Liu Ji (died January 18, 646),

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 ...

Sidao, was a Chinese politician who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Taizong in 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 ...

. Late in his reign, Taizong heavily relied on Liu Ji. However, around the new year 646, Liu Ji was accused of planning to seize power after Taizong's death, so the emperor ordered him to commit suicide.

Background

Very little is known about Liu Ji's family background, other than his family was from Jiangling (江陵, in modern

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

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 ...

). It is not known when he was born. Late in Sui Dynasty, when a descendant of the imperial house of

Liang Dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

Xiao Xi Xiao Xian (蕭銑) (583–621) was a descendant of the imperial house of the Chinese dynasty Liang Dynasty, who rose against the rule of Sui Dynasty toward the end of the rule of Emperor Yang of Sui. He tried to revive Liang, and for several y ...

, rose in 617 against the rule of Emperor Yang near Jiangling, claiming to be rebuilding Liang Dynasty, Liu became his subject and served under him as the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government. In or before 621, Xiao sent Liu to the modern

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

region to persuade cities to submit to Liang rule, and 50 some cities did so. However, before Liu could return to Jiangling, Jiangling came under the attack 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 ...

general

Li Xiaogong Li Xiaogong (591–640), posthumously known as Prince Yuan of Hejian, often referred to by his earlier title as the Prince of Zhao Commandery, was an imperial prince and general of the Tang dynasty. He was a son of a cousin of Emperor Gaozu (Li ...

, and Xiao was forced to surrender. Liu thus submitted to Tang rule with those 50 odd cities.

Emperor Gaozu of Tang Emperor Gaozu of Tang (7 April 566 – 25 June 635, born Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude) was the founding emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 618 to 626. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in the area of modern-day ...

made him the secretary general at Nankang Prefecture (南康州, roughly modern

Zhaoqing Zhaoqing (), alternately romanized as Shiuhing, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,113,594, with 1,553,109 living in the built-up (or metro) area made of Duanzhou, Dinghu ...

Service under Emperor Taizong

Liu Ji's activities for the next decade were not clear. In 633, it was said that he was promoted to be a mid-level official at the examination bureau of the government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng'') and created the Baron of Qingwan. In 641, he was made the deputy imperial censor, when he submitted a petition outlining what he saw as faults by the executive bureau (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng'') in avoiding nepotism. It was said that soon after he submitted the petition, he was made a deputy head of the executive bureau. In 639, he was made the deputy head of the examination bureau, and he was given the additional bestowment of ''Canzhi Zhengshi'' (), making him, while not titularly a chancellor, a ''de facto'' one. It was said that Liu was blunt in his actions and words. During an imperial feast, when Emperor Taizong, playing with his officials, wrote some calligraphy and held it out to give to an official, Liu bypassed everyone by climbing up onto the imperial seat and grabbing it from Emperor Taizong. When he was then accused of being disrespectful to the emperor, Emperor Taizong laughed it off and gave him the calligraphy. In 642, when Emperor Taizong wanted to review the imperial historical records that the imperial historian

Chu Suiliang Chu Suiliang (596–658), courtesy name Dengshan, formally the Duke of Henan, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, and politician who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty. He became i ...

was responsible for keeping, Chu rebuffed Emperor Taizong, stating that it would be irregular for an emperor to look at how an imperial historian was writing about him. Emperor Taizong then made the comment, "Do you record the bad things I do as well?" Chu responded, "It is my responsibility, and I would not dare not to record them." Liu then stated, "Even if Chu Suiliang does not record them, everyone will." Emperor Taizong agreed with both of them. In 643, when Emperor Taizong's son

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 ...

Li Chengqian Li Chéngqián (李承乾) (618 – 5 January 645), courtesy name Gaoming (高明), formally Prince Min of Hengshan (恆山愍王), was a crown prince of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. He was Emperor Taizong's oldest son and first crown prince, but wa ...

was discovered to plot to overthrow Emperor Taizong, Emperor Taizong deposed him. Initially, Emperor Taizong considered making his favorite son Li Tai the Prince of Wei crown prince instead—a suggestion that Liu and

Cen Wenben Cen Wenben (595 – May 10, 645), courtesy name Jingren, posthumously known as Viscount Xian of Jiangling, was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Taizong in the Tang dynasty. He was an assistant editor of t ...

concurred in—but later, after deciding that Li Tai's scheming was responsible for Li Chengqian's downfall by making Li Chengqian insecure about his position, Emperor Taizong created another son,

Li Zhi Li Zhi may refer to: *Emperor Gaozong of Tang (628–683), named Li Zhi, Emperor of China *Li Ye (mathematician) (1192–1279), Chinese mathematician and scholar, birth name Li Zhi *Li Zhi (philosopher) (1527–1602), Chinese philosopher from the M ...

the Prince of Jin crown prince instead. After Li Zhi became crown prince, Liu pointed out that the crown prince should be often near righteous individuals so that he could learn how to act from them. In response, Emperor Taizong made Liu, along with Cen and Chu, often visit Li Zhi to have conversations with him. Emperor Taizong was said to favor rhetoric, and whenever officials made suggestions in his presence, he would often interrogate them at length as to the soundness of their suggestions. In 644, Liu Ji submitted a petition stating that doing so was intimidating to the imperial officials, not all of whom were strong with speech and would often be unable to respond. Emperor Taizong agreed, and from that point on he tried to be even milder in his expressions and words to try to comfort imperial officials stating their suggestions. Later in 644, when Emperor Taizong, at an imperial gathering, stated to his key officials their strengths and weaknesses, he spoke, with regard to Liu: :''Liu Ji is firm and faithful, and he benefits the administration in what he does. However, he overly emphasizes his promises and thus overly favors his relatives and friends.'' Soon thereafter, he made Liu ''Shizhong'' (), the head of the examination bureau—a post that was one for a chancellor.

Death

In 645, Emperor Taizong launched a campaign against

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

. While on the way to the frontline, he put Li Zhi in charge at Ding Prefecture (定州, roughly 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, and 0 ...

), responsible for the logistics behind the lines. Liu Ji, along with

Gao Shilian Gao Jian (576 – February 14, 647), courtesy name Shilian, better known as Gao Shilian, formally Duke Wenxian of Shen (申文獻公), was a Chinese politician of the Tang dynasty. He was the uncle of Empress Zhangsun, Emperor Taizong's wife, an ...

Ma Zhou Ma Zhou (601–648), courtesy name Binwang, formally the Duke of Gaotang (), was a Chinese politician who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Taizong in the Tang dynasty. He was initially a commoner and a guest of the general Chan ...

Zhang Xingcheng Zhang Xingcheng (587 – October 10, 653), courtesy name Deli, posthumously known as Duke Ding of Beiping, was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty. Background ...

, and

Gao Jifu Gao Feng (596 – January 16, 654), courtesy name Jifu, better known as Gao Jifu, posthumously known as Duke Xian of Tiao, was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynast ...

, were left to assist the crown prince. Liu was in charge of exercising ''de facto'' authority over the ministries of civil service affairs, ceremonies, and census. Before Emperor Taizong departed Ding Prefecture, he stated to Liu, "I am going on an expedition, leaving you to assist the Crown Prince. The safety of the state rests on you. I trust that you know what I want." Liu responded, "Your Imperial Majesty need not worry. If there were high level officials who committed crimes, I will immediately execute them." Emperor Taizong, shocked by his response, stated, "You are careless and overly strong in your personality. You may bring disaster on yourself if you keep this up. Be careful." Later that year, after the end of the Goguryeo campaign, Emperor Taizong returned to Ding Prefecture and was ill at that time. After Liu and Ma visited Emperor Taizong at his secondary palace and exited it, Chu Suiliang asked them what the emperor's condition was, and Liu, weeping, stated, "The emperor is extremely ill, and it makes me worried!" Chu then falsely reported to Emperor Taizong that Liu said, "There is nothing to worry about as far as the matters of state were concerned. We only need to assist the young emperor. By the precedents of

Yi Yin Yi Yin (, born Yī Zhì ( 伊挚), also known as A Heng ( 阿衡)), was a Chinese politician who served as a minister of the early Shang dynasty, and one of the honoured officials of the era. He helped Tang of Shang, the founder of the Shang dyna ...

and

Huo Guang Huo Guang (; died 68 BC), courtesy name Zimeng (子孟), was a Chinese military general and politician who served as the dominant state official of the Western Han dynasty from 87 BCE until his death in 68 BCE. The younger half-brother of the re ...

, we execute the high level officials who were double-minded, and the state will be secure." Because of Liu's earlier comments, Emperor Taizong believed the accusation. Liu asked Ma to corroborate his innocence, and Ma did so, but Chu insisted that Liu did make the inappropriate comments. Emperor Taizong, believing Chu, ordered that Liu commit suicide, but pardoned his family.This version of what happened was per both the '' Old Book of Tang'' and the '' New Book of Tang''. See ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 74 and ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 99 . However,

Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the monumental history book ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Sima was ...

, in his ''

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 ...

'', disbelieved the story and instead believed that it was the later Tang chancellor

Xu Jingzong Xu Jingzong (592 – September 20, 672), courtesy name Yanzu, posthumously known as Duke Gong of Gaoyang, was a Chinese cartographer, historian, and politician who served as a chancellor in the Tang dynasty. Allied with Emperor Gaozong's power ...

, who despised Chu, who altered the records to make Chu the accuser, as he believed this incident to be out of character for Chu. He therefore made the accuser unnamed. See ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 198. Before Liu committed suicide, around the new year 646, he requested a pen so that he could write a final statement for Emperor Taizong, but the officials having him under arrest did not dare to give him a pen, and so he died without a final statement. When Emperor Taizong found out about this, he punished those officials. In 656, Emperor Taizong's death and succession by Li Zhi (as Emperor Gaozong) and after Chu himself fell from grace due to the machinations of Emperor Gaozong's wife

Empress Wu The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

and her associates, Liu Ji's son Liu Hongye () submitted a petition, alleging that his father was forced to commit suicide due to Chu's false accusations. The chancellor

Li Yifu Li Yifu (; 614–666) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician who served as a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of the Emperor Gaozong. He became particularly powerful because of his support for the Emperor Gaozong's second ...

, a close associate of Empress Wu and a former subordinate of Liu Ji's whom Liu Ji favored, helped him with his case, and most officials, wanting to please Li Yifu, all stated that Liu died without fault. However,

Le Yanwei Le Yanwei (樂彥瑋) (died 676), courtesy name Degui (德珪), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Le Yanwei was from the Tang capital Chang'an. As of 656, he was servin ...

opposed revisiting the case, pointing out that Liu did still make inappropriate statements, and that revisiting the case would be an implicit rebuke of Emperor Taizong's actions. Emperor Gaozong agreed, and took no action on Liu Hongye's petition. It was not until 684, after Empress Wu had become empress dowager and was in total control, that Liu Ji's honors were posthumously restored.

Notes and references

* '' Old Book of Tang'', vol. 7

* '' New Book of Tang'', vol. 9

* ''

'', vols. :zh:s:資治通鑑/卷195, 195,

196 Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita ...

197 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 '' Ab urbe con ...

198 __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) 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 Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Ji 646 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Taizong of Tang Politicians from Jingzhou Sui dynasty politicians Tang dynasty politicians from Hubei Year of birth unknown