Liang Chongyi
Encyclopedia
Liang Chongyi (died 781) was a general of the Chinese
dynasty Tang Dynasty
. During the reign of Emperor Daizong
, Liang took advantage of the army's discontent after the death of the general Lai Tian (來瑱) to seize control of Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangfan
, Hubei
) and hold it semi-independently from the imperial regime. After Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong
became emperor, however, he was defeated by another general then-loyal to the imperial government, Li Xilie
, and committed suicide as his headquarters were falling.
. He became known for his strength and was said to be able to fold gold and straighten out metal hooks. He became an archer in the imperial guards and later served under the general Lai Tian in Tang's struggle against rebel Yan
forces during the Anshi Rebellion. He was said to be silent and liked by other soldiers, and eventually became an officer. He continued to follow Lai late in the Anshi Rebellion as Lai became the military governor (jiedushi
) of Shannan East Circuit. During this time, Lai became hesitant to periodically visit Chang'an to pay respect to Emperor Suzong
, because of his poor relationships with the powerful eunuchs, led by Li Fuguo
.
After Emperor Suzong's death in 762, Emperor Suzong's son and successor Emperor Daizong
, then under heavy influence by Li Fuguo (as Li Fuguo held the command of the imperial guards and therefore controlled the capital), tried to remove Lai from his power base by moving him to Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Zhumadian
, Henan
). Lai, however, was fearful of the move, and both he and his army favored staying in Shannan East, and so declined the move to Huaixi. Emperor Daizong relented and kept him at Shannan East. After Li Fuguo was removed from power later in the year, however, Lai accepted honorary titles as the minister of defense and chancellor and reported to Chang'an to meet Emperor Daizong. Once he got to Chang'an, however, his old enmity with the new eunuch in charge of the imperial guards, Cheng Yuanzhen
, flared up, and Cheng induced another official, Wang Zhongsheng (王仲升), into accusing Lai being complicit with Yan generals during the Anshi Rebellion. Lai was removed from his posts and exiled, but was further ordered to commit suicide on the way to exile.
Prior to Lai's visiting Chang'an, however, he had left several key officers stationed at various prefectures of Shannan East. When they heard of Lai's death, they, including Liang, who was then at Nanyang (南陽, in modern Nanyang, Henan
), fled their posts back to Xiang Prefecture (襄州), the capital prefecture for Shannan East. Neither he nor two other officers, Li Zhao (李昭) and Xue Nanyang (薛南陽), was initially willing to claim leadership, but the soldiers supported him, and so he took command. He soon executed Li and Xue and blamed the disturbance on them. Emperor Daizong was unable to do anything against Liang at that point, so he made Liang the reserve military governor, and shortly after military governor, of Shannan East. Liang took Lai's body and reburied it with honor, and further built a temple dedicated to Lai. He went as far as to avoid using Lai's old office and main hall, to show respect.
, Tian Chengsi
, Li Baochen
, Li Zhengji
, and Li Huaixian
. The imperial government was unable to do anything about them and was content with nominal submission from them. Overall, he controlled six prefectures. However, as, unlike his allies, he was completely surrounded by circuits loyal to the imperial government, and also had the weakest army among the six, he tended to be the most respectful to the imperial government and occasionally followed imperial decrees. Nevertheless, after Emperor Daizong's death in 779, when his relatives advised him that he should visit Chang'an to pay respect to the new emperor, Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong
, Liang stated:
and Li Na
), respectively, to succeed as military governors of their circuits (Chengde (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang
, Hebei
) and Pinglu (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an
, Shandong
)). Li Weiyue and Li Na, along with Tian Chengsi's successor Tian Yue
, therefore prepared for war against the imperial government, as did Liang Chongyi, particularly since Li Xilie
, the military governor of Huaixi, had repeatedly requested imperial approval to attack Liang. When a certain Guo Xi (郭昔) accused Liang of treason, however, Emperor Dezong, in order to placate Liang, had Guo caned and exiled, and then sent the official Li Zhou (李舟) to Xiang Prefecture to try to comfort Liang. Li Zhou's mission, however, had the opposite effect, as Li Zhou's prior mission to another rebellious general, Liu Wenxi (劉文喜), was followed by Liu's soldiers rising against him and killing him, and it was rumored that Li Zhou had an ability to turn rebellious generals' subordinates against them. Therefore, as Li Zhou reached the borders of Shannan East, Liang refused him entry and requested another imperial messenger. Because Emperor Dezong was then preparing for war against Chengde and Pinglu, he did not want another war with Shannan East at the moment. He therefore sent another official, Zhang Zhuo (張著), to Shannan East, honoring Liang with the honorary title as chancellor, creating his wife as a lady, bestowing on him an iron certificate (guaranteeing that he would not be put to death), and summoning him to Chang'an. He also accepted Liang's prior recommendation that one of the officers he favored, Lin Gao (藺杲), be made the prefect of Deng Prefecture (鄧州, in modern Nanyang). After Zhang arrived at Xiang Prefecture, Liang hesitated about what to do, as did Lin, who did not dare to accept the post without Liang's approval. Liang, after some thought, wept in Zhang's presence but still refused to visit Chang'an.
In reaction, Emperor Dezong created Li Xilie the Prince of Nanping and put in him charge of the operations against Liang. Meanwhile, Liang launched a preemptive attack against Jiangling, hoping to capture it and gain access to the south. However, he was defeated at Siwang (四望, in modern Xiangfan) and retreated back to Xiang Prefecture. He gathered his troops and concentrated them in Xiang and Deng Prefectures, while Li Xilie gathered the forces and headed northwest on the Han River
toward Xiang Prefecture. Liang attacked some of Li Xilie's troops stationed at Linhan (臨漢, near Xiang Prefecture), slaughtering them, but subsequently, when Li Xilie's main troops arrived, Liang's generals Zhai Hui (翟暉) and Du Shaocheng (杜少誠) was defeated by Li Xilie at Man River (蠻水, flowing through modern Xiangfan) and then Shukou (疎口, also in modern Xiangfan). Zhai and Du surrendered to Li Xilie, and Li Xilie ordered them to take their troops to enter Xiangyang (the capital of Xiang Prefecture) first. Liang ordered resistance, but his troops opened the gates and fled outside. Liang, seeing no escape, committed suicide with his wife and children by jumping into a well. Li Xilie took his body out from the well, cut off the head, and sent it to Chang'an. Li Xilie also slaughtered Liang's relatives and friends, as well as 3,000 soldiers who had participated in the Battle of Linhan.
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
dynasty Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. During the reign of Emperor Daizong
Emperor Daizong of Tang
Emperor Daizong of Tang , personal name Li Yu , né Li Chu , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty....
, Liang took advantage of the army's discontent after the death of the general Lai Tian (來瑱) to seize control of Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangfan
Xiangfan
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in Hubei Province of the People's Republic of China. It was formed from two famous ancient cities, Xiangyang and Fancheng...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
) and hold it semi-independently from the imperial regime. After Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong
Emperor Dezong of Tang
Emperor Dezong of Tang , personally name Li Kuo , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and the oldest son of his father Emperor Daizong. His reign of 26 years was the third longest in the Tang dynasty...
became emperor, however, he was defeated by another general then-loyal to the imperial government, Li Xilie
Li Xilie
Li Xilie was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who, believing himself to be strong enough to claim imperial title, did so as the emperor of a new state of Chu...
, and committed suicide as his headquarters were falling.
Background
It is not known when Liang Chongyi was born, but it is known that his family was from the Tang capital Chang'anChang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
. He became known for his strength and was said to be able to fold gold and straighten out metal hooks. He became an archer in the imperial guards and later served under the general Lai Tian in Tang's struggle against rebel Yan
Yan (Anshi)
Yan , also known as the Great Yan , was a state established in 756 by the Tang Dynasty general An Lushan, after he rebelled against the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in 755. The state was extinguished in 763, with the death of An Lushan's former subordinate, Shi Siming's son, Shi Chaoyi, who...
forces during the Anshi Rebellion. He was said to be silent and liked by other soldiers, and eventually became an officer. He continued to follow Lai late in the Anshi Rebellion as Lai became the military governor (jiedushi
Jiedushi
The Jiedushi were regional military governors in China during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Originally set up to counter external threats, the jiedushi were given enormous power, including the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their...
) of Shannan East Circuit. During this time, Lai became hesitant to periodically visit Chang'an to pay respect to Emperor Suzong
Emperor Suzong of Tang
Emperor Suzong of Tang , personal name Li Heng , né Li Sisheng , known as Li Jun from 725 to 736, known as Li Yu from 736 to 738, known briefly as Li Shao in 738, was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the son of Emperor Xuanzong...
, because of his poor relationships with the powerful eunuchs, led by Li Fuguo
Li Fuguo
Li Fuguo , né Li Jingzhong , known from 757 to 758 as Li Huguo , formally Prince Chou of Bolu , was a eunuch official during the reign of Emperor Suzong of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty...
.
After Emperor Suzong's death in 762, Emperor Suzong's son and successor Emperor Daizong
Emperor Daizong of Tang
Emperor Daizong of Tang , personal name Li Yu , né Li Chu , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty....
, then under heavy influence by Li Fuguo (as Li Fuguo held the command of the imperial guards and therefore controlled the capital), tried to remove Lai from his power base by moving him to Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Zhumadian
Zhumadian
Zhumadian is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of Anhui to the east.Its population is 7,230,744 at the...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
). Lai, however, was fearful of the move, and both he and his army favored staying in Shannan East, and so declined the move to Huaixi. Emperor Daizong relented and kept him at Shannan East. After Li Fuguo was removed from power later in the year, however, Lai accepted honorary titles as the minister of defense and chancellor and reported to Chang'an to meet Emperor Daizong. Once he got to Chang'an, however, his old enmity with the new eunuch in charge of the imperial guards, Cheng Yuanzhen
Cheng Yuanzhen
Cheng Yuanzhen was a eunuch official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He was exceedingly powerful early in the reign of Emperor Daizong and was said to, in his attempts to consolidate his power, have killed or demoted a number of key generals and officials on his own whim, and thus drew the...
, flared up, and Cheng induced another official, Wang Zhongsheng (王仲升), into accusing Lai being complicit with Yan generals during the Anshi Rebellion. Lai was removed from his posts and exiled, but was further ordered to commit suicide on the way to exile.
Prior to Lai's visiting Chang'an, however, he had left several key officers stationed at various prefectures of Shannan East. When they heard of Lai's death, they, including Liang, who was then at Nanyang (南陽, in modern Nanyang, Henan
Nanyang, Henan
Nanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, People's Republic of China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the north, Sanmenxia to the...
), fled their posts back to Xiang Prefecture (襄州), the capital prefecture for Shannan East. Neither he nor two other officers, Li Zhao (李昭) and Xue Nanyang (薛南陽), was initially willing to claim leadership, but the soldiers supported him, and so he took command. He soon executed Li and Xue and blamed the disturbance on them. Emperor Daizong was unable to do anything against Liang at that point, so he made Liang the reserve military governor, and shortly after military governor, of Shannan East. Liang took Lai's body and reburied it with honor, and further built a temple dedicated to Lai. He went as far as to avoid using Lai's old office and main hall, to show respect.
As Jiedushi
Liang Chongyi soon began to govern the circuit as a semi-independent realm from imperial authority, and he was allied with several other generals in the same position -- Xue SongXue Song
Xue Song , formally the Prince of Pingyang , was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled...
, Tian Chengsi
Tian Chengsi
Tian Chengsi , formally the Prince of Yanmen , was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled...
, Li Baochen
Li Baochen
Li Baochen , originally named Zhang Zhongzhi , courtesy name Weifu , known as An Zhongzhi during the Anshi Rebellion and Zhang Baochen 778–779, formally the Prince of Longxi , was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from...
, Li Zhengji
Li Zhengji
- Background :Li Huaiyu was born in 733, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. He was born in Tang's Pinglu Circuit...
, and Li Huaixian
Li Huaixian
Li Huaixian was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled...
. The imperial government was unable to do anything about them and was content with nominal submission from them. Overall, he controlled six prefectures. However, as, unlike his allies, he was completely surrounded by circuits loyal to the imperial government, and also had the weakest army among the six, he tended to be the most respectful to the imperial government and occasionally followed imperial decrees. Nevertheless, after Emperor Daizong's death in 779, when his relatives advised him that he should visit Chang'an to pay respect to the new emperor, Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong
Emperor Dezong of Tang
Emperor Dezong of Tang , personally name Li Kuo , was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and the oldest son of his father Emperor Daizong. His reign of 26 years was the third longest in the Tang dynasty...
, Liang stated:
Death
As of 781, however, things came to a head when two of the generals that Liang was allied with, Li Baochen and Li Zhengji, died, and Emperor Dezong refused to allow their sons (Li WeiyueLi Weiyue
Li Weiyue was the son of the Chinese Tang Dynasty general Li Baochen. After Li Baochen's death in 781, Li Weiyue tried to succeed his father as the de facto ruler of Chengde Circuit and waged a campaign against the imperial government when Emperor Dezong refused to let him do so...
and Li Na
Li Na (Tang Dynasty)
Li Na , formally the Prince of Longxi , was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. Inheriting the post from his father Li Zhengji, he served as the military governor of Pinglu Circuit semi-independently from the imperial government.- Background :Li Na was born in 758, during the reign of...
), respectively, to succeed as military governors of their circuits (Chengde (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about south of Beijing...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
) and Pinglu (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an
Tai'an
Tai'an is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, People's Republic of China.Centered around Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Laiwu to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to the extreme west and Jining to the south...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
)). Li Weiyue and Li Na, along with Tian Chengsi's successor Tian Yue
Tian Yue
Tian Yue , formally the Prince of Jiyang , was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who, from 782 to 784, claimed the title of Prince of Wei independent from the Tang regime...
, therefore prepared for war against the imperial government, as did Liang Chongyi, particularly since Li Xilie
Li Xilie
Li Xilie was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who, believing himself to be strong enough to claim imperial title, did so as the emperor of a new state of Chu...
, the military governor of Huaixi, had repeatedly requested imperial approval to attack Liang. When a certain Guo Xi (郭昔) accused Liang of treason, however, Emperor Dezong, in order to placate Liang, had Guo caned and exiled, and then sent the official Li Zhou (李舟) to Xiang Prefecture to try to comfort Liang. Li Zhou's mission, however, had the opposite effect, as Li Zhou's prior mission to another rebellious general, Liu Wenxi (劉文喜), was followed by Liu's soldiers rising against him and killing him, and it was rumored that Li Zhou had an ability to turn rebellious generals' subordinates against them. Therefore, as Li Zhou reached the borders of Shannan East, Liang refused him entry and requested another imperial messenger. Because Emperor Dezong was then preparing for war against Chengde and Pinglu, he did not want another war with Shannan East at the moment. He therefore sent another official, Zhang Zhuo (張著), to Shannan East, honoring Liang with the honorary title as chancellor, creating his wife as a lady, bestowing on him an iron certificate (guaranteeing that he would not be put to death), and summoning him to Chang'an. He also accepted Liang's prior recommendation that one of the officers he favored, Lin Gao (藺杲), be made the prefect of Deng Prefecture (鄧州, in modern Nanyang). After Zhang arrived at Xiang Prefecture, Liang hesitated about what to do, as did Lin, who did not dare to accept the post without Liang's approval. Liang, after some thought, wept in Zhang's presence but still refused to visit Chang'an.
In reaction, Emperor Dezong created Li Xilie the Prince of Nanping and put in him charge of the operations against Liang. Meanwhile, Liang launched a preemptive attack against Jiangling, hoping to capture it and gain access to the south. However, he was defeated at Siwang (四望, in modern Xiangfan) and retreated back to Xiang Prefecture. He gathered his troops and concentrated them in Xiang and Deng Prefectures, while Li Xilie gathered the forces and headed northwest on the Han River
Han River (Hanshui)
The Han River is a left tributary of the Yangtze River with a length of 1532 km. Historically it was referred to as Hànshuǐ and the name is still occasionally used today....
toward Xiang Prefecture. Liang attacked some of Li Xilie's troops stationed at Linhan (臨漢, near Xiang Prefecture), slaughtering them, but subsequently, when Li Xilie's main troops arrived, Liang's generals Zhai Hui (翟暉) and Du Shaocheng (杜少誠) was defeated by Li Xilie at Man River (蠻水, flowing through modern Xiangfan) and then Shukou (疎口, also in modern Xiangfan). Zhai and Du surrendered to Li Xilie, and Li Xilie ordered them to take their troops to enter Xiangyang (the capital of Xiang Prefecture) first. Liang ordered resistance, but his troops opened the gates and fled outside. Liang, seeing no escape, committed suicide with his wife and children by jumping into a well. Li Xilie took his body out from the well, cut off the head, and sent it to Chang'an. Li Xilie also slaughtered Liang's relatives and friends, as well as 3,000 soldiers who had participated in the Battle of Linhan.