太宗賞識，升為游擊將軍、雲泉府果毅，賜馬二匹，絹40匹。太宗征討高句麗回朝後，稱讚薛仁貴道：「朕以前的將領都老了。朕每次想提拔驍勇善戰的將領，沒有比得上你的。朕不高興得到遼東，高興得到你啊。莫如卿者。」提拔薛仁貴為右領軍中郎將，鎮守玄武門。

唐高宗永徽五年（654年）閏五月初三夜，天降大雨，山洪暴發，大水衝至玄武門，守衛將士盡皆逃散。薛仁貴憤怒道：「安有天子有急，輒敢懼死？」然後冒死登門框向皇宮大呼，警示內宮，高宗因此得以避過災難。不久大水淹沒高宗寢宮，高宗感恩道：「賴得卿呼，方免淪溺，始知有忠臣也。」賜給薛仁貴一匹御馬。

顯慶二年閏月（657年），右屯衛將軍蘇定方進軍西突厥，征討反叛的阿史那賀魯。薛仁貴上疏道：「臣聞兵出無名，事故不成，明其為賊，敵乃可伏。今泥熟仗素幹，不伏賀魯，為賊所破，虜其妻子。漢兵有于賀魯諸部落得泥熟等家口，將充賤者，宜括取送還，仍加賜賚。即是矜其枉破，使百姓知賀魯是賊，知陛下德澤廣及也。」高宗贊同了他的觀點，釋放泥熟家人；泥熟等感恩，願意跟隨唐軍效命。

顯慶三年（658年），薛仁貴輔助營州都督兼東夷都護程名振經略遼東，在貴端城（位於今遼寧渾河一帶）攻破高句麗，斬首三千餘。

顯慶四年（659年）薛仁貴、梁建方、契苾何力等與高句麗大將溫沙多門大戰于橫山（今遼寧遼陽華表山）。薛仁貴匹馬當先，射無虛發，大破敵軍。同月，又在石城大戰高句麗軍。高句麗軍中有一個善射的人，射殺唐軍十餘人。薛仁貴大怒，單騎突擊，生擒善射之人。十二月，又與辛文陵在黑山擊敗契丹，擒獲契丹王阿卜固及諸首領，押送東都洛陽，因功升任左武衛將軍，封河東縣男。

龍朔元年（661年）鐵勒犯邊，以薛仁貴為鐵勒道行軍副總管，跟隨鄭仁泰征討鐵勒。出征前，高宗在內殿大宴群臣，對薛仁貴說：「古善射有穿七札者，卿試以五甲射焉。」于是薛仁貴拉弓射箭，一箭就射穿五甲，高宗大為驚嘆，命人取更加堅固的鎧甲賜給薛仁貴。龍朔二年（662年），回紇九姓十餘萬人憑藉天山（今蒙古杭愛山）有利地形，阻擊唐軍。三月，鐵勒驍騎幾十人前來挑戰，薛仁貴應聲出戰，連發三箭，射死三人，震懾敵軍，鐵勒九姓被迫歸降。鐵勒騷擾唐朝邊境數十年，薛仁貴恐有後患，于是坑殺降卒。之後繼續北進，將鐵勒九部的首領偽葉護三兄弟生擒，從此回紇九姓突厥衰落。軍中將士歌唱道：「將軍三箭定天山，壯士長歌入漢關。」鐵勒有思結、多覽葛等部落原先屯駐天山，鄭仁泰大軍到達後，畏懼唐軍，請求歸降。鄭仁泰不接受歸降，俘獲有思結等部落家屬賞賜軍士，導致這些部落人怨恨而相繼逃遁。有候騎言：「虜輜重畜牧被野，可往取。」鄭仁泰選騎兵一萬四千人，披甲馳馬追擊，越過大漠，至仙萼河，不見敵軍，糧草用盡退兵。在路上，因缺乏糧草，導致「人飢相食」。最後「比入塞，余兵才二十之一，」損失慘重。而薛仁貴也娶部落女子為妾，「多納賕遣」，遭到有司劾奏，唐高宗以功抵過，未加追究。

乾封元年（666年），高句麗莫離支泉蓋蘇文死，長子泉男生繼任莫離支，與其弟泉男建、泉男產不和。泉男建自稱莫離支，發兵討伐泉男生。泉男生派兒子泉獻誠到唐朝求援。同年六月初七 ，高宗以右驍衛大將軍契苾何力為遼東道安撫大使，領兵救援泉男生，同時以泉獻誠為右武衛將軍，充當嚮導。又以左金吾衛將軍龐同善、營州都督高侃前去慰納，而泉男建卻率國人抗拒唐軍，于是高宗又以薛仁貴統兵作為後援。龐同善等抵達新城（今遼寧撫順北高爾山城），夜裡遭到高句麗軍襲擊，薛仁貴率領驍勇軍士救援，斬首百餘級。十月，龐同善等進至金山，被高句麗軍擊敗。形勢危急之時，薛仁貴率兵殺到，將敵軍攔腰截斷，大破敵軍，斬首五萬餘級。乘勝攻克南蘇（今遼寧撫順東蘇子河與渾河交流處）、木底（今遼寧新賓西木奇鎮）、蒼岩（今吉林集安西）等三城，最終成功與泉男生相會。高宗聽聞金山大捷的消息後，親自下詔書稱讚薛仁貴：「金山大陣，凶黨實繁。卿身先士卒，奮不顧命，左衝右擊，所向無前，諸軍賈勇，致斯克捷。宜善建功業，全此令名也。」十一月，薛仁貴乘勝領兵二千進攻扶餘城（今吉林四平），諸將皆認為兵微將寡，恐難取勝。薛仁貴卻說：「在主將善用耳，不在多也。」于是親自帶頭前進。乾封三年（668年），薛仁貴軍與高句麗軍相遇，薛仁貴率兵奮擊，大破敵軍，斬殺俘獲萬餘人，攻克扶餘城。扶餘城大捷後，高句麗舉國震驚，「扶餘川四十餘城，乘風震懾，一時送款」。之後薛仁貴一路凱歌，與李勣大軍會師于高句麗都城平壤城外。高句麗歸降，唐朝分其境為九都督府、四十二州、一百縣，並于平壤設安東都護府以統之。詔命薛仁貴率兵二萬人與劉仁軌留守平壤。薛仁貴以功授右威衛大將軍，封平陽郡公，兼檢校安東都護。薛仁貴移至新城，撫養孤兒，贍養老人，治理盜賊，提拔任用高句麗的人才，表彰獎勵品德高尚、行為優異的百姓，一時間高句麗人都非常喜悅，甚至忘卻亡國之痛（「撫孤存老，檢制盜賊，隨才任職，褒崇節義，高麗士眾皆欣然忘亡。」）

咸亨元年（670年），唐朝為了打擊吐蕃和光複吐谷渾，出動五萬大軍護送吐谷渾王還青海，以薛仁貴為為邏娑道行軍大總管，阿史那道真、郭待封為副總管。郭待封是名將郭孝恪之子，曾為鄯城鎮守，不甘心屈居薛仁貴之下，經常違抗薛仁貴的節制。唐軍抵達青海湖南面的大非川，將要趕往烏海，薛仁貴對郭待封說：「烏海險遠，車行艱澀，若引輜重，將失事機，破賊即回，又煩轉運。彼多瘴氣，無宜久留。大非嶺上足堪置柵，可留二萬人作兩柵，輜重等並留柵內，吾等輕銳倍道，掩其未整，即撲滅之矣。」薛仁貴率軍先行，至河口遇到吐蕃軍，擊破吐蕃軍，斬獲略盡，收穫其牛羊等萬餘頭，回軍至烏海城，以待後援。郭待封傲慢，不聽從薛仁貴之命，領著糧草輜重等緩緩前行。等郭待封軍進至烏海時，吐蕃二十餘萬大軍來救烏海，進擊郭待封軍，郭待封軍慘敗，軍糧及輜重都被吐蕃軍擄掠而去。薛仁貴只得退軍，屯駐于大非川。吐蕃派出四十餘萬大軍進攻唐軍，唐軍不敵，大敗。薛仁貴無奈，只好與吐蕃大將論欽陵約和，才得以退軍，然而吐谷渾自此淪陷。薛仁貴嘆息道：「今年歲在庚午，軍行逆歲，鄧艾所以死于蜀，吾知所以敗也。」因為戰敗，所以薛仁貴被廢為平民。之後，高句麗餘眾反叛，薛仁貴再度被起用，為雞林道總管，經略高句麗故地。上元年間，薛仁貴因為某事被貶，發配象州，遇到大赦，得以回歸。

開耀元年（681年），高宗念及薛仁貴舊功，召見薛仁貴，對他說：「往九成宮遭水，無卿已為魚矣。卿又北伐九姓，東擊高麗，漢北、遼東咸遵聲教者，並卿之力也。卿雖有過，豈可相忘？有人云卿烏海城下自不擊賊，致使失利，朕所恨者，唯此事耳。今西邊不靜，瓜、沙路絕，卿豈可高枕鄉邑，不為朕指揮耶？」以薛仁貴為瓜州長史。不久，授右領軍衛將軍，檢校代州都督。

永淳元年（682年），突厥阿史德元珍率軍入侵雲州，薛仁貴奉命征討。突厥人問道：「唐將為誰？」唐軍回答：「薛仁貴。」突厥人道：「吾聞薛將軍流象州死矣，安得複生？」薛仁貴脫掉兜鍪，突厥人見到薛仁貴還活著，相顧失色，「下馬羅拜，稍稍遁去」。薛仁貴乘機進攻，大破突厥軍，斬首萬級，獲生口三萬（《舊唐書》：獲生口兩萬餘人），駝馬牛羊三萬餘頭，取得雲州大捷。

永淳二年（683年），薛仁貴病逝，享年七十歲。身故後，朝廷追贈「左驍衛大將軍、幽州都督」，還特別製造靈輿，護送遺體歸還故里。

史書評價：「仁貴驍悍壯勇，為一時之傑，至忠大略，勃然有立。噫，待封不協，以敗全略。孔子曰：「可與立，未可與權。」上加明命，竟致立功，知臣者君，信哉！」

子孫

薛仁貴長子薛訥，玄宗朝大將，也是《說唐演義》人物薛丁山的原型。另有四子：薛慎惑，官至司禮主簿、薛楚卿、薛楚珍和薛楚玉。

• 薛訥字慎言，唐玄宗時大破突厥，複封平陽郡公（薛仁貴封平陽郡公），謚號昭定，年七十二卒。《新唐書》說他：「性沉勇寡言，其用兵，臨大敵益壯。」

• 他子薛楚玉字瑤，唐玄宗開元中為范陽節度使，以不稱職而被削官。《新唐書·宰相世系表》載：薛楚玉，官至左羽林將軍，封汾陰縣伯。

• 他孫薛嵩，薛楚玉之子。膂力過人，不治生產，少年時誤入歧途跟隨安史叛軍，後歸唐，為昭義軍節度使，封高平郡王，後改封平陽郡王。生平喜好蹴鞠，大曆七年卒，贈太保。

• 他孫薛㟧，薛嵩之弟。大曆七年繼承兄長薛嵩節度使位，但在大曆十年，被部將裴志清所逐，將兵馬歸田承嗣，逃到洺州。後入朝請罪，唐朝廷免其罪，將其地一分為三，以薛嵩族子薛擇為相州刺史，薛雄（薛慎惑之孫，薛光之子）為衛州刺史，薛堅（薛訥之孫，薛直之子）為洺州刺史。田承嗣引誘薛雄造反，薛雄不從，被田承嗣派去的刺客殺害。

• 他曾孫薛平，字坦途，薛嵩之子。以司徒致仕，封魏國公，年八十卒，贈太傅。

• 他玄孫薛從，字順之，薛平之子。官終左領軍衛上將軍，贈工部尚書，與父親同為一時之名臣。

民間小說

薛仁貴的故事在民間廣為流傳。元代戲劇家張國賓寫《薛仁貴衣錦還鄉》雜劇。清代無名氏著有通俗小說《薛仁貴征東》（《唐薛家府傳》）。

著作

• 《舊唐書‧經籍志》著錄「《周易新注本義》十四卷，薛仁貴撰。」

• 《新唐書‧藝文志》著錄「薛仁貴《周易新注本義》十四卷。」

相關戲劇

• 《薛仁貴征東》(1957年臺語電影）【主演：戽斗及其他待查】

• 《薛仁貴血戰柳家莊》(1950年香港:五福影業公司出品)【關德興飾 薛仁貴】

• 《薛仁貴三戲柳金花》(1957年香港:國華影業公司出品)【張活游飾 薛仁貴】

• 《金箭銀龍 (別名:薛仁貴)》(1964年香港:麗士影業公司出品)【任劍輝飾 薛仁貴】

• 《薛仁貴征東》(1985年TVB電視劇)【主演：萬梓良、鄧萃雯、吳家麗、廖啟智、陶大宇、秦沛】

• 《薛仁貴征東》(1983年電視歌仔戲)【主演：楊麗花、許秀年、黃香蓮、柯玉枝、青蓉、小鳳仙、黃龍】

• 《薛丁山征西》（夏雨飾 薛仁貴）

• 《薛剛反唐》(1986年TVB電視劇)（萬梓良再飾 薛仁貴）

• 《乞丐郎君千金女》(1999年民視台劇)【張晨光、張玉嬿主演】

• 《移山倒海樊梨花》(2002年民視台劇)【崔浩然飾 薛仁貴】

• 《烽火奇遇結良緣》(2004年TVB電視劇)【石修飾 薛仁貴】

• 《淵蓋蘇文》(2006年SBS韓劇)【俞泰雄飾 薛仁貴】

• 《大祚榮》(2007年KBS韓劇)【李德華飾 薛仁貴】

• 《薛仁貴傳奇》【保劍鋒飾 薛仁貴】

• 《大唐女將樊梨花》(2012年電視劇)【吳毅將飾 薛仁貴】

• 《隋唐英雄 3 & 4》(2014年電視劇)【黃海冰飾 薛仁貴】

相關條目

• 唐與高句麗的戰爭

• 唐朝與新羅的戰爭

• 薛禮廟

外部鏈接

• 山西頻道:薛仁貴

During Emperor Taizongs reign

Xue Rengui was born in 614, during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, but his early activities were not recorded, other than that his wife had the surname Liu (柳). It was said that he was poor and was a farmer. Around the time that Tang Dynasty's second emperor Emperor Taizong was set to launch a major campaign against Goguryeo in 644, Xue was planning to rebury his ancestors, when Lady Liu told him:

Xue thus went to meet the general Zhang Shigui to volunteer for the army. Once he reached the front, on an occasion when the general Liu Jun'ang was being surrounded by Goguryeo forces, Xue went to rescue Liu, and he was able to kill the Goguryeo commander and hang the Goguryeo commander's head on his saddle; after this incident, he began to gain fame and was promoted to become an officer. When Emperor Taizong was ready to attack the Goguryeo city of Ansi (安市, in modern Anshan, Liaoning) in 645 and was faced with a major relief army sent by Goguryeo's Dae Mangniji (regent) Yeon Gaesomun, commanded by the generals Go Yeonsu and Go Hyejin, Emperor Taizong had his officers try to repel the Goguryeo forces. Xue, despite his low military rank, believing himself to be powerful and wanting to show his ferocity, decided to lead the charge. He put on a white armor and armed himself with a Ji and two bows, roaring fiercely and charging into the enemy forces, and no one from the Goguryeo army could stop him, the rest of Tang officers then followed and charged into the enemy line as well. As Xue fought his way through the frontlines against the overwhelming numbers of enemy forces, he inflicted much casualties on the Gogureyo soldiers. Taizong personally led 4,000 elite soldiers into the battle as well, the Goguryeo army's formation was broken, at least 20,000 Goguryeo soldiers were killed and 36,800 soldiers including their generals Go Yeonsu and Go Hyezin, surrendered. In the midst of battle Emperor Taizong spotted Xue from a distance and asked his attendants, "Who is that man in white armor?" and was told it was Xue. Emperor Taizong summoned Xue to his presence and awarded him with gold and silk and also gave him a general title. After Emperor Taizong retreated later in the year, he told Xue:

Emperor Taizong made Xue one of the commanding generals for the imperial guards.

During Emperor Gaozongs reign

After Emperor Taizong's death in 649, his son Li Zhi succeeded him (as Emperor Gaozong), and for the first few years of Emperor Gaozong's reign, Xue Rengui appeared to remain a commanding general for the imperial guards. In 654, when Emperor Gaozong was visiting the vacation palace Wannian Palace (, in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), there was a major storm. On the night of June 22, it rained particularly hard, and a flash flood descended on the Xuanwu Gate of Wannian Palace. The imperial guards all fled, but Xue did not, and instead climbed up the gate and yelled loudly inside the palace to warn the emperor. Emperor Gaozong quickly got out of his bed and climbed as high as he could, and in brief time, the water flooded into his bedchambers, and this flood killed some 3,000 residents of Linyou County, where the palace was located, and imperial guards. Afterwards, Emperor Gaozong made the comment to Xue, "It is only by your call that I avoided drowning, and from this I know that you are a faithful subject." He awarded Xue a horse.

In 657, when the general Su Dingfang attacked Western Turkic Khaganate's Shaboluo Khan Ashina Helu, Xue submitted a suggestion that if the wife and children of the chief of one of Western Turkic Khaganate's constituent tribes, Nishu Tribe (泥孰), who did not particularly support Ashina Helu but was forced to comply after Ashina Helu took his wife and children hostage, were to be captured by Tang forces, that they be immediately released so that the chief of Nishu would submit to Tang. When Emperor Gaozong approved this suggestion, the chief of Nishu did, indeed, join Tang's army. Su was subsequently able to defeat and capture Ashina Helu.

Later that year, Xue was made deputy to the general Cheng Mingzhen (程名振) in an operation against Goguryeo, and they captured Goguryeo's city Chifeng (赤烽, in modern Fushun, Liaoning) and defeated the Goguryeo general Du Bangnu. In 659, Xue personally led a surprise cavalry charge to attack the Goguryeo formation under the command of Goguryeo general Wen Shamen and defeated him, single-handedly killing dozens of enemy soldiers in the battle. He also engaged Qidan forces, capturing their chief Abugu (阿卜固) and taking him back to the eastern capital Luoyang. For this achievement, he was created the Baron of Hedong.

In 661, after the chief of Tang's vassal Huige, Yaoluoge Porun died and was succeeded by his nephew Yaoluoge Bisudu, Yaoluoge Bisudu broke away from Tang and allied with two other tribes, Tongluo and Pugu (僕固) in attacking Tang's northern boundary. Emperor Gaozong commissioned the general Zheng Rentai to be in charge of an operation against Huige, while making the Xue and Liu Shenli Zheng's deputies. When they encountered Huige's coalition forces—which by this point appeared to include all nine major tribes of Tiele—the coalition challenged Tang forces to a small battle, with Tiele sending out their 10 fiercest warriors. Xue personally engaged them and killed three of them with three arrows, intimidating the Tiele coalition and causing them to submit—but after their surrender, he ordered to kill all the ten and several thousands people. From this incident, a military song was written to praise Xue's ferocity, including the words: "The general is able to pacify Tian Shan with three arrows, and the warriors sing their long songs as they enter the boundaries of Han." After the army returned to Tang territory, however, Xue was charged with killing those who had already surrendered and seizing the spoils of war and arrested for a time, but was eventually released after Emperor Gaozong ruled that the achievements outweighed the crimes.

In 666, Yeon Gaesomun died, and infighting developed between Yeon's oldest son Yeon Namsaeng, who succeeded Yeon Gaesomun as Dae Mangniji, and two younger sons Yeon Namgeon and Yeon Namsan, over suspicions that they had for each other. Eventually, Yeon Namgeon, while Yeon Namsaeng was away from the capital Pyongyang, claimed the Dae Mangniji title himself. Yeon Namsaeng sent his son (later known as Cheon Heonseong/Quan Xiancheng, as Yeon (淵) was the same character as Emperor Gaozong's grandfather Emperor Gaozu's name Yuan and therefore could not be used as part of naming taboo) to seek aid from Tang. When Emperor Gaozong sent the generals Pang Tongshan and Gao Kan (高侃) to aid Yeon Namsaeng, Yeon Namgeon tried to intercept them, and Xue, who trailed them, marched forward to aid them, allowing them to defeat Goguryeo forces together. After they captured the cities of Namso (, in modern Tieling, Liaoning), Mokjeo (木底, in modern Fushun), and Changam (, in modern Benxi, Liaoning), they were able to rendezvous with Yeon Namsaeng. In spring 668, they further marched east and captured Goguryeo's major northeastern city Buyeo (, in modern Siping, Jilin), and Xue was described to have marched to the sea (probably Sea of Japan) and taking some 40 cities in Goguryeo's northeastern territories, before marching southwest to rendezvous with the supreme commander of the entire operation, Li Ji, at Pyongyang. After Pyongyang fell later in 668, thus ending Goguryeo, Emperor Gaozong ordered that Goguryeo territory be annexed into Tang territory and that a protector general (known as the Protectorate General to Pacify the East) by established at Pyongyang, with Xue appointed as the protector general to defend Pyongyang, along with the general Liu Rengui. Emperor Gaozong created him the Duke of Pingyang. It was said that Xue was a capable administrator and was, for a while, able to receive allegiance from the people of Goguryeo.

In 670, Tibetan Empire launched a major attack with 400,000 men on Tang's Anxi Protectorate and captured 18 prefectures. Emperor Gaozong commissioned Xue to command a counterattack, with Ashina Daozhen (阿史那道真), and Guo Daifeng (郭待封), the son of Tang's veteran general Guo Xiaoke (郭孝恪), as his deputies. However, as Guo had been of the same rank as Xue, he viewed serving as Xue's deputy as a dishonor and often disobeyed Xue's orders. Xue's initial strategy was to take some troops ahead toward, with Guo remaining behind at Qinghai Lake with the military supplies—and once Xue had cleared the pass, he would then signal for Guo to proceed. Guo, however, disobeyed the order and did not wait for Xue's signal, but proceeded after Xue departed, and he was intercepted and defeated by a 200,000-men Tibetan army. After Guo's army collapsed, Xue was himself attacked by the Tibetan prime minister Gar Trinring Tsendro ("Lun Qinling" in Chinese) at the Dafeichuan. Although Xue inflicted heavy loses on the Tibetans, his forces retreated from the Dafei River. Emperor Gaozong sent the official Le Yanwei to the front to put Xue, Guo, and Ashina under arrest, but released them once they were brought back to the capital Chang'an. However, they were relieved of their posts.

At later time, when the people of Goguryeo were rising in resistance to Tang occupation, Xue was put in charge of pacifying the region, but yet later, probably in 675, Xue was deposed for reasons not clearly stated in historical records and exiled to Xiang Prefecture (象州, roughly modern Laibin, Guangxi), only allowed to return from exile when a general pardon was declared. In 681, Emperor Gaozong, remembering Xue's contributions, summoned him and again made him a general. In 682, when remnants of the Eastern Tujue, rising under the chiefs Ashina Gudulu and Ashide Yuanzhen (阿史德元珍), declared independence from Tang, Xue was commissioned to attack Ashide Yuanzhen. His presence intimidated the Eastern Tujue soldiers, who had thought that he was long dead, and he scored a major victory over Ashide Yuanzhen.

Xue died in 683. His sons Xue Ne and Xue Chuyu (薛楚玉), and several later descendants would serve as generals as well.

In fiction

Xue Rengui's life was dramatized in a number of fictional works. The most prominent of these works were the play Xue Rengui's Glorious Return Home, by the Yuan Dynasty playwright Zhang Guobin and an anonymous novel from Qing Dynasty, Xue Rengui's Campaign to the East.

His tenure as General of Andong Protectorate following the fall of Goguryeo has been dramatized in a popular Korean television series called Dae Joyeong, and portrays Xue Rengui as a Tang general who is constantly frustrated by the insurgency of the Dongmyeongchun League; remnants of the Goguryeo underground resistance against the Tang.

According to this television action-drama, broadcast worldwide on KBS-1, Xue Rengui could finally claim victory over the Goguryeo insurgency when he had Dae Joyoung and his legion of escaped Baekje, Goguryeo, Khitan, and Silla prisoners cornered, and had Dae Joyoung vow loyalty to the Tang Empire, and become a military officer of high-rank in the Tang army. However, Xue Rengui is to lose Dae Joyoung again following a stratagem in which Dae Joyoung volunteers to lead a punitive force of Tang soldiers against nomadic bandits in Mount Madu to recover stolen Tang money.

While Dae Joyoung successfully recovers the gold and silver taels and convinces the bandits to fight another group of the Tang punitive force led by the evil Tang general Li Wen, he dispatches the stolen property back to Chang'an alongside his close Dongmyeongchun League confidant Mimosa and a small group of Tang soldiers, Dae Joyoung took the opportunity escape the Tang to return to his Goguryeo land on the true-pretext that general Li Wen was going to attack kill him and his Goguryeo subordinates.

This television series also portrays Xue Rengui travelling from Chang'an with only his friend and bodyguard Hongpei to the Khitan-held Yingzhou in order meet his old war protege the Khitan Khan Li Jinzhong to personally warn him about general Li Wen's desire to destroy the Khitans in the year 695. But this is apparently a symbolic gesture made by the show's producers, since General Xue Rengui died in 683, to indicate his good and friendly nature and his disdain for political matters.

A "ballad-narrative" known as "The story of Xue Rengui crossing the sea and Pacifying Liao" is to written in the Suzhou dialect of Wu Chinese.