An Chonghui

An Chonghui (d. June 25, 931? ) (, fl. 10th century) was the chief of staff (Shumishi) and chief advisor to Li Siyuan (Emperor Mingzong) (r. 926–933) of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Tang.

For most of Emperor Mingzong's reign, An was the most powerful figure at court, making key military and political decisions that, in his eyes, sought to strengthen the authority of the Later Tang imperial state. However, his ruthless actions toward political enemies—including Emperor Mingzong's adoptive son Li Congke the Prince of Lu—created much resentment. After the campaign against the regional warlords Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang, which An instigated, stalled, An was forced to retire, and then was killed in retirement, under accusations that he had alienated Meng, Dong, and the Later Tang nominal vassal Qian Liu the King of Wuyue, from the Later Tang emperor. He was said to have, at his death, lamented that he was not able to rid the state of Li Congke.

Background It is not known when An Chonghui was born, but it is known that his family was from Ying Prefecture (應州, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi) and that his ancestors were tribal chiefs in the region. His father An Fuqian was known for ferocity in battle and became an officer under the late-Tang dynasty major warlord Li Keyong (founder of Jin) the military governor (jiedushi) of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi). An Fuqian was subsequently killed in battle when fighting the Xuanwu forces. He was friendly with Li Siyuan's sons Li Congrong and Li Conghou from Li Congrong's and Li Conghou's childhood, and the brothers respected him. However, he did not have a good relationship with Li Siyuan's adoptive son Li Congke, as there was a time when they were drinking and got into an argument, and Li Congke beat him badly. Li Congke later apologized, but An continued to bear a grudge against Li Congke. However, by 926, the Later Tang realm was overrun by mutinies after Emperor Zhuangzong had, without good cause, executed two of the major generals, Guo Chongtao and Zhu Youqian. When Li Siyuan was sent to battle the mutineers at Yedu (鄴都, in modern Handan, Hebei), Li Siyuan's own forces mutinied and forced him to join the Yedu mutineers. After Li Siyuan freed himself from the Yedu mutineers, he considered returning to his own circuit Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), which he was then the military governor of, to consider his next step, but An and Li Siyuan's deputy Li Shaozhen pointed out that that exposed him to be defenseless against charges that another general, Li Shaorong, might lay against him, convinced him to head south back toward the capital Luoyang instead. Subsequently, with Li Shaorong indeed accusing Li Siyuan of treason and cutting off Li Siyuan's attempts to send messengers to Emperor Zhuangzong to defend himself, Li Siyuan decided to indeed rebel, and therefore had An draft summons on his behalf, asking other generals to join his army, as he advanced toward Kaifeng (Bian prefecture).

Li Siyuan quickly entered Kaifeng, and then from there advanced toward Luoyang. Emperor Zhuangzong organized an army to try to resist him,

During Li Siyuan's reign

As shumishi

During the Tiancheng era (926–930) An Chonghui quickly became the most powerful advisor for Emperor Mingzong, and, as Emperor Mingzong was illiterate, he relied on An to read to him the petitions coming from throughout the realm, although An, realizing that he was also not capable of handling all these petitions, recommended the imperial scholars Feng Dao and Zhao Feng to serve in that role. As chief advisor, however, he quickly developed a rivalry with the chancellor Ren Huan, as Ren was putting much of his own imprint on the governance, drawing An's jealousy. Meanwhile, Emperor Mingzong wanted to reward An by commissioning him as the military governor of Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangyang, Hubei) and serving remotely (with an acting military governor at the circuit itself). An believed that Shannan East was too important of a circuit to lack an actual military governor at the circuit, and therefore declined; Emperor Mingzong subsequently agreed.

In 928, a rift developed between An and Kong, over the fact that Kong advised An against giving a daughter to one of Emperor Mingzong's sons in marriage, on the rationale that it would be improper for someone already so powerful to further engender himself to the emperor by a marriage of their children—and then himself gave a daughter in marriage to be the wife of Emperor Mingzong's son Li Conghou. An thus had Kong expelled from the imperial government to serve as the defender of Luoyang (as Emperor Mingzong was himself at Kaifeng at that time). However, when An had a dispute with Wang Jianli the military governor of Chengde, with accusations flying both ways—An accusing Wang of being aligned with the semi-independent warlord Wang Du the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei), while Wang Jianli accused An of allying himself with Zhang Yanlang and creating a power bloc. Emperor Mingzong, unhappy with what he saw of An, briefly considered replacing him with Wang Jianli, but ultimately did not do so, but kept Wang at Kaifeng as a chancellor and the director of the three financial agencies. Emperor Mingzong subsequently gave An the additional title of mayor of Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region). had long not been willing to yield himself to An. In 929, there was an incident in which Li Congcan was drunk at a feast and, in that drunkenness, sat on the emperor's seat as a joke. An took this opportunity to report this to Emperor Mingzong and recommend Li Congcan's death; as a result, Emperor Mingzong ordered Li Congcan to commit suicide. When An thereafter, in fall 930, sent the officer Xun Xian'ai to reinforce Baoning's capital Lang Prefecture , Dong publicly declared his rebellion, and he and Meng joined their forces to prepare to attack Baoning, Wuxin, and Zhaowu (昭武, headquartered in modern Guangyuan, Sichuan) Circuits, which were loyal to the imperial government. When the news came, An advocated a general campaign against them, and Emperor Mingzong agreed.

By this point, however, due to An's lengthy hold on power, he had created many political enemies, and both Consort Wang and the eunuch Meng Hanqiong were repeatedly accusing An of faults. An, apprehensive of what might happen, offered to resign, which caused Emperor Mingzong further displeasure, believing that An was abandoning him. Still, he considered replacing An with Fan Yanguang, who, however, persuaded Emperor Mingzong that An needed to remain, as did Zhao, despite Feng's view that An could only protect himself by resigning. Subsequently, Emperor Mingzong made Fan a chief of staff as well, serving with An.

Emperor Mingzong sent his son-in-law, the general Shi Jingtang, to be in charge of the overall operations against Meng and Dong, but the imperial army ran into difficulties in advancing against Meng's and Dong's troops, while the garrisons of prefectures loyal to the imperial government were being captured one by one by Meng and Dong. In late 930, An offered to head to the frontline to oversee the campaign himself, and Emperor Mingzong agreed. It was said that when this was announced, the circuits which were previously not diligent in delivering the supplies to the army were all frightened and began to deliver supplies in haste. However, Shi himself did not support the campaign, and as soon as An left Luoyang, Shi began submitting petitions urging the end to the campaign.

Before An could actually reach the frontline, in spring 931, he stopped at Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), whose military governor, Zhu Hongzhao, had received the post due to his relationship with An. When An reached Fengxiang, Zhu welcomed him with great fanfare, including bowing to An himself as An was arriving, and having his wife to come out to bow to An as well. At a feast held in An's honor by Zhu, An tearfully stated to Zhu, "The wicked people have continuously accused me, such that I have almost fallen. It is only by the clear understanding of the Sovereign that my family has been spared." As soon as An departed Fengxiang and continued to head to the frontline, however, Zhu twisted this statement in a report to Emperor Mingzong, accusing An of being resentful and possibly considering seizing Shi's command when he reached the frontline; he also wrote Shi, reporting the same thing. Shi, fearful, also submitted a report urging Emperor Mingzong to recall An. Emperor Mingzong therefore did. When An received the order and headed back toward Luoyang, Fengxiang refused him entry. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, back toward Luoyang as quickly as he could. However, before he could reach there, Emperor Mingzong issued an edict making him the military governor of Huguo, thus preventing his return to Luoyang, despite Zhao's attempt at interceding for him.

After removal After An Chonghui's removal as chief of staff, Emperor Mingzong summoned Li Congke to his presence and reunited with him. Emperor Mingzong also restored Qian Liu's offices, blaming the tension between the Later Tang imperial government and the Wuyue king on An.

By summer 931, An, who was fearful of what might happen next, requested complete retirement. Emperor Mingzong agreed and allowed him to retire with the honorary title of Taizi Taishi . On the same day, An's sons An Chongzan and An Chongxu , fearing of what might happen next, fled their imperial government posts and headed to Hezhong. Emperor Mingzong, apparently fearing that An might resist, commissioned his nephew Li Congzhang as the new military governor of Huguo, while sending Yao Yanchou with an army heading for Hezhong. When An Chongzan and An Chongxu arrived at Hezhong, An Chonghui put them under arrest and delivered them toward Luoyang, although when they reached Shan Prefecture (陝州, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), by Emperor Mingzong's orders, they were imprisoned there and not taken to Luoyang.

Emperor Mingzong also sent the official Zhai Guangye , who had long resented An, to Hezhong, to monitor the situation, stating to him, "If An Chonghui has wrongful intentions, then kill him." Once both Zhai and Li Congzhang reached Hezhong, Li Congzhang had An's mansion surrounded by soldiers, and then personally entered to see An. As he bowed to An, An, who was not expecting that, stepped down to him to pull him up. As An did, Li Congzhang pulled out a hammer and battered An's head with it, killing him. An's wife Lady Zhang, in shock, rushed there to try to save him. Li Congzhang also killed her with the hammer. Shortly after, Emperor Mingzong issued an edict, accusing An of the crimes of alienating Meng Zhixiang, Dong Zhang, and Qian from the imperial government, as well as planning to take command of an army in attacking Wu and summoning his two sons back to Huguo. The edict ordered his death as well as the deaths of An Chongzan and An Chongxu. Li Congzhang had the clothes stripped off the bodies of An and Lady Zhang and had them exposed for a day. It was only later at the urging of the officer Bai Congzhang that Li Congzhang allowed the bodies to be reclothed again. However, his other children were spared.