Fàn Zhi () ( 911 – 5 November 964), formally the Duke of Lu (), was a civil official who served under 12

emperors 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 (em ...

of 6 dynasties during imperial China's

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 concu ...

and the subsequent

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 ...

. He was 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 ...

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 ...

from 951 until 960, and the Song Dynasty chancellor from 960 until 964, not long before his death. A strict adherent to legal guidelines, he had influenced Later Zhou and Song rulers to rely more on civil administration in an age dominated by the military. Fàn was a member of the elite Fàn family.

Early life

Growing up, Fàn Zhi's father Fàn Shouyu (范守遇) was a staff supervisor () serving the

Later Liang Later Liang may refer to the following states in Chinese history: * Later Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms) (後涼; 386–403), one of the Sixteen Kingdoms * Western Liang (555–587), also known as Later Liang (後梁), a state during the Southern and Nor ...

. Biographer

Jack Dull Jack L. Dull (January 2, 1930 – January 18, 1995) was an American scholar of the history of Han China and a professor at the University of Washington. Biography Born in 1930, Dull began his lifelong association with the University of Washington ...

considers Fàn Zhi a representative of the rise of "new families" which were gradually replacing the exclusive aristocracy of the

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 ...

. At age eight, Fàn Zhi was able to write essays, and by 12 he already mastered and began teaching the voluminous classic ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetoric ...

''.

Career under Later Tang

Later Liang was replaced by 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 ...

in 926, and Fàn passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

in 933. The chief examination administrator He Ning () reportedly liked Fàn's writing the most that he intentionally assigned Fàn 13th place, which was the placing he himself got back in the day. Fàn became a prefectural judge () for the Zhongwu Commandery (忠武軍; roughly governing today's central

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 was later promoted to the post of

subprefect A subprefect is a high government official in several countries, such as Brazil and France. In Brazil, a subprefect (''subprefeito'') is the highest official of a subprefecture, which is a subdivision of certain large municipalities (São Paulo, ...

of Fengqiu which he served until Later Tang was overthrown in 936.

Career under Later Jin

Under the new Later Jin, Fàn's essays caught the eyes of

Sang Weihan Sang Weihan (桑維翰) (898''Old History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 89. – January 12, 947''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 285.prefectures and eventually back as the chancellor, Fàn followed him along the way. In 943, Fàn Zhi was promoted to the post of assistant division chief of the Department of Hospitality () and auxiliary official of the Institute of History (). A year later, he became a Hanlin Academician and division chief () of the Department of Accounting, Ministry of Finance (), as well as special drafting of the Secretariat ().

Career under the Liao Dynasty

Career under Later Han

Career under Later Zhou

Guo Wei Guo Wei () (10 September 904 – 22 February 954According to Guo Wei's biography in "Old Histories of the Five Dynasties", he died between 9am and 11 am on the ''renchen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Xiande'' era of his reign ...

(), a Later Han general, had been impressed by the timeliness and the contents of the imperial orders he received while fighting rebellions away from 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 ...

. Once he asked the messenger who wrote the orders. "Fàn Zhi" was the reply, and Guo remarked, "Definitely fit to be chancellor." In the winter months of early 951,

rebelled against the Later Han emperor

Liu Chengyou Liu Chengyou () (28 March 931 Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter – 2 January 951), also known by his posthumous name Emperor Yin (), was the second and last emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Han dynasty, during ...

and his army swiftly conquered the capital

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 N ...

. Amidst the chaos after Liu's fleeing from the city, Guo remembered the name Fàn Zhi and asked for his whereabouts. When Fàn – who was living with other commoners – was located, Guo paid him a personal visit in heavy snow and during the conversation, removed his own robe to put on Fàn for warmth. As a token of his friendship to Guo, Fàn wrote several imperial orders for Guo, helping him to transition the state as Guo declared himself the emperor of the new

Later Zhou Dynasty 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 (E ...

Career under Song

One day in 960, Fàn was dining in his own residence when general

Zhao Kuangyin Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguis ...

, who was supposed to be on the way to resist 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 Yel� ...

invasion, stormed in. In tears, Zhao explained to Fàn that he was forced to become the emperor and return to the capital by his subordinates. Stunned and not sure what to suggest, Fàn was confronted by Zhao's attendant Luo Yangui (), who raised his sword to threaten Fàn into accepting the usurpation. When Fàn realized that everything was nothing but acting, he came down the stairs and bowed to Zhao, who became the first emperor of the

Notes and references

Sources

* * * * {{Authority control Later Zhou chancellors Later Han (Five Dynasties) politicians Song dynasty chancellors 964 deaths 910s births Later Tang politicians Later Jin (Five Dynasties) politicians Later Zhou historians Chinese jurists Song dynasty historians Politicians from Xingtai Historians from Hebei 10th-century Chinese historians Song dynasty politicians from Hebei Song dynasty essayists