Du Hongjian

Du Hongjian (; 709 – December 13, 769 ), courtesy name Zhisun , formally Duke Wenxian of Wei , 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.

Background 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 , 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 and grandfather Du Chengzhi were low level officials. His father Du Pengju 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. 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 .

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 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.

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 , a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government

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). 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).

In 766, after Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu) was thrown into a state of civil war after the military governor Guo Ying'ai was killed by the military officer Cui Gan and several other military officers—Bo Maolin , Yang Zilin , and Li Changkui —rose to resist Cui, Emperor Daizong made Du the military governor of Xichuan as well as the deputy supreme commander of the region, to try to calm the circuit. On the way, though, Du heard that the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi), Zhang Xiancheng , had been defeated by Cui, and was afraid to advance. He sent messengers to make overtures to Cui, who acted as respectfully as possible and offered bribes to Du. When Du arrived at Chengdu, Cui treated him with the utmost formal respect but did not permit him any actual control over the governance. In response, Du repeatedly recommended to Emperor Daizong to let Cui become military governor while placating Bo, Yang, and Li Changkui by making them prefects of their prefectures. Emperor Daizong reluctantly agreed, although he initially made Cui only the mayor of Chengdu Municipality and the military commander, under Du. In 767, Du requested to return to Chang'an. Emperor Daizong agreed, and he made Cui the military governor and let Du resume his service as chancellor and made Cui the military governor—an action for which the people of the time criticized Du for, believing that he was encouraging rebellion. Upon his return to Chang'an, Du, a devout Buddhist, offered thanks to the Buddha by holding a vegetarian feast for over 1,000 Buddhist monks. Meanwhile, it was said that because Du and his chancellor colleagues Yuan and Wang Jin were all devout Buddhists, Emperor Daizong and the other officials were all influenced by them to become devout Buddhists as well.

In 769, Emperor Daizong wanted to put Du in charge of Luoyang, to replace Wang. Du declined, citing an illness, and was allowed not to go to Luoyang. to the south and defeat Zhang Xiancheng to the north. He needed to be dealt with in finesse, not by power. That Cui eventually paid allegiance to the empire was indeed by Du's strategy; if Du had attacked him, he would have been a serious bandit to deal with. However, his worship of the Buddha to seek good fortune and his associations with others to foster his power are no ways for a gentleman to act.