Li Shigu (; 778 – July 19, 806) was a Chinese military general and politician 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 ...
, who, as 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 Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered 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 to ...
,
Shandong), ruled the circuit in a ''de facto'' independent manner from the imperial regime.
Background
Li Shigu was born in 778, during the reign of
Emperor Daizong. His father
Li Na
Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player.
She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...
was 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 Pinglu Circuit who ruled the circuit ''de facto'' independently from the imperial regime. He had one younger half-brother,
Li Shidao
Li Shidao (; died March 8, 819''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 241.) was a Chinese military general and politician of the medieval Chinese Tang dynasty, who, as the successor to his brother Li Shigu, ruled Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern ...
. During Li Na's term as military governor, Li Shigu served as the prefect of Qing Prefecture (青州, in modern
Weifang
Weifang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the ...
,
Shandong), a position that Li Na himself had served while Li Shigu's grandfather
Li Zhengji
Li Zhengji, or Yi Jeong-gi was a general of Tang China, originally of Goguryeo descent.
Background
Li Zhengji was born Li Huaiyu in 733, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. He was born in Tang's Pinglu Circuit (平盧, then headquarte ...
was military governor.
['' Old Book of Tang'']
vol. 124
.
As Jiedushi
In 792, Li Na died, and the soldiers supported Li Shigu to succeed him. Later in the year, Emperor Daizong's son
Emperor Dezong, then emperor, approved and made Li Shigu the new military governor. Meanwhile,
Wang Wujun
Wang Wujun () (735 – August 9, 801), courtesy name Yuanying (), né Monuogan (), formally Prince Zhonglie of Langye (), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Tang dynasty. He served as a long-time ''Jiedushi'' of Che ...
, the military governor of neighboring Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern
Shijiazhuang,
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, and 0 ...
), taking Li Shigu lightly due to his youth, sent forces to De (德州, in modern
Dezhou
Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei t ...
,
Shandong) and Di (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) Prefectures — preparing to attack two forts that Li Na had built, Geduo and Sancha (). Li Shigu sent the officer Zhao Gao () to defend against Wang's attack. Emperor Dezong then sent
eunuchs to intervene; Wang then withdrew. Subsequently, by order of Emperor Dezong, Li Shigu tore down Sancha's walls, but thereafter often encouraged people who had offended the imperial government to join him.
['']Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
'', vol. 234. Meanwhile, whenever he sent staff members out for tasks, he would detain their wives and children; if any would turn against him and submit to the imperial government, he would slaughter their families, and therefore his subjects did not dare to do so.
[ In 800, Emperor Dezong gave him the honorary chancellor designation of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' ().
In 805, after Emperor Dezong's death, the imperial messengers delivering the news did not reach the circuits quickly. Meanwhile, however, Li Yuansu () the military governor of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, ]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 ...
), had received a copy of Emperor Dezong's will. As he wanted to show that he did not consider Li Shigu an enemy, he secretly delivered the copy of the emperor's will to Li Shigu. Li Shigu, however, wanted to use this as an excuse to expand, and therefore declared that Li Yuansu had falsely spread rumors of the emperor's death, and prepared to attack Yicheng. However, Han Hong the military governor of another neighboring circuit, Xuanwu (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 No ...
, 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 ...
), sent stern words to Li Shigu and prepared to aid Li Yuansu. When Li Shigu subsequently received actual news of Emperor Dezong's death and succession by Emperor Dezong's son Emperor Shunzong, he was forced to withdraw back to his circuit. Emperor Shunzong subsequently sent messengers to mediate between the two circuits. Later in the year, Emperor Shunzong bestowed a greater honorary chancellor title, acting ''Shizhong'' (), on Li Shigu.[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 236.] In 806, by which time Emperor Shunzong, seriously ill, had died and been succeeded by his son Emperor Xianzong
Emperor Xianzong of Tang (4 March to 1 April 778''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 14. – 14 February 820; r. 805 – 820), personal name Li Chun, né Li Chun (), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. He was the eldest son of Emperor Shunzon ...
, Li Shigu was given the honorary title of ''Shizhong''.[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 237.]
Meanwhile, during Li Shigu's term as military governor, he had Li Shidao serving as a local official in various locations, and at times, Li Shidao's budget was limited. Li Shigu justified this treatment by stating that he was training Li Shidao to be frugal and understanding of the people's difficulties. When Li Shigu grew ill later in 806, Li Shidao was the prefect of Mi Prefecture
Mizhou or Mi Prefecture was a '' zhou'' (prefecture) in imperial China in modern southeastern Shandong, China. It existed (intermittently) from 585 until 1368 upon the foundation of the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Gre ...
. Li Shigu asked his staff members Gao Mu () and Li Gongdu () whom they planned to support as leader if he died — and when Gao and Li Gongdu did not answer quickly, Li Shigu guessed that they planned to support LI Shidao. Li Shigu tried to dissuade them — stating that while he loved Li Shidao as his brother, Li Shidao was not capable and spent his time on painting and playing '' bili'' — but did not give them any other person that he approved of. When Li Shigu died thereafter, Gao and Li Gongdu welcomed Li Shidao back to Pinglu's capital Yun Prefecture () and supported him to succeed Li Shigu.[
]
Notes and references
* '' Old Book of Tang''
vol. 124
* '' New Book of Tang''
vol. 213
* ''Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
'', vols. 234, 235, 236
__NOTOC__
Year 236 ( CCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verus and Africanus (or, less frequently, year 989 ''Ab ...
, 237
Year 237 ( CCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Perpetuus and Felix (or, less frequently, year 990 '' Ab urbe con ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Shigu
778 births
806 deaths
Chinese people of Korean descent
Tang dynasty generals from Shandong
Tang dynasty jiedushi of Pinglu Circuit
Tang dynasty politicians from Shandong