Zhong Kuangshi (鍾匡時) 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 va ...

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 briefly controlled Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, 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 ...

) after the death of his father

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 ...

, who had ruled the circuit for 20 years. Shortly after Zhong Kuangshi's takeover, rival warlord

Yang Wo Yang Wo () (886 – June 9, 908), courtesy name Chengtian (), formally Prince Wei of Hongnong (), later further posthumously honored King Jing of Wu () and then as Emperor Jing of Wu () with the temple name Liezu (), was the first independent ruler ...

the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

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 ...

) defeated and captured Zhong, taking Zhennan under his control.

During Zhong Chuan's rule

It is not known when Zhong Kuangshi was born. His father

, who had already taken over Zhennan Circuit sometime earlier, was officially commissioned 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 Zhennan in 882. The first historical reference to Zhong Kuangshi was in 901, when Zhong Chuan attacked Wei Quanfeng the prefect of Fu Prefecture (撫州, in modern

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

) and put Fu Prefecture under siege. When Wei subsequently agreed to follow Zhong Chuan's commands and sued for peace, Wei gave a daughter in marriage to Zhong Kuangshi to seal the peace.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 262.

Brief rule

Zhong Chuan died in 906. The soldiers supported Zhong Kuangshi to succeed him, and Zhong Kuangshi took the title of acting military governor. Meanwhile, Zhong Chuan's adoptive son Zhong Yangui (鍾延規), who served as the prefect of Jiang Prefecture (江州, in modern

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

), was angry that he could not succeed Zhong Chuan, and therefore send emissaries to submit to

the military governor of Huainan Circuit. Yang Wo took this chance to commission his general Qin Pei (秦裴) to attack Zhennan. Qin defeated and captured Zhong's officer Liu Chu (劉楚), and then put Zhennan's capital Hong Prefecture (洪州) under siege. He soon captured it and took Zhong Kuangshi and Zhong Kuangshi's military advisor Chen Xiang, as well as 5,000 soldiers, captive, and delivered them to Huainan's capital Yang Prefecture (揚州).''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 265.''

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. 190. Yang assumed the title of military governor of Zhennan himself, while commissioning Qin as the overseer of Hong Prefecture. Once Zhong and Chen were delivered to Yang Prefecture, Yang rebuked Zhong for not submitting earlier. Zhong bowed and begged death. Yang took mercy on him and spared him, while executing Chen. It is not known what occurred to Zhong later, or when he died.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 190. * '' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 17. * ''

New History of the Five Dynasties The ''Historical Records of the Five Dynasties'' (''Wudai Shiji'') is a Chinese history book on the Five Dynasties period (907–960), written by the Song dynasty official Ouyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 to ...

'', vol. 41. * ''

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.

262 __NOTOC__ Year 262 (Roman numerals, CCLXII) was a common 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 Gallienus and Faustianus (or, less fre ...

265 __NOTOC__ Year 265 ( CCLXV) 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 Valerianus and Lucillus (or, less frequently, year 1018 ' ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhong, Kuangshi 9th-century births 10th-century deaths Tang dynasty generals Yang Wu people born during Tang