Dugu Sun () (died July 5, 905''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vol. 265.

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

br>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter
),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Yousun (又損),''

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. 75. was an official of the Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, serving as a

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

during the reigns of Emperor Zhaozong and Emperor Zhaozong's son Emperor Ai, near the end of the dynasty. He was killed in a purge of high-level Tang officials by the warlord

Zhu Quanzhong Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...

the military governor (''

Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", ...

'') of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

), who was then preparing to seize the throne.

Background

It is not known when or where Dugu Sun was born, and not much is known about his earlier career as there was no biography of his in either of the official histories of

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, the ''

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 ...

'' and the ''

''. It is known, from the table of the

s' family trees in the ''New Book of Tang'', that his family claimed to have been originally descended from

Emperor Guangwu of Han Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

, through Emperor Guangwu's son Liu Fu (劉輔) the Prince of Pei, and that a subsequent ancestor, Liu Jinbo (劉進伯), was captured during a campaign against the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

; under this claim, Liu Jinbo's descendants later became the Dugu tribe. Subsequent ancestors of Dugu Sun served as leaders of the Dugu tribe, which eventually became part of

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

and followed

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei ((北)魏孝文帝) (October 13, 467 – April 26, 499), personal name né Tuoba Hong (拓拔宏), later Yuan Hong (元宏), was an emperor of the Northern Wei from September 20, 471 to April 26, 499. Under the r ...

's migration to

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

. Subsequent ancestors served as officials of Northern Wei,

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and ...

Sui Dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

, and Tang. Dugu Sun's grandfather Dugu Mi (獨孤密) served as a prefectural prefect, while his father Dugu Yun (獨孤雲) served as a deputy minister. Dugu Sun had at least one older brother, Dugu Hui (獨孤回), and at least two younger brothers, Dugu Chi (獨孤遲) and Dugu Xian (獨孤憲).

As chancellor

As of late 903, Dugu Sun was serving as the minister of rites (禮部尚書, ''Libu Shangshu''), when he was made the deputy minister of defence (兵部侍郎, ''Bingbu Shilang'') and chancellor, with the designation of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事). Soon thereafter, in spring 904, the powerful warlord

the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit, whose troops had the imperial

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

under control, accused the leading chancellor

Cui Yin Cui Yin (崔胤) (854'' New Book of Tang'', vol. 223, part 2.-February 1, 904''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 264. Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Chuixiu (垂休), nickname Zilang (緇郎), formally the Duke of Wei (� ...

of crimes and had Cui killed, and then had his troops forcibly move then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong, the imperial officials, and the residents of Chang'an to

, to make Luoyang the new capital. As part of the reshuffling of the imperial government after Cui's death, Dugu was put in nominal command of half of the imperial guards (which had previously been all under Cui's command and which Cui was trying to rebuild to counter Zhu's army when Zhu preemptively killed him) and made the director of finances.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 264.

Removal and death

Later in 904, Zhu assassinated Emperor Zhaozong and replaced him with his son Emperor Ai. At that time, Dugu and the other chancellors

Pei Shu Pei Shu (裴樞) (841''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 113.-July 5, 905''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 265.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Jisheng (紀聖)''New Book of Tang'', vol. 140. or Huasheng (化聖),

and Cui Yuan all were senior officials who came from aristocratic families, and they despised their colleague

Liu Can Liu Can (died 318), courtesy name Shiguang, Posthumous name (as given by Jin Zhun) Emperor Yin of Han (Zhao), was an emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty of China, who reigned briefly in 318 before being killed by his trusted father-in-la ...

for associating with Zhu. By spring 905, Pei had offended Zhu by refusing to commission another associate of Zhu's, Zhang Tingfan (張廷範), as the minister of worship (太常卿, ''Taichang Qing'')—trying to deflect Zhu by stating that Zhang should serve as a military governor rather than be bothered with the responsibilities of minister of worship. Liu thus took the opportunity to accuse Cui and Dugu, as well as Pei, of disrespecting Zhu. Zhu thus had all three removed from chancellor positions; in Dugu's case, he was made the military governor of the remote Jinghai Circuit (靜海, headquartered in modern

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

). With Zhu preparing to seize the throne, Liu and another associate of Zhu's, Li Zhen, argued for a general purge of high-level imperial officials who were from aristocratic families. Zhu agreed, and initially a large number of them were demoted and exiled—in Dugu's case, to be the prefect of Di Prefecture (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 ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

), and then to be the census officer of Qiong Prefecture. Soon thereafter, some 30 of these officials—including Dugu, Cui, Pei, fellow former chancellors Lu Yi, Wang Pu, and other officials Zhao Chong (趙崇) and Wang Zan (王贊)—were rounded up at Baima Station (白馬驛, in modern

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

) and ordered to commit suicide. At Li Zhen's request (as Li Zhen, who was unable to pass the imperial examinations, resented these traditional aristocrats for claiming to be free from taint), Zhu had their bodies thrown into the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

(as Li Zhen put it, to taint them).

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dugu, Sun 9th-century births 905 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Ai of Tang Tang dynasty jiedushi of Jinghai Circuit Forced suicides of Chinese people Executed Tang dynasty people 10th-century executions by the Tang dynasty