Lei Man (雷滿) (died 901),

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 ...

Bingren (秉仁), was a warlord late in 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 ...

, who seized control of Lang Prefecture (朗州, in modern

Changde Changde (; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 常德區 ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. Changde, known as "Wuling" in ancient times, is located on the west side of Do ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

) in 881 and controlled it and the surrounding region (which was made into Wuzhen Circuit (武貞)) to accommodate him, who was made 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 ...

'') until his death in 901. He was known for devastating pillages of the surrounding circuits.

Background and occupation of Lang Prefecture

It is not known when Lei Man was born, but it is known that he was of non- Han extraction, whose people lived in caves in the Wuling (武陵, in modern

) region, in Lang Prefecture.''

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. 186. During the time when the Tang general

Gao Pian Gao Pian (; 821? – 24 September 887Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 257.), courtesy name Qianli (), formally the Prince of Bohai (), was a Chinese military general, poet, and politician of the Tang ...

served as the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern

Jingzhou Jingzhou ( zh, s=, c=荆州, t=, p=Jīngzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the Seventh National Population Censu ...

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 ...

), which Lang Prefecture belonged to then, Lei became an officer under Gao, commanding non-Han soldiers of the region. As Gao was later transferred to Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered in modern

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...

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 ...

), and then Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern

Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...

), Lei followed him to those circuits along with his non-Han soldiers. In 881, Lei, for reasons unclear, fled back from Huainan to his home region. He gathered 1,000 men and attacked Lang Prefecture, capturing it and killing its prefect Cui Zhu (). With the Tang imperial government then battling the major agrarian rebel

Huang Chao Huang Chao (835 – July 13, 884) was a wealthy Chinese salt trader and soldier who is primarily known for instigating the Huang Chao Rebellion. In 878, he proclaimed himself emperor and the establishment of a new Qi dynasty. Huang Chao's re ...

, then-reigning Emperor Xizong made Lei the acting prefect. From this point on, Lei, in control of Lang Prefecture, would make periodic pillages, three or four times a year, against Jingnan's capital Jiangling Municipality. Lei's pillages appeared to briefly stop in 885, when then-military governor of Jingnan,

Chen Ru Chen Ru (；d. 885) was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang dynasty, who ruled Jingnan Circuit (荊南 modern Jingzhou, Hubei) from 882 to 885, most of that time as its military governor (''jiedushi''). Background It is not known when Chen Ru was ...

, bribed him to stop the pillages, but after Chen was overthrown by

Zhang Gui Zhang Gui (, 255–314) was the governor of Liang province and first Duke of Xiping under the Western Jin. He was the seventeenth generation descendant of King of Changshan Zhang Er from the Chu–Han Contention The Chu–Han Contention () ...

later that year, Lei appeared to continue his pillages. It was said that these pillages laid the region on the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

to waste. In 893, Lei (who was by then referred to as full prefect of Lang), in an alliance with Deng Chune the prefect of Shao Prefecture (邵州, in modern

Shaoyang Shaoyang (), formerly named Baoqing (Paoking) (), is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Hunan province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It has a history of 2500 years and remains an important commercial and transportation city in Huna ...

), attacked Tan Prefecture (in modern

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

), the capital of Wu'an Circuit (), killing Wu'an's military governor Zhou Yue (who was also from the Wuling tribes) and allowing Deng to take over as the military governor of Wu'an.

As military governor

At some point, at Lei Man's request, Emperor Xizong's brother and successor Emperor Zhaozong carved Lang and neighboring Li Prefecture (澧州, in modern Changde) out of Jingnan Circuit and made it into a separate Wuzhen Circuit, commissioning Lei as its military governor.''

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. 41. In 898, Emperor Zhaozong bestowed on Lei the honorary

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 ...

title of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). It was said that whenever there were emissaries from the neighboring circuits who arrived at Wuzhen, Lei would hold feasts for them at a pavilion upon the water, stating, "Dragons and water monsters all dwell here, as this is where their government is." He would, during feasts, throw jewels into the water, and then strip naked and jump into the water to retrieve them; he would then put on his clothes back on and resume the feast, as if nothing had occurred. He also diverted the waters of

Yuan River The Yuan River, also known by its Chinese name as the Yuanjiang, is one of the four largest rivers in Hunan province in southeast-central China. It is a tributary of Yangtze River. It is long and rises in Guizhou province in the Miao Mountain ...

such that waters surrounded Lang Prefecture's main city, believing that this made the city uncapturable. Lei Man died in 901 and was succeeded by his son Lei Yanwei.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 262.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 186. * '' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 17. * ''

'', vol. 41. * ''

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.

254 Year 254 ( CCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Gallienus (or, less frequently, year 1007 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 254 for th ...

256 Year 256 ( CCLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 1009 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 256 for this y ...

, 259,

261 __NOTOC__ Year 261 (Roman numerals, CCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Taurus (or, less frequently, year 1014 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

, 262. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lei, Man 9th-century births 901 deaths Year of birth unknown Politicians from Changde Tang dynasty jiedushi of Wuzhen Circuit Tang dynasty generals from Hunan