Shi Xiancheng () (died July 30, 829)http://dbo.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/kiwi1/luso.sh?lstype=2&dyna=%AD%F0&king=%A4%E5%A9v&reign=%A4%D3%A9M&yy=3&ycanzi=&mm=6&dd=26&dcanzi= was a general 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 Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, who ruled Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

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 ...

) semi-independently from the imperial government.

Background

It is not known when Shi Xiancheng was born. His ancestors were of Xi stock, but had submitted to

and resided at

Lingwu Lingwu (, Xiao'erjing: لِئٍ‌وُ شِ) is a county-level city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Southwest China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yinchuan. It is the most important industrial city of Ningxia. Li ...

. Both his grandfather Shi Daode () and father Shi Zhouluo () served in the army of Weibo Circuit and, for their achievements, were created princes, with Shi Zhouluo having done so under 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", ...

'')

Tian Ji'an Tian Ji'an (781 or 782– September 21, 812), courtesy name Kui and formally the Prince of Yanmen, was a general of the Tang Dynasty, who, as military governor (''Jiedushi''), ruled Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) ...

. Shi Xiancheng was known for bravery and served under his father Shi Zhouluo in the Weibo army.''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'', vol. 181.''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', vol. 210. By 819, 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 ...

, when

Tian Hongzheng Tian Hongzheng () (764 – August 29, 821), né Tian Xing (), courtesy name Andao (), formally Duke Zhongmin of Yi (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Tang Dynasty. Under his governance, Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered i ...

was serving as military governor and was following imperial orders in attacking the warlord

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 ...

, who ruled 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 Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

),''

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 ...

'', vol. 241. Shi Xiancheng served as Tian's forward commander in leading 4,000 soldiers across the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

to attack Pinglu. With Weibo forces pressuring Pinglu's capital Yun Prefecture () directly, Li's subordinate Liu Wu killed Li and surrendered. As a result of Shi's contributions, he was given the honorary title of deputy chief imperial censor (御史中丞, ''Yushi Zhongcheng'').

During Emperor Muzong's reign

As a result of Emperor Xianzong's military victories, the various circuits all submitted to his rule. After Emperor Xianzong died in 820 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Muzong, however, soldiers at Lulong (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 ...

) and Chengde (成德, headquartered 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 ...

) Chengde rebelled under the leadership of

Zhu Kerong Zhu Kerong () (died 826''Old Book of Tang'', :zh:s:舊唐書/卷180, vol. 180.), formally the Prince of Wuxing (), was a military governor (''Jiedushi'') of the History of China, Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who ruled Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headqua ...

and

Wang Tingcou Wang Tingcou (王廷湊 or 王庭湊; died 834), formally the Duke of Taiyuan (), was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who, in 821, during the reign of Emperor Muzong, took over control of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shi ...

, respectively, in 821 — and in Wang's uprising, he killed Tian Hongzheng, who had been transferred to Chengde Circuit. Tian's successor as military governor of Weibo, Li Su, was originally set to launch a campaign against Chengde when he fell ill. Emperor Muzong thus made Tian's son

Tian Bu Tian Bu () (785 – February 6, 822), courtesy name Dunli (), was a Chinese military general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. He was the son of the general Tian Hongzheng, and after Tian Hongzheng's death at the hands of Chengde Circuit (成德, headqu ...

as the new military governor of Weibo.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 242. Tian Bu trusted Shi from the time they served together under Tian Hongzheng, and he made Shi his forward commander, giving Shi the elite troops of Weibo. In winter 821, Tian Bu launched his 30,000 troops to attack Wang, capturing two Chengde outposts just south of Nangong (南宮, in modern

Xingtai Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...

). However, as recounted in a petition from

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...

to Emperor Muzong at the time, he then became bogged down because his soldiers, who had been accustomed to rich rewards from the imperial government, lost their motivation. Meanwhile, as there were heavy snowstorms at the time, the supplies to be shipped by the imperial government's director of finances were not arriving, and Tian ordered that revenues be diverted from the six Weibo prefectures for military use — causing the officers to resent him for stripping the six prefectures of their wealth. Shi, who was ambitious, thus used this opportunity to foster dissent in the Weibo ranks. In spring 822, when there was an imperial order for some Weibo soldiers to report to the camp of

Li Guangyan Li Guangyan () (761–826), courtesy name Guangyuan (), né Ädiz Guangyan (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Tang Dynasty. He was known for his participation in various campaigns against regional warlords during the reigns of ...

the military governor of Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered 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 ...

) to attack Chengde from the east, the Weibo soldiers largely deserted Tian and fled to Shi's camp. Tian was only able to maintain control over 8,000 soldiers and was forced to return to Wei Prefecture. Once Tian returned to Wei Prefecture, he again discussed with his senior officers about launching another campaign against Chengde. The officers refused to follow his orders and stated that they would only follow him if he agreed to reassert independence from the imperial government. He saw the hopelessness of the situation he was in, and he wrote a final petition to Emperor Muzong and entrusting it to his staff member

Li Shi Li Shi or Lishi may refer to: * Lishi (理事; "Noumenon and Phenomenon"), a Zen Buddhist concept, see Five Ranks#Interplay of Absolute and Relative People * Li Shi (emperor) (died 361), emperor of Cheng Han * Lishi (Three Kingdoms) (李氏, ...

(who would eventually be chancellor) and then committed suicide. Shi, upon hearing of Tian Bu's death, returned to Weibo's capital Wei Prefecture () and was subsequently supported by the soldiers to serve as acting military governor. He was soon confirmed by the imperial government as military governor. It was said that he was pleased by the imperial grace and therefore, on the surface, continued to be obedient to the imperial government, but was secretly conspiring with Zhu and Wang (both whom soon thereafter received imperial commissions of their own). In 822, when soldiers at Xuanwu Circuit (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 Nort ...

) rebelled against and expelled the military governor Li Yuan () under the leadership of Li Jie (李㝏), Shi supported Li Jie's request to be made military governor, and further postured by placing his troops at Liyang (黎陽, in modern

Hebi Hebi ( ; postal: Hopi) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China. Situated in mountainous terrain at the edge of the Shanxi plateau, Hebi is about south of Anyang, northeast of Xinxiang and north of Kaifeng. As of the 202 ...

) as if he would cross the Yellow River to aid Li Jie. However, after Li Jie's rebellion was subsequently crushed by an imperial campaign, Shi changed his attitude and said to the imperial official sent to confer with him, Wei Wenke ():

During Emperor Jingzong's and Emperor Wenzong's reigns

In 826, by which time Emperor Muzong son Emperor Jingzong was emperor, Li Quanlüe () the military governor of Henghai Circuit (橫海, headquartered in modern

Cangzhou Cangzhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a populatio ...

) died, and Li Quanlüe's son

Li Tongjie Li Tongjie (李同捷) (died June 1, 829Academia Sinica
Chinese-Western Calendar Converter. ''

seized control of the circuit without imperial sanction. Shi Xiancheng, who was connected to Li Quanlüe by marriage (one of Shi's children married one of Li Quanlüe's children), made a false report to the imperial government that Li Tongjie had been expelled by the Henghai troops and settled at Weibo, and then made another report that Li Tongjie had returned to Henghai.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 243. Emperor Jingzong initially took no action against Li Tongjie. After he died later in the year and was succeeded by his brother Emperor Wenzong, in 827, Emperor Wenzong, not wanting to let Li Tongjie occupy Henghai, issued an edict making him the military governor of Yanhai Circuit (兗海, headquartered in modern

Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jining ...

) while transferring

Wu Chongyin Wu Chongyin () (761 – November 30, 827), courtesy name Baojun (), formally Duke Yimu of Zhangyi (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Tang Dynasty. Background Wu Chongyin was born in 761, during the reign of Emperor Suzong. ...

the military governor of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an — at Pinglu's old headquarters Yun Prefecture) to Henghai. Concerned that Shi and the other warlords would encourage Li Tongjie to resist, he conferred various honorary titles on them, and in Shi's case, he was made honorary

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 ...

with the title ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). When Li Tongjie subsequently refused to report to Yanhai, Emperor Wenzong issued an edict mobilizing the troops of Shi, Wu,

Wang Zhixing Wang Zhixing (758– August 21, 836), Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter./ref>'' Old Book of Tang'', vol. 17, part 2. courtesy name Kuangjian and formally the Prince of Yanmen, was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty ...

the military governor of Wuning Circuit (武寧, headquartered in modern

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

), Kang Zhimu () the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (whose headquarters had moved to 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 L ...

Li Zaiyi Li Zaiyi () (July 18, 788 - June 4, 837), né Li Zaiyi (李再義, note different character of his later name), courtesy name Fanggu (), formally the Prince of Wuwei (), was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who, from 826 to 831, ruled Lulong C ...

the military governor of Lulong Circuit, Li Ting () the military governor of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

), and Zhang Bo () the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered 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 ...

) to attack Li Tongjie. However, Shi was initially planning on secretly aiding Li Tongjie. When he sent an officer to the office of the chancellors' 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 Shi ...

, however, the chancellor

Wei Chuhou Wei Chuhou (韋處厚) (773 – January 29, 829''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 243.), né Wei Chun (韋淳), courtesy name Dezai (德載), formally the Duke of Lingchang (靈昌公), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chance ...

pointed out to Shi's officer that, while the senior chancellor

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 Xian ...

believed in Shi's faithfulness, Wei himself did not. Fearful that Wei would suggest to Emperor Wenzong that imperial troops act against him, Shi did not dare to aid LI Tongjie. Subsequently, in 828, with his son and deputy military governor Shi Tang () advocating sending troops against Henghai, Shi Xiancheng commissioned Shi Tang and the officer Qi Zhishao () to attack Henghai. With imperial troops scoring victories over Henghai forces, Wang Tingcou, who was allied with Li Tongjie, could not save Li Tongjie, and instead sent messengers to persuade Qi to turn against Shi Xiancheng and Shi Tang to take over Weibo. In winter 828, Qi rebelled and marched back toward Wei Prefecture. Emperor Wenzong sent the official Bo Qi () to Weibo to comfort Shi's troops, while ordering Yicheng and Heyang (河陽, headquartered in modern

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 ...

) forces to aid Shi against Qi. Subsequently, the joint forces under Li Ting and Shi Tang defeated Qi, and Qi fled to Chengde.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 244. With LI Tongjie near defeat, Shi was insecure about his own position. Shi Tang (whose name was soon changed to Shi Xiaozhang () suggested that he surrender his command and go to Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Wenzong. In spring 829, Shi Xiancheng thus sent Shi Xiaozhang to Chang'an to offer to surrender his command. Subsequently, after Li Tongjie surrendered (but was nevertheless executed by Bo), Emperor Wenzong divided Weibo into two circuits — making Shi Xiaozhang the military governor of one of the new circuits, consisting of Xiang (相州, in modern Anyang), Wei (衛州, in modern

Xinxiang Xinxiang ( ; postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its southeast, Hebi and Anyang to its north, Jiaozuo to its west, and the ...

, note different character than Weibo's capital prefecture), and Chan (澶州, in modern Anyang) Prefectures, while transferring Shi Xiancheng to Hezhong Circuit (河中, headquartered in modern

Yuncheng Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

) and Li Ting to Weibo. Emperor Wenzong also conferred the honorary chancellor title of ''Shizhong'' () on Shi Xiancheng. Li Ting, however, did not report to Weibo immediately. Meanwhile, Shi Xiancheng was stripping the wealth of Weibo, intending to take the wealth with him to Hezhong. The soldiers, angry at him and fearful that he had effectively sold them out to the imperial government, mutinied and killed him under the leadership of He Jintao. When Li Ting arrived, He Jintao defeated him. Emperor Wenzong was forced to acknowledge He as military governor and further return the three prefectures originally given to Shi Xiaozhang. Shi Xiancheng was given posthumous honors, and Shi Xiaozhang would subsequently serve as military governor at three different circuits.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 181. * ''

'', vol. 210. * ''

'', vols. 242,

243 __NOTOC__ Year 243 ( CCXLIII) 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 Arrianus and Papus (or, less frequently, year 996 '' Ab ...

244 __NOTOC__ Year 244 (Roman numerals, CCXLIV) was a leap 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 Tiberius Pollenius Armenius Peregrinus, Arm ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Xiancheng 8th-century births 829 deaths Tang dynasty jiedushi of Weibo Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Hezhong Circuit Tang dynasty generals from Hebei Tang dynasty politicians from Hebei