Jiang Shen (蔣伸) (799–881These dates are per a shor
biography for Jiang Shen
on the

Wuxi Wuxi ( zh, s=无锡, p=Wúxī, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu, China. As of the 2024 census, it had a population of 7,495,000. The city lies in the southern Yangtze delta and borders Lake Tai. Notable landmarks include Lihu Park, the Mt. Lings ...

City Government Web site, which did not cite any sources.),

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 ...

Dazhi (大直), formally the Duke of Le'an (樂安公),'' Edict Granting Military Governorships to Jiang Shen and Bi Xian'', collected in ''All Tang Texts'' (全唐文), vol. 83. was an official 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 ...

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 Xuānzong and Emperor Yizong.

Background

Jiang Shen was perhaps born in 799, during the reign of Emperor Dezong. His family was originally from Yixing (義興, in modern

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 ...

), but had moved to the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

at least by the time that his father Jiang Ai () was serving in governmental service.''

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. 132. Jiang Ai's grandfather Jiang Gui () and father Jiang Jiangming (), as well as Jiang Ai, all served in the Tang imperial government as governmental scholars,''New Book of Tang'', vol. 75
with Jiang Ai reach prominence as a historian, authoring works on the lives of

s, as well as a number of contributors to the reign of the great early Tang emperor Emperor Taizong, and being created the Duke of Yixing. Jiang Shen was the second of Jiang Ai's five known sons, with at least one older brother, Jiang Xi (), who also reached great prominence and was created the Duke of Huaiyang. Jiang Shen had at least three younger brothers who also served in the government, Jiang Jie (), Jiang Xian (), and Jiang Ji (). Jiang Shen himself 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 ...

s in the ''Jinshi'' class, and thereafter served on the staffs of various regional governors.''

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. 149.

During Emperor Xuānzong's reign

In 848, by which time Emperor Dezong's great-grandson Emperor Xuānzong was emperor, Jiang Shen was recalled to the capital

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 ...

to serve as ''You Bujue'' (), a low-level advisory official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng''), as well as an editor of imperial history. (It was said that while both Jiang Shen and his nephew Jiang Zhao (蔣兆, Jiang Xi's son) were talented writers, they were not considered exceptional in their style, but were considered good historians.) He later served as ''Jiabu Langzhong'' (), a supervisory official at the ministry of rites (禮部, ''Libu'') and was put in charge of drafting edicts. In 851, when the chancellor

Bai Minzhong Bai Minzhong (白敏中; 792–861), courtesy name Yonghui (用誨), formally Duke Chou of Taiyuan (太原醜公), was a Chinese politician of the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xuānzong and Emperor Xuānzong's ...

was put in charge of overseeing the campaign against Danxiang rebellions, Bai was allowed to retain a number of imperial officials to serve on his staff, and he chose Jiang to serve as his deputy in his role as the 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 Binning Circuit (邠寧, headquartered in modern

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now int ...

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 ...

).''

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. 249. Jiang later returned to Chang'an and was made acting deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang''). In 855, he was made an imperial scholar (翰林學士, ''Hanlin Xueshi''), and was later made the chief imperial scholar (承旨, ''Chengzhi''). In 856, he was made the deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, ''Bingbu Shilang'') and the director of taxation. It was said that Emperor Xuānzong respected Jiang's opinion. On one occasion in 858, when he was meeting Jiang privately (as the officials who were one level below chancellors, known as the "Second Tier Officials" (次對官, ''Cidui Guan'') were allowed to do),''

Bo Yang Bo Yang ( zh , t = 柏楊 , s = 柏杨 , p = Bó Yáng ; 7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008), sometimes also erroneously called Bai Yang, was a Chinese people, Chinese historian, novelist, philosopher, poet based in Taiwan. He is also regarded as a ...

Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 60 58 Jiang made the comment to Emperor Xuānzong, "These days, it is easy to gain official positions, and people take dangerous risks." Emperor Xuānzong, in surprise, responded, "If this goes on, disturbances will occur." Jiang responded, "Not yet, but if too many people take dangerous risks, it is not difficult for disturbances to occur." As Jiang was about to leave, Emperor Xuānzong kept him three times, stating, "Soon I will not be able to meet with you again privately." Jiang did not understand Emperor's implications, but it soon became clear, as Emperor Xuānzong gave him the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. (After he was named chancellor, he would have to meet with Emperor Xuānzong along with other chancellors and could no longer meet with Emperor Xuānzong alone.) Four months later, he was relieved of his director of taxation responsibilities, and given the additional title of ''Zhongshu Shilang'' (中書侍郎, deputy head of the legislative bureau).

During Emperors Yizong's and Xizong's reigns

Emperor Xuānzong died in 859 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Yizong. Jiang Shen remained chancellor and was also made the minister of justice (刑部尚書, ''Xingbu Shangshu'') and put charge of overseeing the editing of the imperial history. In 862, he was removed from his chancellor position and made the military governor of Hezhong Circuit (河中, headquartered in modern

Yuncheng, Shanxi 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) a ...

), continuing to carry the ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' title as an honorary title. He was later transferred to 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 ...

); the order transferring him also referred to him as the Duke of Le'an, indicating that he had been created that title sometime prior. Soon thereafter, though, he was made an advisor to the

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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

, with his office at Luoyang.As there was no crown prince at the time, the title was entirely honorary. In 866, he was made the prefect of Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern

Weinan Weinan ( zh, s=渭南 , p=Wèinán) is a prefecture-level city in east-Guanzhong, central Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, northwest China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provinc ...

). He was later again made an advisor to the crown prince, when he retired on account of age. He probably died in 881, during the reign of Emperor Yizong's son Emperor Xizong.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 149. * ''

'', vol. 132. * ''

'', vols.

249 __NOTOC__ Year 249 ( CCXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gavius and Aquilinus (or, less frequently, year 1002 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 24 ...

250 __NOTOC__ Year 250 (Roman numerals, CCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Gratus (or, less frequently, year 1003 ''Ab urbe condita''). The den ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Shen 799 births 881 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Xuānzong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Yizong of Tang Tang dynasty historians Tang dynasty jiedushi of Hezhong Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Xuanwu Circuit Politicians from Luoyang Historians from Henan Tang dynasty generals from Henan Writers from Luoyang