Diwu Qi (第五琦) (712'' New Book of Tang''
vol. 149
. or 713''

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 Kin ...

''
vol. 123
. – September 19, 782Diwu Qi's biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'' did not give a death date for him, and disagreed as to death age — with the ''Old Book of Tang'' giving 69 and the ''New Book of Tang'' giving 70. The death date here was per the chronology of Emperor Dezong's in the ''Old Book of Tang''.),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China China, officially the People's R ...

Yugui (禹珪), formally the Duke of Fufeng (扶風公), was an official of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

dynasty

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

who served briefly as

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 ...

during the reign of

Emperor Suzong Suzong is the temple name used for several emperors of China. It may refer to: *Emperor Zhang of Han (57–88) *Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei (510–528) *Emperor Xiaozhao of Northern Qi (535–561) *Emperor Suzong of Tang (711–762) See als ...

, but was more known for his influence on financial policies throughout his career, including his advocacy for the state-run monopolies over salt and iron.

Background

Diwu Qi was born in either 712 or 713. His family was from the

capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...

and traced its ancestry to the legendary

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition al ...

and the royal house of the

Warring States The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

state Qi. He lost his parents early, and it was said that he respected and obeyed his older brother Diwu Hua () dearly. After he was grown, he showed good administrative skills and ambition to enrich the empire and strengthen its armies.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign

Late in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, Diwu Qi served under an economics-minded official, Wei Jian (). After Wei was removed from office in 746 (and later killed) due to the machinations of the

Li Linfu Li Linfu () (died January 3, 753), nickname Genu (), formally the Duke of Jin (), was a Chinese historian, musician, and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor for 18 years (734–752), during the reign of Emperor Xuanzo ...

, Diwu was demoted, and eventually served as the secretary general for Xujiang County (須江, in modern

Quzhou Quzhou is a prefecture-level city in western Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the upper course of the Qiantang River, it borders Hangzhou to the north, Jinhua to the east, Lishui to the southeast, and the provinces o ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

). He was respected by Helan Jinming (), the governor of the commandery that Xujiang belonged to, Xin'an Commandery. After the general

An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month 19 February 703 – 29 January 757) was a general in the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin,Yang, Zhijiu, "An Lush ...

rebelled at Fanyang Circuit (范陽, headquartered in modern

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

), Helan was made the governor of

Beihai Commandery Beihai Commandery ( zh, 北海郡) was a historical commandery of China, located in present-day northern Shandong province. Beihai was created during Emperor Jing of Han's reign. According to Zhou Zhenhe, Beihai was likely established on six cou ...

(roughly modern

Weifang Weifang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to th ...

, Shandong), and he recommended Diwu to be his managerial officer (錄事參軍, ''Lushi Canjun''). At that time, An's forces had captured five nearby commanderies, and Helan was unable to counter. Emperor Xuanzong, displeased, sent a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2n ...

emissary to Beihai in order to scare Helan — by stating the instructions of, "If Helan cannot recover the territory, cut off his head." Helan was fearful, and Diwu suggested expending the money from the commandery storage to retain an assault corps; Helan agreed, and the assault corps thus retained were able to help him to recapture Xindu Commandery (roughly modern

Hengshui Hengshui () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. At the 2010 census its population was 4,340,373 inhabitants whom 522,147 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') ar ...

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 ...

During Emperor Suzong's reign

After the victory, Helan Jinming sent Diwu Qi to report the victory to Emperor Xuanzong. By that point — summer 756 or thereafter — forces of An's new state of

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed inde ...

had captured Chang'an, forcing Emperor Xuanzong to flee to

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...

. Emperor Xuanzong's son and

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 is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

did not follow him to Chengdu, but fled to

Lingwu Lingwu (, Xiao'erjing: لِئٍ‌وُ شِ) is a county-level city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Southwest China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yinchuan. It is the most important industrial city of Ningxia. L ...

instead, where he was proclaimed emperor (as Emperor Suzong) — an act that Emperor Xuanzong recognized when news reached him. Diwu met either Emperor Xuanzong or Emperor Suzong — his biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'' conflict in that regard, with the ''Old Book of Tang'' indicating that he met Emperor Xuanzong and the ''New Book of Tang'' indicating that he met Emperor Suzong, and the ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynas ...

'' trying to harmonize the conflict by indicating that he met Emperor Xuanzong and then Emperor Suzong — and was able to persuade the emperor that the primary task at hand was for the imperial treasury to be replenished with funds from the relatively wealthy

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flow ...

Huai River The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east ...

region so that soldiers could be retained. The emperor agreed and put Diwu in charge of the financial matters of the Yangtze-Huai region. Diwu created an official monopoly over salt and iron and recruited people willing to work in those industries, using the profits to replenish the imperial treasury without increasing taxes. Soon, the Henan region (i.e., modern

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 al ...

and Shandong) were added to his region of responsibility, and he was additionally made the deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang''). In 758, with prices for goods rising heavily and the realm lacking coins, at Diwu's suggestion, Emperor Suzong ordered that special coins titled ''Qianyuan Zhongbao'' (乾元重寶, ''Qianyuan'' being the

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year o ...

at that time), with each ''Qianyuan Zhongbao'' coin being worth 10 ordinary coins. In 759, as part of Emperor Suzong's reorganization of his chancellors,

Miao Jinqing Miao Jinqing (苗晉卿) (685–765), courtesy name Yuanfu (元輔), formally Duke Wenzhen of Han (韓文貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Suzong and Emperor Daizong ...

and Wang Yu were removed from their chancellor positions, and Diwu, along with

Lü Yin Lü Yin (呂諲) (712–762), formally Count Su of Xuchang (須昌肅伯), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Suzong. Historians often regarded him as being m ...

, Li Xian, and Li Kui, were made chancellors, with the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). After Diwu became chancellor, he further minted special coins with double circular edges (重輪錢, ''Chonglun Qian''), worth 50 ordinary coins.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 221. At that time, food prices rose precipitously, leading to much hunger and starvation, and there were also many forgeries of the new coins. The popular sentiment blamed Diwu for the misery, and many accusations were filed against him. In winter 759, Emperor Suzong demoted Diwu to be the secretary general of Zhong Prefecture (忠州, in modern

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

). Diwu's old superior Helan was accused of associating with him and was also demoted. After Diwu left Chang'an, there was another accusation that Diwu had accepted 200

tael Tael (),"Tael" entry
at the Zunyi Zunyi () is a prefecture-level city in northern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, situated between the provincial capital Guiyang to the south and Chongqing to the north, also bordering Sichuan to the northwest. Along with Guiyang an ...

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

). Not until 762 was he recalled from exile and made the prefect of Lang Prefecture (朗州, in modern

Changde Changde ( ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. In addition to the urban districts, Changde also administers the county-level city of Jinshi and six counties. Changde is adjacent to Dongting ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

During Emperor Daizong's reign

Diwu Qi was said to have governed Lang Prefecture well, and was eventually recalled to serve on the staff of Li Kuo, the son and crown prince of Emperor Suzong's successor

Emperor Daizong Emperor Daizong of Tang (9 January 727 According to Daizong's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'', he was born on the 13th day in the 12th month of the 14th year of the Kaiyuan era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This date corresponds to 9 Jan 727 i ...

. In 763, when Tufan forces launched a surprise attack on Chang'an and forced Emperor Daizong to flee to Shan Prefecture (陝州, roughly modern

Sanmenxia Sanmenxia (; postal: Sanmenhsia) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Henan Province, China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Henan, Sanmenxia borders Luoyang to the east, Nanyang to the southeast, Shaanxi Province to the west and ...

), Emperor Daizong made the general

Guo Ziyi Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i; Traditional Chinese: 郭子儀, Simplified Chinese: 郭子仪, Hanyu Pinyin: Guō Zǐyí, Wade-Giles: Kuo1 Tzu3-i2) (697 – July 9, 781), posthumously Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng (), was a Chinese military general and pol ...

the supreme commander of Tang forces in the

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ...

region, putting him in charge of recapturing and pacifying the Chang'an region. Guo used his authority to make Diwu his deputy, in charge of logistics, and soon also made Diwu the mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (), the special municipality that included Chang'an. After Emperor Daizong returned to Chang'an, Diwu was put in charge of financial matters again and was created the Duke of Fufeng. It was at his suggestion that in 765 that, after a good wheat harvest in the Guanzhong region, taxes were increased to 10% of the wheat harvest. In 766, Emperor Daizong divided the financial affairs of the realm into two halves — with Liu Yan, then the minister of census, in charge of the eastern half and Diwu, who was again made the deputy minister of census, in charge of the western half. Later in 766, with the people fleeing the Guanzhong region to escape the heavy taxation that Diwu imposed, Emperor Daizong issued a general pardon and abolished the taxation that Diwu had suggested. Also, around these times, with many generals making demands on the silk stored in the imperial treasury, Diwu could not meet all of the demands, and tried to make sure that the demands would cease by instead transferring the silk collected as taxes all to the Daying Storage (), inside the palace, with the eunuchs in charge. (This, however, brought a serious side effect — as the eunuchs were not required to handle detailed bookkeeping, it became impossible to account for the silk collected. This system was eventually abolished in 779 after the suggestion by then-chancellor Yang Yan.) At his post, Diwu was in charge of financial matters for more than a decade. In 770, after Emperor Daizong executed the powerful eunuch

Yu Chao'en Yu Chao'en (魚朝恩) (722 – April 10, 770), formally the Duke of Han (韓公), was a eunuch official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He was powerful early during the reign of Emperor Daizong and was feared by others, including chancellors ...

, Diwu was considered Yu's associate and was demoted to be the prefect of Kuo/Chu Prefecture (括州/處州, in modern

Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), Chinese postal romanization, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province of China, province in the China, People's Republic ...

). He later served as the prefect of two other prefectures, before he was recalled — but not to Chang'an, but instead to the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), 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 ...

— to serve, titularly, again, on the staff of the crown prince.However, as it is not clear whether this recall occurred happened during Emperor Daizong's reign or Emperor Dezong's reign, it could not be ascertained which crown prince Diwu (titularly) served under.

During Emperor Dezong's reign

After Emperor Daizong's death in 779, Li Kuo succeeded him as Emperor Dezong. He believed Diwu to be capable and in 782 recalled Diwu to Chang'an, ready to promote him. However, Diwu died shortly after arriving in Chang'an, and was buried with honors.

References