Li Na (Tang dynasty)
Li Na | |
---|---|
Governor of Qi | |
In office 781–792 | |
Preceded by | Li Zhengji |
Succeeded by | Li Shigu |
Li Na (李納; 759 – June 13, 792[1]), formally the Prince of Longxi (隴西王), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chinese Tang dynasty. Inheriting the post from his father Li Zhengji, he served as the military governor (jiedushi) of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) semi-independently from the imperial government.
Background
Li Na was born in 758, during the reign of
Service under Li Zhengji
In Li Na's youth, Li Zhengji had put him in command of an army to aid in the seasonal defense of Tang's western border with Tufan, and Li Na, as part of this deployment, was at Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Daizong. Emperor Daizong met him and gave him a number of honors. Later, after that deployment was over, Li Zhengji made him the prefect of Zi Prefecture (淄州, in modern Zibo, Shandong). During Li Zhengji's imperially-sanctioned campaign against Tian Chengsi, the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) in 775, Li Na served as acting military governor in Li Zhengji's absence from Pinglu.[5] Later, after a campaign against another rebellious military governor, Li Lingyao (李靈曜), Li Zhengji took five prefectures from Li Lingyao's Biansong Circuit (汴宋, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan) and merged them into Pinglu Circuit. He then moved the headquarters of Pinglu from Qing Prefecture (青州) to one of the Biansong prefectures that he took, Yun Prefecture (鄆州, in modern Tai'an, Shandong), and made Li Na the prefect of Qing Prefecture, in charge of the old headquarters.[6]
In 781,
As rebel against imperial authority
In light of Emperor Dezong's refusal to let him succeed Li Zhengji, later in 781, Li Na attacked the imperially-controlled Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern
Indeed, by spring 782, Liu was initially making progress in capturing Pu Prefecture and took its outer city, so much so that Li Na got onto the city walls and tearfully begged Liu to allow him to surrender. With
By winter 782, both Zhu and Wang (who was also displeased that he was not made a military governor despite his killing of Li Weiyue) were openly rebelling against the imperial government. They advanced south to aid Tian and dealt the imperial forces, under the commands of Li Huaiguang the military governor of Shuofang Circuit, Ma Sui the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), and Li Baozhen the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), forcing them to lift the siege on Wei Prefecture. In light of their victory, they each claimed princely titles to show independence from Tang — Zhu as the Prince of Ji, Tian as the Prince of Wei, and Wang as the Prince of Zhao. They offered the title of Prince of Qi to Li Na, and Li Na accepted.[8]
As independent Prince of Qi
The four rebel princes offered their allegiance to Li Xilie, requesting that he take the throne himself as emperor. Li Xilie did not do so immediately, but also claimed a princely title of Prince of Jianxing. Meanwhile, in fall 782, soldiers from Jingyuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang, Gansu), at Chang'an to await deployment to the east, mutinied after Emperor Dezong did not give them rewards that they believed they deserved, forcing Emperor Dezong to flee to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). They supported Zhu Tao's brother Zhu Ci as their leader, and Zhu Ci claimed the title of emperor of a new state of Qin. He soon put Fengtian under siege, but had to lift the siege on Fengtian after Li Huaiguang arrived at Fengtian to save Emperor Dezong. However, he continued to occupy Chang'an.[9][10]
While Emperor Dezong was at Fengtian, he sent messengers to Li Na, Tian Yue, and Wang Wujun, offering to pardon them if they submitted to him. Li Na, along with Wang and Tian, secretly agreed. After Emperor Dezong issued a general pardon in spring 784, Li Na, Tian, and Wang all renounced their princely titles and nominally resubmitted to Tang imperial authority. Emperor Dezong then commissioned Li Na as the military governor of Pinglu and, later in the year, gave him the honorary chancellor designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事) and created him the Prince of Longxi.[10][11]
As Tang subject again
Meanwhile, Li Xilie, who by this point had claimed the title of emperor of a new state of Chu, was putting Chen Prefecture (陳州, in modern
In 790, there were rumors that Li Na was planning to escort his subordinate Tian Chao (田朝), a son of Tian Chengsi's and an older brother to Weibo's then-military governor
Li Na died in 792. His subordinates supported his son Li Shigu to succeed him, and Emperor Dezong agreed.[15]
References
- ^ According to Tang Dezong's biography (vol.13) in Old Book of Tang, Li Na died on the gui'you day of the 5th month of the 8th year of the Zhen'yuan era; the date corresponds to 13 Jun 792 in the Julian calendar. According to his father Li Zhengji's biography in New Book of Tang, Li Na was 34 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. Thus, his birth year should be in 759.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 220.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 222.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 223.
- ^ a b Old Book of Tang, vol. 124 Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 225.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 226.
- ^ a b c d Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 227.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 228.
- ^ a b Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 229.
- ^ New Book of Tang, vol. 213 Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 231.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 232.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 233.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 234.
Bibliography
- Old Book of Tang, vol. 124.
- New Book of Tang, vol. 213.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 225, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, 234.