Zhao Deyin () (died 892), formally the Prince of Huai'an (), 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 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 initially served as a general under the pretender emperor

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 ...

. When Qin neared defeat, Zhao declared loyalty to Tang instead, and was able to retain control of Zhongyi Circuit (忠義, headquartered in modern

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

), which, after his death, was passed to his son

Zhao Kuangning Zhao Kuangning (趙匡凝), courtesy name Guangyi (光儀), formally the Prince of Chu (楚王), was a warlord late in the Chinese Tang Dynasty, who ruled Zhongyi Circuit (忠義, headquartered in modern Xiangyang, Hubei) as its military governor ( ...

Background and service under Qin Zongquan

It is not known when Zhao Deyin was born. His family was from 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 ...

). At some point, he became an officer under

, who was then the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

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 Fengguo Circuit (奉國, headquartered at Cai Prefecture). When Qin was involved in the Tang forces' campaigns against the major agrarian rebel

Huang Chao Huang Chao (835 – July 13, 884) was a Chinese smuggler, soldier, and rebel, and is most well known for being the leader of a major rebellion that severely weakened the Tang dynasty. Huang was a Salt in Chinese history, salt smuggler before ...

, Zhao had battlefield accomplishments and was rewarded by being made the prefect of Shen Prefecture (申州, in modern

Xinyang Xinyang (; postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. Its total population was 6,234,401 according to the 2020 census. As of t ...

).''

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. 186. By 884, Huang, whom Qin briefly submitted to, had been defeated and killed, but by that point Qin had become a renegade and was pillaging nearby circuits. When fellow renegade general

Lu Yanhong Lu Yanhong (; died 886) was a warlord of the late Tang dynasty, who controlled Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi) from 883 to 884 and Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan) from ...

attacked Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern

Xiangfan Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

) in winter 884, Qin sent Zhao and Qin Gao () to join Lu in the attack, forcing the military governor of Shannan East, Liu Jurong () to abandon Shannan East's capital Xiang Prefecture () and flee to

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

. Lu subsequently took over 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 ...

), apparently allowing Zhao to take over Shannan East.''

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. 256. In winter 887, by which time Qin had declared himself emperor with his capital at Cai Prefecture, Zhao, still then serving under Qin and whom Qin had made the acting military governor of Shannan East, attacked Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

). Zhao captured it and killed the Tang military governor of Jingnan,

Zhang Gui Zhang Gui (, 255–314) was the governor of Liang province and first Duke of Xiping under Western Jin. He was the seventeenth generation descendant of King of Changshan Zhang Er from the Chu–Han Contention The Chu–Han Contention ( zh, , ...

. He then left his officer Wang Jianzhao in control of Jingnan's capital Jiangling Municipality. It was said that after the battle, only several hundred households remained at Jiangling. However, in summer 888, the Tang general Guo Yu attacked Jiangling and expelled Wang, taking over Jingnan Circuit.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 257.

Redeclaration of loyalty to Tang

After Guo Yu seized Jingnan from Zhao Deyin, Zhao, realizing by that point that Qin Zongquan, who had recently been repeatedly defeated by

Zhu Quanzhong Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...

, the Tang military governor of 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 ...

), was nearing defeat, made overtures to then-reigning Tang emperor Emperor Zhaozong and Zhu, submitting his circuit to Tang. Zhu thus suggested to Emperor Zhaozong that Zhao's submission be accepted and that Zhao be made his own deputy in the operations against Qin. Emperor Zhaozong thus renamed Shannan East to Zhongyi (meaning "faithful and righteous") and made Zhao its military governor as well as the deputy commander of the overall operations against Qin (with Zhu being the commander). After Qin was deposed by his own officers and delivered to Zhu (and eventually delivered to the imperial 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 ...

to be executed in spring 889),''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 258. Zhao was given the 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 ...

designation of ''Zhongshu Ling'' () and was created the Prince of Huai'an. He died in spring 892 and was succeeded by his son

.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 259.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 186. * ''

'', vols. 256, 257, 258, 259. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Deyin 9th-century births 892 deaths Qin Zongquan's state Tang dynasty jiedushi of Shannan East Circuit Tang dynasty nonimperial princes Politicians from Zhumadian Qi (Huang Chao) Tang dynasty generals from Henan Tang dynasty politicians from Henan