Zhu Xicai () (died 772), formally the Prince of Gaomi (), was a general of 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 ...

. He initially served under

Li Huaixian Li Huaixian () (died July 8, 768Volume 224 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Li was killed by his subordinates on the ''renchen'' day of the 6th month of the 3rd year of the Dali era of Tang Daizong's reign. This date corresponds to 8 Jul 768 on t ...

, 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 Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern

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 ...

), which Li Huaixian governed in ''de facto'' independence from the imperial government. In 768, he, along with fellow officers

Zhu Ci Zhu Ci (; 742–784) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and rebel during the Tang dynasty. He initially served as military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), but later became a general ...

and

Zhu Tao Zhu Tao (朱滔) (died 785), formally the Prince of Tongyi (通義王), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Tang dynasty. He served as a general who initially served imperial causes during the reigns of Emperor Daizo ...

(Zhu Ci's brother), killed Li Huaixian and took over control of the circuit. In 772, he was himself killed and replaced by Zhu Ci.

Background

Little is known about Zhu Xicai's background, and it is not known when he was born. According to the Tang Dynasty historian Ping Zhimei (), whose ''Jimen Jiluan'' () is no longer extant but is often cited in other works, he served under

Shi Chaoyi Shi Chaoyi (史朝義) (died before 17 February 763Volume 222 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Shi's head reached Chang'an on the ''jiachen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Guangde'' era of Tang Daizong's reign. This date corres ...

, the final emperor of the state of

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indepe ...

during the

An Shi Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general office ...

against

rule, and, after Shi Chaoyi had become emperor after assassinating his father

Shi Siming Shi Siming () (19th day of the 1st month, 703? – 18 April 761), or Shi Sugan (), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Tang Dynasty who followed his childhood friend An Lushan in rebelling against Tang, and who lat ...

in 761, the Yan general remaining at the major city of Fanyang (范陽, in modern

) went through major bloody infighting, at the end of which

emerged the victor. Zhu Xicai was then serving under Li, and he remained at Fanyang to continue to serve under Li after the disturbance. After Li submitted to

Emperor Daizong of Tang Emperor Daizong of Tang (9 January 727 According to Daizong's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'', he was born on the 13th day in the 12th month of the 14th year of the Kaiyuan era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This date corresponds to 9 Jan 727 i ...

in 763 and turned against Shi Chaoyi (leading to Shi Chaoyi's committing suicide, ending Yan), Zhu continued to serve under Li.

As ''Jiedushi''

In 768, Zhu Xicai, along with his fellow officers

and

, who were brothers to each other but not to Zhu Xicai, rose in rebellion, killed Li Huaixian, and slaughtered Li's family. Zhu Xicai claimed the title of acting military governor and slaughtered Li Huaixian's household. When the military governor of neighboring 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 ...

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 ...

), Li Baochen, who had an alliance of Li Huaixian and lamented his death, subsequently attacked Lulong to try to avenge Li Huaixian, Zhu Xicai defeated him. The imperial government decided to placate Zhu Xicai by naming him deputy military governor and naming 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 ...

Wang Jin military governor. When Wang subsequently arrived at Lulong, Zhu Xicai formally showed him the utmost respect, but had the soldiers be on high alert and did not allow Wang to take actual reign of the circuit. Wang, knowing that he would be unable to wrest control of the circuit from Zhu Xicai, stayed in Lulong only a few days before returning to the Tang 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 ...

. Subsequently, Zhu Xicai was made acting military governor and, at the end of 768, military governor. It was said that after Zhu Xicai was named military governor, he became arrogant and extravagant, and he mistreated his soldiers. He was also resistant to imperial authority, effectively ruling Lulong as an independent realm. In 772, his secretary Li Huaiyuan (),The name of Li Huaiyuan was per the ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Both 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 ...

'' gave the name as Li Yuan (李瑗). Compare ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 224, with ''Old Book of Tang''
vol. 143
and ''New Book of Tang''

. because the soldiers were angry at Zhu Xicai, assassinated him. Zhu Ci, who was then Zhu Xicai's deputy, succeeded him.

Notes and references

* ''

''
vol. 143
* ''

''
vol. 212
* ''

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. 224. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Xicai 772 deaths Yan (An–Shi) Tang dynasty jiedushi of Lulong Circuit Tang dynasty nonimperial princes Year of birth unknown