Zhao Tingyin
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Zhao Tingyin (趙廷隱) (883'' Records of the Nine Kingdoms'' (九國志)
vol. 7
-January 949''
Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty and before the reunification of China ...
''
vol. 51
Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...
br>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter
), formally Prince Zhongwu of Song (宋忠武王), was a major general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state
Later Shu Shu, referred to as Later Shu ( zh, t=後蜀, s=后蜀, first=t, p=Hòu Shǔ) and Meng Shu ( zh, c=孟蜀) in historiography, was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was ...
.


Background

Zhao Tingyin was born in 883, during the reign of
Emperor Xizong of Tang Emperor Xizong of Tang (June 8, 862 – April 20, 888), né Li Yan, later name changed to Li Xuan (, changed 873), was an emperor of China's Tang dynasty. He reigned from 873 to 888. He was the fifth son of his predecessor Emperor Yizong and ...
. He was from
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 ...
. His early military career was in the Later Liang army, and he became an officer under the prominent general Wang Yanzhang.


During Later Tang

In 923,
Li Cunxu Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the second ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) who later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty ...
, the emperor of Later Liang's archrival to the north,
Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four ...
, decided to launch a surprise attack on Later Liang's capital Daliang (i.e., Kaifeng), through Yun Prefecture (鄆州, in modern
Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng ...
,
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 ...
). Wang Yanzhang's army, poorly-manned, was the only Later Liang army standing between him and Daliang, and he attacked, defeated, and captured Wang. Zhao Tingyin was also captured at that time, along with other officers Zhang Hanjie (), Li Zhijie (), and Liu Sibin (). Shortly after, with Li Cunxu's army approaching Daliang, Later Liang's last emperor Zhu Zhen committed suicide, ending Later Liang. Its territory came under Later Tang's control.''
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. 272.
Zhao's career apparently continued in the Later Tang army, although his activities the next few years were not recorded in historical records. It is known that he was an officer in Later Tang's army that conquered
Former Shu Great Shu ( zh, c=大蜀, p=Dàshǔ), known in historiography as the Former Shu ( zh, c=前蜀, p=Qiánshǔ, links=no) or occasionally Wang Shu (王蜀), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and ...
in 925. When, in 926, after the conquest, the Later Tang commander of that invasion army,
Li Jiji Li Jiji (李繼岌) (died May 28, 926''Zizhi Tongjian'', :zh:s:資治通鑑/卷275, vol. 275.Academia Sinica]Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), formally the Prince of Wei (魏王), nickname Hege (和哥), was an imperial prince of the History of ...
the Prince of Wei (the son of Li Cunxu) was prepared to depart
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 ...
(the capital of the destroyed Former Shu state) and return to Later Tang's capital
Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...
, he left a detachment, commanded by several officers — Zhao, Li Renhan, Pan Rensi (), Zhang Ye (Li Renhan's nephew), Wu Zhang (), and Li Tinghou () — at Chengdu, to await the arrival of the new Later Tang-commissioned military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered at Chengdu), Meng Zhixiang, to arrive. Apparently, then, when Meng subsequently arrived to take office, Zhao and those other officers came under his command. Even after Meng's arrival, however, there was much banditry throughout the former Former Shu territory. Meng sent Zhao and Zhang to quell the banditry, and they killed the bandits and calmed the land.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 274. By 930, the relationships that Meng Zhixiang and
Dong Zhang Dong Zhang () (died June 10, 932''Zizhi Tongjian'', :zh:s:資治通鑑/卷277, vol. 277.Academia Sinica]Chinese-Western Calendar Converter) was a Chinese military general and politician of the History of China, Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
the military governor of neighboring 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 ...
) with the imperial government, with Li Cunxu's adoptive brother
Li Siyuan Li Siyuan (李嗣源, later changed to Li Dan (李亶)) (10 October 867 – 15 December 933), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (後唐明宗), was the second emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, reign ...
as emperor (Li Cunxu's having been killed in a mutiny at Luoyang in 926), had become very strained, and it appeared that war between the imperial government and these two circuits would erupt at any time. In fall 930, Meng and Dong formally rose against the imperial government. Meng sent Li Renhan to command the army against the imperially-held Wuxin Circuit (武信, headquartered in modern
Suining Suining ( zh, s=遂宁 , t=遂寧; Sichuanese Pinyin: Xu4nin2; Sichuanese pronunciation: ; zh, p=Sùiníng , w=Sui-ning) is a prefecture-level city of eastern Sichuan province in Southwest China. According to the 2020 census, Suining had a p ...
,
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 ...
), with Zhao, who then carried the title of prefect of Han Prefecture (漢州, in modern
Deyang Deyang ( zh, s=德阳 , t=德陽 , p=Déyáng) is a prefecture-level city of Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a largely industrial city, with companies such as China National Erzhong Group and Dongfang Electric having major operations there. The ...
,
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 ...
), serving as his deputy and Zhang serving as his forward commander. Li Renhan shortly after put Wuxin's capital Sui Prefecture () under siege. During the siege, however, news came that the main imperial army against the two circuits, commanded by Li Siyuan's son-in-law Shi Jingtang, had captured the key entry into the two circuits,
Jianmen Pass Jianmen Pass () is a mountain pass located southwest of the city of Guangyuan in Sichuan province. It has also been called "Jianmenguan Pass"; however, that form is redundant since ''guān'' means "pass" in Chinese. Location Jianmen Pass is lo ...
. Meng thus diverted Zhao from Li Renhan's army, giving him 10,000 men to reinforce Dong's defenses at Jian Prefecture (劍州, in modern
Guangyuan Guangyuan ( zh, s= , t=廣元 , p=Guǎngyuán , w=Kuang-yüan) is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, China, bordering the provinces of Shaanxi to the northeast and Gansu to the northwest. Guangyuan City is located on the northern edge ...
,
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 ...
, near Jianmen Pass). At that time, it was deep in the winter, and Zhao's fearful soldiers initially did not want to advance to Jian. Zhao wept in front of them and stated: "Now the Northern Army i.e., the imperial army)is strong. If you all do not fight hard to stop them, even your wives and children will be owned by others." The soldiers were aroused by his speech, and advanced to Jian.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 277. Upon arriving at Jian, Zhao rendezvoused with another officer of Meng's, Li Zhao, and Dong's officer Wang Hui (). When Shi attacked Jian, they used the rough terrain in the area, as well as their soldiers' archery skills, to impede Shi's attack, forcing Shi to retreat back to Jianmen. Shi made another attack on Jian in spring 931, and Zhao again repelled him. By this point, Shi had tired of the campaign and did not believe victory was possible, and therefore, even before obtaining the permission of Li Siyuan (although Li Siyuan was preparing to abandon the campaign as well by this point), withdrew from the region, back to more-securely held imperial territory. The Xichuan and Dongchuan forces chased him to Li Prefecture (利州, in modern Guangyuan), the capital of Zhaowu Circuit (), and seeing that Shi was withdrawing, the imperially-commissioned military governor of Zhaowu, Li Yanqi (), abandoned Li and withdrew as well. Meng commissioned Zhao as the acting military governor of Zhaowu. Meanwhile, hearing that Dong was coming to encourage the army, Zhao secretly informed Meng and requested permission to seize Dong, arguing to Meng that Dong was treacherous, and that seizing him would allow Meng to take control of Dongchuan easily. Meng refused, however, and when Dong visited Zhao, Zhao took no action but lamented his lack of authorization. Shortly after, Zhao and Li Zhao returned to Chengdu, leaving 5,000 men to guard Li Prefecture. Subsequently, in summer 931, Zhao returned to Li to take office. He then suggested to Meng that he be given an army to attack the imperially-held Xingyuan Municipality (興元, in modern
Hanzhong Hanzhong ( zh, s= , t= , l=middle of the Han River (Hubei), Han River; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in Southern Shaanxi, the southwest of Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gans ...
,
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 ...
) and Qin (秦州, in modern
Tianshui Tianshui is a prefecture-level city in Gansu province, China, and is the province's second-largest city (behind the provincial capital Lanzhou). Located in the southeast of the province, the city strides along the upper reaches of the Wei River a ...
,
Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
) and Feng (鳳州, in modern
Baoji Baoji ( zh, s= , t= , p=Bǎojī; ) is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a ...
,
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 ...
) Prefectures. Meng, believing that the army had been worn out, declined. Zhao then repaired the walls of Li Prefecture, and then submitted a petition to Meng, pointing out that Li Zhao, like he, contributed to the victory at Jian Prefecture, and expressing that he was willing to yield Zhaowu to Li Zhao. Meng initially declined, but after Zhao offered again, agreed, sending Li Zhao to Zhaowu to serve as acting military governor and recalling Zhao to Chengdu. With Li Siyuan having withdrawn the imperial army and made overtures of peace to both Meng and Dong (including executing his chief of staff An Chonghui, the main proponent of the campaign against the two circuits), Meng wanted peace with the imperial government as well and was willing to resubmit to Li Siyuan as a vassal. Dong, however, refused, as he was still angry at the imperial government for executing his son Dong Guangye (). He soon launched an attack against Xichuan, and he sent letters to Zhao Tingyin, Zhao Jiliang, and Li Zhao, hoping that sending the letters would cause Meng to suspect the three of them, but Meng did not. Meng subsequently sent Zhao Tingyin to resist Dong, and followed himself with another army. Dong's attack was initially strong, capturing a number of Xichuan cities on the way to Chengdu, and when Zhao engaged Dong, Dong won the first three battles, but Zhao's counterattack crushed Dong's army, causing it to collapse and forcing Dong to flee back to Dongchuan's capital Zi Prefecture (). Wang Hui and Dong's nephew Dong Yanhao () then mutinied, and Dong was killed in the mutiny. When Zhao arrived at Zi, Wang surrendered the city, and Dong's head, to him. Meng subsequently arrived at Zi as well. Li Renhan soon rendezvoused with Zhao and Meng, and Zhao personally went to welcome Li's arrival. Instead of acknowledging Zhao's accomplishments in defeating Dong, however, Li insulted Zhao, causing Zhao to become resentful of him. When Meng himself subsequently arrived at Zi as well, he summoned Li and Zhao, asking them which of the two of them would be suitable to be the military governor of Dongchuan, believing that one of them would support the other, he was surprised that Li only made the comment of, "Even if you, Lord, want to give me Shu Prefecture 蜀州, in modern Chengdu — which Li might have one point served as the prefect of)again, I will accept it" and that Zhao was completely silent. Subsequently, with the two of them at a standoff, Meng decided to assume the military governorship of Dongchuan himself to avoid having Li and Zhao continue to struggle over it. He subsequently commissioned Li as the military governor of Wuxin Circuit (武信, headquartered in modern
Suining Suining ( zh, s=遂宁 , t=遂寧; Sichuanese Pinyin: Xu4nin2; Sichuanese pronunciation: ; zh, p=Sùiníng , w=Sui-ning) is a prefecture-level city of eastern Sichuan province in Southwest China. According to the 2020 census, Suining had a p ...
,
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 Zhao the military governor of Baoning Circuit (保寧, headquartered in modern
Nanchong Nanchong ( zh, c=南充 , p=Nánchōng , w=Nan-ch'ung; Sichuanese: lan2cong1) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of Sichuan province, China, with an area of . At the 2020 census it was home to 5,607,565 people, of whom 1,936,534 liv ...
,
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 ...
).''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 278.


During Later Shu

In 934, Meng Zhixiang claimed imperial title as emperor of a new state of
Later Shu Shu, referred to as Later Shu ( zh, t=後蜀, s=后蜀, first=t, p=Hòu Shǔ) and Meng Shu ( zh, c=孟蜀) in historiography, was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was ...
. Zhao Tingyin was made one of the imperial guard commanding generals, but continued to also serve as the military governor of Baoning. Meng Zhixiang died later in 934, leaving a will for his son Meng Renzan (who then changed his name to Meng Chang) to succeed to the throne, and entrusting Meng Chang to 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 ...
Zhao Jiliang, Li Renhan, Zhao Tingyin, the chief of staff Wang Chuhui, and the imperial guard generals
Zhang Gongduo Zhang Gongduo (張公鐸; died 945) was a general and official of the History of China, Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Later Shu state. Service under Meng Zhixiang It is not known when Zhang Gongduo was born, but it is known that ...
and Hou Hongshi ().''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 279. Immediately after Meng Chang's assumption of the throne, Li Renhan insisted on being put in command of the imperial guards. Meng Chang initially reluctantly agreed and put him in command, making Zhao Tingyin his deputy. Meng Chang also gave Zhao the honorary chancellor designation ''Shizhong'' (). However, Zhang Gongduo and several of Meng Chang's close associates thereafter accused Li Renhan of plotting treason. After consulting with Zhao Jiliang and Zhao Tingyin, Meng decided to arrest him while he was attending an imperial meeting, and then put him to death, along with his son Li Jihong () and several associates. (Shocked by the development, Li Zhao, who had previously refused to bow to the young emperor, changed his attitude and became very submissive. Meng's associates advocated putting Li Zhao to death, too, but Meng did not do so, instead forcing Li Zhao into retirement.) In 941, as part of Meng Chang's reforms to end the practice of having high-level officials and generals hold office at the imperial government in Chengdu but continuing to serve also as military governors — as the end result was that they were not attentive to their circuits, and their staff members would effectively rule the circuit and mismanage them — several high level officials/generals who were doing so, including Zhao, who was then the military governor of Wude Circuit (武德, i.e., Dongchuan), were given some additional honors but stripped of their military governorships.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 282. (For reasons unclear, in 944, Meng reversed his reform and again had high-level officials/generals assume military governorships, although it was not stated whether Zhao received the military governorship of Wude, or any other circuit, at that time.) In 948, Zhang Ye, who was then serving as chancellor, was accused by Meng's close associates Sun Hanshao (), Li Hao, and An Siqian (). Zhang was put to death. An, wanting to also get rid of Zhao, also accused him of treason, and had soldiers surround his mansion. However, Li Tinggui () the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered at Xingyuan) happened to be Chengdu at that time, and defended Zhao before Meng, so Zhao was spared. However, because of this incident, Zhao claimed to be ill and asked to be relieved of his military command. Meng agreed and allowed him to retire. Meng gave him the honorary titles ''Taifu'' () and ''Zhongshu Ling'' and created him the Prince of Song, and continued to consult him on important matters of state.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 288. He died in 949. His son Zhao Chongtao () would be an important general later in Meng's reign.''History of Song'', vol. 479.


Notes and references

* ''
Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty and before the reunification of China ...
''
vol. 51
* '' Records of the Nine Kingdoms'' ()
vol. 7
* ''
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. 272,
274 Year 274 (Roman numerals, CCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Capitolinus (or, less frequently, year 1027 ''Ab urbe condita''). The d ...
, 277,
279 __NOTOC__ Year 279 ( CCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 1032 ''Ab urbe condita''). The den ...
,
282 Year 282 ( CCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 1035 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 282 for th ...
, 288. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Tingyin 883 births 949 deaths Politicians from Kaifeng Generals from Henan Later Liang (Five Dynasties) people Later Tang jiedushi Baoning jiedushi Later Shu jiedushi Chinese princes Dongchuan jiedushi