Liu Heita
Liu Heita | |||||||||
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Reign | 622–623 | ||||||||
Died | 623 | ||||||||
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Dynasty | Sui and Tang dynasties |
Liu Heita (Chinese: 劉黑闥) (died c.March 623[1]) was an agrarian rebel leader during China's transition period from the Sui dynasty to the Tang dynasty, who initially successively served under Hao Xiaode (郝孝德), Li Mi, and Wang Shichong. He eventually followed Dou Jiande the Prince of Xia. After Dou was killed by Emperor Gaozu of Tang in 621 and his territory was taken by Tang, Liu rose to avenge Dou, and briefly recaptured Dou's territory, north of the Yellow River.
Liu was then defeated by the Tang general
In 623, Liu was captured by his one-time subordinate Zhuge Dewei (諸葛德威) and executed.
Service under Hao Xiaode, Li Mi, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande
Little is known about Liu Heita's background, and it is not known when he was born. He was from Zhangnan (漳南, in modern Handan, Hebei)—the same county as Dou Jiande—and was said to be brave and quick in reaction from his youth. He was also said to favor drinking and gambling, much to his father's and brothers' dismay. He became friendly with Dou, and whenever he lacked money, Dou would support him. He eventually joined agrarian rebels rising against Sui dynasty rule, and he initially followed Hao Xiaode (郝孝德), and then after Hao joined Li Mi's forces, served under Li. After Li was defeated by Wang Shichong, then a Sui general, in 618, as Wang knew of Liu's ferocity, he made Liu a cavalry officer, but he thought little of Wang's actions, and often secretly laughed at Wang.
In 619, Liu was serving in the army of Wang's newly established state of Zheng (as Wang had the final Sui emperor, Yang Tong, yield the throne to him earlier that year), defending Xinxiang (新鄉, in modern Xinxiang, Henan), when he was captured by Li Shiji, a Tang dynasty general who had been forced to submit to and serve Dou's state of Xia.[a] Dou made Liu a general and created him the Duke of Handong. He often had Liu command guerilla forces to make surprise attacks, and sometimes covertly entering enemy territory for intelligence purposes. It was said that Liu won many victories under Dou.
Uprising against Tang
In 621, with Wang Shichong's state of Zheng under attack by the Tang general Li Shimin the Prince of Qin (the eventual Emperor Taizong) and in desperate straits, Dou Jiande believed that if Zheng were destroyed by Tang, his own Xia state would be cornered. He therefore launched his army, seeking to save Zheng's capital Luoyang. Li Shimin engaged him at the Battle of Hulao, and Dou was captured. Wang then surrendered. The Xia forces considered continuing to resist, but under the leadership of the official Qi Shanxing (齊善行), they surrendered Xia territory to Tang.

However, subsequently, Dou was executed by Emperor Gaozu of Tang (Li Shimin's father). The former Xia generals and officials, who had returned to civilian life but who had been often harassed by Tang officials and worried that they would also be executed, gathered secretly and considered rising against Tang rule. After they, led by Gao Yaxian (高雅賢), were informed by fortunetellers that their leader should be someone named Liu, they first offered their leadership to the general Liu Ya (劉雅), who refused (and was then killed by them). They instead offered the leadership to Liu Heita, who was then retired and tending to his garden, and he accepted. In fall 621, they officially rose and captured Zhangnan. The former Xia soldiers gradually came out of retirement and joined him, and Liu offered sacrifices to Dou's spirit, declaring that the Xia forces had risen to avenge him. His uprising was echoed by another agrarian leader, Xu Yuanlang, who had submitted to Tang but by now was nominally submitting to him.
Tang's emperor Gaozu initially sent his cousin Li Shentong (李神通) the Prince of Huai'an against Liu, in conjunction with the Tang official
Defeat and death
Li Shimin arrived from the south as Liu was besieging
Eventually, the Tang and Handong forces stalemated across the Ming River for more than 60 days. Both sides tried to attack each other, without success. Meanwhile, Li Shimin set up a dam upstream on the Ming River. When Liu attacked, Li Shimin had the dam destroyed, and much of the Handong army was drowned. Liu was able to flee with his general Wang Xiaohu (王小胡), but Handong defenses otherwise collapsed. Liu fled to the Eastern Turks (Dongtujue), and Handong territory fell into Tang hands.
In summer 622, Liu, with Turkish reinforcements, tried to return to the region. Li Yi was unable to stop him. With Li Shimin having already returned to Chang'an at that point, Emperor Gaozu sent another son of a cousin, Li Daoxuan (李道玄) the Prince of Huaiyang, to attack Liu, along with Li Yuanji. However, Liu's army won battle after battle, and in winter 622, Liu engaged Li Daoxuan at Xiabo (下博, in modern Hengshui), defeating and killing Li Daoxuan. Within half a month, Liu again recovered all of former Xia territory. Li Yuanji feared his power and hesitated at engaging him.
Meanwhile, Emperor Gaozu's oldest son,
- I was tending my garden. It was those people led by Gao Yaxian who brought me to this point.
Notes
- ^ The account that Liu was captured by Li Shiji is contained in the original edition of the Old Book of Tang[2] which was then adopted by, among others, the New Book of Tang[3] and the Zizhi Tongjian.[4] However, the annotations to the Old Book of Tang indicate that Liu was not captured by Li Shiji, but had fled to Dou on his own account.
References
Citations
- ^ ([武德六年]二月,刘黑闼伏诛。) Xin Tang Shu, vol.01; the month corresponds to 7 Mar to 5 Apr 623 in the Julian calendar. Vol.190 of Zizhi Tongjian dated Liu's capture to the ji'mao day of the 1st month of that year, which corresponds to 7 Feb 623 in the Julian calendar ([武德六年]春,正月,己卯,刘黑闼所署饶州刺史诸葛德威执黑闼,举城降。). Emperor Gaozu's biography in Old Book of Tang dated Liu's execution to the gengshen day of the 12th month of the 5th year of the Wu'de era, corresponding to 19 Jan 623 in the Julian calendar.([武德五年]十二月...庚申,至自宜州。皇太子破刘黑闼于魏州,斩之,山东平。) Jiu Tang Shu, vol.01.
- ^ Old Book of Tang, Vol. LV, archived from the original on 2007-10-11.
- ^ New Book of Tang, Vol. LXXXVI, archived from the original on 2008-02-10.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, Vol. CLXXXVIII.
- ^ Fitzgerald (1933), pp. 97–105.
Bibliography
- ISBN 9781001287973.