Liu Xi () was an official of the Khitan-led

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...

of China, at one point serving as 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 ...

Background

It is not known when Liu Xi was born, but it is known that he was from Zhuo Prefecture (涿州, 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 ...

). His father Liu Jiyong () served as a county magistrate for several counties in Zhuo. In Liu Xi's youth, he was known for his being well-studied in

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

in his home territory. At one point, he served as a secretary to the major Jin general

Zhou Dewei Zhou Dewei () (died January 28, 919''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 270.Academia Sinica Chinese-Western C ...

, before he was captured by Liao.''

Old History of the Five Dynasties The ''Old History of the Five Dynasties'' (''Jiù Wǔdài Shǐ'') was an official history mainly focus on Five Dynasties era (907–960), which controlled much of northern China. And it also includes some history of other south states during the ...

'', vol. 98.

Career with Liao

After being captured by Liao, Liu Xi was given various offices in dealing with fellow ethnic

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 ...

that Liao captured. During the ''Tianfu'' era (936-947) of Liao's vassal

Later Jin Later Jin may refer to two states in imperial China: * Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), one of the Five Dynasties * Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor to the Qing dynasty See also * Jin (disambiguation) Jin ...

, Liu was made the defender of Yanjing (燕京, 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 ...

). He was responsible for the

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 three times, and reached the

title of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). (According to the ''

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 ...

'', he also at one point served as Emperor Taizong's chief of staff (''

Shumishi Shumishi (), or shumi, was an official title in imperial China important in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Liao dynasty, the Song dynasty and the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). ''Shumishi'' managed the Bureau of Military Affairs (). ...

'').)''

'', vol. 286. In 946, Liu accompanied Emperor Taizong on his campaign to destroy Later Jin, whose then-emperor

Shi Chonggui Shi Chonggui () (914–974), known in traditional Chinese historical sources as Emperor Chu of Later Jin (後晉出帝, "the exiled emperor") or Emperor Shao of Later Jin (後晉少帝, "the young emperor"), posthumously known in the Liao dynasty a ...

was no longer willing to be Liao's vassal.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 285. After Emperor Taizong was successful in destroy Later Jin, he declared himself the emperor of China as well, and then proceeded to install a number of Liao generals in various military positions over the former Later Jin realms. As part of his orders, Liu was made the defender of

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), 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 ...

. Prior to his arrival at Luoyang, Luoyang had been temporarily under the charge of the Khitan general Yelü Chage (), the Xi prince Zhuaila (), and the

Balhae Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It wa ...

general Gao Mohan (), all of whom viewed the Han with disdain. When the general Zhao Zaili (), on the way to the former Later Jin capital Daliang to pay homage to Emperor Taizong, stopped at Luoyang, they, without humility, accept his bows. Zhao, in fear, later committed suicide. When Liu arrived at Luoyang, he ordered Zhuaila to stand in his office hall and rebuked him, "Zhao Zaili was an important Han official. You are but a simple chieftain of the north. How do you dare to be so arrogant toward him?" It was said that after this rebuke was known, the people of Luoyang were somewhat comforted. Emperor Taizong did not rule the former Later Jin realm well, however, and soon, this caused many Han rebellions against him. Emperor Taizong decided to leave his brother-in-law Xiao Han in charge of Daliang, and headed back toward Liao proper. When some agrarian rebels subsequently attacked Luoyang, Liu abandoned Luoyang and fled to Xu Prefecture (許州, in modern

Xuchang Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province of China, 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 s ...

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 ...

). Shortly after, Xiao had Gao escort Liu back to Luoyang, where he again took charge of the city. However, after Emperor Taizong soon died near Heng Prefecture (恆州, in modern

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

), and his nephew Yelü Ruan claimed the throne (as Emperor Shizong),''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 287. and one of the major Later Jin generals,

Liu Zhiyuan Liu Zhiyuan () (March 4, 895 – March 10, 948), later changed to Liu Gao (), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Han (), was the founding emperor of the Shatuo-led Later Han dynasty, the fourth of the Five Dynasties duri ...

, claimed imperial title and headed toward Luoyang, Liu again abandoned Luoyang and fled to Daliang. Soon, Xiao decided to abandon Daliang as well, and he named the

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...

prince

Li Congyi Li Congyi (李從益) (931'' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 51. – June 23, 947''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 287.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), known as the Prince of Xu (許王), was an imperial prince of the Chinese ...

emperor, before leaving Li Congyi at Daliang and heading north back toward Heng with Liu. A subsequent Han uprising at Heng caused him to flee with Yelü Mada () and Cui Tingxun () to Ding Prefecture (定州, in modern

) to join Yelü Zhong () the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered at Ding). That was the last definitively described movement of Liu's, although presumably, when Yelü Zhong and Yelü Mada then abandoned Ding in 948 and fled back to Liao proper, Liu went with them. He was said to have died while still in Liao territory.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 98. * ''

'', vols. 286,

287 Year 287 (Roman numerals, CCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequ ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Xi Politicians from Baoding Jin (Later Tang precursor) people Liao dynasty chancellors Liao dynasty shumishi