Dou Jiande

Independent reign as Prince of Xia In summer 619, Wang Shichong had Yang Tong yield the throne to him, ending Sui and establishing a new state of Zheng. In response, Dou cut off relations with Wang, and began to take on imperial style in his edicts and ceremonies, although he was still using the title of Prince of Xia and not emperor. (It might have been at this time that his wife Lady Cao assumed the title of empress.) He created Emperor Yang's infant grandson Yang Zhengdao the Duke of Xun, and gave Emperor Yang the posthumous name of Min. He entered into an alliance with the Eastern Turks (Dongtujue)'s Shibi Khan Ashina Duojishi, and at the request of Ashina Duojishi's wife, Sui's Princess Yicheng, he delivered Empress Xiao and Yang Zhengdao, as well as the head of Yuwen Huaji, to her. Meanwhile, with certain prefectures north of the Yellow River having submitted to either Tang or Zheng, he carried out a campaign to capture them over the next several months, and was largely successful. By fall 619, Li Shentong, responsible for the Tang operations in the area, had been forced to withdraw to Liyang (黎陽, in modern Hebi, Henan), to join forces with another Tang general, Li Shiji (a former follower of Li Mi). In winter 619, while proceeding toward Wei Prefecture (衛州, roughly modern Xinxiang, Henan), he was ambushed by Li Shiji, and, in anger, he attacked Liyang, capturing it as well as Li Shentong, Li Shiji's father Li Gai , Wei Zheng, and Emperor Gaozu's sister Princess Tong'an. Li Shiji was able to escape, but several days later returned and surrendered to Dou, because Dou had captured Li Gai. Dou made Wei Zheng a staff member, while still letting Li Shiji guard Liyang, but holding Li Gai as hostage, as well as Li Shentong and Princess Tong'an, but treating them with respect and care. He moved his capital from Leshou to Ming Prefecture (洺州, roughly modern Handan, Hebei). By this point, the territory north of the Yellow River and east of the Taihang Mountains were largely his, save for those under the control of Luo Yi (who had now taken the name Li Yi, having been granted the imperial surname of Li by Tang's Emperor Gaozu) and Gao Kaidao.

In winter 619, Li Shiji considered fleeing to Tang territory, but was fearful that Dou would execute his father Li Gai, and therefore attacked Zheng to gain Dou's trust. In one of the battles against Zheng, Li captured the Zheng army officer Liu Heita, whom Dou was impressed with and created the Duke of Handong. Liu became a trusted general of Dou's, and was often in charge of making surprise attacks and conducting surveillance missions. Around the new year 620, Li Shiji further suggested to Dou that they should attack Cao and Dai Prefectures (together making up about modern Heze, Shandong), then controlled by the agrarian leader Meng Haigong and nominally submitting to Zheng. Li Shiji was planning to ambush Dou as soon as he crossed the Yellow River, but Dou was delayed by Empress Cao's giving birth. Meanwhile, Li Shiji's ally Li Shanghu could not wait, and ambushed Empress Cao's brother Cao Dan , but was not able to kill Cao. Li Shiji, hearing the news, fled to Tang territory. When the Xia officials requested that Li Gai be executed, however, Dou stated, "Li Shiji was a Tang subject whom we captured, and he did not forget his former lord. He is a faithful man. What crime has his father committed?" He thus spared Li Gai. He soon defeated and killed Li Shanghu. It was described that by this point, Dou was encouraging his people to farm, and that his realm was peaceful, without banditry, and that merchants and travelers were comfortable enough to spend the night in the wilderness.

In summer 620, Dou made another attack on Li Yi, but again could not capture You Prefecture. Meanwhile, his general Wang Fubao , one of his most capable generals, was despised by other generals jealous of his talent. They therefore falsely accused him of treason, and Dou executed him. Thereafter, Dou began to suffer more and more military defeats.

In fall 620, Tang's Emperor Gaozu sought peace with Xia. Dou agreed to the peace proposal, and sent Princess Tong'an back to Tang, although he continued to hold Li Shentong. In winter 620, he made another attack on Li Yi but again failed to capture You Prefecture. Also around this time, Ashina Duojishi's brother and successor, the Chuluo Khan Ashina Qilifu planned a major assault on Tang, and as part of the plan, he requested Dou to cross the Taihang Mountains and meet him at Jin (, roughly modern Linfen, Shanxi) and Jiang (, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) Prefectures, but Ashina Qilifu soon died and did not carry out the campaign. At the same time, Dou also executed Song, who often gave Dou honest and valid criticism, after false accusations, and it was said that thereafter no one dared to criticise Dou further, and that Dou's governance began to suffer because of it.

In spring 621, Dou defeated Meng Haigong and captured him, keeping him as a general.

Defeat and death

Meanwhile, around the same time, the Tang general Li Shimin (Emperor Gaozu's son) was leading a major attack on Zheng's capital Luoyang. Wang Shichong, unable to fend off the attack by himself, sought aid from Dou Jiande, even though Xia and Zheng had previously had a poor relationship. Dou's official Liu Bin suggested that he aid Zheng, reasoning that if Tang destroyed Zheng, Xia would be under Tang's threat thereafter—and that if he were victorious, he could then consider seizing Zheng territory. Dou agreed and sent messengers to Wang, promising support, while sending his official Li Dashi to Li Shimin, requesting that he end his campaign against Luoyang. Li Shimin, however, detained Li Dashi and did not respond.

Dou then merged the troops from Meng Haigong and Xu Yuanlang (whom he had defeated earlier as well) and headed from Meng's headquarters at Cao Prefecture (in modern Heze as well) toward Luoyang, joining forces with the Zheng general Guo Shiheng , and he defeated several cities held by Tang. He notified Wang that the Xia forces were on the way, and also wrote Li Shimin to again request Li Shimin to withdraw and return the seized land to Zheng. When Li Shimin discussed this proposal with his generals, most believed that they should avoid Dou, but Guo Xiaoke disagreed, believing that this was a good chance to destroy both Wang and Dou. He suggested for Li Shimin to proceed to Hulao Pass, east of Luoyang, and defend it against the coming Dou attack. Li Shimin agreed. He left his brother Li Yuanji and the general Qutu Tong at Luoyang, continuing the siege, while proceeding to Hulao himself. Wang saw Li Shimin's troop movement, but not sure what Li Shimin was intending to do, took no action.

Li Shimin's forces quickly engaged some of Dou's forward forces, and Tang forces initially prevailed. Li Shimin then wrote to Dou, trying to persuade him to end his attempt to save Wang, but Dou persisted and proceeded to Hulao himself. The armies then stalemated at Hulao. Dou's strategist Ling Jing suggested that instead of heading to Zheng's capital Luoyang, which Li was sieging, that he attack Tang's Fen (汾州, roughly modern Lüliang, Shanxi) and Jin (, roughly modern Linfen, Shanxi) Prefectures and be poised to further attack Tang's capital Chang'an in order to seize Tang territory as well as force Li to give up the siege on Luoyang. However, Wang's emissaries Wang Wan (, Wang Shichong's nephew) and Zhangsun Anshi persuaded Dou that Luoyang was about to fall and needed his aid immediately, and so Dou headed for Luoyang. When Empress Cao heard this, she tried to persuade Dou to accept Ling's plan, stating:

Dou, however, responded:

On one day in summer 621, Dou launched an all-out attack on Hulao, but Li Shimin, wanting to wear him out, declined his challenge, and later during the day, after the Xia soldiers had become tired, Li Shimin launched his counterattack. The Xia forces panicked and collapsed. Dou was wounded by a spear, but still fled, but when he reached the Yellow River, intending to cross, he suddenly fell off his horse. The Tang generals Bai Shirang and Yang Wuwei , who were chasing him, captured him and took him back to Li Shimin. Li Shimin rebuked him, "I was only attacking Wang Shichong. What have I done to you that you come out of your own realm and to interfere with me?" Dou responded sarcastically, "If I did not come, I would have required you to extend your campaign." Empress Cao and the Xia official Qi Shanshing fled back to Ming Prefecture.

Li Shimin took Dou, Wang Wan, and Zhangsun to Luoyang and displayed them to Wang Shichong. Wang Shichong considered fighting his way out of the siege and fleeing to Xiangyang (, in modern Xiangfan, Hubei), but his generals pointed out that they needed Dou's support, and now that Dou was captured, there was little else to do. Wang Shichong therefore surrendered Luoyang to Li Shimin. The cities in both Zheng and Xia territory largely surrendered to Tang.

Li Shimin took Dou and Wang Shichong back to the capital Chang'an to present to his father Emperor Gaozu. Emperor Gaozu spared Wang Shichong, but publicly executed Dou. When Dou's generals, who had already previously surrendered or hid themselves in the countryside, heard about Dou's death, they rebelled under the leadership of Liu Heita, who publicly mourned Dou and was initially able to take back all of Xia territory, but eventually was defeated first by Li Shimin and then by Li Shimin's older brother Li Jiancheng and killed in 623.

Liu Xu, the lead editor of the Old Book of Tang who, despite his writing the work during Later Jin was writing from a Tang perspective, nevertheless commented:

In popular culture Dou Jiande is portrayed by Hong Kong actor Bobby Tsang in TVB's 1987 series The Grand Canal

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 54. New Book of Tang, vol. 85. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 181, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189.