Hú Zōngxiàn 胡宗憲 (1511–1565), zì Rǔzhēn 汝貞, hào Méilín 梅林, of Jìxī 績溪 (Huīzhōu, Nánzhílì), was a major late-Míng coastal-defense military administrator and the principal political-military figure of the Jiājìng-era wōkòu (Japanese pirate) crisis. Jìnshì of Jiājìng 17 (1538), he served as Supreme Commander of ZhíZhèMǐn coastal defense (1556–1562), in which capacity he directed the strategic captures of Xú Hǎi (1556) and Wáng Zhí (1557) — turning the tide of the wōkòu war. His rise was politically dependent on his alignment with Zhào Wénhuá and (through Zhào) with Grand Secretary Yán Sōng; on the fall of the Yán Sōng faction (1562) he was impeached and died in custody (1565). He was rehabilitated to his original rank in early Wànlì with the posthumous title 襄懋 Xiāngmào. The Míngshǐ biography characterizes him as “luxurious in pleasure, taking-on-stain” — the corrupt minor side of his career — but credits his effective coastal-defense achievement. He is the nominal author of the Chóuhǎi túbiān (KR2k0081), the foundational Míng coastal-defense compendium; the actual editorial work was performed by his mùbīn circle, principally 鄭若曾 (Zhèng Ruòzēng). CBDB id 68363 confirms d. 1565.