He Jintao () (died 840''

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. 246.) was a general 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 ...

dynasty

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 ...

, who, as 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 ...

'') of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

), ruled the circuit in ''de facto'' independence from the imperial government.

Background

It is not known when He Jintao was born, but it is known that his family was originally from Ling Prefecture (靈州, in modern

Yinchuan Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...

Ningxia Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...

). His great-grandfather He Xiaowu () and grandfather He Jun () both served as officers at Ling Prefecture. His father He Mo () served as an officer at Xia Prefecture (夏州, in modern

Yulin, Shaanxi Yulin ( zh, s=榆林 , p=Yúlín , ‘’’local pronunciation: �y³⁵ˌljʌŋ��’’) is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the east, and Ningxia to th ...

).''

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. 181.

Early career

Eventually, He Jintao settled in Weibo's capital Wei Prefecture (), and came to serve in the Weibo army, under the then-military governor

Tian Hongzheng Tian Hongzheng () (764 – August 29, 821), né Tian Xing (), courtesy name Andao (), formally Duke Zhongmin of Yi (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Tang dynasty. Under his governance, Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered i ...

, who was obedient to the imperial government.As Tian served as the military governor of Weibo from 812 to 820, He Jintao's service under him must have been during those years. In a campaign that Tian waged against

Wang Chengzong Wang Chengzong () (died 820) was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty who served a military governor (''jiedushi'') of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). He, like his grandfather Wang Wujun and father Wang ...

, the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...

), when Wang was resisting the imperial government, there was a night when Weibo forces conducted a night raid against Chengde's capital Heng Prefecture (). Wang responded by sending an officer in an iron mask, commanding 1,000 cavalry soldiers, to counterattack against the Weibo forces. He Jintao engaged the Chengde cavalry soldiers and defeated them, almost capturing the officer in the iron mask, causing much apprehension among the Chengde soldiers. After a subsequent campaign that Tian conducted against

Li Shidao Li Shidao, or Yi Sado ( zh, c=李師道; died March 8, 819''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 241.) was a Chinese military general and politician of the medieval Chinese Tang dynasty, who, as the successor to his brother Li Shigu, ruled Pinglu Circuit ( ...

the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

), in which He Jintao made contributions, He Jintao was given the honorary imperial censor title of ''Shiyushi'' ().''

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. 210.

Seizure of Weibo Circuit and service as military governor

By 829, He Jintao was serving under

Shi Xiancheng Shi Xiancheng () (died July 30, 829)http://dbo.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/kiwi1/luso.sh?lstype=2&dyna=%AD%F0&king=%A4%E5%A9v&reign=%A4%D3%A9M&yy=3&ycanzi=&mm=6&dd=26&dcanzi= was a general of the History of China, Chinese Tang dynasty, who ruled Weibo Ci ...

, who was ruling Weibo in ''de facto'' independence from the imperial government. However, at that time, imperial forces were close to defeating the rebel general Li Tongjie, who controlled the neighboring Henghai Circuit (橫海, headquartered in modern

Cangzhou Cangzhou; Jilu Mandarin, locally pronounced as is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province of China, province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yunh ...

), and Shi became apprehensive. Under the advice of his son Shi Xiaozhang (), Shi Xiancheng offered to surrender control of Weibo to the imperial government and requested another command elsewhere. The reigning Emperor Wenzong reacted by commissioning Shi Xiancheng as the military governor of Hezhong Circuit (河中, headquartered in modern

Yuncheng Yuncheng () is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

), and Li Ting () the military governor of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern

Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...

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 ...

) as the military governor of Weibo. He also carved out three of Weibo's six prefectures — Xiang (相州, in modern Anyang), Wei (衛州, in modern

Xinxiang Xinxiang ( zh, s= , t= , p=Xīnxiāng ; Postal romanization, postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan provinces of China, province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its sou ...

, note different characters than the capital of Weibo), and Chan (澶州, in modern Anyang) — to create a new circuit, for Shi Xiaozhang to serve as military governor of.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 244. Thereafter, Shi Xiancheng prepared to depart Wei Prefecture. It was said that he stripped the headquarters and circuit treasury of its treasures, ready to take them to Hezhong, and this angered the soldiers. The soldiers mutinied and killed Shi Xiancheng, and they supported He Jintao to be their leader. When Li Ting subsequently arrived at Wei Prefecture, He Jintao refused to let him enter, and subsequently made a surprise attack, defeating him. At that time, the imperial treasury was drained, and the imperial government, judging that it could not defeat He Jintao, capitulated and made He Jintao the military governor of Weibo, and further returned Xiang, Wei, and Chan prefectures to Weibo. It was said that as the military governor of Weibo, He Jintao was favored by his people. He died in 840, and the reigning Emperor Wuzong (Emperor Wenzong's younger brother) allowed his son He Chongshun to inherit the circuit.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 181. * ''

'', vol. 210. * ''

'', vols.

244 __NOTOC__ Year 244 ( CCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Armenius and Aemilianus (or, less frequently, year 997 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 2 ...

246 __NOTOC__ Year 246 ( CCXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 246th Year of the Common Era ( CE) and Anno Domini ( AD) designations, the 246th year of the 1st millennium, the 46th year of the 3rd century, and t ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:He Jintao 840 deaths Tang dynasty jiedushi of Weibo Circuit Year of birth unknown