Liu Xu (Chinese :劉昫; 888–947), [1] courtesy name Yaoyuan (耀遠), formally the Duke of Qiao (譙公), was a Chinese historian and politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period states Later Tang and Later Jin, serving as a chancellor during both of those short-lived dynasties. He was the lead editor of the Old Book of Tang , one of the official histories of the preceding Tang dynasty, completed during Later Jin, although most of the work was probably completed during the term of his predecessor Zhao Ying.
Liu Xu was born in 887, during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang. His family was from Zhuo Prefecture (涿州, in modern Baoding, Hebei). His grandfather Liu Cheng (劉乘) and father Liu Yin (劉因) both served as officers at You Prefecture (幽州, in modern Beijing). [1]
It was said that in his youth, Liu Xu was known for his handsome appearance and his literary abilities, and both his older brother Liu Xuan (rendered 劉晅 in the History of the Five Dynasties [1] and 劉暄 in the New History of the Five Dynasties [2] ) and younger brother Liu Hao (劉皞) were known in their home territory. Sometime during the Tianyou era (904-907), there was a time when forces of the Khitan captured Zhuo, and Liu Xu was captured and taken to Xin Prefecture (新州, in modern Zhangjiakou, Hebei), but he escaped his Khitan captors. He later took up residence at Mount Daning (大寧山), living with Lü Mengqi (呂夢奇) (later a Later Tang official as well) and Zhang Lin (張麟), spending the time reciting and writing poems. [1]
At one point, Wang Chuzhi, then ruling Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding) as its military governor ( Jiedushi ), commissioned his adoptive son Wang Du as the prefect of Yi Prefecture (易州, in modern Baoding). Wang Du invited Liu to serve on his staff as his secretary in military matters. Later, after Wang Du completed his term as the prefect of Yi [1] — probably at the time that Wang Chuzhi commissioned Wang Du as the deputy military governor of Yiwu [3] [4] — Liu requested to leave governmental service. Instead, Wang Du invited him to go to Yiwu's capital Zhongshan (中山) with Wang Du. At that time, Liu Xu's older brother Liu Xuan also arrived from Zhuo, and Wang Du recommended both of them to his father Wang Chuzhi. Wang Chuzhi commissioned Liu Xu as his secretary in headquarter matters, and shortly after promoted to him to be the secretary in Wang Chuzhi's role as governor (觀察使, Guanchashi). [1]
About two years later, [1] in 921, Wang Du seized control of the circuit from his father Wang Chuzhi in a coup. [3] As one of Wang Du's close associates, He Shaowei (和少微), had previous disputes with Liu Xuan, he made false accusations against Liu Xuan, and Wang Du killed Liu Xuan. Liu Xu fled the circuit, and took up residence at Cang Prefecture (滄州, in modern Cangzhou, Hebei), in Jin territory. The military governor of Henghai Circuit (橫海, headquartered at Cang Prefecture), Li Cunshen, invited him to serve as secretary. [1]
After Li Cunshen's lord and adoptive brother Li Cunxu the Prince of Jin claimed the title of emperor (of a new Later Tang) in 923, [5] he made Liu Xu a Taichang Boshi (太常博士), a scholar at the ministry of worship (太常寺, Taichang Si), and shortly after an imperial scholar (翰林學士, Hanlin Xueshi). He was also made Shanbu Yuanwailang (膳部員外郎), a low-level official at the ministry of rites (禮部, Libu), and later promoted to be Bibu Langzhong (比部郎中), a supervisory official at the ministry of justice (刑部, Xingbu). He later left governmental service for some time when his mother died, to observe a period of mourning. After the period was complete, he was made Kubu Langzhong (庫部郎中), a supervisory official at the ministry of defense (兵部, Bingbu), and also resumed his role as imperial scholar. [1]
Li Cunxu was killed in a mutiny in 926, and his adoptive brother Li Siyuan became emperor. [6] After Li Siyuan became emperor, Liu Xu was made a Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng); he later also assumed the posts of deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, Hubu Shilang) and scholar at Duanming Hall (端明殿). It was said that Li Siyuan respected him for his gracefulness and favored him for his mild disposition. [1]
In 933, Liu was given the titles of Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎, deputy head of the legislative bureau) and Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making him a chancellor; [7] he was also made the minister of justice (刑部尚書, Xingbu Shangshu). [1]
Li Siyuan died in 933, and was initially succeeded by his son Li Conghou the Prince of Song. [7] However, in 934, Li Conghou's chiefs of staff ( Shumishi ) Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, not wanting his older adoptive brother Li Congke the Prince of Lu and his brother-in-law Shi Jingtang to become too entrenched at their circuits, transferred them both, causing Li Congke to rebel in fear at his military command at Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), believing that they were targeting him for elimination. Li Congke quickly defeated the imperial forces sent against him, and thereafter headed for the imperial capital Luoyang. As he approached Luoyang, Li Conghou fled Luoyang in panic, while Zhu committed suicide and Feng was killed by the imperial guard general An Congjin. An thereafter requested that the three chancellors — Liu Xu and his colleagues Feng Dao and Li Yu — lead the civilian officials in welcoming Li Congke. The three chancellors conferred with each other and initially were unsure what to do, but with An rushing them, agreed to welcome Li Congke, who subsequently entered Luoyang and claimed the throne. (He subsequently sent emissaries to kill Li Conghou.) [8]
After Li Congke took the throne, he put Liu in charge of the three financial agencies (taxation, treasury, and salt and iron monopolies), after the official Wang Mei (王玫), whom he initially put in charge of the three agencies, was found to inflate the amount of treasury reserves. [8] He was also given the additional titles of minister of civil service affairs (吏部尚書, Libu Shangshu) and Menxia Shilang (門下侍郎, deputy head of the examination bureau (門下省, Menxia Sheng)). [1] Shortly after, Feng Dao, one of whose children had married one of Liu's children, was sent out of the capital to serve as the military governor of Kuangguo Circuit (匡國, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi), leaving Liu and Li Yu serving as chancellors. Without Feng to moderate them, they quickly developed frequent arguments, as Liu was said to be critical and paying attention to details, while Li Yu was said to be strong-willed, particularly because when they discussed what changes might be necessary, Li Yu would satirize Liu and Feng's children's marital relationship by stating, "This was the doing of your wise marital relations. Is it not right to change it?" With them in frequent disputes, not much was being done at the office of the chancellors, causing much aggravation for Li Congke. Li Congke thus made Lu Wenji an additional chancellor. [8]
Meanwhile, after Liu took over the three financial agencies from Wang, he had his secretary Gao Yanshang (高延賞) carefully go through the records to see how much money the treasury actually still had. He discovered that much of the purported treasury reserves were in fact uncollectible debts that the administrators kept on the books to use as excuses to harshly collect from the people. Liu reported this to Li Congke and advocated a two-pronged approach — that the government make all efforts to collect the collectible debts but forgive the uncollectible ones. Li Congke's chief of staff Han Zhaoyin concurred in this, and Li Congke issued an edict forgiving much of the debts that were accumulated from before Li Siyuan's Changxing era (930-933). The poor were very thankful, but the administrators at the three agencies resented Liu for this reform. When, shortly after, Liu and Li Yu were removed from their chancellor posts, with Liu being made You Pushe (右僕射) and no longer in charge of the three agencies, the administrators were all celebrating, and none of them accompanied Liu on his journey back to his mansion, as was customary. [8]
In 936, Shi Jingtang rebelled against Li Congke at Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) and, with support from Khitan Empire's Emperor Taizong, overthrew Li Congke, ending Later Tang and starting his own Later Jin. [9] However, for quite some time, his realm was not pacified, and in 937, when the major general Fan Yanguang rose against Shi at Tianxion Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), the general Zhang Congbin (張從賓) rose at Luoyang (which was no longer capital at that point — Kaifeng was) in support of Fan and killed Shi's sons Shi Chongxin (石重信) the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan) and Shi Chong'ai (石重乂) the acting defender of Luoyang, whom Shi Jingtang left in charge of the region. After Zhang's rebellion was suppressed shortly after, [10] Shi Jingtang made Liu Xu the defender of Luoyang and the acting mayor of Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region), and soon thereafter put him back in charge of the directorate of salt and iron monopolies. [1]
In 938, when Shi was offering grand honorable titles to Emperor Taizong (who might have changed the name of his state from Khitan to Liao by that point) and Emperor Taizong's mother Empress Dowager Shulü, he sent Feng Dao and Liu to Khitan to do so, with Feng in charge of offering the honors to Empress Dowager Shulü and Liu in charge of offering the honors to Emperor Taizong. [10] Upon their return, Liu was given the titles of Taizi Taibao (太子太保) and Zuo Pushe (左僕射), and created the Duke of Qiao. (His Taizi Taibao title was shortly after changed to Taizi Taifu (太子太傅).) [1]
In 944, by which time Shi Jingtang had died and been succeeded by his nephew Shi Chonggui — at which time Later Jin was constantly at war with Liao due to Shi Chonggui's defiance toward Liao — Liu Xu was again made Menxia Shilang and chancellor, as well as Sikong (司空). [11] He was also put in charge of editing the imperial history and directing the three financial agencies. [1] In 945, it was therefore he and the historian Zhang Zhaoyuan (張昭遠) who presented the newly completed Old Book of Tang to Shi Chonggui, and were rewarded for the work. [12] (However, Zhao Ying, who had served as chancellor during Shi Jingtang's reign, appeared to have begun the work with five other historians, including Zhang, in or shortly before 941.) [1] [13] Also in 945, when Shi Chonggui's close associates Feng Yu (the brother of Shi Chonggui's wife Empress Feng) and Li Yangtao (李彥韜) were repeatedly defaming the chancellor-chief of staff Sang Weihan, Shi considered removing Sang from his posts, but at the urging of Liu and fellow chancellor Li Song, did not do so, although he made Feng Yu a chief of staff as well to divide Sang's authorities. [11]
In 946, after Shi Chonggui sent the generals Du Wei and Li Shouzhen to attack Liao, Liao's Emperor Taizong counterattacked, surrounding Du and Li and getting them to surrender to him. He then attacked south toward Kaifeng, which was left undefended. Shi surrendered, ending Later Jin. [14] Emperor Taizong thereafter, in early 947, declared himself the emperor of China as well. For sometime, Liu and the other Later Jin chancellors remained chancellor, but Liu shortly after requested to resign based on an eye ailment. He was allowed to do so, and was given the title of Taibao. When Emperor Taizong withdrew from Kaifeng later that year, he took many of the high-level former Later Jin officials with him, [15] but Liu was allowed to remain at Kaifeng due to his ailment. He died in the summer of 947. After the Later Jin general Liu Zhiyuan subsequently claimed the title of emperor of a new Later Han, he posthumously honored Liu. [1]
Li Song, nickname Dachou (大醜), was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Han, as well as the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. He was particularly prominent during Later Jin, when he served as chief of staff (Shumishi) and chancellor. During Later Han, he was falsely accused of treason and executed.
Shi Jingtang, also known by his temple name Gaozu (高祖), was the founding emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Jin during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, reigning from 936 until his death.
Liu Zhiyuan, later changed to Liu Gao (劉暠), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Han (後漢高祖), was the founding emperor of the Shatuo-led Later Han dynasty, the fourth of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was the older brother of the Northern Han founder Liu Min.
Feng Dao, courtesy name Kedao (可道), formally Prince Wenyi of Ying (瀛文懿王), was a Chinese inventor, printer, and politician. He was a Chinese governmental official during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, who served as a chancellor during the three of the latter four dynasties and was also an honored official during Later Han. For his contribution to improving block-printing process for printing Chinese written works, scholars have compared him to the German inventor and blacksmith Johannes Gutenberg. Traditional histories praised him for his various virtues but also vilified him for not being faithful to a single dynasty but being willing to serve a number of successive dynasties. Feng Dao is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.
Shi Chonggui (914–974), known in traditional Chinese historical sources as Emperor Chu of Later Jin or Emperor Shao of Later Jin, posthumously known in the Liao dynasty as the Prince of Jin (晉王), was the second and last emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Jin.
Li Congyan (李從曮), né Li Jiyan (李繼曮), formally the Prince of Qi (岐王), was a son and the heir of Li Maozhen, the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi. After Li Maozhen submitted to Later Tang and died shortly after, he continued to control the former Qi territory, as a Later Tang vassal, and subsequently served as a general for both Later Tang and its successor state Later Jin.
Consort Dowager Wang, who has another title Wang Taifei (王太妃), known commonly by her imperial consort title Shufei (王淑妃), nicknamed Huajianxiu, was a noble consort to Li Siyuan, the second emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Later Tang state. During Li Siyuan's reign, she, as his favorite concubine, exerted substantial influence within his administration. After the destruction of both Later Tang and its successor state Later Jin, her adoptive son Li Congyi was forced to claim imperial title by the evacuating Liao forces, and both she and he were subsequently killed by the succeeding Later Han's founding emperor Liu Zhiyuan.
Li Congyi, known as the Prince of Xu (許王), was an imperial prince of the Later Tang dynasty of China. He was the youngest son of its second emperor Li Siyuan. In the confusion of the destruction of the Later Tang's successor state, the Later Jin dynasty, he was forced into claiming imperial title by Xiao Han, a general of the Liao dynasty, and was subsequently killed by Liu Zhiyuan, the founder of the succeeding Later Han dynasty.
Fu Yanqing (符彥卿), né Li Yanqing (李彥卿), courtesy name Guanhou (冠侯), formally the Prince of Wei (魏王), nicknamed Fu Disi, was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou states, as well as the Liao dynasty and Song dynasty. He was one of the most celebrated generals of the period, and he was also the father of three daughters who received empress titles — two as successive empresses of the Later Zhou emperor Guo Rong, and one (posthumously) as a wife of Zhao Guangyi, who would become the second emperor of Song.
Zhang Yanlang was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Later Liang and Later Tang. He had his most powerful positions during the reign of Later Tang's last emperor Li Congke, as both chancellor and the director of the three financial agencies. After Li Congke was overthrown by his brother-in-law Shi Jingtang, who established his own Later Jin, Shi ordered Zhang be put to death.
Zhao Yanshou, né Liu Yanshou (劉延壽), formally the Prince of Wei (魏王), was a Chinese military general, monarch, poet, and politician. He served as major general of Later Tang of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, as well as the Khitan Liao dynasty. He first became prominent as a son-in-law of Later Tang's second emperor Li Siyuan, but was captured by Liao's Emperor Taizong when Later Tang fell. He subsequently served Emperor Taizong, who promised him that he would be made the emperor of China if helped Emperor Taizong destroy Later Tang's successor state Later Jin. Emperor Taizong reneged on the promise after doing so, however, leading to Zhao's attempt to seize Liao's Chinese territory after Emperor Taizong's death. He was, however, arrested by Emperor Taizong's nephew and successor Emperor Shizong and held until his death.
An Congjin was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period states Later Tang and Later Jin. In 941, he rebelled against the rule of Later Jin's founding emperor Shi Jingtang, but was defeated, and he then committed suicide.
Empress Li was a princess of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Tang and an empress of the succeeding Later Jin.
Zhao Ying, courtesy name Yuanhui (元輝), was a Chinese historian, military general, and politician of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Later Tang and Later Jin states, serving as a chancellor during Later Jin.
Sang Weihan (桑維翰), courtesy name Guoqiao (國僑), formally the Duke of Wei (魏公), was a Chinese historian, military general, poet, and politician of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Jin, serving as chief of staff (Shumishi) during the reigns of both of Later Jin's emperors, Shi Jingtang and Shi Chonggui. While not a soldier by training, he was said to be capable and respected as the overseer of the armies of the realm.
Jing Yanguang, courtesy name Hangchuan (航川), was a general and official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Later Jin state. He was instrumental in the enthronement of Later Jin's second emperor Shi Chonggui, and therefore became a powerful chancellor early in Shi Chonggui's reign. Under his advocacy, Shi Chonggui turned away from the peaceful, submissive relationship that Later Jin had with its northern neighbor Liao and became confrontational against Liao. The adversarial relationship continued even after Jing's removal as chancellor, such that Later Jin was eventually destroyed by a Liao invasion. Emperor Taizong took Jing captive, intending to deliver him to Liao proper, but Jing committed suicide.
Empress Feng was the empress and second wife of Shi Chonggui, the second and final emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Jin. She was previously the wife of his adoptive brother Shi Chongyin (石重胤).
He Ning (和凝), courtesy name Chengji (成績), formally the Duke of Lu (魯公), was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms PeriodLater Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou states, as well as the Khitan Liao state, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of both emperors of Later Jin, as well as during Liao's brief occupation of central China.
Liu Churang, courtesy name Deqian (德謙), was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Later Tang and Later Jin, serving as a chief of staff (Shumishi) during the reign of Later Jin's founding emperor Shi Jingtang.
Feng Yu, courtesy name Jingchen (璟臣), was a Chinese politician of the Later Tang, Later Jin, and the Liao dynasties of China. He was powerful during the reign of Later Jin's second emperor Shi Chonggui, as Shi's Empress Feng was his sister, and he became both chancellor and chief of staff (Shumishi). After Shi was defeated and taken captive by Liao's Emperor Taizong, Feng was taken to Liao as well and died there.
