Li Changfu (李昌符) (d. July 24, 887

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 ...

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''

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. 19, part 2) was a warlord of the late

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 Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern

Baoji () 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 population of 3,321,853 accordin ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

) from 884 to 887. In 887, his troops got into a conflict with imperial troops escorting then-reigning Emperor Xizong, and he was defeated by the imperial general

Li Maozhen Li Maozhen (; 856 – May 17, 924), born Song Wentong (), courtesy name Zhengchen (), formally Prince Zhongjing of Qin (), was the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi (901–924). He had become a powerful wa ...

and subsequently executed by his own subordinate Xue Zhichou (薛知籌).

Background and takeover of Fengxiang

Little is known about Li Changfu's background, as neither of the official histories of Tang Dynasty (the ''

'' and the ''

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 ...

'') contained a biography for him. The first historical reference to him was in 884, when his older brother

Li Changyan Li Changyan (李昌言) (d. 884) was a warlord of the late Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who controlled Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) from 881 to 884 as its military governor (''Jiedushi'') after overthrowing hi ...

, then 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 Fengxiang Circuit, became ill and made Li Changfu the acting military governor. Then-reigning Emperor Xizong thereafter made Li Changfu 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. 256.

Alliance with and later turning against Zhu Mei

In 885, Li Changfu became involved in a power struggle that initially started as a confrontation between the powerful

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 millennium ...

Tian Lingzi Tian Lingzi (田令孜) (died 893), courtesy name Zhongze (仲則), formally the Duke of Jin (晉公), was a powerful eunuch during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang. During most of Emperor Xizong's reign, he had a stranglehold on power due to hi ...

and

Wang Chongrong Wang Chongrong (王重榮) (died July 6, 887Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 257.), formally the Prince of Langye (瑯琊王), was a warlord of the late Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Hezhong ...

the military governor of Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern

Yuncheng Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

), over control of salt ponds at Huguo Circuit. Tian tried to remove Wang Chongrong from the scene by having Emperor Xizong issuing an edict transferring him to Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern

Jining 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. Jining ...

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 ...

Qi Kerang Qi Kerang () was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, who was part of Tang's resistance against the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao, as the military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong). ...

the military governor of Taining to Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern

Baoding Baoding (), formerly known as Baozhou and Qingyuan, is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2010 census, Baoding City had 11,194,382 inhabitants out of which 2,176,857 lived in the b ...

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 ...

), and

Wang Chucun Wang Chucun () (831–895) was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who controlled Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei) in late Tang. He was one of the main contributors in Tang's eventual defeat of the agrarian ...

the military governor of Yiwu to Huguo. Wang Chongrong refused the order and prepared for confrontation with Tian, along with his ally

Li Keyong Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...

the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

), while Tian allied with Li Changfu and

Zhu Mei Zhu Mei () (died January 7, 887 Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 256.) was a warlord of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. Disillusioned with Emperor Xizong and the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi, he tried ...

the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

). Around the new year, Li Keyong's and Wang Chongrong's troops engaged Tian's, Li Changfu's, and Zhu's troops at Shawan (沙苑, in modern

Weinan Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of Shan ...

) and defeated them. As Li Keyong then approached the capital

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 ...

, Tian took Emperor Xizong and fled to Fengxiang, and then to Xingyuan (興元, in modern

Hanzhong Hanzhong (; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gansu to the west. The founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang, was once enfeoffed as the ...

). Meanwhile, Zhu and Li Changfu became embarrassed about their own alliance with Tian, and decided to instead support a new emperor who was not influenced by Tian. At that time, Zhu had, under his control, Emperor Xizong's distant relative Li Yun the Prince of Xiang. Under agreement with Li Changfu, he took Li Yun back to Chang'an and initially declared Li Yun

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

and then emperor. They also sent troops to try to capture Emperor Xizong at Xingyuan, but they were repelled. However, after Zhu thereafter had himself made 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 ...

and was showing that he was controlling Li Yun's court by himself, Li Changfu, in anger, refused all titles bestowed by Li Yun, instead submitting a petition to Emperor Xizong at Xingyuan to pledge his loyalty. Emperor Xizong thus bestowed on Li Changfu the honorary title of acting ''Situ'' (司徒, 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 ...

Defeat and death

In late 886, Zhu was killed by his own officer

Wang Xingyu Wang Xingyu () (d. 895) was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who controlled Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) from 887 to his death in 895. At his prime, he and his ally Li Maozhen the military g ...

, and Li Yun fled to Wang Chongrong but was killed by Wang. As Emperor Xizong subsequently prepared to return to Chang'an in spring 887, he went first to Fengxiang. Li Changfu, fearing that once Emperor Xizong returned to Chang'an he might revisit the issue of how Li Changfu had previously allied with Zhu and tried to capture him or, at the very least, show less favor to him, asked Emperor Xizong to stay at Fengxiang longer under the excuse that the palace in Chang'an had not been repaired. Emperor Xizong agreed. Keeping the emperor at Fengxiang would turn disastrous for Li Changfu, however. In summer 887, there was an incident that started when Li Changfu's procession encountered that of the imperial general Yang Shouli (). Their soldiers fought with each other, and the fight would not stop despite interventions by Emperor Xizong's eunuchs. That night, Li Changfu attacked Emperor Xizong's provisional palace at Fengxiang, but was soon defeated by Yang. He took his family and fled to Long Prefecture (隴州, in modern Baoji). Emperor Xizong thereafter sent the imperial general

the military governor of Wuding Circuit (武定, headquartered in modern Hanzhong) to attack Li Changfu at Long Prefecture. Subsequently, in fall 887, Xue Zhichou, the prefect of Long, surrendered, and slaughtered Li Changfu and his family. Li Maozhen thereafter took over Fengxiang Circuit.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 257.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li Changfu 9th-century births 887 deaths Tang dynasty jiedushi of Fengxiang Circuit People executed by the Tang dynasty by decapitation Executed Tang dynasty people 9th-century executions by the Tang dynasty