Chai Rong () (27 October 921 – 27 July 959), later known as Guo Rong (), also known by his

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...

as the Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, was the second

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

of the Later Zhou dynasty of China, during the

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

. He reigned from 954 until his death in 959. He succeeded his uncle-in-law Guo Wei, whose surname he had adopted. Emperor Shizong is considered a highly successful emperor of the Five Dynasties period. He centralized military power by his reforms, and proved his military prowess by a series of victories against

Northern Han The Northern Han () was a dynastic state of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by Liu Min (), formerly known as Liu Chong (), and lasted from 951 to 979. Founding of the Northern Han The short-lived state of Later Ha ...

Later Shu Shu (referred to as Later Shu () to differentiate it from Former Shu, other states named Shu in Chinese history), also known as Meng Shu (), was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China. It was located ...

, Southern Tang, and the

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...

. Although his accomplishments were limited due to his premature death, they paved the way for the eventual unification of large parts of

China proper China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions pop ...

by the Northern Song, founded by his trusted generals Zhao Kuangyin and

Zhao Guangyi Zhao Jiong (20 November 939 – 8 May 997), known as Zhao Guangyi from 960 to 977 and Zhao Kuangyi before 960, also known by his temple name Taizong after his death, was the second emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 976 to h ...

Family

Parents *Father: Chai Shouli (柴守禮) (biological) Wives *Empress Zhen, of the Liu clan (貞惠皇后劉氏;?–951) * Empreas Xuanyi, of the Fu clan (宣懿符皇后;931 – 29 August 956), daughter of

Fu Yanqing Fu Yanqing () (898'' History of Song'', vol. 251.-July 31, 975''Xu Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 8.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), né Li Yanqing (), courtesy name Guanhou (), formally the Prince of Wei (), nicknamed Fu Disi (� ...

(符彥卿) * Empress Xiaofu, of the Fu clan (小符皇后;933－993, daughter of

(符彥卿) *Unknown: **Chai Zongyi (柴宗誼; 10th century?- 24 December 950), first son **Chai Cheng (柴誠; 10th century -24 December 950), second son **Chai Xian, Prince of Han (韓王柴諴; 10th century – 24 December 950), third son **Chai Zongxun, Prince of Liang (梁王柴宗訓; 14 September 953 - 6 April 1973), fourth son **Chai Xirang (柴熙讓), fifth son **Chai Xijing (柴熙謹), sixth son **Chai Xihui (柴熙誨), seventh son

Early life

Chai Rong was born in Xingzhou (邢州; modern Xingtai,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

). As a child he came to live with his aunt — a younger sister of his father Chai Shouli () — and her husband Guo Wei, an official in the

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four ...

military. The Guos had no sons, so they adopted the quiet nephew as their own. The youngster grew up into a muscular young man skilled at mounted archery, while also possessing a basic understanding of

Chinese classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confuci ...

, history, and the Huang-Lao philosophy. When he was an adult, he handled household affairs for Guo Wei, and often went out to do business, traveling back and forth between the Central China and the Jiangnan area.

Career under Later Han

After the establishment of the Later Han in 947, the Guo family's condition improved dramatically. Guo Wei became the Commissioner of Military Affairs () in 948, and his adopted son became the Left Commandant for Palace-gate Security (). On 4 May 950, Guo was promoted to military governor of Tianxiong Command () and delegated to garrison at Weizhou (魏州; modern Linzhang County,

) at the Later Han-

border to prevent a possible Liao incursion. Ten days later, his adopted son was appointed Tianxiong Command's Chief Director of Military Headquarters () to follow him in Weizhou. Chai Rong — by now known as Guo Rong — was also given a nominal post of prefect of Guizhou (). In 950, the Later Han emperor Liu Chengyou unexpectedly killed the entire family of Guo Wei as a plot to liquidate the most powerful ministers in his nation. Guo Wei decided to rebel. As Guo Rong's wife Lady Liu () and children including 3 young sons also remained in the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Bianzhou (汴州; today's

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

), they were all slaughtered as well. Guo Wei asked Guo Rong to stay behind at the frontier as he led his main army southbound towards Bianzhou.

Career under Emperor Taizu of Later Zhou

In a few months, Liu Chengyou was killed, Later Han was terminated, as Guo Wei founded the

Later Zhou Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ( ...

. Guo Rong became the military governor of Zhenning Command () and went to Chanzhou (澶州; today's

Qingfeng County Qingfeng County is a county located in the northeast of Henan province, bordering the provinces of Hebei to the northwest and Shandong to the east. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Puyang. In the Han Dynasty, D ...

, Henan). At Chanzhou, he quickly eradicated militarized outlaws in the region and promoted literati to enforce laws more effectively, winning the support of the people. He also initiated projects to tear down dilapidated street walls and build new public office buildings and residential housings.

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Wang Jun, the most powerful minister, did not see eye-to-eye with Guo Rong on some issues and prevented him from visiting the capital on more than one occasion. In 952, Guo Rong requested permission to lead an army to quell a rebellion, but Wang Jun vetoed it for fear that Guo Rong would hold too much military power. At the end, Guo Wei had to personally lead the troops as an emperor. It was not until Wang's banishment in early 953 that Guo Rong finally got a chance to come back to the capital, when in April 953 he was named Prince of Jin (). By this time he was again married, to a Lady Fu, a widowed daughter of general

. His son

Chai Zongxun Guo Zongxun () (14 September 953 – 973) or Chai Zongxun (), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Gong of Later Zhou (), was the third and last emperor the Chinese Later Zhou dynasty, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms perio ...

was born in late 953 in Chanzhou.

Emperor of Later Zhou

Guo Rong (posthumously known as Shizong of Later Zhou) became

in 954 upon his adoptive father's death. Like his father, he was considered an able ruler. He continued reforms introduced by his father. More importantly, he began putting pressure on the

and even the

, though nothing substantial came of it. More

success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person migh ...

was met in the south as some minor successes were made against the Southern Tang and

, paving the way to eventual unification by the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

Campaign against Liu Chong

One month after Chai Rong took the throne, Liu Chong, Emperor of

, colluded with

to launch an assault on Later Zhou. Against the advice of Minister Feng Dao, Chai Rong decided to lead the army to fight against the incursion. When Chai Rong engaged Liu Chong at Gao Ping (in modern Jincheng, Shanxi), two of Chai's general Fan Aineng, He Hui fled from battlefield along with their troops. At this critical moment, Chai Rong risked his life to break through the defense and crushed Liu's forces. After this campaign, Chai Rong consolidated his power. He suffered an early death at the age of 38 when he died from illness while out on the field in 959. He left behind him a six-year-old heir to succeed him. This led to the fall of the dynasty and the rise of the

, which eventually succeeded in reunifying

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chai, Rong 921 births 959 deaths Later Zhou emperors 10th-century Chinese adoptees Politicians from Xingtai Generals from Hebei Persecution of Buddhists