Yuwen Rong () (d. 730 or 731) was a

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 ...

politician, 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 ...

for 100 days during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. He was said to be the first official during Emperor Xuanzong's reign who became powerful on account of his ability to increase government revenue.

Background

Yuwen Rong's family was from 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 ...

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 ...

, and traced its ancestry to Yuwen Yidougui, the last chief of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

tribe

Yuwen The Yuwen ( <

Eastern Han Chinese

: *''wa^B-mun'' <

, which was destroyed by the

Former Yan The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...

ruler

Murong Huang Murong Huang (; 297–348), courtesy name Yuanzhen (元真), formally Prince Wenming of (Former) Yan ((前)燕文明王) was the founding monarch of the Xianbei-led Former Yan dynasty of China. When he first succeeded his father Murong Hui i ...

. His great-grandfather Yuwen Bi (宇文弼) was a major general for Tang's predecessor

Sui Dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

, and Yuwen Rong's grandfather

Yuwen Jie Yuwen Jie (宇文節), courtesy name Dali (大禮),''New Book of Tang'', vol. 71. was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He served as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Yuwen Jie's grandfather Yuwen Bi (宇文弼) was a maj ...

served as a chancellor during the reign of

Emperor Gaozong of Tang Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife Empress Wu (the f ...

. Yuwen Rong's father Yuwen Jiao (宇文嶠) served as a prefectural secretary general.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign

Early in the ''Kaiyuan'' era (713-741) of Emperor Xuanzong, Yuwen Rong served as the treasurer for Fuping County (富平, in modern

Weinan Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of Shan ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

), which was then part of Jingzhao Municipality (i.e., the municipality encompassing Chang'an), and was said to be capable in that capacity. While the officials

Yuan Qianyao Yuan Qianyao (源乾曜) (died December 22, 731), formally the Duke of Anyang (安陽公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang Dynasty, twice serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. Background Yuan Qianyao was from Xiang P ...

and Meng Wen (孟溫) successively served as the mayors of Jingzhao, both of them respected his abilities. He later served as ''Jiancha Yushi'' (監察御史), an imperial censor. At that time, there were many people who tried to evade labor conscription and taxes by avoiding being enrolled on census rolls, or fraudulently claiming exemptions, causing a drain on the imperial treasury. In 721, Yuwen requested that he be specially commissioned to go after census evaders and fraudulent exemption claimers, and, with support from Yuan, who was then a

, Emperor Xuanzong agreed. Yuwen was able to locate some 800,000 alleged census evaders—although traditional historians believed that this figure was inflated—adding much to the imperial treasury. When the county magistrate Huangfu Jing (皇甫憬) submitted a petition arguing that this was causing a panic among the people, Emperor Xuanzong moved Huangfu to a more distant county as punishment. When the deputy minister of census Yang Yang (楊暘) also pointed this out, Yang was sent out of the capital. Subsequently, apparently at Yuwen's urging, Emperor Xuanzong issued an amnesty period for the census evaders to report themselves and allowed them to be exempted from retroactive taxation. When Yuwen toured the realm to announce this, the census evaders, not realizing his earlier role in investigations into them, were exceedingly thankful to him. For his role in the project, Yuwen was promoted to be the deputy imperial censor (御史中丞, ''Yushi Zhongcheng''). In 725, Emperor Xuanzong gave Yuwen the additional office as deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang''). He also decreed that the grains submitted as taxes by the census evaders were to be put aside in storage in case of famine, and also established agriculture promotion offices in the prefectures and counties to try to enhance agriculture. Later that year, when Emperor Xuanzong suspected the ministry of civil service affairs to be unfair in its selection of officials, Yuwen suggested that he appoint 10 officials to review the selections, and then further review the 10 examiners' decisions. Emperor Xuanzong agreed and carried out the plan, despite objections submitted by the official Wu Jing (吳兢), although in 726 he stopped the scheme. Meanwhile, it was said that the senior chancellor Zhang Yue despised Yuwen, but also did not view him as a threat, despite warnings from his subordinate

Zhang Jiuling Zhang Jiuling () (678 or 673–740), courtesy name Zishou (), nickname Bowu (), formally Count Wenxian of Shixing (), was a prominent minister, noted poet and scholar of the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. ...

. In 726, Yuwen, along with

Li Linfu Li Linfu () (died January 3, 753), nickname Genu (), formally the Duke of Jin (), was a Chinese historian, musician, and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor for 18 years (734–752), during the reign of Emperor Xuanzon ...

and another official who resented Zhang Yue, Cui Yinfu (崔隱甫), submitted accusations of corruption against Zhang Yue. Subsequently, Zhang was removed from his chancellor position, but at the intercession of the powerful eunuch

Gao Lishi Gao Lishi () (684–762), formally the Duke of Qi (齊國公), was a Chinese eunuch and politician of the Tang dynasty and the Wu Zhou dynasty, becoming particularly powerful during Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign. He is believed to have been in c ...

, avoided further punishment. Fearing that Zhang Yue would eventually return to the chancellor position, Yuwen and Cui formed a faction with other officials, against Zhang Yue and his faction. In 727, Emperor Xuanzong, tired of that situation, ordered Zhang Yue to retire, Cui to return home to serve his mother, and demoted Yuwen to be the prefect of Wei Prefecture (魏州, 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 ...

). In 728, Emperor Xuanzong gave Yuwen the additional posts as the examiner of Hebei Circuit (河北道, roughly modern Hebei,

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

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

) as well as deputy minister of census. Later that year, he made Yuwen the prefect of Bian Prefecture (汴州, roughly 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 ...

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 ...

), and gave Yuwen the additional responsibility of managing 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 ...

levees. Yuwen proposed that the ancient routes of the Yellow River—when the lower Yellow River divided into nine river routes—be located, and that the routes be used for irrigation of rice fields; further, he also proposed that the routes could then be used for transportation. Emperor Xuanzong approved of the plan, which however did not have much progress despite expenses. In 729, tired of the constant arguments between the chancellors

Li Yuanhong Li Yuanhong (; courtesy name Songqing 宋卿) (October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a Chinese politician during the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the president of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1917, and between 1922 ...

and Du Xian, and Yuan's inabilities to moderate them, Emperor Xuanzong removed all three from chancellor positions, replacing them with Yuwen and Pei Guangting—with Yuwen given the position of ''Huangmen Shilang'' (黃門侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''), and given the ''de facto'' chancellor designation of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事). It was said that Yuwen tried to further increase revenues by establish special offices, which caused the previously commissioned officials to have much less responsibilities. It was further said that Yuwen was intelligent and capable in increasing revenues, drawing Emperor Xuanzong's favor, but was frivolous, talkative, and nepotistic, once commenting, "Let me sit on this seat for a few months, and the realm will have no troubles." However, it was also said that he was praised for recommending the well-respected officials

Song Jing Song Jing (宋璟) (663 – November 21, 737), formally Duke Wenzhen of Guangping (廣平文貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as the chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Ruizong and ...

Pei Yaoqing PEI or Pei may refer to: Places *Matecaña International Airport, Pereira, Colombia, IATA code PEI *Pei County (沛县), Jiangsu, China *Pei Commandery (沛郡), a commandery in Chinese history *Prince Edward Island, a province of Canada *Pei, T ...

, and Xu Jingxian (許景先). He soon became jealous of another favorite of Emperor Xuanzong's -- Emperor Xuanzong's second cousin Li Hui (李褘) the Prince of Xin'an, who had drawn Emperor Xuanzong's favor for his contributions as a general and was then 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", ...

'') of

Shuofang Shuofang () was an ancient Chinese commandery, situated in the Hetao region in modern-day Inner Mongolia near Baotou. First founded by Emperor Wu of Han in the wake of the successful reconquest of the area from Xiongnu tribes, it was dissolved ...

Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern

Yinchuan Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...

Ningxia Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...

). Yuwen persuaded the imperial censor Li Zhou (李宙) to submit an indictment against Li Hui, but the news was leaked to Li Hui. Li Hui, finding out he was to be indicted, reported this to Emperor Xuanzong through Emperor Xuanzong's sister Li Chiying (李持盈) the Princess Yuzhen and Gao, defending himself. When Li Zhou, as Li Hui had predicted, submitted the indictment, Emperor Xuanzong knew that it was at Yuwen's urging and became angry at them. He demoted Yuwen to be the prefect of Ru Prefecture (汝州, roughly 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 ...

) -- after serving 100 days as chancellor.Yuwen's term of service was from July 1

to October 2

which should be 99 days, but the traditional historians called his term 100 days. However, after Yuwen's removal, it was said that revenues decreased sharply, and Emperor Xuanzong questioned Pei Guangting and other officials who had criticized Yuwen, "You all claim that Yuwen Rong is evil, and I have removed him. Now, what should we do if there is not enough money in the treasury? What are you here for?" Pei and the other officials were fearful and unable to answer, but Emperor Xuanzong did not punish them. Meanwhile, as Pei was also serving as chief imperial censor by this point, he submitted an indictment against Yuwen for corruption and improper association with others, and he was demoted to be the sheriff of Pingle County (平樂, in modern

Guilin Guilin ( Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

). After he had spent more than a year at Pingle, the deputy minister Jiang Cen (蔣岑) further accused Yuwen of corruption while serving as prefect of Bian Prefecture. Yuwen was thus further removed as sheriff and exiled to Yan Prefecture (巖州, roughly modern

Laibin Laibin (, Zhuang: Laizbinh) is a prefecture-level city in the central part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. History Laibin is an ancient town with more than 2000 years of history. The area was settled in prehistoric times, more tha ...

). It was said that the environment of Yan Prefecture was humid and unhealthy, causing Yuwen to be ill. He thus went on sick leave in Guang Prefecture (廣州, roughly modern

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

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) ...

). After his leave was to be over, however, he remained in Guang Prefecture, causing the commandant of Guang Prefecture, Geng Renzhong (耿仁忠) to force him to leave. He died on the way back to Yan Prefecture. When Emperor Xuanzong heard this, he remembered Yuwen's contributions and posthumously made him a prefectural prefect.

Notes and references

* ''

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. 105
* ''

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. 134
* ''

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.

212 Year 212 (Roman numerals, CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 '' ...

, 213. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuwen, Rong 730s deaths Chancellors under Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Economists from Shaanxi Tang dynasty economists Tang dynasty politicians from Shaanxi Year of birth unknown Yuwen