Dou Can

Dou Can or Dou Shen (; 734–793), courtesy name Shizhong (時中), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Dezong. He was known for being a capable judge before becoming chancellor, but was considered a partisan power monger as a chancellor, eventually drawing Emperor Dezong's ire and leading to his demotion and later forced suicide.

Background Dou Shen was born in 734, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His ancestors were originally Xianbei nobles of Northern Wei with the clan name Gedouling (紇豆陵), and further claimed that they were descended from the Han dynasty official Dou Wu and fled to Xianbei realms after Dou Wu was killed in 168 after a failed struggle with powerful eunuchs. Dou Shen's Northern Wei ancestors, after assuming the surname of Dou during the change of Xianbei names to Han names regime that Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei instituted, were ancestors in the line to officials of Western Wei and Sui dynasty, before the early Tang dynasty chancellor Dou Kang, who was Dou Shen's great-great-great-grandfather. Dou Shen's grandfather Dou Jin (竇瑾) was not recorded with any official titles, but Dou Shen's father Dou Shenyan (竇審言) served as a county magistrate.

Early career Dou Shen learned about laws and administrative regulations when he was young. It was said that he had a stern and decisive personality. Because of his heritage, he became an official in his young age, and eventually became the sheriff of Wannian County (萬年), one of the two counties making up the Tang capital Chang'an. On one night, one of his colleagues was supposed to be on duty in watching the prisoners but asked Dou to fill in for him because his relative was ill. Dou agreed. That night, some prisoners escaped, and his superior, the mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the Chang'an region) read the rotation schedule and saw that Dou's colleague was to be on duty. He was set to punish Dou's colleague, when Dou stated that it was he who watched the prisoners and should be held responsible. As a result, he was sent out of the capital to be the magistrate of Jiangxia County (江夏, in modern Wuhan, Hubei), but received praise for his honesty.

Eventually, he was promoted to be the sheriff of Fengxian County (奉先, near Chang'an). One of the residents of Fengxian, Cao Fen (曹芬), was nominally a soldier of the imperial guards, but was known for his violence. On one occasion, when Cao was drunk, he battered his sister; his father tried to stop the battering, but could not, and in distress committed suicide by jumping into a well. Dou arrested Cao and his brothers and sentenced them to death. His subordinates wanted to spare them because their father had just died, but Dou responded: How foolish is his son such that he wanted to inherit Chen Shaoyou's title!

Chen Zhengyi, in fear, left without further requesting to inherit the title. Around this time, the generals Meng Hua (孟華) and Li Jianyu (李建玉) were both falsely accused of crimes and set to be sentenced to death, and they could not show their innocence. Dou, however, was able to discern their innocence and obtain their releases. As a result, the popular sentiment at the time had great expectations for Dou. It was said that generals and regional warlords all feared him, and in particular, Li Na the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong), sent him gifts, ostensibly to honor him, but instead intending to discredit him. Emperor Dezong's close associates also disliked Dou and often defamed him. Even though Wu had good reputation as the governor of Fujian, Dou reported to Emperor Dezong that Wu had been stricken by arthritis and rendered immobile. Emperor Dezong recalled Wu to Chang'an and had Wu walk before him. He saw that Wu was not immobile, and thereafter began to dislike Dou for his false reporting. He made Wu the governor Shanguo Circuit (陝虢, headquartered in modern Sanmenxia, Henan) to displace Dou's associate Li Yi (李翼).

Meanwhile, Dou's nephew Dou Shen (竇申), an imperial attendant, was very close to Dou Shen, and Dou Shen often discussed with him personnel movements before they were announced. Dou Shen thus often used this information to extract bribes from others by informing the subjects of promotions in advance — such that he gained the nickname of "Magpie" (because the Chinese believed that magpies were foretellers of good fortune). Even Emperor Dezong heard of Dou Shen's reputation and suggested Dou Shen to send Dou Shen out of the capital, but Dou Shen guaranteed to Emperor Dezong that Dou Shen would not cause trouble. Dou Shen closely associated with his maternal uncle Li Zezhi (李則之) the Prince of Guo and the imperial scholar Wu Tongxuan (吳通玄), and all of them resented Lu Zhi. They therefore manufactured documents defaming Lu, to try to stop Emperor Dezong from trusting Lu. However, Emperor Dezong found out, and in summer 792 demoted Dou Shen, Li Zezhi, and Wu Tongxuan out of the capital, and soon ordered Wu to commit suicide. Soon thereafter, Emperor Dezong demoted Dou Shen to be the secretary general of Chen Prefecture (郴州, in modern Chenzhou, Hunan). Lu Zhi and Zhao Jing were named chancellors.

After chancellorship and death In 792, the former chancellor Jiang Gongfu, a former colleague of Lu Zhi's as an imperial scholar, met Lu to request his help in obtaining a promotion. Lu secretly responded:

In fear, Jiang offered to resign and asked to become a Taoist monk. When Emperor Dezong inquired as to the reason and found out that he was fearful, he did not dare to state that Lu had told him this information, and instead claimed that Dou told him the information. Angry that his words had been leaked, Emperor Dezong demoted Jiang to be the secretary general of Quan Prefecture (泉州, in modern Quanzhou, Fujian), and sent imperial eunuch messengers to Dou, in exile, to rebuke him.

Meanwhile, Dou Shen's superior, Li Sun (李巽) the governor of Hunan Circuit had been demoted when Dou was chancellor. In 793, Li submitted a report about how Dou had received a gift in silk from Liu Shining (劉士寧) the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan) and accused Dou of improper association with governors. Emperor Dezong wanted to execute Dou; Lu Zhi opposed on the grounds that this offense was not a death offense. Emperor Dezong therefore demoted Dou to be the military advisor to the prefect of the distant Huan Prefecture (驩州, in modern Nghệ An Province, Vietnam). His son Dou Jingbo (竇景伯) was exiled to Quan Prefecture (泉州, in modern Quanzhou, Fujian), while his daughter Dou Zhenru (竇真如), who was a Buddhist nun, was made a servant at Chen Prefecture. His assets were seized. However, Emperor Dezong's eunuchs deeply hated Dou and continued to attack him. Eventually, even as Dou was on the way to Huan Prefecture, Emperor Dezong issued an edict ordering him to commit suicide.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 136. New Book of Tang, vol. 145. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 233, 234.