Wu Shaoyang () (died September 29, 814) was a Chinese military general and politician of the

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 ...

, who, after seizing control of Zhangyi Circuit (彰義/彰义, 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 ...

) in 809, governed it in a ''de facto'' independent manner from the imperial government until his death in 814.

Background

It is not known when Wu Shaoyang was born, but it is known that his family was from Cang Prefecture (滄州/沧州, 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 ...

). His father was named Wu Xiang (), and both his father and he served in the army 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 ...

), when he became friendly with another Weibo soldier,

Wu Shaocheng Wu Shaocheng () (750 – January 6, 810), formally the Prince of Puyang (), was a Chinese military general and politician who served as the military governor of Zhangyi Circuit (彰義, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan), ruled the circuit ...

. Sometime after Wu Shaocheng became 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 Zhaoyi Circuit in 786,''

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. 232. he sent gold and silk to Weibo Circuit, requesting that he be allowed to have Wu Shaoyang. Weibo allowed Wu Shaoyang to report to Zhangyi. Wu Shaocheng claimed that Wu Shaoyang was a cousin and gave him various commissions; Wu Shaoyang was also given access to Wu Shaocheng's mansion. Still, because Wu Shaocheng was cruel and suspicious, Wu Shaoyang requested a position not at headquarters, and Wu Shaocheng made him the prefect of Shen Prefecture (申州, in modern

Xinyang Xinyang ( zh, s= , t=信陽 , p=Xìnyáng; Postal romanization, postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province of China, province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. It ...

). It was said that because Wu Shaoyang was lenient, he became favored by the army.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 145. When Wu Shaocheng grew ill in 809 and fell unconscious, his servant Xianyu Xiong'er (), forged an order in Wu Shaocheng's name recalling Wu Shaoyang to serve as deputy military governor. Wu Shaoyang put Wu Shaocheng's son Wu Yuanqing () to death and took over the circuit. After Wu Shaocheng died around the new year 810, Wu Shaoyang claimed the title of acting military governor.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 238. As then-reigning

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, ...

was already waging a campaign against another warlord,

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 ...

, who ruled 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 ...

), at the time, he felt that he could not act against Wu Shaoyang as well, so he made his son Li You the Prince of Sui the titular military governor of Zhaoyi and gave Wu Shaoyang the title of acting military governor in spring 810. In spring 811, Wu was made military governor.

As ''jiedushi''

It was said that during the years he was military governor, Wu Shaoyang did not pay homage to the emperor. As his territory had many plains and meadows, he cultivated

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

of horses and mules. He often pillaged the hills of neighboring Shou Prefecture (壽州/寿州, in modern

Lu'an Lu'an ( zh, c=, p=Lù'ān), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

), which were known for growing tea, to rob the tea merchants. He also often accepted those persons who were under prosecution by other circuits and put them into his army. However, as he often submitted tributes of horses to Emperor Xianzong, Emperor Xianzong did not act against him.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 239. Wu Shaoyang died in 814. His son

Wu Yuanji Wu Yuanji (吳元濟) (783''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 145. or 793'' New Book of Tang'', vol. 214. – December 12, 817 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. 145
* ''

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. 214
* ''

'', vols.

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 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Shaoyang 8th-century births 814 deaths Tang dynasty generals from Hebei Tang dynasty jiedushi of Huaixi Circuit