Liu Yanzuo () was a son of the late

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 ...

/early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period warlord Liu Shouwen, 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 Yichang Circuit (義昌, headquartered 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 ...

), who tried to defend Yichang against the attacks of his uncle

Liu Shouguang Liu Shouguang () (died February 16, 914) was a warlord early in the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period who controlled Lulong (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) and Yichang (義昌, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) Cir ...

after his father was captured by his uncle in 909. Little is known about Liu Yanzuo personally. His grandfather

Liu Rengong Liu Rengong () (died 914) was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang dynasty who controlled Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) from 895 (when his one-time lord Li Keyong conquered Lulong and left him in charge of it) to 907 (wh ...

had taken over the nearby, larger 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 ...

) in 895, and had sent Liu Shouwen to conquer Yichang in 898, leaving Liu Shouwen in command there. In 907, Liu Shouguang overthrew Liu Rengong and put him under house arrest, taking over Lulong. Hearing of this, Liu Shouwen launched an attack on Liu Shouguang, and the war between the brothers continued for several years.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 266.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 267. In 909, Liu Shouwen was captured in battle by Liu Shouguang's officer

Yuan Xingqin Yuan Xingqin (元行欽) (died 26 May 926Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 275.), known as Li Shaorong (李紹榮) c. 915–926, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Five Dynasties and ...

. Liu Shouguang put him under house arrest and tried to advance to take over Yichang. Liu Shouwen's secretaries Lü Yan () and Sun He () supported Liu Yanzuo as Liu Shouwen's successor and tried to put up a defense at Yichang's capital Cang Prefecture (). Initially, the defense held even after Liu Shouguang had Liu Shouwen taken to the frontline to show that he had been captured. However, soon the food supplies ran out, and the army resorted to cannibalizing the weaker people in the community for food. In spring 910, Liu Yanzuo surrendered. Liu Shouguang sent his son (Liu Yanzuo's cousin) Liu Jiwei () to Yichang to take over for Liu Yanzuo, while having Liu Yanzuo and his staff members taken back to Lulong's capital You Prefecture (). Curiously, historical accounts do not describe what Liu Yanzuo's fate was, even though it explicitly stated that Liu Shouguang killed Lü and his household while sparing Sun. (Liu Yanzuo's father Liu Shouwen would remain under house arrest for some time, and then was assassinated on secret orders from Liu Shouguang.)

Notes and references

10th-century deaths Later Liang (Five Dynasties) generals Yan (Five Dynasties period) people Year of birth unknown People from North China {{China-bio-stub