Yuwen Rong () (d. 730 or 731) was a Chinese economist and politician, 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 ...

for 100 days during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. He was said to be the first official during Emperor Xuanzong's reign who became powerful on account of his ability to increase government revenue.

Background

Yuwen Rong's family was from 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 ...

, and traced its ancestry to

Yuwen Yidougui Yuwen Yidougui (宇文逸豆歸) ( 333–345), also known as Yuwen Houdougui (宇文俟豆歸), was a chieftain of the Yuwen-Xianbei tribe during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was the last chieftain of the tribe before they were conquered by th ...

, the last chief of the

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 ...

tribe

Yuwen The Yuwen ( < Eastern Han Chinese: *''wa^B-mun'' <

Former Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Former Yan (; 337–370), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Murong clan of the Xianbei during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. From Liaoning, the Former Yan later conquered and ruled over Hebei, Shaanxi, ...

ruler

Murong Huang Murong Huang (; 297 – 25 October 348), courtesy name Yuanzhen (元真), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wenming of Former Yan (前燕文明帝), was the founding monarch of the Xianbei-led Former Yan dynasty of China. When h ...

. His great-grandfather Yuwen Bi (宇文弼) was a major general for Tang's predecessor

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 ...

, and Yuwen Rong's grandfather

Yuwen Jie Yuwen Jie (宇文節), courtesy name Dali (大禮),''New Book of Tang'', vol. 71. was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He served as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Yuwen Jie's grandfather Yuwen Bi (宇文弼) was a majo ...

served as a chancellor during the reign of

Emperor Gaozong of Tang Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife ...

. Yuwen Rong's father Yuwen Jiao (宇文嶠) served as a prefectural secretary general.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign

Early in the ''Kaiyuan'' era (713-741) of Emperor Xuanzong, Yuwen Rong served as the treasurer for Fuping County (富平, in modern

Weinan Weinan ( zh, s=渭南 , p=Wèinán) is a prefecture-level city in east-Guanzhong, central Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, northwest China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provinc ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

), which was then part of Jingzhao Municipality (i.e., the municipality encompassing Chang'an), and was said to be capable in that capacity. While the officials

Yuan Qianyao Yuan Qianyao (源乾曜; died December 22, 731), formally the Duke of Anyang (安陽公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty, twice serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. Background Yuan Qianyao was from Xiang P ...

and Meng Wen (孟溫) successively served as the mayors of Jingzhao, both of them respected his abilities. He later served as ''Jiancha Yushi'' (監察御史), an imperial censor. At that time, there were many people who tried to evade labor conscription and taxes by avoiding being enrolled on census rolls, or fraudulently claiming exemptions, causing a drain on the imperial treasury. In 721, Yuwen requested that he be specially commissioned to go after census evaders and fraudulent exemption claimers, and, with support from Yuan, who was then a

, Emperor Xuanzong agreed. Yuwen was able to locate some 800,000 alleged census evaders—although traditional historians believed that this figure was inflated—adding much to the imperial treasury. When the county magistrate Huangfu Jing (皇甫憬) submitted a petition arguing that this was causing a panic among the people, Emperor Xuanzong moved Huangfu to a more distant county as punishment. When the deputy minister of census Yang Yang (楊暘) also pointed this out, Yang was sent out of the capital. Subsequently, apparently at Yuwen's urging, Emperor Xuanzong issued an amnesty period for the census evaders to report themselves and allowed them to be exempted from retroactive taxation. When Yuwen toured the realm to announce this, the census evaders, not realizing his earlier role in investigations into them, were exceedingly thankful to him. For his role in the project, Yuwen was promoted to be the deputy imperial censor (御史中丞, ''Yushi Zhongcheng''). In 725, Emperor Xuanzong gave Yuwen the additional office as deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang''). He also decreed that the grains submitted as taxes by the census evaders were to be put aside in storage in case of famine, and also established agriculture promotion offices in the prefectures and counties to try to enhance agriculture. Later that year, when Emperor Xuanzong suspected the ministry of civil service affairs to be unfair in its selection of officials, Yuwen suggested that he appoint 10 officials to review the selections, and then further review the 10 examiners' decisions. Emperor Xuanzong agreed and carried out the plan, despite objections submitted by the official Wu Jing (吳兢), although in 726 he stopped the scheme. Meanwhile, it was said that the senior chancellor Zhang Yue despised Yuwen, but also did not view him as a threat, despite warnings from his subordinate

Zhang Jiuling Zhang Jiuling () (678 or 673 – 5 June 740), courtesy name Zishou (), nickname Bowu (), formally Count Wenxian of Shixing (), was a Chinese poet and politician of the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. Ea ...

. In 726, Yuwen, along with

Li Linfu Li Linfu () (died January 3, 753), nickname Genu (), formally the Duke of Jin (), was a Chinese historian, musician, and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor for 18 years (734–752), during the reign of Emperor Xuanzon ...

and another official who resented Zhang Yue, Cui Yinfu (崔隱甫), submitted accusations of corruption against Zhang Yue. Subsequently, Zhang was removed from his chancellor position, but at the intercession of the powerful eunuch

Gao Lishi Gao Lishi () (684 – May 762), born Feng Yuanyi (馮元一), noble title Duke of Qi (齊國公), was a Chinese eunuch and politician of the Tang dynasty and the Wu Zhou dynasty, becoming particularly powerful during Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's re ...

, avoided further punishment. Fearing that Zhang Yue would eventually return to the chancellor position, Yuwen and Cui formed a faction with other officials, against Zhang Yue and his faction. In 727, Emperor Xuanzong, tired of that situation, ordered Zhang Yue to retire, Cui to return home to serve his mother, and demoted Yuwen to be the prefect of Wei Prefecture (魏州, 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 ...

). In 728, Emperor Xuanzong gave Yuwen the additional posts as the examiner of Hebei Circuit (河北道, roughly modern Hebei,

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 ...

, and

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

) as well as deputy minister of census. Later that year, he made Yuwen the prefect of Bian Prefecture (汴州, roughly modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

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 gave Yuwen the additional responsibility of managing 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 ...

levees. Yuwen proposed that the ancient routes of the Yellow River—when the lower Yellow River divided into nine river routes—be located, and that the routes be used for irrigation of rice fields; further, he also proposed that the routes could then be used for transportation. Emperor Xuanzong approved of the plan, which however did not have much progress despite expenses. In 729, tired of the constant arguments between the chancellors

Li Yuanhong Li Yuanhong (; courtesy name ; October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a prominent Chinese military and political leader during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the Provisional Vice President of the Republic of China from 191 ...

and Du Xian, and Yuan's inabilities to moderate them, Emperor Xuanzong removed all three from chancellor positions, replacing them with Yuwen and

Pei Guangting Pei Guangting (; 676 - March 27, 733), courtesy name Liancheng (連城), formally Baron Zhongxian of Zhengping (正平忠獻男),That Pei's posthumous name was 忠獻 rather than 忠憲 (both pronounced "Zhongxian") was per his biography in the ''Ol ...

—with Yuwen given the position of ''Huangmen Shilang'' (黃門侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''), and given the ''de facto'' chancellor designation of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事). It was said that Yuwen tried to further increase revenues by establish special offices, which caused the previously commissioned officials to have much less responsibilities. It was further said that Yuwen was intelligent and capable in increasing revenues, drawing Emperor Xuanzong's favor, but was frivolous, talkative, and nepotistic, once commenting, "Let me sit on this seat for a few months, and the realm will have no troubles." However, it was also said that he was praised for recommending the well-respected officials

Song Jing Song Jing (宋璟) (663 – November 21, 737), formally Duke Wenzhen of Guangping (廣平文貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as the Chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during th ...

Pei Yaoqing Pei Yaoqing (; 681–743), courtesy name Huanzhi (), formally Marquess Wenxian of Zhaocheng (), was a Chinese diplomat, poet, and politician of the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. He had a friendly ...

, and Xu Jingxian (許景先). He soon became jealous of another favorite of Emperor Xuanzong's -- Emperor Xuanzong's second cousin Li Hui (李褘) the Prince of Xin'an, who had drawn Emperor Xuanzong's favor for his contributions as a general and was then 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

Shuofang Shuofang () was an ancient Chinese commandery, situated in the Hetao region in modern-day Inner Mongolia near Baotou. First founded by Emperor Wu of Han in the wake of the successful reconquest of the area from Xiongnu tribes, it was dissolved d ...

Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern

Yinchuan Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...

Ningxia Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...

). Yuwen persuaded the imperial censor Li Zhou (李宙) to submit an indictment against Li Hui, but the news was leaked to Li Hui. Li Hui, finding out he was to be indicted, reported this to Emperor Xuanzong through Emperor Xuanzong's sister Li Chiying (李持盈) the Princess Yuzhen and Gao, defending himself. When Li Zhou, as Li Hui had predicted, submitted the indictment, Emperor Xuanzong knew that it was at Yuwen's urging and became angry at them. He demoted Yuwen to be the prefect of Ru Prefecture (汝州, roughly 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 ...

) -- after serving 100 days as chancellor.Yuwen's term of service was from July 1

to October 2

which should be 99 days, but the traditional historians called his term 100 days. However, after Yuwen's removal, it was said that revenues decreased sharply, and Emperor Xuanzong questioned Pei Guangting and other officials who had criticized Yuwen, "You all claim that Yuwen Rong is evil, and I have removed him. Now, what should we do if there is not enough money in the treasury? What are you here for?" Pei and the other officials were fearful and unable to answer, but Emperor Xuanzong did not punish them. Meanwhile, as Pei was also serving as chief imperial censor by this point, he submitted an indictment against Yuwen for corruption and improper association with others, and he was demoted to be the sheriff of Pingle County (平樂, in modern

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

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 ...

). After he had spent more than a year at Pingle, the deputy minister Jiang Cen (蔣岑) further accused Yuwen of corruption while serving as prefect of Bian Prefecture. Yuwen was thus further removed as sheriff and exiled to Yan Prefecture (巖州, roughly modern

Laibin Laibin ( zh, s=来宾市, t=來賓市, p=Láibīn, Zhuang: Laizbinh) is a prefecture-level city in the central part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. History Laibin is an ancient town with more than 2000 years of history. The area ...

). It was said that the environment of Yan Prefecture was humid and unhealthy, causing Yuwen to be ill. He thus went on sick leave in Guang Prefecture (廣州, roughly modern

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

). After his leave was to be over, however, he remained in Guang Prefecture, causing the commandant of Guang Prefecture, Geng Renzhong (耿仁忠) to force him to leave. He died on the way back to Yan Prefecture. When Emperor Xuanzong heard this, he remembered Yuwen's contributions and posthumously made him a prefectural prefect.

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. 105
* ''

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. 134
* ''

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.

212 Year 212 ( CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 212 for this ye ...

213 Year 213 ( CCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time (in Rome), it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Calvinus (or, less frequently, year 966 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 213 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuwen, Rong 730s deaths Chancellors under Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Economists from Shaanxi Tang dynasty economists Year of birth unknown Rong