Tian Hongzheng () (764 – August 29, 821), né Tian Xing (),

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 Theobald ...

Andao (), formally Duke Zhongmin of Yi (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the

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 ...

. Under his governance, 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 ...

), which had not been under actual imperial control for decades, submitted to imperial control, but he was killed by mutineers while later serving as 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 Chengde Circuit (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 ...

Background

Tian Xing was born in 764, during the reign of Emperor Daizong. He was the second son of Tian Tingjie (), a cousin of

Tian Chengsi Tian Chengsi (705– March 4, 779), formally the Prince of Yanmen, was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He served as a military general in the rebel state of Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, ...

, who was then ruling Weibo Circuit as its military governor, in ''de facto'' independence from the imperial government. It was said that in Tian Xing's youth, he studied the

Confucian classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...

but particularly military strategies. He was also said to be capable in horsemanship and archery, and was brave and polite. Tian Chengsi favored him and had him named Xing (meaning "prosperity").''

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. 141
. After Tian Tingjie died in 782 in distress (after being unable to dissuade Tian Chengsi's nephew and successor

Tian Yue Tian Yue () (751 – March 26, 784), formally the Prince of Jiyang (), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician who, from 782 to 784, claimed the title of Prince of Wei independent from the Tang regime. Prior to that, he had already ...

from turning against the imperial government), Tian Xing's older brother Tian Rong () became in charge of watching over his younger brothers. On one occasion, after Tian Xing won an archery contest among Weibo soldiers, Tian Rong battered him and told him, "If you do not keep your abilities hidden, disaster will come to you." Traditional historians credited Tian Rong's teaching for Tian Xing's ability to survive in the following years.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 239.

Service under Tian Ji'an and Tian Huaijian

During the governance of Tian Chengsi's grandson

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) ...

(796-812), Tian Xing became the commander of the headquarters guards. It was said that Tian Ji'an was wasteful, uncaring of soldiers, and harsh in punishment, and Tian Xing often spoke to him, hoping to correct his behavior, and that the soldiers often looked up to Tian Xing for support. Tian Ji'an became suspicious of Tian Xing and demoted him out of the headquarters, to be the defender of Linqing (臨清, 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 ...

), and considered executing Tian Xing. Tian Xing, in order to avoid disaster, pretended to suffer from paralysis. Meanwhile, by 812, Tian Ji'an himself fell ill and behaved erratically. Tian Ji'an's wife Lady Yuan had their 10-year-old son

Tian Huaijian Tian Huaijian () (b. 802) was a general of the History of China, Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who, in his childhood, briefly served as the ruler of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), which had been held by his family for ...

designated deputy military governor and acting military governor, and Tian Ji'an died shortly after. Tian Xing was recalled from Linqing to serve as the commander of the soldiers.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 238. Meanwhile, because of Tian Huaijian's youth, the servant Jiang Shize () came to be making the key decisions, and Jiang made movements that were based on his own likes and dislikes, causing the soldiers to be disgruntled. Further, then-reigning

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 ...

(Emperor Dezong's grandson) was withholding the official commissioning for Tian Huaijian, hoping to cause a mutiny at Weibo. One morning, when Tian Xing was set to enter headquarters to meet Tian Huaijian, the soldiers surrounding him and bowed to him, asking him to be active military governor. Tian Xing agreed under the conditions that the soldiers would not harm Tian Huaijian and would be willing to submit to imperial orders, and the soldiers agreed. Tian Xing then executed Jiang and his associates and moved Tian Huaijian out of the headquarters.

As military governor of Weibo Circuit

Tian Xing presented maps and census rolls of the six prefectures of Weibo Circuit to Emperor Xianzong to show submission, and did not commission his own officials.''

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. 148
After a debate between the

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 ...

Li Jifu Li Jifu () (758 – November 18, 814), courtesy name Hongxian (), formally Duke Zhongyi of Zhao (), was a Chinese cartographer, historian, and politician during the Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. Backg ...

(who advocated making Tian acting military governor) and Li Jiang (who advocated making Tian the official military governor immediately and further advocated a large money reward to the soldiers of Weibo for their submission), Emperor Xianzong agreed with Li Jiang. He sent the official

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 ...

to Weibo to show approval and encouragement to Tian, and it was said that when Pei discussed with Tian the proper ways to be loyal, Tian was respectful and not bored in his hearing Pei's statements. He further accepted the imperial government's commissions of 90 officials below him — including the deputy military governor Hu Zheng () — without objection, submitted taxes that Tian Ji'an had withheld to the imperial treasury, and rebuffed attempts by Tian Ji'an's allied circuits — Pinglu (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 ...

), Chengde, and Zhangyi (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 ...

) — to bring him into the alliance. Emperor Xianzong also created him the Duke of Yi and gave him the honorary title of ''Yinqing Guanglu Daifu'' (). Emperor Xianzong further gave him a new name — Hongzheng (meaning "magnification of righteousness"). As a result of Weibo's submission, the imperial forces stationed at Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern

Jiaozuo Jiaozuo ( ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to the ...

), which was stationed at Heyang, between Weibo and the eastern capital

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 ...

to defend against Weibo, were moved to Ru Prefecture (汝州, in modern

Pingdingshan Pingdingshan (), also known as Eagle City ( zh, s=鹰城, p=Yīngchéng, t=鷹城), is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province, China. It had 4,904,701 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,756,333 lived in the built-up (or metro) are ...

) to instead defend against Zhangyi, whose military governor

Wu Shaoyang Wu Shaoyang () (died September 29, 814) was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, who, after seizing control of Zhangyi Circuit (彰義/彰义, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan) in 809, governed it in a ''de ...

had died earlier, and it was said that this movement pleased Tian Hongzheng greatly. When Emperor Xianzong did not allow Wu Shaoyang's son

Wu Yuanji Wu Yuanji (吳元濟) (783''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 145. or 793''New Book of Tang'', vol. 214. – December 12, 817Tian Bu, with a detachment of 3,000 soldiers, to serve in the campaign. With Emperor Xianzong also having declared the military governor of Chengde Circuit,

Wang Chengzong Wang Chengzong () (died 820) was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who served a military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). He, like his grandfather Wang Wujun and father Wang ...

, a renegade — but not declared a campaign against Wang at that point — Tian Hongzheng led his troops to wait on the border with Chengde, and Wang repeatedly harassed his troops. Tian Hongzheng requested permission to enter Chengde territory, and Emperor Xianzong authorized him to advance to Bei Prefecture (貝州, in modern Xingtai). It was also said that it was because of Tian's loyalty to the imperial government that the military governor of Pinglu,

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 ...

, did not dare to openly aid Zhangyi. After Wu was defeated and captured by the imperial general Li Su in 817, Wang became fearful, and he made offers through Tian to submit to the imperial government. Tian relayed Wang's offers to the imperial government, and in spring 818, Emperor Xianzong accepted Wang's offer to send his sons Wang Zhigan () and Wang Zhixin () to 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 ...

as hostages and to submit two of Chengde's six prefectures to imperial control.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 240. Li Shidao initially also offered to do the same as Wang — sending his sons as hostages and submitting three of Pinglu's 12 prefectures — to show submission to the imperial government, but soon reneged on his offer. In anger, Emperor Xianzong declared a campaign against Pinglu. In the initial stages, Emperor Xianzong, at Pei's suggestion, had the Weibo forces remain at Weibo to rest themselves (and to prevent unnecessary expenditures, as once a circuit's troops left the circuit, the imperial treasury would be responsible for their expenditures) until winter 818, when under imperial orders Weibo forces under Tian Hongzheng crossed 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 ...

and approached Pinglu's capital prefecture Yun Prefecture, causing much alarm at Yun Prefecture. Tian scored several victories against Pinglu forces under the Pinglu officer Liu Wu, in spring 819. Li Shidao, suspecting that Liu was disloyal, sent messengers to Liu's deputy Zhang Xian () to order Zhang to kill Liu and take over the army. Zhang, instead, informed Liu. Liu responded by commanding his forces to turn back to Yun Prefecture. He captured and executed Li Shidao and his sons, sent their heads to Tian, and submitted to the imperial government. When Emperor Xianzong subsequently commissioned Liu to be the military governor of Yicheng Prefecture (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 ...

) but feared that Liu would resist the commission and want to hold onto control of Pinglu, he had Tian take precautions by commanding forces from Weibo and several other circuits to move into Yun Prefecture. Liu did not resist and accepted the post at Yicheng. In the aftermaths of the campaign, Tian was given the title of acting ''Situ'' (司徒, one of the

Three Excellencies The Three Ducal Ministers (), also translated as the Three Dukes, Three Excellencies, or the Three Lords, was the collective name for the three highest officials in Ancient China and Imperial China. These posts were abolished by Cao Cao in 208 AD a ...

) and honorary chancellor with the title ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (). Once Tian arrived at Yun Prefecture, he ended the harsh rule of Li Shidao and his predecessors. Pinglu was subsequently divided into three circuits and given to three different governors. It was at this point historians regarded the reestablishment of Tang's imperial power during Emperor Xianzong's reign reached its apex. Later in 819, Tian went to Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Xianzong, and Emperor Xianzong treated him well; he was also given the greater honorary chancellor title of ''Shizhong'' (). Tian offered to remain at Chang'an, but Emperor Xianzong declined and returned him to his post at Weibo. As Tian was loyal and was concerned that eventually, his soldiers would demand that his family inherit his position, he sent his brothers, sons, and nephews all to Chang'an, and Emperor Xianzong gave them prominent positions.

As military governor of Chengde Circuit

In spring 820, Emperor Xianzong died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Muzong. In winter 820, after Wang Chengzong died, the Chengde soldiers supported Wang Chengzong's brother

Wang Chengyuan Wang Chengyuan () (801 – February 3, 834http://dbo.sinica.edu.tw/ftms-bin/kiwi1/luso.sh?lstype=2&dyna=%AD%F0&king=%A4%E5%A9v&reign=%A4%D3%A9M&yy=7&ycanzi=&mm=12&dd=&dcanzi=%AC%D1%A5f''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 17, part 2.), formally the Duke of ...

as successor, but Wang Chengyuan, while pretending to accept, sent secret submissions to Emperor Muzong declining the position. Emperor Muzong thus carried out a group of military governor movements for Weibo, Chengde, and three other nearby circuits — making Tian Hongzheng the military governor of Chengde, Wang Chengyuan the military governor of Yicheng, Liu Wu the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern

Changzhi Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas (see Adminis ...

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 ...

), Li Su the military governor of Weibo, and Tian Bu the military governor of Heyang. (Emperor Muzong's making Tian Hongzheng military governor of Chengde was against the advice of the general Yang Yuanqing (), who also tried to persuade the chancellors that it was not a good idea, but Yang's suggestions were also ignored by the chancellors.)''Zizhi Tongjian'', 242. As Tian Hongzheng had battled Chengde forces for years, he believed that the Chengde soldiers would bear him great hatred. He thus took 2,000 Weibo soldiers with him to Chengde and kept them with him as his personal guards. He submitted requests to the directorate of finance for the soldiers to be paid out of the imperial treasury. However, the director of finances, Cui Ling (), a relative of the chancellor

Cui Zhi Cui Zhi () (772 – March 2, 829''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 17, part 1.), courtesy name Gongxiu (公修), was an official of the Tang dynasty of China, serving as a chancellor during the reign of the Emperor Muzong. Both he and his cousin Cui Ling ...

, not understanding the scope of the situation, believed that Chengde soldiers had the responsibilities of protecting their governor and that Weibo soldiers should be returned to Weibo, and that approving Tian's request would create a bad precedent, and thus refused Tian's requests. After Tian made four requests and failed to receive approval, he had to order the Weibo soldiers to return to Weibo. Meanwhile, Tian Hongzheng was also drawing resentment from the soldiers for another reason. He was known for treating his family well — so much so that his relatives at Chang'an and Luoyang were becoming extremely wasteful. As a result, while at Weibo and later at Chengde, he extracted much revenue from the people and sent them to Chang'an and Luoyang for his family to use. As a result, the soldiers of both circuits resented him for this. Further, at that time, Emperor Muzong had issued an edict that a large cash reward be given to the Chengde soldiers for their submission, but the directorate of finance did not deliver the reward quickly, and the Chengde soldiers became even more resentful. The officer

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 ...

, originally of

Huigu The Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; otk, 𐱃𐰆𐰴𐰕:𐰆𐰍𐰕:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Toquz Oγuz budun, Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic empire that ...

extraction but whose great-grandfather had been adopted by Wang Chengzong's grandfather

Wang Wujun Wang Wujun () (735 – August 9, 801), courtesy name Yuanying (), né Monuogan (), formally Prince Zhonglie of Langye (), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Tang dynasty. He served as a long-time ''Jiedushi'' of Che ...

, planned a mutiny, and often found ways to foster the soldiers' resentment toward Tian. He decided to act as soon as the Weibo soldiers left Chengde. On the night of August 29, 821, Wang Tingcou gathered his soldiers outside headquarters and charged into the headquarters, slaughtering Tian, his staff, and their families — over 300 people. Subsequently, after an unsuccessful campaign against Wang, Emperor Muzong was forced to commission Wang as the new military governor. He gave Tian Hongzheng the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

of ''Zhongmin'' (meaning, "faithful and suffering") and ordered Wang to return Tian's body. However, Wang claimed that Tian's body could not be located by that point.''Old Book of Tang''
vol. 16
.

Notes and references

* ''

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vol. 141
* ''

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vol. 148
* ''

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 ...

'', 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 ...

239 __NOTOC__ Year 239 ( CCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gordianus and Aviola (or, less frequently, year 992 ''A ...

, 240, 241, 242. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tian, Hongzheng 764 births 821 deaths Tang dynasty generals Tang dynasty jiedushi of Chengde Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Weibo Circuit