As Emperor Zhaozong's emissary
During Tang Dynasty
As of 902, Emperor Zhaozong was at Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), having been forcibly taken there by the powerful eunuchs, led by Han Quanhui, as the eunuchs feared a general slaughter by Emperor Zhaozong and the chancellor Cui Yin. (Fengxiang was then under the rule of the eunuch's ally Li Maozhen.) Cui summoned his ally, the major warlord Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan) to put Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality under siege. [2] In 902, Emperor Zhaozong, perhaps at the eunuchs' behest, gave Zhang Bo the imperial clan surname of Li and the new name of Yan, sending Li Yan as his personal representative to Huainan Circuit to commission its military governor Yang Xingmi as the supreme commander of the southeastern circuits, honorary chancellor title of Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and the Prince of Wu and ordering him to organize a major attack on Zhu's territory. The bestowment also granted Yang permission to exercise imperial powers in the emperor's absence. Part of Li Yan's mission was also to bestow various honors on Yang's subordinates Zhu Jin and Zhu Yanshou, as well as on the independent warlords Feng Hongduo (then ruling the Shangyuan (上元, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu) region) and Ma Yin (then the military governor of Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan), apparently hoping that Feng and Ma would join Yang's attack on Zhu. (Feng and Ma, however, did not, although Feng would soon be defeated, and his territory absorbed into that of, Yang's subordinate Tian Jun the military governor of Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuancheng, Anhui).) Yang did launch an attack on Zhu later in 902, but, running into food supply issues, withdrew shortly after. It was said that, after Li Yan bestowed on him the imperial authorities, Yang, while establishing an office to issue edicts on the emperor's behalf, would nevertheless inform Li Yan and present the proposed edicts to a statute of Emperor Zhaozong's ancestor Emperor Xuanzong before issuing them. [3]
Baoji (help·info) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi.
Shaanxi is a province of the People's Republic of China. Officially part of the Northwest China region, it lies in central China, bordering the provinces of Shanxi, Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ningxia (NW), and Inner Mongolia (N). It covers an area of over 205,000 km2 (79,151 sq mi) with about 37 million people. Xi'an – which includes the sites of the former Chinese capitals Fenghao and Chang'an – is the provincial capital. Xianyang, which served as the Qin dynasty capital, is located nearby. The other prefecture-level cities into which the province is divided are Ankang, Baoji, Hanzhong, Shangluo, Tongchuan, Weinan, Yan'an and Yulin.
Han Quanhui (韓全誨) was a eunuch late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. The struggles by the eunuchs, led by him, against the chancellor Cui Yin, who wanted to eliminate the powerful eunuchs, led to the eunuchs' kidnapping of Emperor Zhaozong and then a major military confrontation between two powerful warlords — the eunuchs' ally Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit and Cui's ally Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit. Eventually, Li, unable to stand up to Zhu's military pressure, surrendered the emperor to him and slaughtered Han and the other eunuchs. After this, Zhu was in firm control of the imperial court, leading to the dynasty's end four years later and its replacement by Zhu's Later Liang.
In 903, Zhu, who at that point had prevailed over Li Maozhen, forced Li Maozhen to surrender the emperor to him to sue for peace, and slaughtered the eunuchs, was planning on seizing the throne eventually. He feared that Li Yan's father Zhang Jun, who had by that point retired to his estate in Changshui (長水, in modern Luoyang, Henan), would incite the regional governors to rise against him, and therefore had the entire family killed. Only Li Yan's older brother Zhang Ge escaped to Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan). [4]
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast. As of the final 2010 census, Luoyang had a population of 6,549,941 inhabitants with 1,857,003 people living in the built-up area made of the city's five urban districts, all of which except the Jili District are not urbanized yet.
Henan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (中州) which literally means "central plain land" or "midland", although the name is also applied to the entirety of China proper. Henan is the birthplace of Chinese civilization with over 3,000 years of recorded history, and remained China's cultural, economical, and political center until approximately 1,000 years ago.
Zhang Ge (張格), courtesy name Chengzhi (承之), nickname Yishi (義師), was a politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Former Shu, serving two stints as chancellor. Zhang was instrumental in persuading Former Shu's founding emperor Wang Jian into designating his youngest son Wang Zongyan as his heir.
In 905, Yang Xingmi died. His subordinates met with Li Yan and requested Li Yan to bestow on his son and designated successor Yang Wo the titles of military governor of Huainan, supreme commander of the southeastern circuits, honorary chancellor title of Shizhong (侍中), and Prince of Hongnong — a lesser title to Yang Xingmi's Prince of Wu title. Li Yan did so. [5]
Yang Wo (楊渥), courtesy name Chengtian (承天), formally Prince Wei of Hongnong (弘農威王), later further posthumously honored King Jing of Wu (吳景王) and then as Emperor Jing of Wu (吳景帝) with the temple name Liezu (烈祖), was the first independent ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu.
During Hongnong/Wu
In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Emperor Zhaozong's son and successor Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. Several regional governors, including Yang Wo, Li Maozhen, Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), and Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan, refused to recognize the Later Liang emperor. Wang Jian founded his own state of Former Shu, while Yang, Li Maozhen, and Li Keyong theoretically remained vassals of the defunct Tang state, but were in effect sovereigns of their own separate states (Hongnong, Qi, and Jin respectively). [6]
Emperor Ai of Tang, also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan (昭宣帝), born Li Zuo, later known as Li Chu, was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned—as but a puppet ruler—from 904 to 907. Emperor Ai was the son of Emperor Zhaozong.
The Later Liang, also known as Zhu Liang, was one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China. It was founded by Zhu Wen, posthumously known as Taizu of Later Liang, after he forced the last emperor of the Tang dynasty to abdicate in his favour. The Later Liang would last until 923 when it was destroyed by Later Tang.
Li Keyong was a Shatuo military governor (Jiedushi) during the late Tang Dynasty and was key to developing a base of power for the Shatuo in what is today Shanxi Province in China. His son, Li Cunxu would eventually become the founder of the Later Tang, arguably the first of many Conquest Dynasties in China.
In 908, Yang Wo was assassinated by his guard commanders Zhang Hao and Xu Wen, who declared his younger brother Yang Longyan the new Prince of Hongnong. Xu soon killed Zhang and took over as regent of the Hongnong state. Under the requests of the Hongnong officials, Li Yan, still serving as Emperor Zhaozong's representative, bestowed on Yang Longyan the titles of military governor of Huainan, the supreme commander of the eastern circuits, honorary chancellor title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), and Prince of Hongnong. [6]
In 910, Wan Quangan (萬全感), the emissary that Yang Longyan sent to Qi to deliver the news of Yang Wo's death, returned to Hongnong, and declared that Li Maozhen had, in the name of the Tang emperor, bestowed on Yang Longyan the title of Zhongshu Ling and ordered that he inherit Yang Xingmi's greater title of Prince of Wu. Yang Longyan accepted and declared a general pardon within Wu territory. [7] Still, apparently believing that this was insufficiently formal, in 912, Xu, along with the senior Wu generals Liu Wei (劉威) and Tao Ya (陶雅), went to see Li Yan and requested that he, as Emperor Zhaozong's representative, bestow the Prince of Wu title on Yang Longyan and also give him the title of Taishi (太師, one of the Three Excellencies). Li Yan did so. [8]
By 918, Xu had left the Wu capital Guangling (廣陵) and was taking up defensive position at Sheng Prefecture (昇州, i.e., Shangyuan), leaving his son Xu Zhixun as the junior regent at Guangling, overseeing the policy decisions of the Wu government. Xu Zhixun, however, was arrogant and violent, alienating the other Wu officials and generals, including Zhu Jin, who, as titularly the deputy supreme commander of the circuits, carried a higher position than Xu Zhixun, formally. Xu Zhixun tried to send Zhu out of the capital by making him the military governor of a new Jinghuai Circuit (靜淮, headquartered at modern Huai'an, Jiangsu). Zhu, angered, assassinated him but then committed suicide after being cornered by Xu Wen's subordinate Zhai Qian (翟虔). By that point, Li Yan had been residing at Hailing (海陵, in modern Taizhou, Jiangsu) and was said to be in poverty. [9] As he was friendly with Zhu, [1] Xu Wen believed that he was complicit in Zhu's assassination of Xu Zhixun, and so had Li executed, along with the general Mi Zhicheng (米志誠), whom he also suspected of collaborating with Zhu. [9] It was said that the people, knowing that Li was not involved, lamented his death. [1]
Ma Yin, courtesy name Batu (霸圖), formally King Wumu of Chu (楚武穆王), was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who became the first ruler of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Chu and the only one who carried the title of "king." He initially took control of the Changsha region in 896 after the death of his predecessor Liu Jianfeng, and subsequently increased his territorial hold to roughly modern Hunan and northeastern Guangxi, which became the territory of Chu.
Li Maozhen, born Song Wentong (宋文通), courtesy name Zhengchen (正臣), formally Prince Zhongjing of Qin (秦忠敬王), was the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi (901–924). He had become a powerful warlord during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, the penultimate emperor of the preceding Tang Dynasty, with his power centered on his capital Fengxiang, and at times had effective control of Emperor Zhaozong. However, his power gradually waned due to defeats at the hands of fellow warlords Wang Jian and Zhu Quanzhong. After Zhu usurped the Tang throne and established Later Liang, Li Maozhen refused to submit and continued to use the Tang-bestowed title of Prince of Qi as well as maintain the Tang era name, but his territory became even more reduced due to wars with Former Shu and Later Liang. After Later Liang was conquered by Later Tang, whose Emperor Zhuangzong claimed to be a legitimate successor of Tang, Li Maozhen submitted as a subject and was created the Prince of Qin in 924. He died soon thereafter, and was succeeded as by his son Li Jiyan as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Fengxiang, but as Li Jiyan was not made the Prince of Qi or Qin at that point, this was typically viewed as the end of Qi as an independent state.
Yang Pu (楊溥), formally Emperor Rui of Wu (吳睿帝), known as Emperor Gaoshang Sixuan Honggu Rang or, in short, Emperor Rang, while still living during the initial months of succeeding Southern Tang, was the last ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu, and the only one that claimed the title of emperor. During his reign, the state was in effective control of the regents Xu Wen and Xu Wen's adoptive son and successor Xu Zhigao. In 938, Xu Zhigao forced Yang Pu to yield the throne to him, who then established Southern Tang.
Du Rangneng (杜讓能) (841–893), courtesy name Qunyi (群懿), formally the Duke of Jin (晉公), was an official of the late Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xizong and Emperor Xizong's brother Emperor Zhaozong. Early in Emperor Zhaozong's reign, against Du's recommendations, Emperor Zhaozong planned a campaign against the warlord Li Maozhen and put Du in charge of the campaign. After Li subsequently defeated the imperial forces, he marched on the capital Chang'an and demanded Du's death, and Emperor Zhaozong was forced to order Du to commit suicide.
Queen Dowager Shi was a concubine of the late-Tang Dynasty warlord Yang Xingmi and the mother of two of Yang Xingmi's sons, Yang Wo and Yang Longyan, both of whom would become rulers of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu, and thus was a queen dowager of Wu.
Zhu Jin (朱瑾) (867-918) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who would later be a major general of the Wu state during the subsequent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In the late Tang years, Zhu Jin, as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Taining Circuit would form a power bloc with his cousin Zhu Xuan the military governor of Tianping Circuit, but they were both eventually defeated by Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit. Zhu Xuan was killed, and Zhu Jin fled to the domain of Yang Xingmi the military governor of Huainan Circuit ; he would thereafter serve under Yang and Yang's successors, whose domain formed the Wu state eventually. In 918, angry at the arrogance of the Wu junior regent Xu Zhixun, he assassinated Xu Zhixun, but Xu Wen's troops attacked him; he committed suicide when he saw that there was no escape.
Wang Shifan (王師範) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who ruled Pinglu Circuit from 889 to 905. He was initially a vassal of the powerful military governor of Xuanwu Circuit, Zhu Quanzhong, but rose against Zhu in 903 in response to an edict issued by Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. After he was defeated by Zhu, he resubmitted to Zhu. In 908, by which point Zhu had taken over the Tang throne and established a new Later Liang as its Emperor Taizu, in response to the plea by the wife of Emperor Taizu's nephew Zhu Youning (朱友寧), who was killed in Wang's resistance campaign, Emperor Taizu ordered that Wang and his entire family be executed.
Zhao Kuangning (趙匡凝), courtesy name Guangyi (光儀), formally the Prince of Chu (楚王), was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who ruled Zhongyi Circuit as its military governor (Jiedushi) from 892 until his defeat in 905 by Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit.
Zhang Hao (張顥) was a guard commander for late Chinese Tang Dynasty warlord Yang Xingmi the Prince of Wu, who was the military governor (Jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit, and Yang Xingmi's son Yang Wo early in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Along with fellow guard commander Xu Wen, he took over reins of the Hongnong state by effectively putting Yang Wo under physical control. In 908, fearing that Yang Wo was about to seize power back and kill them, they assassinated him first. However, they then turned on each other, and Zhang was killed by Xu, who then took sole rein of Hongnong.
Xu Wen (徐溫), courtesy name Dunmei (敦美), formally Prince Zhongwu of Qi (齊忠武王), later further posthumously honored Emperor Wu (武皇帝) with the temple name Yizu (義祖) by his adoptive son Xu Zhigao after Xu Zhigao founded the state of Southern Tang, was a major general and regent of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu. He took over the reins of the Wu state after assassinating, with his colleague Zhang Hao, Yang Wo, the first Prince of Hongnong, and then killing Zhang. Xu was in essence the decision-maker throughout the reign of Yang Wo's brother and successor Yang Longyan and the first part of the reign of Yang Longyan's brother and successor Yang Pu. After his death, Xu Zhigao inherited his position as regent, eventually seizing the Wu throne and establishing Southern Tang.
Li Jihui (李繼徽), né Yang Chongben (楊崇本), was a warlord in the late Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi, who ruled Jingnan Circuit as its military governor (Jiedushi).
Yan Keqiu (嚴可求) was a key official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu, as the chief strategist for the Wu regent Xu Wen and each of Wu's three rulers, Yang Wo, Yang Longyan, and Yang Pu.
Yang Longyan (楊隆演), né Yang Ying (楊瀛), also known as Yang Wei (楊渭), courtesy name Hongyuan (鴻源), formally King Xuan of Wu (吳宣王), later further posthumously honored Emperor Xuan of Wu (吳宣帝) with the temple name of Gaozu (高祖), was a king of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Wu. He became its ruler and carried the title of Prince of Hongnong after the assassination of his brother Yang Wo in 908, but throughout his reign, the governance of the Hongnong/Wu state was under the effective control of the regent Xu Wen.
Li Decheng (李德誠), formally Prince Zhongyi of Zhao (趙忠懿王), was a prominent general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Wu. He and his family would remain highly honored during the time of Wu's successor state Southern Tang.
Xu Jie (徐玠) (868-943), courtesy name Yungui (蘊圭), formally the Prince of Gaoping (高平王), was an officer of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Wu and Southern Tang, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Southern Tang's first emperor Li Bian.
