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99-464: (Redirected from Emperor Dezong ) Dezong may refer to: Temple name [ edit ] Emperor Dezong of Tang (742–805) Yelü Dashi (died 1143), emperor of Kara Khitai (Western Liao) Guangxu Emperor (1871–1908) of the Qing dynasty Given name [ edit ] Emperor An of Jin (397–419), personal name Sima Dezong Topics referred to by

198-536: A counter-attack against the advancing rebels. From this time on, Xuanzong was known as the "Retired Emperor", and after the retaking of Chang'an from the rebels he returned there, where he lived until his death in 761. The rebel crisis decreased the power of the Imperial Court. Thus, after assuming power, Suzong's authority was weak and many Tang generals cared little for the emperor's orders. There were few generals of Chinese descent such as Guo Ziyi remaining in

297-434: A great force of a hundred thousand led by rebel commander Shi Siming . Although Guo had only ten thousand men he delayed Shi Siming's army until reinforcements could arrive. Shi Siming was tricked into thinking he would be ambushed if he moved against Guo and was delayed forty days. At that point commander Li Guangbi came to Guo's relief with ninety thousand men. The opposing forces clashed, resulting in few Tang losses, while

396-593: A large force to attack Tang China again. Various Uyghur chieftains, also believing that Guo was dead, joined force with the Tibetans. The Tibetan force was recorded as more than 30,000 (including a few thousand Uyghurs), almost the entire Tibetan military at the time. However Pugu died on 27 September, and his army defected to the Tang. When news of the Tibetan attack reached Emperor Daizong, he dispatched Guo Ziyi to defend

495-598: A large fortune either by extortion or bribery. These in turn led to a negative atmosphere where wealth rather than merit would ultimately bring one power. Consorts and Issue: Dezong was one of a number of Tang dynasty emperors who gave money to monks and churches part of the Chinese Church of the East tradition. He believed in various ideas from Church of the East Christianity and Buddhism about

594-498: A major general and who had been the military governor of Jingyuan Circuit at one point but who was removed from his command due to Zhu Tao's rebellion—as their leader. Zhu Ci soon declared himself emperor of a new state of Qin. Many Tang officials surrendered to Zhu and served in his administration, although many fled to Fengtian to join Emperor Dezong. Zhu Ci personally led an army and put Fengtian under siege for more than

693-601: A messenger who had been sent to tell them that Guo Ziyi was coming to see them. The Uyghur chieftains, many of whom had joined the rebel side in the An Lushan Rebellion, were surprised and panicked to hear that Guo was alive, deciding that they had to meet with him. Guo laughed at them and asked them why they would want to face Guo Ziyi again after their defeat at his hands during the An Shi Rebellion. The Uyghur chieftains replied they had been told that he

792-655: A month, and the small city nearly fell. Meanwhile, Li Huaiguang, hearing of what had happened at Chang'an, marched his army from Weibo as quickly as possible toward Fengtian. Zhu, hearing of Li's impending arrival, first attacked Fengtian even more severely but still could not capture it, and with Li arriving, Zhu withdrew back to Chang'an on December 18. However, in the aftermaths of Li's saving him, Emperor Dezong offended Li by refusing to meet him, but instead ordering him to rendezvous with several other generals—Li Sheng (who had also marched toward Fengtian), Li Jianhui ( 李建徽 ), and Yang Huiyuan ( 楊惠元 )—to recapture Chang'an. (This

891-489: A note of the threat posed by the Tibetans, but the emperor largely ignored this. In 763, a force of 100 000 Tibetans invaded the Tang. Daizong fled Chang'an on 16 November when it became clear the city would be captured. The Tibetans crowned Li Chenghong as emperor of Tang in Chang'an, but retreated a month later fearing a Tang army had arrived. In reality Guo ordered cavalry scouts to go forward and light fires, in places where

990-475: A number of reforms when Li Song would eventually be emperor. The officials who associated with them included Wei Zhiyi and such junior officials as Lu Chun ( 陸淳 ), Lü Wen ( 呂溫 ), Li Jingjian ( 李景儉 ), Han Ye ( 韓曄 ), Han Tai ( 韓泰 ), Chen Jian ( 陳諫 ), Liu Zongyuan , and Liu Yuxi . They essentially formed a shadow government. In winter 804, however, Li Song suddenly suffered a stroke, causing him to be partially paralyzed and unable to speak. In spring 805, it

1089-491: A pardon blaming himself for provoking the rebellions and pardoning all of the warlords and their soldiers, with the only exception of Zhu Ci personally, and further exempting the soldiers involved in the campaign against Zhu Ci from taxes. Upon receiving the pardons, Wang Wujun, Tian Yue, and Li Na renounced their princely titles and reclaimed allegiance to Tang; in turn, Emperor Dezong made them military governors of their own circuits. However, Li Xilie reacted by declaring himself

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1188-552: A powerful eunuch during Emperor Xuanzong's reign, was Empress Dowager Shen, and she was taken to Chang'an to be honored as such. However, her brother Gao Chengyue ( 高承悅 ) found out and reported to Emperor Dezong. She subsequently admitted to not being the real Empress Dowager Shen. Emperor Dezong did not punish her or anyone else involved, fearing that doing so would hamper the search for his mother. Later in his reign, there were several more incidents were others claimed to be Empress Dowager Shen, but were discovered to be imposters, and

1287-708: A pretext to decrease Guo's authority, demoting him while generously rewarding the other jiedushi. The Nestorian Church of the East Christians like the Bactrian Priest Yisi of Balkh helped the Tang dynasty general Guo Ziyi militarily crush the An Lushan rebellion, with Yisi personally acting as a military commander and Yisi and the Nestorian Church of the East were rewarded by the Tang dynasty with titles and positions as described in

1386-456: A regime where soldiers were encouraged to settle in the border region with Tufan and were promised land and seeds, to repopulate the border region and strengthen the defense. Li Mi also proposed a marriage alliance with Huige's Heguduolu Khan Yaoluoge Dunmohe ( 藥羅葛頓莫賀 )—a proposal that Emperor Dezong initially resisted due to his hatred for Huige—but finally agreed to, with Li Sheng and Ma also agreeing with Li Mi's opinion. With Huige (which

1485-483: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Emperor Dezong of Tang Li Kuo was born in 742, during the reign of his great-grandfather Emperor Xuanzong . His father was Li Chu the Prince of Guangping—the oldest son of Emperor Xuanzong's son and crown prince Li Heng , and he was Li Chu's oldest son. His mother was a consort of Li Chu's, Consort Shen . He

1584-447: Is said that he shed tears and said to Guo, "This may be my country, but it is recreated by your hand." 「雖吾之家國，實由卿再造。」 In 758, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and other jiedushi were ordered to eliminate the last remaining rebels in Yi. However, Suzong was troubled by the growing power of the jiedushi so he placed his eunuchs in charge of the campaign. This became a disaster, but Guo Ziyi managed to make

1683-546: The Nestorian Stele . Although the An Lushan Rebellion was finally put down in 763, the Tang was immediately confronted by another threat from the Tibetan Empire. Tibet had benefited from the Tang's prosperous period when trade with the Tang was frequent. During the An Lushan Rebellion, it reached the height of its power, and betrayed the peace treaty with the Tang by supporting the rebels. Weakened by

1782-452: The 10th century. Dezong witnessed the rise of eunuchs during the reign of his father Emperor Daizong who himself succeeded to the throne as a result of support from eunuchs. Dezong realized the danger of depending too heavily on eunuchs and as a result he kept them at arm's length when he became emperor. Dezong's opinion of these eunuchs changed drastically when in 782 Dezong was driven out of his capital city by revolting military governors and

1881-600: The Elder not sooner: so many deaths reached, woe is this!" 「用卿不早，故及於此。」 The Tibetan Empire invaded again in 764 with a force of 70,000 but was repulsed in Jiannan by the jiedushi Yan Wu. The Tibetans attacked again in 765, when the Tiele jiedushi Pugu Huai'en sent false messages to Trisong Detsen , the emperor of Tibet , stating that Guo Ziyi had died. The Tibetan emperor was eager to avenge his earlier defeats, and dispatched

1980-780: The Jingyuan mutiny suppressed, to show resolve, but was forced to abandon the plans to act against Tufan. When Emperor Dezong came to the throne, there were four major circuits that were ruled by their military governors in effectively independent manner from the imperial government—Pinglu (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an , Shandong ), governed by Li Zhengji ; Weibo (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan , Hebei ), governed by Tian Yue ; Chengde (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang , Hebei ), governed by Li Baochen ; and Shannan East (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangfan , Hubei ), governed by Liang Chongyi . The four circuits were allied with each other, and their governors intended to pass

2079-524: The Shaanxi front. Guo Ziyi then immediately turned his attention to retaking Chang'an. He attacked with 15 000 men, whereas the rebels were able to assemble only 10 000 men, and defeated them. Guo's victories in Shaanxi and at Chang'an contributed to in-fighting among the rebel ranks. The leader of the rebels, An Lushan , was killed by his son, An Qingxu , who gathered up what was left of the rebels and retreated to Luoyang. When Suzong arrived at Chang'an, it

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2178-483: The Tang army. Guo was given the post of Imperial Commander and Suzong provided support for his military operations, which were met with great success. By 757, Guo Ziyi had entered the Shaanxi battlefront, and many locals willingly aided him against the rebels, increasing the Guo army to perhaps twice its original size. The rebels suffered dramatic losses, including the deaths of their generals, after which Guo declared victory on

2277-494: The Tang camp. This incident would cause Li Kuo to bear great hatred for Huige later. After Luoyang was recaptured and Shi Chaoyi committed suicide in flight in 763, Li Kuo was given the chancellor title of Shangshu Ling ( 尚書令 ), and his portrait, along with those of eight generals (including Guo Ziyi ), were added to the Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion . Subsequently, during a Tufan incursion in 763 in which Emperor Daizong

2376-668: The Tang government. Some eunuchs in the latter part of the dynasty were so powerful that they alone held the abilities to support or depose any emperors at whim. Dezong's son Tang Shunzong and grandson Tang Xianzong as well as later emperors such as Tang Jingzong and Tang Wenzong were all murdered or deposed by eunuchs. Dezong began his reign by issuing a variety of edicts restricting wasteful government spending. Monetary contribution from local government officials or abroad were discouraged or limited. He also issued edicts that freed hundreds of palace girls in order to reduce palace expenses. These acts were all met with praise however they only lasted

2475-497: The Tang with only few thousand men. When Guo was within a day's march from the enemy, he decided to go alone to see the Uyghur chieftains. His officers and son Guo Xi ( 郭晞 ) were so dismayed and panicked by his intention that they would not let go of his horse's reins, declaring such an act would be suicide. Guo laughed and convinced his officers to let him go, but his son would not. Angered, Guo whipped his son's hand so that he released

2574-520: The Tang. Guo returned to his camp and ordered a thousand light horsemen to make a quick rush at the Tibetan camp at Xiyuan. When the Tibetans realized the Uyghurs had broken their alliance, they attempted to withdraw, but Guo's horsemen arrived and scattered their forces; at the same time, Guo's Uyghur allies arrived and prevented the Tibetans' retreat. Over 10 000 Tibetans were killed in battle and another 10 000 were taken prisoner. Guo continued to pursue

2673-477: The Tibetans and freed over 4000 Tang subjects they had taken captive. When the emperor of Tibet heard that his force had been defeated, he quickly sent a message to Emperor Daizong seeking a peace, stating that his army had been on a hunting trip and had had no intention of attacking the Tang Empire. Although Daizong did not believe this, he agreed to the peace and Tibet was never again a threat to China. Guo

2772-439: The Tibetans at bay. In 762, a general named Wang Yuanzhi murdered Li Jingzhi, the jiedushi of Shaanxi, claiming that the troops were still so loyal to Guo that they demanded he be reinstated as jiedushi. Suzong was forced to return Guo Ziyi to his former position. When Guo Ziyi arrived, however, instead of thanking Wang he condemned the general for his disloyalty in killing his commander. He also pointed out that such an act disrupted

2871-468: The Xuanwu army and instead agreed to commission Liu Shining.) Lu, however, was soon in conflict with Emperor Dezong's favorite official Pei Yanling —who was able to garner Emperor Dezong's favor by making Emperor Dezong believe that he was locating long-lost revenue resources for the imperial treasury. By 794, Lu had lost the power struggle with Pei and lost his chancellorship, and in 795 was exiled. It

2970-549: The afterlife and Tian . Guo Ziyi Guo Ziyi ( Kuo Tzu-i ; Traditional Chinese : 郭子儀, Simplified Chinese : 郭子仪, Hanyu Pinyin : Guō Zǐyí, Wade-Giles : Kuo Tzu -i ) (697 – July 9, 781 ), posthumously Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng ( 汾陽忠武王 ), was a Chinese military general and politician who ended the An Lushan rebellion and participated in expeditions against the Uyghur Khaganate and Tibetan Empire . He

3069-429: The basis that only Li Kuo had held the title recently, and previously the title had been held by Emperor Taizong . Meanwhile, in 765, a Buddhist nun named Guangcheng ( 廣澄 ) claimed to be Li Kuo's mother Consort Shen, but after further interrogation, it was discovered that she had only been Li Kuo's wet nurse , and Emperor Daizong had her whipped to death. Li Kuo's activities as crown prince were not much recorded in

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3168-424: The battlefield to the east, rebelled when they became angry that they were not only not given rewards that they believed they deserved, but were being fed a vegetarian diet, mutinied. They attacked the palace, and Emperor Dezong fled with his family to Xianyang (咸陽, in modern Xianyang , Shaanxi ), and then to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang). The soldiers supported Zhu Tao's brother Zhu Ci —who had previously been

3267-494: The best example of Sun Tzu 's idea of the cleanest kind of battle, "a war with no loss on either side but simply played out with the desired effect for the victor." There are discrepancies in the number of cavalry Guo dispatched; Chinese sources state that Guo had sent out only 13 scouts, but a Tibetan text indicates there had been 200. Nevertheless, the Tibetan army retreated, and when Guo Ziyi arrived at Chang'an with his "large" force, Daizong appeared to him and stated, "By employing

3366-411: The best out of the situation by convincing his fellow jiedushi that they could have one easy victory if they laid siege to the rebel city. All of them agreed to this strategy and the rebel's supplies were depleted during the siege. When the time came to assault the city, however, there was no commander-in-chief to coordinate the attack since all the jiedushi were of equal rank, and it proved ineffective. In

3465-547: The border regions of the Tang Empire and quickly rose through the ranks to become a jiedushi (regional military governor). Limited records exist about Guo Ziyi before the An Lushan Rebellion; it was during the rebellion that he earned his fame. When rebellion broke out in 755, Guo Ziyi was assigned to protect the Tong Pass , a strategic location on the Chinese frontier. A large force of ten thousand rebels were marching toward

3564-583: The campaign. Meanwhile, due to victories that Wei Gao and the Nanzhao king Yimouxun ( 異牟尋 ), who had become a Tang vassal after abandoning Tufan, were inflicting on Tufan, Tufan had become a much lesser threat to Tang security by this point. By this time, Emperor Dezong's oldest son Li Song the Crown Prince had become close to the junior officials Wang Pi and Wang Shuwen , and Wang Pi and Wang Shuwen and their associates were planning To carry out

3663-449: The central government. As such these warlords would only be loyal to central government if it served their interest to do so. In early 781, when one of the military governors, Li Baochen , died, out of respect for protocol, Li's son, Li Weiyue requested to the central government that he be appointed the succeeding governor. Dezong seized upon this request as a chance to rid his state of the military governors and declined to grant Li Weiyue

3762-418: The chain of command, which might embolden the Tibetans to attack. General Wang submitted to his mistakes and committed suicide. Guo Ziyi quickly assumed command of the post and the Tibetans ceased their attacks. Not long after, Suzong died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Daizong of Tang . The new emperor was worried about Guo Ziyi's fame and called him back to Chang'an. Guo Ziyi advised the emperor to take

3861-431: The city, Zhu Ci fled toward Tufan. He was soon killed in flight by his own soldiers, ending his state of Han. On August 3, Emperor Dezong returned to Chang'an. When he sent emissaries to persuade Li Huaiguang to again pledge allegiance to him, Li Huaiguang was initially receptive, but when Emperor Dezong's further emissary, the official Kong Chaofu ( 孔巢父 ), arrived at Hezhong, Li Huaiguang's soldiers, believing that Kong

3960-419: The commander of Tang forces in the region. With Li Huaiguang weakened, Zhu no longer treated him with respect but instead as a subordinate. In anger and fear, Li Huaiguang withdrew from the region and headed back to his base at Hezhong (河中, in modern Yuncheng , Shaanxi ). Li Sheng soon prepared for a final attack on Chang'an, and he launched his attack on June 12. On June 20, with Li Sheng having entered

4059-510: The commanders of the Shence Army , and it was said that, as the military governors frequently were Shence Army soldiers initially, the power and authorities of the eunuchs became increasingly important. In 799, for reasons lost to history, Wu Shaocheng, still governing Zhangyi Circuit (formerly Huaixi Circuit) at that time, began to pillage the circuits around his. Emperor Dezong ordered the military governors around Zhangyi—including Yu Di

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4158-438: The control of the circuits within the family. In 781, when Li Baochen died, Emperor Dezong, wanting to show imperial authority, refused to let his son Li Weiyue inherit the circuit. The four circuits thus prepared for war against the imperial government. (Li Zhengji also died later in the year, and similarly, Emperor Dezong refused to let his son Li Na inherit the circuit.) Emperor Dezong reacted by commissioning Li Xilie

4257-506: The dynasty in campaigns against the Tibetan Empire. After his various victories over the Tibetans they were never able to restore their military might and lost much of their political strength in Asia. In 757, or thereabouts, Guo Ziyi saved the renowned poet Li Bai from a death sentence for treason by offering Emperor Suzong of Tang his own official rank in exchange for Li Bai's life. In

4356-624: The eastern capital Luoyang , which was then serving as the Yan capital under Yan's fourth and final emperor Shi Chaoyi . When Li Kuo met Huige's Dengli Khan Yaoluoge Yidijian ( 藥羅葛移地健 ), he treated Yaoluoge Yidijian as an equal, drawing Yaoluoge Yidijian's anger (as Tang was highly reliant on Huige aid at that time). Yaoluoge Yidijian had Li Kuo's Yao Ziang ( 藥子昂 ), Wei Ju ( 魏琚 ), Wei Shaohua ( 韋少華 ), and Li Jin ( 李進 ) arrested and whipped severely, such that Wei Ju and Wei Shaohua died that night. Yaoluoge Yidijian did not harm Li Kuo, but sent him back to

4455-682: The emperor of a new state of Chu, while Zhu Tao headed south, attempting to join Zhu Ci. When Tian refused to join him, he attacked Weibo, but was unable to immediately capture it. With Tian Yue subsequently assassinated and succeeded by his cousin Tian Xu , Zhu Tao initially attempted to persuade Tian Xu to join him, but Tian eventually reentered an alliance with Wang and Li Baozhen and resisted Zhu Tao. Wang and Li Baozhen soon arrived and defeated Zhu Tao, forcing him to flee back to Lulong. Meanwhile, though, Li Huaiguang, disaffected from Emperor Dezong,

4554-499: The emperor's hoarding of treasure by instituting an annual stipend for the emperor, which Emperor Dezong initially agreed to. However, even after the stipend was instituted, Emperor Dezong continued to demand tributes from regional governors and ordered that they not let Li Mi become aware of the tributes. When Li Mi still found out, he became depressed over this issue but did not dare to speak again about it. Li Mi died in 789, and for some time, Li Mi's recommended successor, Dou Can ,

4653-439: The enemies could see, and then retreat. Guo also sent secret messages to Chang'an, ordering citizens to strike gongs and create fire. The Tibetans, confused by these actions, panicked, scattering when the rumor spread that Guo Ziyi moved against them with a large force. With the Tibetans retreating from their positions, the invasion was concluded without loss to either side. Many Chinese military historians consider this victory to be

4752-535: The event, Suzong commuted Li Bai's sentence to exile, and later pardoned him, and Guo Ziyi was allowed to retain his rank. Future members of his family would also go to become famous generals, among them Guo Puyo , a general greatly used by Genghis Khan , and Guo Kan , one of the best generals of the Mongol Empire , who was instrumental in the Mongol Siege of Baghdad (1258) and the destruction of

4851-407: The first few years of his reign. A series of unfortunate events which included revolts by military governors forced Dezong to flee Chang'an in 784. During the months in exile, Dezong began to realize the importance of creating wealth and as a result, after Dezong's returned to Chang'an he began to reverse many of the original edicts he set forth. With the aid of eunuchs, Dezong started to amalgamate

4950-453: The initial revolt. Dezong's humiliating acceptance of defeat was just as toxic to Dezong himself as to the dynasty. Dezong became disenchanted with ever achieving his goals and when he thought it was unattainable, he would not pursue. Dezong's inability to control the fanzhen weakened the centralized power of the Tang dynasty and would contribute to a series of rebellions in the middle of the 9th century and ultimately lead to its downfall early in

5049-407: The lesser title of military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi ).) He also refused to accept Li Na's surrender when Li Na offered to surrender. As a result, Zhu and Wang entered into an alliance with Tian and headed south to lift the siege on Wei Prefecture—defeating Ma, Li Baozhen, and Li Huaiguang (whom Emperor Dezong had also sent to combat Tian) to force the situation into a stalemate, while Li Na escaped

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5148-468: The meantime, reinforcements under Shi Siming arrived to reinforce An Qingxu. The Tang forces missed the opportunity to eliminate the rebels. A bloody battle followed in 759, fought in poor weather and again with no central command for the Tang. Although the Tang force emerged victorious, both sides suffered tremendous losses (the rebel leader Shi Siming himself was killed, as were most of the Mongol rebels) and

5247-677: The military governor of Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Zhumadian , Henan ) to command the army against Shannan East; Ma Sui , Li Baozhen , and Li Sheng to attack Weibo; and Zhu Tao the acting military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing ) to attack Chengde. Ma, Li Baozhen, and Li Sheng quickly defeated Tian's forces, which were attacking Li Baozhen's Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi , Shanxi ) and forced him to flee back to his capital Wei Prefecture ( 魏州 ), which Ma, Li Baozhen, Li Sheng, and Li Qiu ( 李艽 ) put under siege. Li Xilie quickly defeated Liang, causing Liang to commit suicide. Zhu

5346-482: The military governor of Shannan East Circuit, Han Hong (Liu Xuanzuo's nephew) the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit, Yi Shen ( 伊慎 ) the military governor of Anhuang Circuit (安黃, headquartered in modern Xiaogan , Hubei ), and Shangguan Shui ( 上官涗 ) the military governor of Chenxu Circuit (陳許, headquartered in modern Xuchang , Henan )—to attack Wu. These generals had initial successes, but without an unified command, they could not coordinate their actions, and around

5445-451: The new year 800, they suddenly collapsed and fled, allowing Wu to capture much of their supplies. Emperor Dezong put Han Quanyi ( 韓全義 ) the military governor of Xiasui Circuit (夏綏, headquartered in modern Yulin, Shaanxi ) in command of the operations, but Han Quanyi was repeatedly defeated by Wu. At the suggestion of Wei Gao the military governor of Xichuan Circuit and the chancellor Jia Dan , Emperor Dezong pardoned Wu in late 800, ending

5544-445: The next stage of his plan, by submitting a peace proposal through Ma. Emperor Dezong believed Shang's good faith and agreed to the treaty, despite Li's warnings. At Shang's request, Emperor Dezong sent Hun to meet with Shang and sign the treaty. On July 8, 787, the day set for the treaty signing, Shang ambushed Hun at the meeting site, intending to capture him, but Hun escaped with emergency aid from Luo Yuanguang and Han Yougui. As Ma

5643-416: The official histories—although, in 778, after Emperor Daizong executed the corrupt chancellor Yuan Zai , he stated to his close associate Li Mi that it was Li Kuo who revealed Yuan's corruption. In 779, when Emperor Daizong fell ill, Li Kuo briefly served as regent , and when Emperor Daizong subsequently died, he succeeded Emperor Daizong (as Emperor Dezong). After Emperor Dezong took the throne, within

5742-533: The pass. Guo Ziyi took advantage of the situation by luring the rebels onto the plains in front of the pass where there were only scarce settlements. The rebels saw little to loot and were discouraged, while the Tang troops were prepared to fight, motivated by the desire to protect their families in the Tong Pass and the capital of Chang'an . Guo engaged the seven thousand troops at the Battle of Qingbi and scattered

5841-579: The princess was popularized by the rather literally titled Beijing Opera "Hitting the Princess While Drunk" (醉打金枝). Popular folklore states that the Jade Emperor was so pleased with Guo's actions in defending the nation and in giving happiness to the people that he sent a heavenly official down from heaven to ask Guo what his greatest desire was. Guo replied that he had fought for so long and had seen so much bloodshed that all he desired

5940-525: The real Empress Dowager Shen was never found. Meanwhile, Emperor Dezong, under Yang's proposal, also began to consider campaigns to recapture the western prefectures lost to Tufan during and immediately after the Anshi Rebellion. However, his putting Li Huaiguang, known for being a harsh commander, in charge of the project caused a mutiny of the soldiers at Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang , Gansu ) in 780. Emperor Dezong had

6039-654: The realm under imperial authority. Things quickly turned for the worse, however, after Emperor Dezong angered both Zhu and Wang by not giving them what they believed they deserved—in Zhu's case, control of Chengde's Shen Prefecture (深州, in modern Hengshui , Hebei ), and in Wang's case, title as military governor. (Emperor Dezong had divided Chengde's seven prefectures into three circuits, with Zhang receive three circuits as military governor, and with Wang and another Chengde officer, Kang Rizhi ( 康日知 ), each receiving two prefectures with

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6138-405: The rebellion, Tang border garrisons were unable to resist Tibetan raids into their territory. Most jiedushi were not ethnically Chinese and had little incentive to defend the Tang Empire, especially when it was ruled by a weak emperor. In response, Suzong re-promoted Guo Ziyi, but only as a military figurehead with no authority, in the hope that merely the threat of sending Guo against them would keep

6237-509: The rebels suffered ten thousand casualties. Shi Siming quickly gathered up what was left of his force and retreated back to Fanyang, the rebels' stronghold. Li recommended Guo to Emperor Xuanzong, and Guo quickly asked the emperor for permission to launch an immediate counter-attack to destroy the remaining rebels, but Xuanzong refused him. Xuanzong's son, Li Heng, stayed behind in the city of Lingwu and declared himself emperor on 12 August 756. Emperor Suzong of Tang immediately began organizing

6336-412: The reins, reprimanding him and telling him that this was a life and death situation for the empire; their force was small and if they fought the Tibetans alone, both father and son, and their troops, would die. If he succeeded in his plan the empire would be defended, but if it failed only his own life would be lost. When Guo arrived at the Uyghur's camp, he did not reveal his identity and appeared to be

6435-452: The rest while suffering few casualties to his own force, winning his first victory. By the following year of 756 the capital fell due to the ineptitude and corruption of the chancellor Yang Guozhong and his eunuchs. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled the city, accompanied by his personal guard and members of the Yang family, including his consort Yang Guifei . Members of the entourage, including

6534-420: The result of the battle was unacceptable to the emperor, since the Tang army had been known to win battles while suffering relatively few casualties. The jiedushi began to blame one another, and many of them targeted Guo, placing much of the blame on him. In fact, aside from the emperor himself, Guo Ziyi was the only one that the common people were willing to follow. Suzong, worried by Guo's popularity, used this as

6633-449: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Dezong . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dezong&oldid=1087718208 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Temple name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

6732-712: The same. By this point, Cui had died, and Lu Qi became chancellor along with Yang. Lu soon was able to persuade Emperor Dezong that Yang was intending treason, and Emperor Dezong put Yang to death. With Lu largely in power by himself, it was said that at his inducement, Emperor Dezong became unduly harsh, causing the officials and the people to be disappointed in Emperor Dezong. With the necessity of paying for campaigns on multiple fronts, Emperor Dezong added two new taxes—property taxes for houses ( Shuijianjia , 稅間架) and transaction tax ( Chumoqian , 除陌錢); these taxes created heavy burdens, and Emperor Dezong's tax code for these taxes further encouraged people to report on each other when

6831-483: The son and said to Guo, "When the son and daughter fight, it is better as old men to pretend to be deaf." ("不痴不聾，不作家翁。兒女子閨房之言，何足聽也！") In another instance, the son hit his wife in a drunken rage. Again Guo was so angry at his son that he had him arrested again. But again the princess begged for her husband to be forgiven, and again Emperor Daizong stepped in and forgave his son-in-law. This story of Guo's son and

6930-509: The span of less than a year, he carried out several actions to set out his policy differences with his father: Emperor Dezong further resumed the search for his mother Consort Shen, whom he honored as an empress dowager in absentia. He commissioned officials, as well as Shen clan members, to be in charge of the search, and gave many members of the Shen clan honors. In 781, the searchers mistakenly believed that an adoptive daughter of Gao Lishi ,

7029-404: The strength of the fanzhen , a situation where regional military governors or jiedushi had sprung up after the An Lushan rebellion, to take control of huge border areas of the empire. These fiefs were a direct challenge to the central administration of the Tang empire as they were granted the power to collect tax, maintain an army and pass on their power hereditarily rather by appointment of

7128-448: The taxes were not paid properly. It was said that complaints about them filled the realm. The imperial scholar Lu Zhi , whose opinion Emperor Dezong valued, earnestly advised against these taxes and against the campaigns, pointing out that the realm was on the verge of completely falling into rebellion. Emperor Dezong, however, did not accept Lu's advice. On November 2, 783, soldiers from Jingyuan Circuit, at Chang'an to be deployed to

7227-578: The title. This act angered the rest of the military governors who saw Dezong as a threat. In 782, the four strongest military governors banded together and revolted against the central government. In the meantime, an internal military coup albeit a minor one forced Dezong to flee his palace in capital city of Chang'an – the third Tang emperor to do so. As a result, all plans to remove the military governors had to be abandoned. In early 784, in order to restore peace and stability, Dezong decreed that he would not limit their power and accept responsibility for causing

7326-455: The trap imperial forces had put him in at Pu Prefecture and returned to his headquarters at Yun Prefecture ( 鄆州 ), leaving imperial forces unable to do much against him. The four rebel generals (Zhu, Wang, Tian, and Li Na) each claimed princely titles, showing a break from the Tang imperial government, although they continued to use Emperor Dezong's era name of Jianzhong to show some degree of submissiveness. They also persuaded Li Xilie to do

7425-401: The troops, resented Yang Guozhong, holding him responsible for the failed strategy that led to the fall of Chang'an. Yang Guozhong was denounced and executed. Following this, the emperor's own troops also forced him to execute his beloved consort Yang Guifei. The emperor then fled with the remainder of the entourage under difficult conditions to Chengdu in Jiannan. Meanwhile, Guo Ziyi confronted

7524-532: The way—Li Sheng, Ma Sui, and Hun Jian. With Emperor Dezong beginning to become paranoid about generals having too much power by this point, it was soon thereafter that rumors spread by Shang and Li's political enemy Zhang Yanshang , then a chancellor, made Emperor Dezong suspicious of Li Sheng, who was then the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, in modern Baoji , Shaanxi ). In 787, he recalled Li back to Chang'an to serve as chancellor as well, stripping him of his military command. Meanwhile, Shang continued

7623-434: Was able to persuade Li Weiyue's officer Zhang Xiaozhong to turn against him and attack Li Weiyue with Zhu, and under pressure, another officer of Li Weiyue's, Wang Wujun , killed Li Weiyue and surrendered to imperial forces. Li Na, meanwhile, was trapped at Pu Prefecture (濮州, in modern Heze , Shandong ). By spring 782, it appeared that Emperor Dezong would be soon successful in his aim to wipe out warlord power and reunify

7722-455: Was at Lu Qi's suggestion, as Lu knew that Li Huaiguang despised him and, if he were allowed to meet the emperor, would surely accuse him and his associates Zhao Zan ( 趙贊 ) and Bai Zhizhen ( 白志貞 ) of crimes.) Li Huaiguang became disaffected, but submitted petitions demanding the dismissals of Lu and his associates. As a result, Lu, Bai, and Zhao were exiled. At Lu Zhi's suggestion, on January 27, 784 ( Chinese New Year ) Emperor Dezong issued

7821-584: Was born at the eastern palace—i.e., the Crown Prince's palace—at the Tang capital Chang'an . Later that year, he was created the Prince of Fengjie and given the honorific title of Tejin ( 特進 ). During the Anshi Rebellion , which erupted in 755, Emperor Xuanzong fled to Chengdu , while Li Heng and his sons, including Li Chu, fled to Lingwu . Li Kuo's exact locations during this time were not stated in historical records, although presumably he accompanied his father, because while his mother Consort Shen

7920-399: Was captured by the rebel Yan forces along with many palace women, he was not. (Consort Shen disappeared during the rebellion and, after the end of the rebellion, despite repeated efforts made by both Li Chu and Li Kuo to find her, she was never located.) While Li Heng was at Lingwu, he was declared emperor (as Emperor Suzong), an act that Emperor Xuanzong later recognized. After Chang'an

8019-494: Was dead, but if they met with him and saw he was alive, they would retreat. Guo, however, insisted that Guo Ziyi did not seek their retreat but instead wanted them to join him against the Tibetans. The Uyghur chieftains, saying they had been deceived by the Tibetans about Guo's death, agreed to break the alliance with them. They even claimed that shamans had foretold that a great man would lead them to victory and that they now believed this man must be Guo, and agreed to join forces with

8118-422: Was described as a handsome man and was over 1.9 meters tall. Around 735 Guo Ziyi was saved from a court martial by the poet Li Bai , who intervened on his behalf with the local commander. Unlike other members of his family, Guo Ziyi entered political life through the official military examinations instead of a literary exam (for civil servants). He passed the military examinations in 749 and became an officer in

8217-460: Was described that these people's recommendations could ruin chancellors, and that those who wanted to be promoted flattered them. Emperor Dezong also increasingly open to tributes from regional governors, and the regional governors often submitted large amounts of tributes in order to protect their positions and gain favor from the emperor. Also around this time, powerful eunuchs (starting with Dou Wenchang ( 竇文場 ) and Huo Xianming ( 霍仙鳴 )) became

8316-464: Was forced to flee Chang'an and Tufan forces briefly captured Chang'an, Li Kuo was named the titular supreme commander of forces in the Guanzhong region (i.e., the Chang'an region), but the general Guo Ziyi , as deputy supreme commander, was actually in command. In 764, Li Kuo was made crown prince. Emperor Daizong then tried to transfer his title of Shangshu Ling to Guo Ziyi, but Guo declined on

8415-739: Was in secret negotiations with Zhu Ci (who had changed his state's name to Han by this point) to enter an alliance with Zhu. Zhu promised to honor Li Huaiguang as an elder brother and divide the Guanzhong region with him, with each ruling a state as its emperor. On March 20, Li Huaiguang declared his rebellion and alliance with Zhu. Emperor Dezong fled from Fengtian to Liang Prefecture (梁州, in modern Hanzhong , Shaanxi ). Several key officers under Li Huaiguang—including Han Yougui ( 韓遊瓌 ), Dai Xiuyan ( 戴休顏 ), Luo Yuanguang ( 駱元光 ), and Shang Kegu ( 尚可孤 )—however, refused to follow Li Huaiguang and instead accepted commands from Li Sheng, whom Emperor Dezong made

8514-478: Was later made the Prince of Fenyang ( 汾陽郡王 ), and is hence often referred to as "Guo Fenyang". He lived to the age of 85 (by East Asian reckoning) and was given the posthumous name of Zhongwu (忠武: "Loyal and Martial") after his death. There is a commonly remembered tale dated to the year 767 in which his son had an argument with his wife, a princess of Tang. During the argument, the princess and Guo's son compared their fathers, Emperor Daizong and Guo Ziyi. Guo's son

8613-526: Was not able to command the situation. Even his own generals would not heed to his authority. Dezong felt forsaken and during his escape, only a handful of eunuchs namely Dou Wenchang and Huo Xianming were by his side. During this difficult times, Dezong's view of the eunuchs began to take on a different approach. After his return to Chang'an , Dezong greatly rewarded Dou and Huo for their loyalty not least of which were military and government post. In due course, these eunuchs's power became an inalienable part of

8712-496: Was not daring to impose governors unless he had explicit agreements from the key military officers of the circuits. (For example, after the death of Liu Xuanzuo ( 劉玄佐 ) the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng , Henan ) in 792, Emperor Dezong was initially intending to commission his granduncle Wu Cou ( 吳湊 ) to replace Liu, but after Xuanwu soldiers mutinied and supported Liu Xuanzuo's son Liu Shining ( 劉士寧 ), Emperor Dezong did not dare to confront

8811-619: Was peace and happiness. As a reward, the Jade Emperor had Guo guided to heaven and bestowed the Celestial post of "God of Prosperity and Happiness" to him. Guo Ziyi has been credited by many historians with putting down the An Lushan Rebellion, characterizing him as the man who single-handedly saved the Tang dynasty . His impact on East Asia was also dramatic in that he renewed Tang relations with many of its Uyghur allies, who later supported

8910-415: Was purported to have said, "What is so great about being an emperor? My father could become emperor at any time if he wanted to." Guo was so angry at his son for implying such an idea of disloyalty that he had him locked up and waited for Emperor Daizong to pass judgement on him. The princess regretted what had happened and asked Guo to forgive his son, but Guo refused. When Emperor Daizong arrived, he pardoned

9009-511: Was recaptured from Yan forces in 756, Li Chu (whose name was then changed to Li Yu) was made crown prince, and in 762, after Emperor Suzong's death, he became emperor (as Emperor Daizong). Emperor Daizong gave Li Kuo the title of supreme commander of the armed forces and created him the Prince of Lu, a title soon changed to Prince of Yong. He and his staff were sent to rendezvous with Tang and ally Huige forces at Shan Prefecture (陝州, in modern Sanmenxia , Henan ), to prepare an attack to recapture

9108-811: Was regarded as one of the most powerful Tang generals before and after the Anshi Rebellion. After his death he was deified in Chinese folk religion as the God of Wealth and Happiness ( Lu Star of Fu Lu Shou ). Guo Ziyi is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang. Parents Wife and concubines Guo Ziyi was born into the family of a middle-class civil servant in Hua Prefecture (華州, present-day Hua County in Shaanxi ), he

9207-528: Was responsible for arranging the peace treaty with Shang, Emperor Dezong recalled him to Chang'an as well and stripped him of his command of Hedong Circuit (河東, in modern Taiyuan , Shanxi ). After the disaster, Emperor Dezong recalled Li Mi, who had been serving as the governor (觀察使, Guanchashi ) of Shan'guo Circuit (陝虢, headquartered in modern Sanmenxia , Henan ), to Chang'an to serve as chancellor, and soon thereafter, Li Mi effectively became sole chancellor. Under Li Mi's suggestion, Emperor Dezong instituted

9306-461: Was said that after Lu Zhi's removal, Emperor Dezong became increasingly distrusting of chancellors. He therefore personally selected all of the officials, but as he could not have actually known all of the candidates for official positions himself, he trusted the recommendations of Pei Yanling (who died in 796) and such other officials that he trusted, including Li Qiyun ( 李齊運 ), Wang Shao ( 王紹 ), Li Shi ( 李實 ), Wei Zhiyi , and Wei Qumou ( 韋渠牟 ). It

9405-565: Was said that because of Li Song's illness, Emperor Dezong himself became severely depressed and fell into an illness. He died on February 25, 805, and, while there was some speculation both inside the palace and out as to whether Li Song would actually take the throne due to his severe illness, Li Song did so (as Emperor Shunzong). Dezong's reign can be summarized into three categories of mismanagements that began during his reign and would have repercussions for future Tang emperors. The early part of Dezong's reign can be seen as an attempt to limit

9504-575: Was showing disrespect to Li Huaiguang, killed Kong, apparently with Li Huaiguang's implicit approval, and Li Huaiguang continued to resist Tang forces. By fall 785, however, with Tang forces under Ma Sui and Hun Jian converging on Hezhong, Li Huaiguang committed suicide, and his army resubmitted to Tang. Meanwhile, Li Xilie's continued attempts to expand were being repeatedly rebuffed by Tang generals. In summer 786, with Li Xilie being ill, his general Chen Xianqi had him poisoned, slaughtered his family, and then resubmitted to Tang authority. (While Chen

9603-401: Was soon renamed Huigu) fighting with Tufan, and with Tufan's major vassal Nanzhao distancing itself from Tufan's campaigns against Tang, Tufan attacks on Tang began to weaken, such that Tang generals were beginning to have successes against Tufan. By this point, however, Emperor Dezong was also extracting frequent tributes from regional governors for his own personal use. Li Mi tried to curb

9702-505: Was soon thereafter himself assassinated by Wu Shaocheng , Wu continued to pledge allegiance to Tang.) Nominally, the realm was again entirely under Emperor Dezong's rule. However, by this point, the empire was in deep trouble due to the wars, and Tufan forces, taking advantage of Tang's weakening, were making repeated incursions into Tang territory. Tufan's chancellor Shang Jiezan ( 尚結贊 ), in particular, believed that he would be able to conquer Tang if he could get three Tang generals out of

9801-402: Was the most powerful chancellor at court, but he soon lost Emperor Dezong's favor and was exiled (and eventually ordered to commit suicide). Lu Zhi became the main chancellor, and for some time, made ambitious proposals to reform the civil service system and logistics system, and reassert authority over regional governors—whom, by this point, Emperor Dezong was so apprehensive about such that he

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