Dou Yizhi () (died April 29, 833

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

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),

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 ...

Zongxuan (), formally Duke Gonghui of Jinyang (), was an official of the Chinese

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 ...

, 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 reigns of Emperor Jingzong and Emperor Wenzong.

Background

It is not known when Dou Yizhi was born, but it is known that his family was from the Tang capital municipality Jingzhao (京兆, in modern

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

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 ...

).''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 167. His family claimed ancestry from 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 ...

official

Dou Wu Dou Wu (; died 25 October 168), courtesy name Youping (), was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was known as a Confucian scholar and served as a low-level official during the reign of Emperor Huan until his ...

(father to Empress Dou Miao). His grandfather Dou Yuanchang () served as a county magistrate, while his father Dou Yu () served as a prefectural prefect. Dou Yizhi passed the

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 ...

in the ''Mingjing'' () class, and was made a copywriter (校書郎, ''Xiaoshu Lang'') at the

Palace Library The Palace Library (; in Vietnam: 秘書所, ''Bí thư sở'') was a central government agency in Imperial and monarchical China, Korea, and Vietnam generally in charge of maintaining and archiving the collection of the monarch's documents. C ...

. He later passed a special imperial examination in judging cases, and was made the sheriff of Lantian County (藍田, in modern Xi'an). He later successively served as ''Yousi Langzhong'' (), a supervisorial official in the administration of the executive bureau (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng''); ''Bingbu Langzhong'' (), a supervisorial official at the ministry of defense (兵部, ''Bingbu''); and ''Libu Langzhong'' (), a supervisorial official at the ministry of civil service affairs (吏部, ''Libu'').

During Emperor Xianzong's reign

In 811, Dou Yizhi was made the deputy chief imperial censor (御史中丞, ''Yushi Zhongcheng''). In 813, he was made an imperial attendant (給事中, ''Jishizhong''), and then made the governor (觀察使, ''Guanchashi'') of Shanguo Circuit (陝虢, headquartered in modern

Sanmenxia Sanmenxia ( zh, s= , t= , p=Sānménxiá; Postal romanization, postal: Sanmenhsia) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Henan, Henan Province, China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Henan, Sanmenxia borders Luoyang to the east, Nanya ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

). At a later point, he was made the mayor of Jingzhao. While he was serving at Jingzhao, there was an incident where Han Wu (), the sheriff of Wannian County (), one of the two counties making up the capital proper

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 ...

, was found to have engaged in corruption. Dou ordered his subordinate Wei Zhengwu () to investigate, and Wei found that Han had embezzled 300,000 coins-worth of money. Then-reigning

Emperor Xianzong Emperor Xianzong of Tang (4 March to 1 April 778''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 14. – 14 February 820; r. 805 – 820), personal name Li Chun, né Li Chun (), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the eldest son of Emperor Shunzong, ...

, however, did not believe that investigations were sufficiently thorough and ordered a reinvestigation; the reinvestigation concluded that Han actually embezzled 10 times the amount Wei reported. As a result, in 817, Dou was demoted to be the prefect of Jin Prefecture (金州, in modern

Ankang Ankang ( zh , c = 安康 , p = Ānkāng ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shaanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei province to the east, Chongqing municipality to the south, and Sichuan province to the s ...

), while Wei was exiled. In 818, Dou was made the governor of Xuanshe Circuit (宣歙, headquartered in modern

Xuancheng Xuancheng ( zh, s=宣城, p=Xuānchéng''; Xuanzhou Wu dialects, Xuanzhou Wu:'' Shye-san) is a city in the southeast of Anhui province. Archeological digs suggest that the city has been settled for over 4,000 years, and has been under formal admin ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

), as well as the prefect of its capital Xuan Prefecture ().

During Emperor Muzong's reign

In 822, by which time Emperor Xianzong's son Emperor Muzong was emperor, there was a mutiny at Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

) in which the soldiers expelled their military governor (''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

'') Li Yuan (). Dou Yizhi heard about the mutiny and was concerned that his soldiers may be tempted to do the same. He considered passing out money and silk as rewards to them to endear them to him, but there was advice that doing so, without any reason, may in fact cause soldiers to fear that they were being suspected. He therefore did not do so, but rumors that he was passing out rewards already spread among the soldiers. One of the officers, Wang Guoqing () thus plotted a mutiny. Wang's plot was discovered, and Dou executed Wang and over 200 of his coconspirators. He was thereafter replaced by

Li Deyu Li Deyu (; 787 – January 26, 850Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 174.), courtesy name Wenrao (), formally the Duke of Wei (), was a Chinese poet, politician, and writer during the Tang dynasty, ser ...

and recalled to Chang'an to serve as the deputy minister of civil service affairs (吏部侍郎, ''Libu Shilang''). Later that year, he was made the deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang'') and the acting director of finances.

During Emperor Jingzong's reign

Shortly after the death of Emperor Muzong and the ascension of Emperor Muzong's son Emperor Jingzong in 824, Dou Yizhi was made

with the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (), along with Li Cheng, apparently at the recommendation of the chancellor

Li Fengji Li Fengji (; 758 – February 27, 835), courtesy name Xuzhou (虛舟), formally Duke Cheng of Zheng (鄭成公) or Duke Cheng of Liang (涼成公), was an official of the History of China, Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a Chancellor of the Tang d ...

.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 243. He was thereafter made ''Menxia Shilang'' (), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng'') while remaining as chancellor. He was also created the Duke of Jinyang, while being relieved of his post as director of finances. He was known for avoiding any appearances of

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

, although years later, Emperor Jingzong's brother and successor Emperor Wenzong would comment, while speaking with the chancellors at that time:''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 245.

During Emperor Wenzong's reign

In 828, by which time Wenzong was emperor (after Emperor Jingzong was assassinated around the new year 827), Dou Yizhi was relieved of his chancellor post and made the military governor of Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern

Xiangfan Xiangyang is the second-largest prefecture-level city by population in northwestern Hubei province, China. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city north–south. The ci ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

) as well as the prefect of its capital Xiang Prefecture (), although he retained the ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' title as an honorary title. In 831, he was recalled to Chang'an to serve as ''Zuo Pushe'' (), one of the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng''), as well as acting minister of worship (太常卿, ''Taichang Qing''). Later that year, he was made the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern

Baoji Baoji ( zh, s= , t= , p=Bǎojī; ) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a ...

) as well as the mayor of its capital Fengxiang Municipality, and given the honorary title of acting ''Sikong'' (司空, one of the

Three Excellencies The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

). In 832, he requested a recall to Chang'an due to illness, and was recalled. He died in 833 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. 167. * ''

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. 151. * ''

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 ...

'', vols.

242 Year 242 (Roman numerals, CCXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Lepidus (or, less frequently, year 995 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...

243 __NOTOC__ Year 243 ( CCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Arrianus and Papus (or, less frequently, year 996 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dou Yizhi 8th-century births 833 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Jingzong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Wenzong of Tang Tang dynasty jiedushi of Shannan East Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Fengxiang Circuit Mayors of Xi'an