Du Hongjian
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Du Hongjian (杜鴻漸; 709 – December 13, 769[1]), courtesy name Zhisun (之巽), formally Duke Wenxian of Wei (衛文憲公), was a Chinese Buddhist monk and politician during the Tang dynasty who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Daizong. He was known, and much criticized by traditional Chinese historians, for his devotion to Buddhism, one manifestation of which was his patronage of the Chan master Wuzhu.[2]
Du Hongjian was born in 709, during the second reign of Emperor Zhongzong. His family was from Pu Prefecture (濮州, roughly modern Heze, Shandong) and claimed its ancestry from the Qin dynasty general Du He (杜赫), and traced itself to a line of officials during the Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui dynasty, and Tang dynasty. It was said that the clan's members were on such good terms that it did not divide for five generations down to Du Xian. Both Du Hongjian's great-grandfather Du Yikuan (杜義寬) and grandfather Du Chengzhi (杜承志) were low level officials. His father Du Pengju (杜鵬舉) served as a prefectural prefect and was known for his knowledge as a physician—knowledge he learned because his mother was frequently ill—in addition to being an official.[3] Du Pengju's cousin Du Xian served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong's nephew Emperor Xuanzong. Du Hongjian had at least one older brother, Du Lingyuan (杜靈瑗).[4][5]
Du Hongjian himself was said to be intelligent and studious. After he passed the imperial examination, he was made a military advisor to Emperor Xuanzong's son Li Bin (李玢) the Prince of Yan. Later, at the request of An Sishun, the military governor (Jiedushi) of Shuofang Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia), he became An's secretary.[3]
Support of Li Heng as emperor
In 755, the general An Lushan (An Sishun's stepbrother) rebelled at Fanyang (范陽, in modern Beijing), and by summer 756, the forces of his new state of Yan were approaching the Tang capital Chang'an, forcing Emperor Xuanzong to flee to Chengdu. Emperor Xuanzong's son and crown prince Li Heng, however, did not follow him to Chengdu, but instead considered fleeing to Lingwu (Shuofang Circuit's capital); for the time being, he remained at Pingliang. Meanwhile, with the new circuit military governor Guo Ziyi in the east fighting Yan forces, Du Hongjian was serving as acting military governor at Lingwu, and he conferred with the other key circuit officials—Lu Shaoyou (陸少遊), Cui Yi (崔漪), Lu Jianjin (盧簡金), and Li Han (李涵)—and decided to welcome Li Heng to Lingwu. Li Han thus went to Pingliang and met with Li Heng, who agreed. Du and Cui went south to escort Li Heng to Lingwu, while leaving Wei at Lingwu to prepare for Li Heng's arrival. Once they rendezvoused with Li Heng, they returned to Lingwu with Li Heng.[6]
Once they arrived in Lingwu, Du and another imperial official who had accompanied Li Heng, Pei Mian, advocated that Li Heng should take the throne in light of the emergency the empire was facing. Li Heng agreed, and he was declared emperor (as Emperor Suzong)—an act that Emperor Xuanzong later recognized. He made Du Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省)[6] and soon made him the deputy minister of defense (武部侍郎, Wubu Shilang).[7]
During Emperor Suzong's reign
In 757, Emperor Suzong made Du Hongjian the military governor of Hexi Circuit (河西, headquartered in modern Wuwei, Gansu). Later in the year, after joint Tang and Huige forces recaptured Chang'an and the eastern capital Luoyang, Emperor Suzong made Du the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei).[7] In 759, after the Xiang Prefecture (襄州, in modern Xiangfan, Hubei) army officers Kang Chuyuan (康楚元) and Zhang Jiayan (張嘉延) rebelled and attacked Jingnan's capital Jing Prefecture, Du abandoned Jing Prefecture and fled. As a result, the surrounding prefectures were thrown into panic, and the officials from five surrounding prefectures also fled their posts, into the valleys. The rebellion was eventually put down later in the year by Wei Lun (韋倫) the prefect of Shang Prefecture (商州, in modern Shangluo, Shaanxi).[8] After about a year, Du was recalled to the imperial government to serve as Shangshu You Cheng (尚書右丞, one of the secretaries in general of the executive bureau (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng)), deputy minister of civil service affairs (吏部侍郎, Libu Shilang), and minister of worship (太常卿, Taichang Qing).[7]