Zhou Yue (周岳) (died 893), courtesy name Junzhao (峻昭), 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, who controlled Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan) from 886 to 893.

Background and takeover of Heng Prefecture

It is not known when Zhou Yue was born, and not much is known about his background, as there was no biography for him in either of the official histories of Tang Dynasty (the ''

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 ...

'' and the ''

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 ...

''). It is known that he was from Zouxi (陬溪, in modern Changde, Hunan), and likely of non-

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

extraction, for he was an associate of the non-Han Lei Man and hunted with Lei. On one occasion when they hunted together, they fought over the distribution of the meat, and he tried to kill Lei but could not.'' Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 254. In 881, Lei gathered a group of men and attacked and captured Lang Prefecture (朗州, in modern Changde), which Zouxi belonged to. Zhou, hearing this news, gathered a group of men as well and attacked Heng Prefecture (modern Hengyang in Hunan), expelling the prefect Xu Hao (). Then-reigning Emperor Xizong, then facing the major rebellion of the 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 ...

, commissioned Zhou as the prefect of Heng.

Takeover of Wu'an Circuit

In 886, Zhou Yue attacked Tan Prefecture (in modern Changsha), which was then the capital of Qinhua Circuit. The military governor ('' Jiedushi'') of Qinhua,

Min Xu Min Xu (閔勗) (d. 886), courtesy name Gongjin (公謹), was a warlord late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, who controlled a substantial part, as well as Tan Prefecture (in modern Changsha, Hunan), the capital of Hunan Circuit (湖南), first ...

, invited Huang Hao (), a general of the warlord Qin Zongquan, who had claimed imperial title at Cai Prefecture (蔡州, in modern Zhumadian, Henan), into Tan Prefecture to help him defend it. Instead, Huang killed Min and took over Tan Prefecture. Zhou then arrived, defeated Huang, and executed him, taking over Tan Prefecture. Emperor Xizong then commissioned Zhou as military governor and changed the name of the circuit from Qinhua to Wu'an. In 891, Emperor Xizong's brother and successor Emperor Zhaozong commissioned Zhou to be the military governor of Lingnan West Circuit (嶺南西道, headquartered in modern

Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of ...

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 ...

). (It is not clear whether the commission was intended to give Zhou an extra circuit, or for him to transfer to Lingnan West; in any case, it appeared that Zhou never actually went to Lingnan West.)

Death

Zhou Yue's rule of Wu'an Circuit was not uncontested, however.

Deng Chune Deng Chuna (; died 894), courtesy name Chongyun (), was a warlord in the late Tang dynasty China, who controlled Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan) as its military governor ('' Jiedushi'') from 893 to 894, when he w ...

the prefect of Shao Prefecture (邵州, in modern Shaoyang, Hunan) had long claimed that Zhou was responsible for Min Xu's death and called for his soldiers to follow him in avenging Min's death. In 893, Deng allied with Lei, and they attacked Tan Prefecture together. They captured it and killed Zhou. Deng then took over as acting military governor.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 259.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Yue 9th-century births 893 deaths Politicians from Changde Tang dynasty jiedushi of Wu'an Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Lingnan West Circuit Tang dynasty politicians from Hunan Tang dynasty generals from Hunan