HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Li Baochen () (718 – February 6, 781), originally named Zhang Zhongzhi (),
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 ...
Weifu (), known as An Zhongzhi () during the
Anshi Rebellion The An Lushan rebellion was a civil war in China that lasted from 755 to 763, at the approximate midpoint of the Tang dynasty (618–907). It began as a commandery rebellion attempting to overthrow and replace the Tang government with the rogue ...
and Zhang Baochen () 778–779, formally the Prince of Longxi (), was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of the
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 ...
, from which Yan had rebelled. As was in the case of several other Yan generals who submitted to Tang but who had substantial army and territorial holdings, Li was allowed to retain his command and territory, semi-independent of the Tang imperial government structure.


Background

Zhang Zhongzhi was born in 718, during the reign of
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was an Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. Throu ...
. He was ethnically Xi and from Fanyang Circuit (范陽, 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 ...
), but his original lineage was not otherwise known in history. He was adopted by Zhang Suogao (), and therefore took Zhang Suogao's surname of Zhang. He was capable in horsemanship and archery in his youth and served in the military at Fanyang as well, eventually serving under 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 ...
'')
An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month (19 February) 703 – 29 January 757) was a Chinese military general and rebel leader during the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion which devastated China and kill ...
. On an occasion when An visited the
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 ...
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 pay homage to Emperor Xuanzong, Zhang Zhongzhi followed him to Chang'an and was kept there to be an archer in the imperial guards and given access to the palace.


During the Anshi Rebellion

An Lushan rose against Emperor Xuanzong's rule in late 755, and Zhang Zhongzhi, hearing the news, escaped from Chang'an and joined An in Fanyang. An was impressed and adopted him as a son, giving him the surname of An. Subsequently, when the rebels made a surprise raid against
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 ...
, it was An Zhongzhi who led the attack, and he was able to seize the Tang mayor of Taiyuan, Yang Guanghui (). An Lushan subsequently put him in charge of defending the key pass of Tumen (土門, 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 ...
,
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 ...
). After An Lushan's subsequent death and replacement as the emperor of a new Yan state by his son An Qingxu, An Zhongzhi continued to serve under An Qingxu, who made him the prefect of Heng Prefecture (恆州, roughly modern Shijiazhuang). His service of An Qingxu lasted until 757, when Tang forces put An Qingxu under siege in Yecheng. At that time, the major Yan general
Shi Siming Shi Siming () (19th day of the 1st month, 703? – 18 April 761), or Shi Sugan (), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Tang dynasty who followed his childhood friend An Lushan in rebelling against Tang, and who la ...
submitted to Tang, and An Zhongzhi submitted to Tang as well, subsequently serving under Shi. Emperor Xuanzong's son and successor Emperor Suzong created An Zhongzhi the Duke of Miyun and let him remain at his post. However, Shi did not himself remain under submission to Tang for long, and when he himself rose against Tang and claimed the Yan throne, he made An Zhongzhi a minister and had him defend the region along with Xin Wanbao (). After Shi was assassinated and succeeded by his son
Shi Chaoyi Shi Chaoyi () (died before 17 February 763Volume 222 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Shi's head reached Chang'an on the ''jiachen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Guangde'' era of Tang Daizong's reign. This date corresponds to ...
in 761, An Zhongzhi refused to serve Shi Chaoyi. He had his officer Wang Wujun kill Xin and then submitted to Tang, allowing Tang forces access to the region through Tumen. Emperor Suzong's son and successor Emperor Daizong accepted his submission, gave him the imperial surname of Li, and further gave him the new personal name of Baochen (meaning "treasured subject"). He, along with fellow Yan generals Xue Song, Tian Chengsi, and Li Huaixian, were allowed to keep their territory, and he was made 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 ...
, Hebei), consisting of six prefectures that he controlled. Emperor Daizong also created him the Duke of Zhao.


After the Anshi Rebellion

The four former Yan generals formed alliances among themselves, as well as with two other military governors, Li Zhengji and Liang Chongyi, hoping to be able to pass their territories to their descendants, semi-independent of the Tang imperial government, retaining their armies and taxes without submitting them to the imperial government. As part of this alliance, Li Baochen's brother Li Baozheng () married Tian's daughter, and Li Baochen gave a daughter in marriage to Li Zhengji's son
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association. Li won nine WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two Grand Slam (t ...
and took a daughter of Li Zhengji's to be the wife of his son Li Weicheng (). Li Baochen, however, would for a while be more submissive to the imperial government than others in the alliance, and when Zhu Xicai assassinated Li Huaixian in 768 and took over Lulong Circuit (盧龍, i.e., the circuit formerly known as Fanyang), Li Baochen attacked Zhu Xicai under the name of the Tang imperial regime, but he was repelled by Zhu, and Emperor Daizong subsequently allowed Zhu to retain Lulong Circuit. Li Baochen's alliance with Tian Chengsi, who controlled 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 ...
), would be severely tested in 775, as Tian, despite the alliance, looked down at his allies and had seized most of Xue Song's Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, 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 ...
) after Xue's death in 773 rather than allowing Xue's family to retain the territory. In or shortly before 775, there was an incident where Li Baozheng and Tian's son Tian Wei () were playing
polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
at Weibo, when an accidental collision between Li Baozheng's and Tian Wei's horses killed Tian Wei. Tian Chengsi, in anger, imprisoned Li Baozheng and sent a messenger to Li Baochen in protest. Li Baochen, wanting to be conciliatory, sent a cane back with Tian's messenger and allowed Tian to discipline Li Baozheng — but Tian, in anger over his son's death, caned Li Baozheng to death, causing Li Baochen to break off the alliance with Tian.''
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. 225.
He and Li Zhengji, who also felt slighted by Tian, submitted petitions to the imperial government asking to attack Tian, and Emperor Daizong agreed, launching troops from a number of circuits loyal to the imperial government, in addition to Li Baochen's and Li Zhengji's forces, to attack Tian. Li Baochen,
Zhu Tao Zhu Tao (朱滔) (died 785), formally the Prince of Tongyi (通義王), was a Chinese military general, monarch, rebel and politician during the Tang dynasty. He served as a general who initially served imperial causes during the reigns of Emperor ...
(whose brother
Zhu Ci Zhu Ci (; 742–784) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and rebel during the Tang dynasty. He initially served as military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), but later became a general ...
had killed Zhu Xicai in 772, submitted Lulong to Tang imperial authority, and went to Chang'an to serve as
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 ...
, leaving Zhu Tao in command of Lulong), and Xue Jianxun () the military governor of Taiyuan Circuit attacked Tian from the north, while Li Zhengji and Li Zhongchen the military governor of Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern
Zhumadian Zhumadian ( zh, s= , t= , p=Zhùmǎdiàn; Postal romanization, postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang, Henan, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to ...
,
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 ...
) attacked Tian from the south. Initially, these joint forces were successful in their attacks against Tian, seizing Ci Prefecture (磁州, in modern Handan) from Tian, but Tian was subsequently able to persuade Li Zhengji to break off his attack, substantially weakening the joint forces. Meanwhile, Li Baochen was offended when an imperial
eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...
, Ma Chengqian (), who had visited Li Baochen's army, was so dissatisfied with Li Baochen's gift to him that he threw it on the ground, and Tian was also able to use hoaxes to persuade Li Baochen that if he joined forces with Tian to attack Lulong, he would be successful. Li Baochen thus turned against Zhu Tao, launching a surprise attack on him, but was unable to kill Zhu Tao, effectively ending any hopes of the campaign against Tian and subsequently creating an enmity between the Chengde and Lulong Circuits. Tian subsequent ceded Cang Prefecture (滄州, 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 ...
,
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 ...
) to LI Baochen, cementing the reformed alliance and increasing Li Baochen's holdings to seven prefectures. By 777, Li Baochen had an army that was 50,000-men strong, and Emperor Daizong created him the Prince of Longxi. In 778, for reasons unclear in history, Li Baochen briefly assumed his old surname of Zhang. However, in 779, he became apprehensive about having done so, and, with Emperor Daizong's permission, reassumed the imperial surname of Li. Also in 779, when Tian Chengsi died, it was at the urging of Li Baochen that Emperor Daizong officially approved Tian Chengsi's selected successor, his nephew Tian Yue, as Tian Chengsi's successor. As Li Baochen grew older, he was planning to pass his territory to his son Li Weiyue, but as Li Weiyue was described to be weak in personality, he feared that Li Weiyue would not be able to control the army. Therefore, he began to systematically kill the stronger military officers in his army to eliminate potential challengers to Li Weiyue. The only officers to escape this fate were Zhang Xiaozhong the prefect of Yi Prefecture (易州, 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 ...
,
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 ...
) — who resisted repeated summons by Li Baochen and stayed at Yi Prefecture, although not turning against Li Baochen while Li Baochen was alive — and Wang Wujun, who was close to Li Baochen and whose son Wang Shizhen had married Li Baochen's daughter. It was also said that in his old age, he became particularly superstitious and trusted sorcerers who predicted that he would have long life and supreme power (i.e., become emperor). In 781, the sorcerers made him a potion that was supposed to yield long life, but instead was poisonous, and he died within three days of drinking it. Li Weiyue would succeed him without Tang imperial approval, and by 782 was killed by Wang, ending the Li family's hold on Chengde.


Family


Children

*Li Weicheng, eldest son of Li Baochen. regional inspector (''cishi'') of Pu Prefecture *Li Weiyue, second son of Li Baochen *Li Weijian (李惟简), third son of Li Baochen, governor (''jiedushi'') of Fengxiang


Notes and references

* ''
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. 142
* ''
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. 211
* ''
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. 217, 219, 220,
222 __NOTOC__ Year 222 ( CCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antoninus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 975 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomi ...
,
223 __NOTOC__ Year 223 ( CCXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Aelianus (or, less frequently, year 976 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, 224,
225 __NOTOC__ Year 225 ( CCXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscus and Domitius (or, less frequently, year 978 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 225 ...
,
226 Year 226 ( CCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Marcellus (or, less frequently, year 979 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 226 for this ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Baochen 718 births 781 deaths Yan (An–Shi) Tang dynasty jiedushi of Chengde Circuit Tang dynasty nonimperial princes People from North China People of An Lushan Rebellion