He Quanhao () (839-870) was a general of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

dynasty

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 ...

, who ruled 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 ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

) as its 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", ...

'') in ''de facto'' independence from the imperial government from 866 to 870 as its military governor (''

''), although he assisted the imperial government in suppressing

Pang Xun Pang Xun (龐勛) (died October 14, 869 Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 251.) was the leader of a major rebellion, by soldiers from Xu Prefecture (徐州, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), against the rule of ...

's rebellion.

Background

It is not known when He Quanhao was born. His grandfather

He Jintao He Jintao () (died 840''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 246.) was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who, as military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), ruled the circuit in ''de facto'' ind ...

, who had taken over Weibo Circuit after being supported by mutineers who had overthrown and killed the previous military governor Shi Xiancheng, and his father

He Hongjing He Hongjing () (806?/807?-865?/866?The traditional historical sources indicated that He Hongjing died in 866 and did not indicate a birthdate. See ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 19, part 1 and ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 250. However, according to the ...

, had successively served as the military governors of Weibo.''

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. 181. When He Hongjing died in 866, He Quanhao was serving as one of the military commanders, and the soldiers supported him to succeed He Hongjing. Then-reigning Emperor Yizong approved and made him acting military governor, and then, in 867, full military governor.''

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. 250.

As military governor

In 868, when the rebel

took over Xu Prefecture (徐州, headquartered in modern

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

), the imperial government reacted by launching a three-pronged operations against Pang's rebels. The northern wing was initially commanded by the imperial guard general Wang Yanquan (), but Wang was later replaced by Cao Xiang () the military governor of Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern

Jining, Shandong Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jinin ...

) in late 868. He Quanhao sent troops, commanded by his officer Xue You (), to assist Cao. The Weibo troops put the rebel stronghold of Feng County under siege, and repeatedly attacked it. When Pang himself made a surprise attack on the Weibo troops in summer 869, however, Weibo forces collapsed and were forced to withdraw and regroup, allowing the siege on Feng County to be lifted. Still, after Pang's rebellion was suppressed later that year, He Quanhao, for his contributions, was given the honorary titles of acting ''Sikong'' (司空, one of the

Three Excellencies The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

) and ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). It was said that He Quanhao, who was still described as young at that point, was cruel in his punishment, favoring death penalties, and also whipped subordinates severely for even minor offenses. The soldiers thus feared him. In 870, with there being rumors that he would decrease the food and clothing stipends for the soldiers, the soldiers mutinied. He Quanhao tried to flee by himself on horse, but the soldiers tracked him down and killed him. They supported the officer Han Junxiong to replace him, and the imperial government subsequently agreed.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 252.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 181. * ''

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. 210. * ''

'', vols. 250, 251, 252. {{DEFAULTSORT:He, Quanhao 9th-century births 870 deaths Tang dynasty jiedushi of Weibo Circuit Politicians from Handan Tang dynasty generals from Hebei