Min Xu (閔勗) (d. 886),

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 ...

Gongjin (公謹), was a warlord late in 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 ...

, who controlled a substantial part, as well as Tan Prefecture (in modern

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a popul ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

), the capital of Hunan Circuit (湖南), first as its governor (觀察使, ''Guanchashi'') and then 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" ...

''), from 882 to 886. He was assassinated in 886.

Background and takeover of Hunan region

Little is known about Min Xu's background, as neither of the official histories of Tang Dynasty (the '' Old Book of Tang'' and the '' New Book of Tang'') contained a biography for him. It is known that he was originally an officer from 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 ...

), whose soldiers were stationed at neighboring Hunan Circuit as of 881. Around the new year 882, when Min's assignment was apparently completed and he was set to return to Jiangxi with his soldiers, he went through Hunan's capital Tan Prefecture. While there, he expelled Hunan's governor Li Yu () and seized power himself, claiming the title of acting governor.

Rule of Hunan and death

As of summer 882, the imperial government under then-reigning Emperor Xizong must have confirmed Min Xu's takeover, for he was referred to by that point as full governor. After being made governor, he made numerous requests for the post to be upgraded to the more prestigious position of military governor, but the imperial government rejected the overture, believing that granting Min's request would lead to other circuits not yet at military governor status making the requests. However, around the same time, the agrarian rebel leader

Zhong Chuan Zhong Chuan or Zhong Zhuan (鍾傳) (died 906), formally the Prince of Nanping (南平王), was a warlord of the late Tang dynasty, who controlled a large portion of Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi, formerly known ...

, whom the imperial government had previously tried to enlist into the imperial camp by making him the prefect of Fu Prefecture (撫州, in modern

Fuzhou, Jiangxi Fuzhou (,), also known as Gandong (), is a prefecture-level city in the northeastern part of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. Fuzhou is located to the south of the provincial capital Nanchang, bordered in the east by Fujian Province ...

), had taken over Jiangxi's capital Hong Prefecture () and expelled Jiangxi's governor Gao Maoqing (). The imperial government wanted to put Min and Zhong into conflict with each other, and therefore upgraded Jiangxi to Zhennan Circuit () as a military governor post and commissioned Min as the military governor of Zhennan, ordering him to return to Zhennan to expel Zhong. Min, knowing the imperial government's intent, refused to launch his forces.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 255. In fall 883, Emperor Xizong promoted Hunan to the military governor–level Qinhua Circuit and made Min its military governor. In summer 886,

Zhou Yue Zhou Yue (周岳) (died 893), courtesy name Junzhao (峻昭), was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who controlled Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan) from 886 to 893. Background and takeover of Heng ...

the prefect of Heng Prefecture (modern

Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 l ...

), formally a subordinate of Min's, attacked Tan Prefecture. At that time, Huang Hao (), one of the generals under

Qin Zongquan Qin Zongquan (; died April 1, 889) was a Chinese military general, monarch, politician, rebel, and warlord during the Tang Dynasty. He was later a claimant to the imperial throne, in competition with Emperor Xizong of Tang and, later, Emperor Xiz ...

, who had claimed imperial title at Cai Prefecture (蔡州, 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 ...

), was in the region. Min, for reasons unclear to history, invited Huang into Tan Prefecture to assist in defending against Zhou's attack. Once Huang entered Tan Prefecture, however, he killed Min and seized control. Zhou, soon thereafter, captured Tan Prefecture and put Huang to death, taking over control of the circuit (which was then renamed Wu'an ().''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 256.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Min, Xu 9th-century births 886 deaths Tang dynasty jiedushi of Zhennan Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Wu'an Circuit