Li Yijian () (756 – October 13, 822
['' Old Book of Tang'', vol. 16.]),
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 Theob ...
Yizhi (), was an official 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 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 ...
, serving as a
chancellor during the reign of
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 ...
.
Background
Li Yijian was born in 756.
['' New Book of Tang'', vol. 131.] He was a member of
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 ...
's imperial
Li clan, being a great-great-grandson of Li Yuanyi () the Prince of Zheng, a son of Tang's founding emperor
Emperor Gaozu. Li Yijian's grandfather Li Chayan () was not the oldest son of Li Yijian's great-grandfather Li Jing (), who had inherited the title of Prince of Zheng, and therefore did not inherit the title and was not listed with any offices. Li Yijian's father Li Zixian () served as a prefectural secretary general. Li Yijian appeared to be Li Zixian's oldest son and had at least three younger brothers, Li Yiliang (), Li Yize (), and Li Yifan (). Because of Li Yijian's heritage, he was, at the start of his official career, made the secretary general of Zheng County (鄭縣, 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 S ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
).
[
]
During Emperor Dezong's reign
In 783, during the reign of Emperor Dezong, a mutiny by Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang
Pingliang () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the south and east and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to the north. The city was established in 376 AD. It has a residential population of 2 ...
, Gansu) at 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 S ...
forced Emperor Dezong to flee to Fengtian (奉天, 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 ...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
). The Jingyuan soldiers supported the general Zhu Ci
Zhu Ci (; 742–784) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and rebel during the Tang dynasty. He initially served as military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), but later became a general ...
as their leader, and Zhu initially pretended to be calming the capital and then readying the troops to welcome Emperor Dezong back to Chang'an. He sent an emissary that was going through Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan), which Zheng County belonged to, and the official in charge of defense, Li Yi (), did not dare stopping Zhu's emissary. However, Li Yijian opined that Zhu would soon turn against Emperor Dezong and pointed out that some of the Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
) army that previously served under Zhu had been sent to Xiangcheng (襄城, in modern Xuchang
Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pi ...
, 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 ...
) to help defend it against the warlord Li Xilie
Li Xilie () (died May 9, 786) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the medieval Tang dynasty who, believing himself to be strong enough to claim imperial title, did so as the emperor of a new state of Chu. His efforts to ex ...
; he believed that Zhu was summoning them to Chang'an to assist him. Li Yi thus quickly headed for Tong Pass
Tongguan or Tong Pass, was a former mountain pass and fortress located south of the confluence of the Wei and Yellow Rivers, in today's Tongguan County, Shaanxi, China. It was an important chokepoint, protecting Xi'an and the surrounding Guanzho ...
to have Zhu's emissary searched, and indeed, an order to summon the Lulong soldiers was found. Li Yi reported this to the defender of Tong Pass, Luo Yuanguang (), who executed Zhu's emissary and submitted Zhu's order to Emperor Dezong. Emperor Dezong thus made Luo the prefect of Hua Prefecture, but as Luo took the entire credit for the incident, LI Yijian was not rewarded.[
Li Yijian later left his office and submitted himself for ]imperial examination
The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
s, passing them in the class of those who had good judgment. He was then made the sheriff of Lantian County (藍田, in modern Xi'an
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...
). He was later made an imperial censor with the title ''Jiancha Yushi'' (). At one point, he was accused of faults and exiled to be a census officer at Qian Prefecture (虔州, in modern Ganzhou
Ganzhou (), alternately romanized as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, and Hunan to the west. Its administrative seat is at Zhanggong District.
Hist ...
, Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
). (It appeared that he was later made a prefect, based on his later actions.) Nine years after his exile, he was recalled to again be imperial censor with the title ''Dianzhong Shiyushi'' ().[
]
During Emperor Xianzong's reign
As of 809, during the reign of Emperor Dezong's grandson 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 Yijian was serving as deputy chief imperial censor (). The mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the Chang'an region) at the time was Yang Ping (), who had previously served as the governor of Jiangxi Circuit (江西, headquartered in modern Nanchang
Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...
, Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
) and a superior of Li Yijian's when Li Yijian served as a prefect. Yang did not respect Li Yijian at that time, and Li Yijian, in 809, indicted Yang for corruption. Yang was thus demoted to be the sheriff of Linhe (臨賀, in modern Hezhou
Hezhou () is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.
Geography and climate
Hezhou is located in northeastern Guangxi. It borders Hunan to the north and Guangdong to the east. ...
, Guangxi). No friend or relative of Yang's dared to send him off except Xu Hui (), and when Li Yijian heard this, believing Xu to be a faithful friend to Yang and therefore would be faithful to the state, he recommended Xu to be a ''Jiancha Yushi''. Later in the year, when Emperor Xianzong was set to commission the powerful eunuch Tutu Chengcui Tutu Chengcui (吐突承璀; died 820), courtesy name Renzhen (仁貞), was a powerful eunuch of the Chinese Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong.
Background
It is not known when Tutu Chengcui was born—or whether he was originall ...
as the commander of the imperial forces against the warlord Wang Chengzong, who controlled 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 ...
), Li Yijian was one of the officials who opposed Tutu's commission, along with Li Yuansu (), Li Yong, Xu Mengrong (), Meng Jian (), Lü Yuanying (), Mu Zhi (), and Dugu Yu (). Emperor Xianzong thus reduced Tutu's title but still put Tutu in command. Meanwhile, Li Yijian was made deputy minister of census () and acting director of finances.[
Later, Li Yijian was made 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 Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangfan
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...
, Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
). During Emperor Dezong's reign, 500 Jiangxi soldiers had been stationed at Shannan East to help defend it against the ''de facto'' independent Zhangyi Circuit (彰義, headquartered in modern Zhumadian
Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of An ...
, 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 ...
), and the soldiers were paid by the central government director of finances. By the time that Li was military governor, the originally stationed Jiangxi soldiers had largely died, but Shannan East was still receiving funds for them. Li Yijian found this to be inappropriate and turned down the funding for them. After three years, he was transferred to Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...
, Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
) to serve as its military governor. Prior to Li's service there, Wang Yong () the prefect of Xi Prefecture (雟州, in modern Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Liangshan (; Yi: ''Niep Sha'', pronounced ), officially the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture occupying much of the southern extremity of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China; its seat is Xichang. Liangshan ...
, Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
) had, because of his corruption, angered the non-Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
tribes of the region, who thus left the Tang-controlled areas. After Li arrived at Xichuan, he had Wang removed, and he sent letters to the non-Han chieftains pointing out that it was in their interests to be in Tang territory, and the non-Han tribes thus resubmitted. Meanwhile, the army of Sichuan had been accustomed to play two styles of music known as the Fengsheng Style () and Shunsheng Style (), created by the generals Wei Gao
Wei Gao (韋皋) (745 – September 13, 805), courtesy name Chengwu (城武), formally Prince Zhongwu of Nankang (南康忠武王), was a general of the Tang dynasty of China. He was a long-time (from 785 to 805) military governor (''Jiedushi'') o ...
and Yu Di
Yu Di (; died 818), courtesy name Yunyuan (允元), formally initially Duke Li of Yan () and later Duke Si of Yan (), was a Chinese diplomat, military general, politician, and warlord during the Tang dynasty. He was a powerful warlord at the end ...
, respectively. Li, believing that it was the central government's prerogative rather than local governors' to create new styles of military music, had the music stopped.[
In 818, Li Yijian was recalled to Chang'an to serve as chief imperial censor (御史大夫, ''Yushi Daifu'').][ Soon thereafter, he was made ''Menxia Shilang'' (), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''), as well as chancellor ''de facto'' with the title ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). As, at the time, Emperor Xianzong heavily depended on Li's chancellor colleague ]Pei Du
Pei Du () (765 – April 21, 839), courtesy name Zhongli (), formally Duke Wenzhong of Jin (), was a Chinese politician. He served a government official of the during Tang dynasty, as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xianzong, Emperor Xia ...
in the campaigns against the warlords and Li considered himself not as capable, he requested to be assigned outside the capital. In fall 818, he was made the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou
Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north ...
, Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
), carrying the chancellor title as an honorary title.
During Emperor Muzong's reign
After Emperor Xianzong died in 820 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Muzong, the officials were discussing what Emperor Xianzong's temple name
Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...
should be. Li Yijian submitted a suggestion that because Emperor Xianzong had great accomplishments during his reign, he should be given a temple name that referred to him as ''Zu'' () rather than ''Zong'' (). Other officials disagreed, however, and Emperor Xianzong's temple name was eventually fixed as Xianzong. After some time, Li Yijian requested retirement, but the central government considered Li Yijian to be still healthy, and therefore did not accept his retirement request; instead, he was recalled to serve as ''You Pushe'' (), one of the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng''), but he declined. He was then made an advisor to the Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...
,[However, as there was no crown prince at the time, the post was entirely honorary.] but had his office at the eastern capital Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of 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 southeast, Nanyang ...
. He died in 822 and was given posthumous honors.[
]
Notes and references
* '' New Book of Tang'', vol. 131.
* ''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. 238
__NOTOC__
Year 238 ( CCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pius and Pontianus (or, less frequently, year 991 ''Ab ...
, 240.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li Yijian
756 births
822 deaths
Chancellors under Emperor Xianzong of Tang
Tang dynasty jiedushi of Shannan East Circuit
Tang dynasty jiedushi of Xichuan Circuit
Tang dynasty jiedushi of Huainan Circuit