Shi Chaoyi
Shi Chaoyi 史朝義 | |
---|---|
Emperor of Yan dynasty | |
Reign | after 18 April 761 Yan |
Father | Shi Siming |
Shi Chaoyi (史朝義) (died before 17 February 763
Background
It is not known when Shi Chaoyi was born, but it is known that he was the oldest son of his father
In 758, however, Shi Siming, possibly because of a failed assassination plot against him, possibly at the order of Emperor Suzong and the prominent Tang general
Meanwhile, by this point, Shi Siming was described to be cruel and prone to kill, terrorizing his army. In contrast, Shi Chaoyi was considered kind and was favored by the soldiers, but Shi Siming favored Shi Chaoqing over Shi Chaoyi and considered killing Shi Chaoyi. In spring 761, Shi Siming began another attempt to attack Shan Prefecture, wanting to attack Chang'an. He had Shi Chaoyi serve as his forward commander, but Shi Chaoyi was repeatedly repelled by the Tang general Wei Boyu (衛伯玉). Shi Siming was angry at Shi Chaoyi's failures and considered punishing him and the generals below him. On April 18,[4] Shi Siming had ordered Shi Chaoyi to build a triangular fort with a hill as its side, to store food supplies, and ordered that it be completed in one day. Near the end of the day, Shi Chaoyi had completed it, but had not plastered the walls with mud, when Shi Siming arrived and rebuked him for not applying mud. He ordered his own servants to stay and watch the plastering. He then angrily stated, "After I capture Shan Prefecture I will kill you, thief!" That night, Shi Chaoyi's subordinates Luo Yue (駱悅) and Cai Wenjing (蔡文景) warned him that he was in dire straits—and that if he refused to take action to depose Shi Siming, they would defect to the Tang.
Shi Chaoyi agreed to take action, and Luo persuaded Shi Siming's guard commander General Cao (personal name lost to history) to agree with the plot. That night, Luo led 300 soldiers and ambushed Shi Siming, binding him and then beginning a return to Luoyang with the troops. On the way back to Luoyang, Luo feared that someone might try to rescue Shi Siming, and so strangled him. Shi Chaoyi claimed the Yan throne, and sent messengers to Fanyang to have Empress Xin and Shi Chaoqing killed.
As emperor
Shi Chaoyi was considered kind and humble, willing to listen to his advisors. However, he faced the situation that by this time, the Luoyang region, which was directly under his control, had already been ravaged by the wars; many of the other Yan generals had previously been followers of An Lushan, and considered themselves equal to Shi Siming, and therefore were only nominally submissive to the younger Shi Chaoyi.
He thus began to suffer a number of losses at the hands of Tang generals, and his attempts to counter by attacking Tang's Lu Prefecture (潞州, roughly modern Changzhi, Shanxi) and Songzhou ended in failure. However, not until winter 762, when Tang forces were aided by the Uyghur Khaganate's Dengli Khan, did Luoyang fall. Shi Chaoyi left Luoyang and fled, but his generals, including Zhang Xiancheng (張獻誠), Xue Song, Zhang Zhongzhi, Tian Chengsi, Li Huaixian, and Li Baozhong (李抱忠), successively turned against him when he turned to them for aid. He wanted to flee to the Xi or the Khitan, but on the way, in spring 763, he was intercepted by troops sent by Li Huaixian to capture him. To avoid capture, he committed suicide by hanging. Li Huaixian had his head delivered to Chang'an; the head arrived at the capital on 17 February.[2][5]
References
- ^ Volume 222 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Shi Siming was killed on the jiawu day of the 3rd month of the 2nd year of the Shangyuan era of Tang Suzong's reign. This date corresponds to 18 Apr 761 on the Julian calendar.
- ^ a b Volume 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 corresponds to 17 Feb 763 on the Julian calendar. [(广德元年正月)甲辰,朝义首至京师。]
- ^ The sources conflict with each other as to whether Shi Chaoqing was, indeed, created crown prince. His biographies in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang indicated that he was only considering it, but the Jimen Jiluan (薊門紀亂), an account of the Anshi Rebellion written by the Tang dynasty historian Ping Zhimei (平致美) no longer extant but often cited by others,"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) indicated that An did create Shi Chaoqing crown prince. Compare Old Book of Tang, vol. 200, part 1, and New Book of Tang, vol. 225, part 1 Archived 2008-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, with Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 53 [761], citing Jimen Jiluan. - ^ Volume 222 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Shi was killed on the jiawu day of the 3rd month of the 2nd year of the Shangyuan era of Tang Suzong's reign. This date corresponds to 18 Apr 761 on the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 222.