Gao Conghui

Gao Conghui (891 – December 1, 948), might have been born with or used the name Zhu Conghui , also known by his posthumous name as the Prince Wenxian of Nanping , courtesy name Zunsheng , was a ruler of Jingnan during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China, reigning from 929 to 948.

Background Gao Conghui was born in 891, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. Gao Conghui's mother was a Lady Zhang; it was not clearly stated in the historical accounts whether she was Gao Jichang's wife or concubine, although it was said that Gao Jichang favored her. He was Gao Jichang's oldest son. At some point, either during his service at the Later Liang capital or after his return to Jingnan, Gao Conghui successively carried the title of prefect of Hao Prefecture (濠州, in modern Chuzhou, Anhui—then under control of Wu) and prefect of Gui Prefecture (歸州, in modern Yichang, Hubei, one of the Jingnan prefectures).

In 926—by which time Former Shu had fallen to Later Tang, but Later Tang itself was then overrun with mutinies—Li Cunxu was killed in a mutiny at Luoyang, and his adoptive brother Li Siyuan succeeded him as emperor. Gao Jixing requested that Kui, Zhong, and Wan become part of his territory, and Li Siyuan initially agreed. However, when the imperial government would not agree to Gao's demand that he himself be allowed to commission those prefects without imperial agreement, Gao seized Kui by force—effectively rebelling against the Later Tang imperial government. Gao Conghui was said to have repeatedly urged Gao Jixing against rebelling against Later Tang, but Gao Jixing did not listen.

In 931, Li Siyuan gave Gao the honorary chancellor title Zhongshu Ling . In 932, he created Gao the Prince of Bohai. —the same title that Gao Jixing had held previously.

Gao initially did not realize the wisdom of Sun's words, but after some time, he did. He stated to Liang, "After I thought about my daily living, I believe that I am already excessive." He thus ended using luxurious items, and spent his time enjoying reading classical literature. He also was merciful in punishments and did not impose great tax burdens, so his people were comforted. Liang, believing that the state was in good hands, sought to retire, and after Gao could not dissuade him from the idea, allowed him to, but built a grand mansion for him on an island and would occasionally visited him to give him many gifts. Liang, in retirement, also still occasionally visited him and gave him advice. After Liang's retirement, he entrusted the affairs of the state to Sun. Xu eventually did so, in 937, ending Wu and establishing Southern Tang, and thereafter changing his name to Li Bian, as Li was his original family name. Subsequently, Gao requested to establish a liaison office at Southern Tang's capital Jinling, and Li Bian agreed. Gao Xingzhou was subsequently able to defeat An, and An committed suicide. After An's defeat, Gao requested Shi's nephew and successor Shi Chonggui that Later Jin gave him Ying Prefecture (郢州, in modern Jingmen, Hubei); Shi Chonggui declined. Emperor Taizong claimed to also be the emperor of China, and, initially, the Later Jin regional governors submitted to him. Gao Conghui also did so, and offered tributes to him. At the same time, though, Gao also sent emissaries to one of the holdouts, Liu Zhiyuan the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), urging Liu to claim imperial title. He notified Gao of this. Gao sent an emissary to congratulate the new emperor, and at the same time asked him to fulfill his promise of giving Gao Ying Prefecture. Liu refused, and subsequently, when Liu sent an emissary to bestow honors on Gao, Gao refused to accept the honors. When the Later Han general Du Chongwei later rebelled against Liu at Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), Gao took the opportunity to attack Shannan East Circuit, but was repelled by its military governor An Shenqi . He then attacked Ying, but was repelled by its prefect Yin Shi . He thereafter cut off his relationship with Later Han, and instead submitted as a vassal to both Southern Tang and Later Shu.

Traditional histories used this incident to comment on the peculiar pattern of conduct that both Gao Conghui and his father Gao Jixing had demonstrated throughout Jingnan's existence. As put by the Song dynasty historian Ouyang Xiu in his New History of the Five Dynasties:

However, cutting off relations with Later Han meant that the merchants and the travelers from Later Han stopped visiting Jingnan, which caused economic stress on the small state. In 948, Gao gave in and petitioned Liu's son and successor Liu Chengyou to again submit to Later Han. Liu Chengyou sent an emissary to comfort him.

In late 948, Gao fell ill, and had his son and deputy military governor Gao Baorong take over the affairs of the state. He died shortly after.

Notes and references

History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 133. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 69. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 273, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 282, 286, 287, 288.