Helian Duo (赫連鐸) (died 894) was an ethnically-

Tuyuhun Tuyuhun (; LHC: *''tʰɑʔ-jok-guən''; Wade-Giles: ''T'u-yühun''), also known as Henan () and Azha (; ), was a dynastic monarchy established by the nomadic peoples related to the Xianbei in the Qilian Mountains and upper Yellow River valley, ...

warlord in the late

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 ...

. He had a long-running enmity with the

Shatuo The Shatuo, or the Shatuo Turks (; also transcribed as Sha-t'o, Sanskrit SartZuev Yu.A., ''"Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (Translation of Chinese composition "Tanghuyao" of 8-10th centuries)"'', Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, I ...

chieftain Li Keyong, and was killed by Li Keyong in 894.

Background and initial campaign against Li Keyong

Little is known about Helian Duo's background, including his birth year, other than that, as of the time of Emperor Yizong, he was then a Tuyuhun chief and carried the Tang-bestowed title of commandant of

Yin Mountains The Yin Mountains, also known by their Chinese name as the Yin Shan or Yinshan and by various romanizations as the Daqing Mountains, are mountains in the Eastern Gobi Desert steppe of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China. The Yellow Riv ...

. Later, when Tang imperial forces had to battle a rebellion led by Pang Xun at Xu Prefecture (徐州, in modern

Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

), Helian participated in the campaign.''

New History of the Five Dynasties The ''Historical Records of the Five Dynasties'' (''Wudai Shiji'') is a Chinese history book on the Five Dynasties period (907–960), written by the Song dynasty official Ouyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 t ...

'', vol. 74. In 878, the Shatuo chieftain Li Guochang and his son Li Keyong rose against the rule of Emperor Yizong's son and successor Emperor Xizong at Zhenwu (振武, headquartered in modern

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

) and Datong (大同, headquartered in modern

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...

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 ...

) Circuits, respectively. Emperor Xizong ordered Helian, as well as the Tang military governors (''

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 Jun (李均) the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern

Changzhi Changzhi ( zh, s=长治) is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas ( ...

) and Li Keju the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

), Helian's fellow Tuyuhun chieftain Bai Yicheng (白義誠), and the Sage (薩葛) chieftain Mi Haiwan (米海萬) to attack Li Guochang and Li Keyong. In summer 879, when Li Keyong was personally defending against an attack by Li Keju, Li Keyong left his officer Gao Wenji (高文集) in command of his base at Shuo Prefecture (朔州, in modern

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, 2010 PRC Census, ...

). Helian persuaded Gao to submit to the new Tang-commissioned military governor of Datong, Li Zhuo (李琢), and Gao surrendered with the Shatuo chieftain Li Youjin (李友金), Mi, and Shi Jingcun, after arresting fellow officer Fu Wenda (傅文達). When Li Keyong tried to return to Shuo to attack Gao, Li Keju defeated him. Li Zhuo and Helian then attacked Li Guochang at Wei Prefecture (蔚州, in modern

Zhangjiakou Zhangjiakou (), also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southwest ...

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 ...

) and defeated him as well. Li Guochang and Li Keyong were forced to flee to the Dada (達靼) tribe, then near the Yin Mountains. For his accomplishments against the Shatuo, Helian was made the prefect of Datong's capital Yun Prefecture (雲州) and the defender of Datong Circuit.''

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. 253.

Control of Yun Prefecture

Soon after Helian Duo was commissioned the defender of Datong, he sent bribes to the Dada chiefs, asking them to kill Li Guochang and Li Keyong. Li Keyong, however, found out about this, and was able to impress the Dada chiefs of his archery ability at a banquet, and further proclaimed that he had no intent to stay in Dada lands long, thus alleviating their fears about him. In 882, when Li Keyong tried to recapture Wei Prefecture, Helian and Li Keju battled him, along with Qibi Zhang (契苾璋) the military governor of Zhenwu, but were not able to defeat him. In 885, by which time Li Keyong, due to his great accomplishments in defeating the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao for the Tang imperial government, had been given the military governorship of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

), both Li Keju and Wang Rong 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 ...

) feared the strength that Li Keyong showed and his alliance with their neighbor Wang Chucun the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern

Baoding Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban distri ...

). They decided to attack and destroy Wang Chucun, and, to prevent Li Keyong from coming to Wang Chucun's aid, they persuaded Helian to attack Li Keyong. Helian did so, but was not able to prevent Li Keyong from aiding Wang Chucun to fight off the Chengde/Lulong invasion. (After the failed attack, Li Keju was defeated by his own officer Li Quanzhong, who mutinied. Li Keju committed suicide and Li Quanzhong succeeded him.)''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 256. In 890, Li Keyong launched a major attack against Helian and captured the eastern part of Yun Prefecture. Helian sought aid from Li Quanzhong's son and successor Li Kuangwei, who came to his aid. Li Keyong's officer An Jinjun (安金俊) was killed by an arrow, and Shen Xin (申信) surrendered to Helian. Li Keyong was forced to withdraw.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 258. As a result of Li Keyong's attack on Helian, Helian and Li Kuangwei submitted petitions to Emperor Xizong's brother and successor Emperor Zhaozong, asking the emperor to declare a general campaign against Li Keyong. They were concurred in by Li Keyong's rival

Zhu Quanzhong Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...

the military governor of 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 ...

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 well as the

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 ...

s Zhang Jun and

Kong Wei Kong Wei (孔緯) (died 1 October 895Academia Sinica]Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', :zh:s:資治通鑑/卷260, vol. 260.), courtesy name Huawen (化文), formally the Duke of Lu (魯公), was an official of the late Tang dy ...

. Emperor Zhaozong thus declared a general campaign against Li Keyong, with Zhang in command. As part of the operations against Li Keyong, Li Kuangwei and Helian were to attack Li Keyong from the north. They had initial successes, as Li Kuangwei captured Wei Prefecture, and Helian, along with Tibetan Empire, Tufan and Xiajiasi tribesmen, attacked Zhelu Base (遮虜軍, in modern

Xinzhou, Shanxi Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (), is a prefecture-level city occupying the north-central section of Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei to the east, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the northwest. As ...

), killing its defender Liu Huzi (劉胡子). However, Li Keyong then sent a major force under his adoptive sons Li Cunxin and

Li Siyuan Li Siyuan (李嗣源, later changed to Li Dan (李亶)) (10 October 867 – 15 December 933), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (後唐明宗), was the second emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, reign ...

, and they defeated Li Kuangwei and Helian, capturing Li Kuangwei's son Li Renzong (李仁宗) and Helian's son-in-law, forcing them to withdraw. Zhang's main operations against Li Keyong subsequently collapsed under pressure from Li Keyong. Faced with defeat, Emperor Zhaozong was forced to restore all of Li Keyong's titles. Li Keyong then attacked Yun Prefecture again in 891, putting it under siege. After Helian ran out of food supplies, he was forced to abandon Yun Prefecture and flee, initially to fellow Tuyuhun tribesmen, and then to Lulong's capital You Prefecture (幽州).

Defeat and death

In fall 892, Helian Duo and Li Kuangwei launched an attack to try to recapture Yun Prefecture. At that time, Li Keyong happened to be at Tianning Base (天寧, in modern Xinzhou), and he immediately ordered his officer Li Junqing (李君慶) to launch an army from his headquarters at Taiyuan, while he himself made a surprise attack against Helian and Li Kuangwei, capturing some 300 Tuyuhun scouts. Soon, when Li Junqing arrived, Li Keyong entered Yun Prefecture, and then again attacked and defeated Helian and Li Kuangwei. Helian and Li Kuangwei were forced to flee.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 259. In summer 893, Li Keyong launched another attack on the Tuyuhun tribesmen. He killed Helian and captured Bai Yicheng, thus ending the Tuyuhun resistance against him.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vols. 253, 254, 256, 258, 259. {{DEFAULTSORT:Helian, Duo 9th-century births 894 deaths Tuyuhun Tang dynasty jiedushi People from North China