The Battle of Qingkou was a battle fought in 897 during the period of constant warfare in China that preceded the collapse of the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
. The battle was fought between armies loyal to the warlords
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 ...
(Zhu Wen) and
Yang Xingmi
Yang Xingmi (; 852''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms''vol. 1 – December 24, 905Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 265.), né Yang Xingmin (楊行愍, name changed 886), courtesy name Huayuan ...
, with Yang's army gaining victory.
Background
Starting with the reign of
Emperor Muzong, the Tang dynasty of China began to decline. Regional military governors (
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" ...
) began to gain more autonomy from the imperial government and
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been 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 2nd millenni ...
s within the Tang court began to exercise more control over the emperor, especially after the
Sweet Dew incident
The Sweet Dew incident () was a failed coup on December 14, 835Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 245. by Emperor Wenzong of the Chinese Tang dynasty to seize power from the eunuchs. The emperor pla ...
of 835. This meant the government was ineffective and local peasants began to get angry. In the year 874, following major floods in which there was very little government response, mass rebellions occurred throughout Tang China. The most successful of these rebellions was led by
Huang Chao, who captured the capital and declared himself emperor in 881. Huang was eventually defeated but the imperial government had lost all remaining power. Many jiedushi had already warred against each other before, but now all of them fought constantly, sending Tang China into chaos.
Prelude
It was at this time the warlord Zhu Quanzhong began to gain power. Previously, he had served as a major officer under Huang Chao; however, he defected to the Tang and was given command of Xuanwu circuit. From there, he took over several more circuits, and also defeated
Qin Zongquan
Qin Zongquan (; died April 1, 889) was a Chinese military general, monarch, politician, rebel, and warlord during the Tang Dynasty. He was later a claimant to the imperial throne, in competition with Emperor Xizong of Tang and, later, Emperor Xiz ...
, who had become leader of Huang's rebellion after the latter's death. This made him very popular with the Tang court so when
Gao Pian
Gao Pian (; 821? – 24 September 887Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 257.), courtesy name Qianli (), formally the Prince of Bohai (), was a Chinese military general, poet, and politician of the Tang ...
, governor of Huainan, died in 887
Emperor Xizong granted Zhu Quanzhong control of the circuit. However, one of Gao Pian's generals, Yang Xingmi, took over the circuit and refused to submit to Zhu Quanzhong. Zhu was involved with other wars, and so Yang was able to get away with this without any reaction from Zhu. However, in the following years, Zhu began to win all his wars and became one of the most powerful jiedushi within China. In early 897, Zhu defeated his longtime enemies, the cousins
Zhu Xuan
Zhu Xuan (朱瑄''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 182.'' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 13.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 255. or 朱宣''New Book of Tang'', vol. 188.''New History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 42.) (d. 897) was a warlord late in t ...
and
Zhu Jin
Zhu Jin () (867-918) was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang Dynasty who would later be a major general of the Wu (also known as Hongnong) state during the subsequent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In the late Tang years, Zhu Jin, as t ...
, subsequently seizing all their territory. Zhu Xuan was captured and executed; however, Zhu Jin and the remainder of his and Zhu Xuan's armies fled to Yang Xingmi. Yang Xingmi's armies were inexperienced in land warfare, and so he welcomed the trained soldiers with open arms. However, Zhu Quanzhong was extremely angered by this and resolved to finally conquer Huainan.
Battle
In late 897, Zhu sent a massive army numbering between 50 and 70 thousand men led by the general
Pang Shigu to capture Huainan's capital Yang prefecture, with Zhu and another general called
Ge Congzhou Ge Congzhou () (died 916Glen Dudbridge (2013). ''A Portrait of Five Dynasties China: From the Memoirs of Wang Renyu (880-956)''. Oxford University Press. p. 98.), courtesy name Tongmei (), formally the Prince of Chenliu (), was a general serving und ...
also leading smaller armies to other parts of Yang's territory. The size of Yang's force is unknown but he wouldn't have been able to field nearly as many as Zhu had. However, Yang had some advantages. Pang Shigu was made so overconfident by his numbers that he failed to look out for any threats. This allowed Yang to send his vanguard under Zhu Jin (who was now serving as general to Yang) to dam the
Huai River
The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to ea ...
. When Pang began to cross the river at a place called Qingkou, Zhu Jin broke the dam and a wave of water flooded over Pang's army,
killing many. The disorganised army was then attacked on two sides by Yang and Zhu Jin and nearly the full army was killed, including Pang himself. Ge Congzhou was also defeated and Zhu Quanzhong retreated upon hearing of the annihilation of his army.
Aftermath
While this battle didn't end the conflict between the warlords, Zhu wouldn't launch as large of a campaign against Yang again and the war became a stalemate. Zhu's expansion south was stopped, but he continued to grow in power in other areas, overthrowing the Tang and declaring himself the emperor of the new
Later Liang Dynasty, beginning the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...
. Yang Xingmi's son and successor,
Yang Wo
Yang Wo () (886 – June 9, 908), courtesy name Chengtian (), formally Prince Wei of Hongnong (), later further posthumously honored King Jing of Wu () and then as Emperor Jing of Wu () with the temple name Liezu (), was the first independent ruler ...
, didn't accept this, becoming ruler of the independent
Yang Wu Kingdom, which the later Liang and its successors never gained control of, in large part thanks to the Battle of Qingkou. The independence of Yang Wo also allowed other states in the south to further assert their independence from the northern dynasties.
References
{{reflist
History of China
Tang dynasty