Li Jifu
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Li Jifu () (758 – November 18, 814),
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 ...
Hongxian (), formally Duke Zhongyi of Zhao (), was a Chinese cartographer, historian, and politician during 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 ...
, 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 reign of
Emperor Xianzong Emperor Xianzong of Tang (4 March to 1 April 778''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 14. – 14 February 820; r. 805 – 820), personal name Li Chun, né Li Chun (), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the eldest son of Emperor Shunzong, ...
.


Background

Li Jifu was born in 758, during the reign of Emperor Suzong.''
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. 148.
His family claimed ancestry from
Li Mu Li Mu (; died 229 BC), personal name Zuo (繓), courtesy name Mu (牧), was a Chinese military General of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period. He is regarded by Chinese folklore as one of the four Greatest Generals of the Late Wa ...
, a prominent general of the
Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...
state Zhao, and traced its ancestry through a line of officials of
Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...
,
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
,
Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...
,
Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty or Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the or the , was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty in China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had previou ...
,
Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...
, and
Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
. His grandfather Li Zai () was not recorded to have carried any official titles, but his father Li Qiyun () was a prominent official during the reign of Emperor Suzong's son Emperor Daizong and served as chief imperial censor, carrying the title of Duke of Zanhuang.''New Book of Tang'', vol. 146. Li Jifu himself was said to be studious in his youth and capable in writing.


During Emperor Dezong's reign

In 784, during the reign of Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong, when Li Jifu was 26, Li Jifu became a ''Taichang Boshi'' (), a consultant at the ministry of worship (太常寺, ''Taichang Si''), and became known for his knowledge, especially the past Tang tradition, and was often praised for it. In 786, when Emperor Dezong's wife Empress Wang died, the regulation on the proper rituals were missing – as there had not been an empress who was mourned since the times of Emperor Suzong's father Emperor Xuanzong. Li Jifu planned the mourning ceremonies for Empress Wang, and was much praised by Emperor Dezong. Later, in addition to his ''Taichang Boshi'' title, Li Jifu was also made ''Tuntian Yuanwailang'' (), a low-level official at the ministry of public works (工部, ''Gongbu''); he later became ''Jiabu Yuanwailang'' (), a low-level official at the ministry of rite (禮部, ''Lǐbu''). He was respected and treated well by 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 Li Mi and Dou Can, but after Lu Zhi became chancellor, he suspected Li Jifu of engaging in partisanship and had him demoted to serve as the secretary general of Ming Prefecture (明州, in modern
Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...
,
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); later, after a general pardon had been issued, Li Jifu was promoted to be the prefect of Zhong Prefecture (忠州, in modern
Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...
). When Lu was himself exiled, it was said that Lu's rival chancellors wanted to harm him, and then intentionally had him demoted to be the secretary general of Zhong Prefecture – i.e., to serve as Li Jifu's subordinate. Lu's family and friends were concerned deeply, but Li Jifu showed respect to Lu as if Lu were still a chancellor and caused him no harm. The two eventually became friends. Li Jifu served as Zhong Prefecture for six years without further movement, and was later removed on account of illness. He later served as the prefect of either Liu Prefecture (柳州, in modern
Liuzhou Liuzhou (; , Standard Mandarin: , Liuzhou Yue dialect: International Phonetic Alphabet, iəu53 ʦəu44 is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's population was 4 ...
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Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
) or Chen Prefecture (郴州, in modern
Chenzhou Chenzhou () is a prefecture-level city located in the south of Hunan province, China, bordering the provinces of Jiangxi to the east and Guangdong to the south. Its administrative area covers , 9.2% of the provincial area, and its total populatio ...
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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 ...
), before serving as the prefect of Rao Prefecture (饒州, in modern
Shangrao Shangrao ( zh, s= , t= , p=Shàngráo) is a medium-sized prefecture-level city located in the northeast of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. The city borders the province of Anhui to the north, the province of Zhejiang to the east, and ...
,
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). Previously, after four successive prefects had died, the fort that served as headquarters of Rao Prefectures had been abandoned as there were rumors that it was cursed. When Li Jifu arrived, he removed the thorns that had grown up around the fort and moved in with no ill consequences, and the people were comforted.


During Emperor Xianzong's reign


Prior to chancellorships

After Emperor Dezong's grandson
Emperor Xianzong Emperor Xianzong of Tang (4 March to 1 April 778''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 14. – 14 February 820; r. 805 – 820), personal name Li Chun, né Li Chun (), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the eldest son of Emperor Shunzong, ...
became emperor in 805, Li Jifu was recalled to serve as ''Kaogong Langzhong'' (), a supervisorial official at the ministry of civil service affairs (吏部, Lìbu, note different tone than the ministry of rites) and put in charge of drafting edicts. Shortly after he arrived at 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 ...
, he was made ''Hanlin Xueshi'' (), an imperial scholar, and soon was further made ''Zhongshu Sheren'' (), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng''). During that time, he made several suggestions that caused him to gain further approval by Emperor Xianzong: * Early in Emperor Xianzong's reign, a long-time minor official at the legislative bureau, Hua Huan (), who was a close associate to the
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 ...
general Liu Guangqi (), had much power due to his association with Liu, and Li suggested Hua's removal – which Emperor Xianzong carried out in 806.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 237. * When the Li Qi 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 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 ...
) requested to also be the director of the salt and iron monopoly, Li Jifu pointed out that Li Qi was ambitious and rebellious and that giving him the economic benefits of running the monopolies would further strengthen him in case of a rebellion, and thus opposed the request. Emperor Xianzong agreed with Li Jifu. * When the warlord Liu Pi, who controlled Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
,
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
), resisted Emperor Xianzong's rule, Li Jifu advised military action against Liu Pi, and further suggested diverting Liu's attention by directing southern troops through the
Three Gorges The Three Gorges () are three adjacent and sequential gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River path, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery. The T ...
while the main forces under Gao Chongwen were heading over the mountains. * When, even before the campaign ultimately succeeded, another general who fought Liu Pi along with Gao, Yan Li (), requested that a senior official be put in charge of Xichuan, Li Jifu pointed out that such a move would damage Gao's morale, and under Li Jifu's suggestion, Emperor Xianzong eventually made Gao the military governor of Xichuan while carving out six prefectures from Xichuan, transferring them to its neighbor Dongchuan Circuit (東川, headquartered in modern
Mianyang Mianyang ( zh, s=绵阳, t=綿陽, w=Mien2-yang2, p=Miányáng; Sichuanese Pinyin, Sichuanese romanization: ''Mien-iang''; formerly known as Mienchow, zh, t=綿州, p=Mianzhou, links=no; Sichuanese romanization: ''Miencheo''; ) is the second lar ...
,
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
), and making Yan the military governor of Dongchuan. * When Tufan sought a formal treaty of friendship, Li Jifu pointed out that at the time Tang was allied with
Nanzhao Nanzhao ( zh, t=南詔, s=南诏, p=Nánzhào), also spelled Nanchao, , Yi language: ꂷꏂꌅ, ''Mashynzy'') was a dynastic kingdom that flourished in what is now southwestern China and northern Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuri ...
against Tufan – and that such a treaty would cause Nanzhao to suspect Tang's good faith and damage the relationship with Nanzhao. When Tufan further offered to return a number of towns that it had captured from Tang previously, Li Jifu pointed out that at that time, Tang had insufficient troops to defend them. Emperor Xianzong thus declined Tufan's proposal.


First chancellorship

In 807, when Du Huangchang was removed from his chancellor position, Li Jifu was made ''Zhongshu Shilang'' (), the deputy head of the legislative bureau, and made ''de facto'' chancellor with the title ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (), along with Wu Yuanheng. It was said that he was greatly touched and stated to his subordinate Pei Ji: Pei wrote out a list of over 30 people, and within a month, Li Jifu had them put into appropriate positions. It was believed at the time that Li Jifu was a good judge of character. As he believed that the military governors at the time had too much power over their domains, he advocated granting the prefects under them greater power. However, it was also said that Li Jifu, around that time, falsely accused fellow chancellor Zheng Yin of leaking secrets to the warlord Lu Congshi (), 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 ( ...
,
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 that Emperor Xianzong did not act against Zheng only after the accusation was shown to be unreasonable by the imperial scholar Li Jiang. Late in 807, Li Jifu submitted a 10-volume work titled the ''Records of ''Yuanhe'' Imperial Accounts'' (''Yuanhe'' () being Emperor Xianzong's
era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a t ...
) that contained detail accounts of the state of the various circuits of the empire, including the population and revenues. In 808, at a special
imperial examinations The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by merit rather than by birth started early i ...
where Emperor Xianzong ordered that low-level officials submit honest opinions about the government, several of the examinees –
Niu Sengru Niu Sengru (; 780 – January 27, 849Li Jue (Tang dynasty), Li Jue, ''Commemorative Text for the Spirit Tablet for the Deceased Chancellor, ''Taizi Shaoshi'', Posthumously-Honored ''Taiwei'', Lord Niu'', collected in ''All Tang Texts'' (全唐文)v ...
,
Li Zongmin Li Zongmin (李宗閔) (died 846?''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 248.), courtesy name Sunzhi (損之), was a Chinese politician of the Tang dynasty, serving twice as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wenzong. He was considered one of the leading fi ...
, and Huangfu Shi () stated, without using any veiled language, the issues they saw with the governance at the time. The officials that Emperor Xianzong put in charge of the examinations, Yang Yuling () and
Wei Guanzhi Wei Guanzhi (韋貫之) (760 – November 13, 821), né Wei Chun (韋純), courtesy name Guanzhi (貫之) or Zhengli (正理), was a Chinese politician and writer. He served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. Background Wei Ch ...
ranked them high. However, Li Jifu saw these as severe criticisms of himself, and, weeping, accused the reviewing officials, the imperial scholars Pei Ji and
Wang Ya Wang Ya (; died December 17, 835), courtesy name Guangjin (), formally Duke of Dai (), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xianzong and Emperor Xianzong's grandson Emperor Wenzong. Du ...
, of conflict of interest – as Huangfu was a nephew of Wang's. As a result of Li Jifu's accusations, Wang, Pei, Yang, and Wei were all demoted, and it was said that while no harm came to Niu, Li Zongmin, and Huangfu at that time, they were effectively stuck at the positions they previously served without promotion. As a result, they all sought positions as staff members of military governors. (However, Li Jifu's biographies in the ''
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 ...
'' and ''
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 ...
'' viewed this event as part of the conspiracy by the senior official Pei Jun () to harm Li Jifu and to have Pei Jun made chancellor.) Soon thereafter, there was another incident in which Li Jifu and the official Dou Qun () came into conflict. Li Jifu had previously recommended the officials Yang Shi'e () and Lü Wen (), and because Dou was also friendly with Yang and Lü, he recommended them as well, without first informing Li Jifu. Li Jifu became displeased and refused to act on Dou's recommendations, thus drawing Dou's resentment. When Dou later found out that one Chen Keming () – whom Dou believed to be a sorcerer but who could have been a physician – was visiting Li Jifu's household because Li Jifu was ill – he submitted an accusation to Emperor Xianzong that Li Jifu was associating with sorcerers. When Emperor Xianzong investigated and found no proof of Li Jifu's guilt, Dou and his associates were exiled, but Li Jifu felt insecure and offered to resign, recommending Pei Ji to succeed him. Emperor Xianzong agreed, and, in late 808, made Pei Ji chancellor and made Li Jifu the military governor of 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, ...
,
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 granted him various medical ingredients from the imperial pharmacy.


Between the chancellorships

While Li Jifu was at Huainan, it was said that he built Pingjin Dam () and two ponds named Furen () and Guben (), for irrigation purposes. When the Yangtze-Huai region suffered a great drought, particularly hurting Li Jifu's neighboring circuits Zhexi (浙西, headquartered in modern Zhenjiang) and Zhedong (浙東, headquartered in modern
Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...
,
Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...
), the central government agencies in charge did not act, and it was only after an extensive report by Li Jifu that Emperor Xianzong ordered disaster relief. It was also said that Li Jifu often sent suggestions about important matters of state to Emperor Xianzong. In late 810, Pei Ji was removed from his chancellor position on account of illness, and in spring 811, Li Jifu was recalled to again serve as ''Zhongshu Shilang'' and chancellor.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 238. He was also given the additional titles of ''Jinzi Guanglu Daifu'' (), ''Shang Zhuguo'' (), and imperial scholar of Jixian Palace. He was also put in charge of editing the imperial history and created the Duke of Zhao.


Second chancellorship

It was said that the people of the time looked forward to Li Jifu's return to chancellorship with great expectations. However, it was also said that soon after his return to chancellorship, fellow chancellor Li Fan was removed, and Pei Ji was further demoted, due to his machinations. Further, it was also said that he began to try to hide his acts from Emperor Xianzong. However, he was credited with advocating a major streamlining of government that saved expenses. In 811, also at Li Jifu's recommendation – as Li Jifu pointed out that the imperial princes, due to various restrictions, were having difficulty finding appropriate husbands for their daughters and getting the marriages approved – Emperor Xianzong created many princes' daughters ladies and ordered the government agencies to find appropriate gentlemen for them to marry. However, by this point, Emperor Xianzong had heard that Li Jifu was using his office for personal vengeance, and so decided to make Li Jiang a chancellor as well to create a power balance. Thereafter, Li Jifu and Li Jiang often had disputes, causing a rift between the two. In 812, when the chancellors met with Emperor Xianzong, Li Jifu made a comment that the realm was becoming peaceful and that Emperor Xianzong should seek out some pleasure – when Li Jiang commented that there was still much warfare and natural disasters to deal with and it was no time to seek pleasure. Emperor Xianzong approved of Li Jiang's remarks. Li Jifu further became distressed when Emperor Xianzong criticized another chancellor, Yu Di, for proposing harsh punishments – as Li Jifu had just himself proposed the same kind of harsher punishments. On another occasion, however, when Emperor Xianzong met the chancellors, he commented to Li Jifu that he had just read in the imperial archives about the faithfulness of Li Jifu's father Li Qiyun and was impressed – causing Li Jifu to be touched, and he wept and thanked Emperor Xianzong. Later in 812, when the warlord Tian Ji'an, the military governor 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 ...
), died, Li Jifu advocated preparing for a campaign to retake Weibo by force, but Li Jiang advocated another strategy – simply refusing to commission Tian Ji'an's son Tian Huaijian as his successor and waiting for someone else to rise against Tian Huaijian from within Weibo itself. Emperor Xianzong agreed with Li Jiang, and eventually, when Tian Ji'an's relative Tian Xing rose against Tian Huaijian, Emperor Xianzong commissioned Tian Xing as the new military governor as per Li Jiang's argument, overruling Li Jifu's argument that Tian Xing needed to be observed first; Weibo then began to follow imperial orders.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 239. In 813, when Huigu forces approached Tang borders and announced that they were going through Tang territory to attack Tufan, the border people were alarmed, believing that Huigu might be intending to attack them instead. Li Jifu advocated not becoming overly alarmed, but simply repairing 11 border posts to watch them. In 814, he further advocated the reestablishment of You Prefecture (宥州, 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 ...
), a special prefecture to settle the surrendered non- Han tribes. Emperor Xianzong approved his proposals. In 814, when the warlord Wu Shaoyang the military governor of Zhangyi Circuit (彰義, 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 ...
), died, Li Jifu advocated preparing for military action to retake Zhangyi by force, rather than allowing Wu Shaoyang's son Wu Yuanji to succeed Wu Shaoyang – pointing out that, by contrast to the warlords north of the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
, Zhangyi was surrounded by circuits loyal to the imperial government. By Li JIfu's recommendation, the headquarters of Zhangyi's neighbor Heyang Circuit (河陽, then-headquartered in modern
Jiaozuo Jiaozuo ( zh, s= , p=Jiāozuò ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to th ...
,
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 ...
), which was under imperial control and which was stationed in order to protect the eastern capital Luoyang from Weibo, was moved to Ru Prefecture (汝州, in modern
Pingdingshan Pingdingshan ( zh, s=平顶山, t=平頂山, p=Píngdǐngshān), also known as Eagle City ( zh, s=鹰城, p=Yīngchéng, t=鷹城), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census who ...
,
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 ...
), to prepare for action against Zhangyi. When Wu Shaoyang's subordinate Yang Yuanqing met Li Jifu, Li Jifu persuaded him to report to the imperial government the strengths and weaknesses of the Zhangyi forces, for the imperial government to further prepare for the campaign. While still preparing for the campaign, Li Jifu died. Initially, the officials in charge of awarding posthumous names proposed ''Jingxian'' (敬憲, "alert and knowledgeable"). One of the junior officials, Zhang Zhongfang () objected, arguing that that was too flattering. Emperor Xianzong was displeased and exiled Zhang, but subsequently changed Li Jifu's posthumous name to ''Zhongyi'' ("faithful and benevolent"). His sons Li Dexiu () and
Li Deyu Li Deyu (; 787 – January 26, 850Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 174.), courtesy name Wenrao (), formally the Duke of Wei (), was a Chinese poet, politician, and writer during the Tang dynasty, ser ...
both later served in the imperial government, with Li Deyu becoming a prominent chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xianzong's grandsons Emperor Wenzong and Emperor Wuzong.


Written works

Li Jifu wrote commentaries on the ''
I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...
''. He also compiled a number of historical events from the
Eastern Han The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
, Cao Wei, Jin,
Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...
, and Sui, commenting on their successes and failures and the reasons, into a 30-volume work known as the ''Summaries of the Six Dynasties'' (). In addition to his ''Records of Yuanhe Imperial Accounts'', he also wrote a 54-volume work on the geographical features and histories of the various circuits, including maps, titling the work the ''Yuanhe Maps of the Commanderies and Principalities'' ().The ''Old Book of Tang'' specifies 54 volumes, but an alternate name is ' Yuanhe Maps and Records of Prefectures and Counties' (元和郡縣圖志) which is listed as being 40 volumes plus a 2 volume table of contents. He further wrote a one-volume summary of imperial offices' responsibilities entitled the ''Key Points on Selecting Officials for the Hundred Offices'' (). He submitted these works to the emperor, but the works were also commonly known at the time.


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. 148. * ''
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. 146. * ''
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. 236,
237 Year 237 (Roman numerals, CCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Perpetuus and Felix (or, less frequently, year 990 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...
,
238 __NOTOC__ Year 238 ( CCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pius and Pontianus (or, less frequently, year 991 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 238 ...
, 239. * ''Yuanhe Maps of the Counties'' (), Li, Jifu, and He, Cijun (). 1983. Zhongguo gu dai di li zong zhi cong kan (). Beijing: Zhong hua shu ju (). {{DEFAULTSORT:Li Jifu 758 births 814 deaths 8th-century Chinese historians 8th-century geographers 9th-century Chinese historians 9th-century geographers Chancellors under Emperor Xianzong of Tang Chinese cartographers Geographers from Imperial China Li clan of Zhao Commandery Tang dynasty historians Tang dynasty jiedushi of Huainan Circuit