Liu Zi (劉滋; 729 – November 19, 794),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Gongmao (公茂), was an official of the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, briefly serving as a

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

during the reign of Emperor Dezong.

Background

Liu Zi was born in 729, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family traced its ancestry to the imperial house of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

and a line of officials of the

Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty or Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the or the , was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty in China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had previou ...

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties during the ...

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

, and

. Liu Zi's grandfather Liu Zixuan was a prominent official and historian during Emperor Xuanzong's reign, and his father Liu Kuang (劉貺) continued in the role of historian thereafter.''Old Book of Tang''
vol. 136
.

Career prior to chancellorship

Because of his heritage, Liu Zi was made a scribe to the

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

when he was young. He later served as the magistrate of Lianshui County (漣水, in modern

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Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

). Thereafter, the deputy minister of civil service affairs, Yang Wan, recommended him as someone who can serve as an advisor to the emperor, and so he was recalled to be ''Zuo Bujue'' (左補闕), a low-level official at the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''). He later resigned in order to take care of his mother, then at the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

, and while there, Li Yi (李廙) the mayor of Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region) commissioned him to be a civil service officer. When his mother died, he left government service to observe a period of mourning for her. After the period of mourning was over, he was recalled to the imperial government to serve as ''Tuntian Yuanwailang'' (屯田員外郎), a low-level official at the ministry of public works (工部, ''Gongbu''). He later served as ''Sixun Yuanwailang'' (司勳員外郎), a low-level official at the ministry of civil service affairs (吏部, ''Lìbu''), but took on the additional responsibility of selecting low level officials. It was said that he was diligent in his duties and followed the law. He was later promoted to be ''Sixun Langzhong'' (司勳郎中), the supervisor of the officials who served as ''Sixun Yuanwailang'', and yet later became an imperial attendant (給事中, ''Jishizhong''). In 783, Emperor Xuanzong's great-grandson Emperor Dezong was forced to flee the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

when soldiers from Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern

Pingliang Pingliang ( zh, s=平凉 , t=平涼 , p=Píngliàng , l="Pacify Liang") is a inner land prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the south and east and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to the north. T ...

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

) mutinied and supported the general

Zhu Ci Zhu Ci (; 742–784) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and rebel during the Tang dynasty. He initially served as military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), but later became a general ...

as their leader. Emperor Dezong fled to Fengtian (奉天, in modern

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now int ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

). Liu Zi followed him there, and served as deputy minister of worship (太常少卿, ''Taichang Shaoqing''), in charge of ceremonies. In 784, he was made the deputy minister of civil service affairs (吏部侍郎, ''Libu Shilang''). At that time, as the persons from the southern parts of the empire, who normally would have gone to Chang'an to stand for

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

s, were unable to do so due to the wars and the famine in the Chang'an region at the time, Emperor Dezong sent Liu to Hong Prefecture (洪州, in modern

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

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), to examine them there. It was said that he carried out his duties well there.

During and after chancellorship

In 786, Liu Zi was made ''Zuo Sanqi Changshi'' (左散騎常侍), a high-level consultant at the examination bureau, and given the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事), making him a

''de facto'', along with

Qi Ying Qi Ying (齊映) (748 – August 15, 795''Old Book of Tang''vol. 13.), formally Baron Zhong of Hejian (河間忠男), was a Chinese politician, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Dezong. Background Qi Ying was born in 748, du ...

and

Cui Zao Cui Zao (崔造) (737 – October 25, 787), courtesy name Xuanzai (玄宰), was a Chinese economist, military general, and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving briefly as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Dezong. During his chancellor ...

. It was said that Emperor Dezong gave Cui the responsibilities because Cui was daring to speak and act, and that Liu and Qi were both thus yielding much of the responsibilities to Cui. Emperor Dezong also put the chancellors in direct command over the six ministries of the executive bureau (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng''), and Liu was given the responsibilities over the ministries of civil service affair and rites (禮部, ''Lǐbu'', notice different tone than the ministry of civil service affairs). In 787, he was removed from his chancellor position and served as ''Zuo Sanqi Changshi'' only. In 788, he was again deputy minister of civil service affairs, and in 790 he was made the minister of civil service affairs. While

Dou Can Dou Can or Dou Shen (; 734–793), courtesy name Shizhong (時中), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Dezong. He was known for being a capable judge before becoming chancellor, but wa ...

was chancellor, because Dou wanted to also be minister of civil service affairs, Liu was made the minister of justice (刑部尚書, ''Xingbu Shangshu''). Soon thereafter, Liu was indicted by imperial censor Wei Zhenbo (韋貞伯) for having been insufficiently selective when selecting officials at the ministry of civil service affairs, and he, while not demoted, was stripped of the privilege of wearing gold and purple as due an official of his rank, along with his deputy minister

Du Huangchang Du Huangchang (杜黃裳) (738 or 739Du Huangchang's biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and ''New Book of Tang'' disagree as to his age at death — the ''Old Book of Tang'' gave his age at death as 70, while the ''New Book of Tang'' gave it a ...

.''New Book of Tang''
vol. 132
Despite this, Liu's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'' stated that he was well-learned, good at commenting, frugal, hard-working, and hated wickedness, and that while selecting officials, he was careful in examining officials' qualifications. It also stated that, as a result, those who submitted false credentials were particularly fearful of him. He died in 794 and was given posthumous honors.

Notes and references

* ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

''
vol. 136
* ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

''
vol. 132
* ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vol. 232. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Zi 729 births 794 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Dezong of Tang