Tutu Chengcui (吐突承璀; died 820),

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 ...

Renzhen (仁貞), was a powerful

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 ...

of 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 ...

, 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

It is not known when Tutu Chengcui was born—or whether he was originally surnamed Tutu, although, as it is known that he was from the Min region (閩, roughly modern

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

),''

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. 207
it would appear doubtful, as Tutu was largely a

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

surname. Early in his career as an

, he served at the eastern palace (i.e., 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 ...

's palace) and later served as a supervising eunuch at the textile agency (掖庭局, ''Yiting Ju'') within the eunuch bureau (內侍省, ''Neishi Sheng''). It was said that he was dextrous, intelligent, and capable. While he was serving at the Crown Prince's palace, he served under Li Chun the Prince of Guangling, a son of then-crown prince Li Song (who was a son of then-reigning Emperor Dezong).''

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. 237.

During Emperor Xianzong's reign

In 805, Emperor Dezong died, and Li Song became emperor (as Emperor Shunzong), but as Emperor Shunzong was himself severely ill at that point, he yielded the throne to Li Chun later in the year (as Emperor Xianzong). Emperor Xianzong made Tutu Chengcui ''Neichangshi'' (內常侍)—the secretary general of the eunuch bureau, serving as the acting head of the eunuch bureau.''

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. 184
. In 806, Tutu was also made the commander (中尉, ''Zhongwei'') of the Left

Shence Army The Shence Army () was a military formation of the Tang dynasty established in 754 by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Based in Chang'an, it formed the core of the Imperial Guards, an elite military formation responsible for protecting the emperor. The ...

(左神策軍), as well as the director of religious affairs (功德使, ''Gongdeshi''). In 809, one of the key military governors (''

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 ...

'') who had been ruling their circuits in a ''de facto'' independent manner— Wang Shizhen 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 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. Wang Shizhen's son

Wang Chengzong Wang Chengzong () (died 820) was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty who served a military governor (''jiedushi'') of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). He, like his grandfather Wang Wujun and father Wang ...

declared himself acting military governor. In the past, these successions were routinely approved by the imperial government, but Emperor Xianzong, wanting to reassert imperial authority, hesitated in doing so and considered taking the control of Chengde back by force. 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 ...

Pei Ji opposed military action, but Tutu volunteered to command an army against Wang Chengzong. Meanwhile, Lu Congshi (盧從史) 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 ...

) wanted imperial favor, and offered, through Tutu, to attack Wang as well, causing Emperor Xianzong to consider military action further. Meanwhile, around the same time, there was an incident where Tutu, in his role as director of religious affairs, remodeled Anguo Temple (安國寺) and, in the process, built a magnificent

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

and asked for Emperor Xianzong to designate an official to author the text of the stele, to praise Emperor Xianzong. Emperor Xianzong asked the imperial scholar Li Jiang to do so, but Li Jiang pointed out that of the great rulers of antiquity, none erected monuments to praise himself, and the poorly regarded

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

did. Emperor Xianzong thus ordered Tutu to destroy the stele. To resolve the standoff, Wang Chengzong offered to surrender two of Chengde's six prefectures—De (德州, in modern

Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

) and Di (棣州, in modern

Binzhou Binzhou (, ), formerly Putai, is a prefecture-level city in northern Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. The city proper sits on the northern bank of the Yellow River, while its administrative area straddles both sides of its ...

)—to imperial control as a new Baoxin Circuit. Emperor Xianzong was set to accept the offer and make Wang military governor, but Wang soon retracted the offer and arrested Xue Changchao (薛昌朝), whom Emperor Xianzong was set to commission as the military governor of Baoxin. In winter 809, Emperor Xianzong stripped Wang of his titles and commissioned Tutu as the commander of the forces against Chengde. Many officials, including

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; , Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin pinyin ''Bǎi Jūyì''; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician during the Tang dynasty. Many of his poems concern his career o ...

, Li Yuansu (李元素), Li Yong, Xu Mengrong (許孟容),

Li Yijian Li Yijian () (756 – October 13, 822''Old Book of Tang'', :zh:s:舊唐書/卷16, vol. 16.), courtesy name Yizhi (), was an official of the History of China, Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a Chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during the re ...

, Meng Jian (孟簡), Lü Yuanying (呂元膺), Mu Zhi (穆質), and Dugu Yu (獨孤郁), opposed the commission, arguing that generals would feel ashamed serving under a eunuch. Emperor Xianzong reduced Tutu's title slightly but kept him in command.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 238. In spring 810, Tutu arrived at the northern front against Chengde, but it was said that he lacked the respect of the generals, and the military actions were therefore less than successful. In particular, after one key imperial general, Li Dingjin (酈定進) was killed in battle, the morale took a major blow. Meanwhile, Tutu and Emperor Xianzong became aware that while Lu Congshi had initially encouraged military action against Chengde, he was actually secretly in communications with Chengde and interfering with the military action. Tutu thus befriended Lu by giving Lu various treasures as gifts. Once Lu's guard was down, on one occasion when Lu was at Tutu's headquarters, Tutu had him arrested and had Lu's subordinate Wu Chongyin take control of the Zhaoyi army. Tutu subsequently recommended Wu to succeed Lu, but at the suggestion of Li Jiang, Emperor Xianzong made Wu the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, 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 ...

) and made Meng Yuanyang (孟元陽) the military governor of Heyang Circuit the new military governor of Zhaoyi. After Lu's arrest, Wang submitted a petition offering to submit and accusing Lu of having alienated him from the imperial government. As imperial forces were having no success against Wang by that point, Emperor Xianzong recalled Tutu's army and exonerated Wang and his soldiers, making Wang the military governor of Chengde. After Tutu returned 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 ...

, Emperor Xianzong initially had him resume the command of the Left Shence Army. However, Pei, Duan Pingzhong (段平仲), Lü, and Li Jiang all advocated that, because Tutu was unable to defeat Wang as he promised, he should be punished. Emperor Xianzong, in response, demoted Tutu to be the director of armory supplies (軍器使, ''Junqishi''). It was said that people celebrated Tutu's demotion. In 811, Tutu's subordinate Liu Xiguang (劉希光) was found to have received bribes from the general Sun Rui (孫瑞) to help make Sun a military governor. Liu was forced to commit suicide, and during the investigation, Tutu was implicated. Emperor Xianzong thus demoted Tutu out of the capital to serve as the monitoring eunuch at 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 ...

). While Tutu was at Huainan, Li Yong served as military governor. It was said that while Li Yong was strict and stern, he and Tutu respected each other and did not interfere with each other.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 240. Meanwhile, in 814, with Li Jiang, who was then chancellor, repeatedly offering to resign due to a foot illness, Emperor Xianzong removed Li Jiang from his chancellor position and made him the minister of rites, with an eye toward recalling Tutu after that. He soon did so, and Tutu was again made the director of armory supplies as well as the commander of the Left Shence Army. Appreciative of the mutual respect that he had with Li Yong, in 817, he recommended Li Yong to be chancellor, and Emperor Xianzong thus recalled Li Yong to be chancellor. However, Li Yong found it shameful to be recommended by a eunuch, and upon arrival in Chang'an, he offered to resign and refused to meet his subordinates as chancellor or to carry out the duties of chancellor. Emperor Xianzong made Li Yijian chancellor instead. Meanwhile, in 818, also at Tutu's recommendation, Emperor Xianzong made

Huangfu Bo Huangfu Bo (皇甫鎛) (died 820) was a Chinese economist and politician. He served as an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. He was viewed by traditional historians as a wicked offici ...

a chancellor as well.

Death

Meanwhile, Tutu Chengcui also injected himself into Emperor Xianzong's succession plans. Emperor Xianzong had initially, in 809, created his oldest son

Li Ning Li Ning (; born March 10, 1963, in Liuzhou, Guangxi) is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur, the founder of the eponymous sportswear company Li-Ning, and retired gymnast of Zhuang ethnicity. He lives in Hong Kong. Gymnastics career Li N� ...

, who was not born of his wife Consort Guo, crown prince, but Li Ning died in 811. After Li Ning's death, Tutu suggested that Emperor Xianzong's next oldest son, Li Kuan (李寬) the Prince of Li (whose name was later changed to Li Yun ��惲, be created crown prince. Emperor Xianzong disagreed and created Consort Guo's son Li You the Prince of Sui (whose name was soon changed to Li Heng) crown prince instead. Despite this, Tutu continued to advocate for Li Yun's ascension, particularly after his recall. In 820, when Emperor Xianzong grew ill, it was said that Tutu was plotting to have Li Yun become emperor, such that Li Heng feared for his own safety.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 241. In spring 820, Emperor Xianzong died suddenly—and historians generally believed that it was the eunuch Chen Hongzhi (陳弘志) who murdered him. The eunuchs Liang Shouqian (梁守謙), Ma Jintan (馬進潭), Liu Chengjie (劉承偕), Wei Yuansu (韋元素), and

Wang Shoucheng Wang Shoucheng (王守澄) (died November 3, 835) was a powerful eunuch of the Tang dynasty of China, wielding substantial powers during the reigns of Emperor Xianzong, Emperor Muzong, Emperor Jingzong, and Emperor Wenzong. By 835, however, two ...

, had Tutu and Li Yun killed, and they supported Li Heng to succeed to the throne (as Emperor Muzong).This version of Tutu's death was per the ''Zizhi Tongjian''. However, Tutu's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'' both stated that it was Emperor Muzong, who was resentful that Tutu did not support him, who ordered Tutu killed. Compare ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 241, with ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 184 and ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 207. During the reign of Emperor Muzong's son Emperor Jingzong, the eunuch Ma Cunliang (馬存亮) submitted a petition listing the accomplishments of Tutu, and Emperor Jingzong allowed Tutu's adopted son Tutu Shiye (吐突士曄) to have Tutu Chengcui reburied properly. During the subsequent reign of another of son of Emperor Xianzong's, Emperor Xuānzong, Tutu Shiye was further promoted to be commander of the Right Shence Army (右神策軍).

Notes and references

* ''

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vol. 184
* ''

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vol. 207
* ''

'', vols.

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 __NOTOC__ Year 239 ( CCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gordianus and Aviola (or, less frequently, year 992 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 23 ...

240 __NOTOC__ Year 240 ( CCXL) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Venustus (or, less frequently, year 993 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 240 f ...

241 Year 241 ( CCXLI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gordianus and Pompeianus by the Romans (or, less frequently, year 994 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tutu, Chengcui 8th-century births 820 deaths Tang dynasty eunuchs Tang dynasty generals from Fujian