Gao Pian

Gao Pian (; 821? – 24 September 887 ), courtesy name Qianli , formally the Prince of Bohai , was a Chinese military general, poet, and politician of the Tang dynasty. He initially gained renown for defeating Nanzhao incursions, but later became known for his failure to repel the rebel army under Huang Chao and his mismanagement of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), which he governed as military governor (jiedushi). A rebellion against him in 887 resulted in intense internal warfare in Huainan Circuit and his imprisonment by Qin Yan, who eventually put him to death.

Background Gao Pian might have been born in 821. He was a grandson of the famed general Gao Chongwen, who had suppressed the rebellion of Liu Pi during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. Gao Pian's father was named Gao Chengming , and served as an officer of the imperial Shence Armies. It was said that, although Gao Pian's family had served for generations in the Shence Armies, he was good at writing in his youth and often had discussions with Confucian scholars. He was also considered intelligent, and was respected by the honored officers in the Shence Armies, including the eunuchs who commanded the Shence Armies. At some point, he became the discipline officer in the Right Shence Army.

Early in the reign of Emperor Xianzong's grandson Emperor Yizong, there was a Dangxiang rebellion. Gao was put in command of 10,000 men stationed at Changwu (長武, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). It was said that few officers distinguished themselves against the Dangxiang at the time, but Gao often took opportunities to attack the Dangxiang and was often successful. He was thereafter promoted to be the prefect and defender of Qin Prefecture (秦州, in modern Tianshui, Gansu), and was again successful there.

Campaign against Dali at Annan In 863, a major attack by Dali forces captured Annan District (安南, headquartered in modern Hanoi, Vietnam). Several successive Tang operations failed to make any headway against Dali forces. In 864, the chancellor Xiahou Zi recommended Gao Pian, who had by that point become a general of the imperial guards, to take over the Tang forces then under Zhang Yin the military governor of Lingnan West Circuit (嶺南西道, headquartered in modern Nanning, Guangxi), to attack Annan. He was given the title of protector general of Annan. Gao Pian was subsequently made the military governor of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) and was said to have governed it well.

In 874, Dali launched a major attack on Tang's Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), and the Tang military governor of Xichuan, Niu Cong , was unable to resist the attack. Dali forces reached Xichuan's capital Chengdu Municipality and withdrew, but Niu, in fear of another Dali attack, gathered the people of the surrounding regions into Chengdu. Emperor Xizong ordered several circuits to send forces to aid Xichuan, while ordering Gao to head to Xichuan to handle the matters involving Dali. He subsequently made Gao the military governor of Xichuan to replace Niu,

As military governor of Zhenhai Circuit In 878, after the general Zeng Yuanyu defeated and killed the agrarian rebel Wang Xianzhi, Wang's followers scattered, and a substantial portion pillaged Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). Because many of Wang's followers were from Tianping Circuit, and Gao was respected by the Tianping people, Emperor Xizong transferred Gao to Zhenhai Circuit to serve as its military governor,

In 885, with Huang destroyed and Emperor Xizong returned to Chang'an, the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi, who controlled imperial governance and who had a dispute with Wang Chongrong the military governor of Hezhong Circuit (河中, in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), tried to remove Wang by transferring him to Tianping Circuit. Wang, believing himself to be unjustly punished (as he had contributed much to Qi's destruction and the recapture of Chang'an) refused to be transferred to Tianping. When Wang and his ally Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) subsequently defeating Tian's allies Zhu Mei the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (靜難, headquartered in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi) and Li Changfu the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), the Hezhong and Hedong forces approached Chang'an, and Emperor Xizong was forced to flee to Xingyuan (興元, in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi). With the imperial officials concluding that Tian was the root of all of the imperial government's troubles, most of them refused to follow Emperor Xizong to Xingyuan. Zhu took the opportunity to proclaim a distant relative of Emperor Xizong's, Li Yun the Prince of Xiang, regent. Zhu, hoping to turn Gao into an ally, had Li Yun issue an edict restoring the titles of overall commander and director of the monopolies to Gao. Gao, in response, submitted a petition requesting that Li Yun take the throne, and Li Yun subsequently did so.

Meanwhile, Gao was beginning to realize that Lü had, in effect, becoming the ruler of Huainan, and that he was unable to exercise his own power independently. He tried to curb Lü's powers, and Lü started planning to eventually remove Gao and replace Gao himself. Meanwhile, it was said that various signs of misfortune were appearing at Huainan's capital Yang Prefecture, but when Zhou Bao was forced to flee Run Prefecture after a mutiny against him in 887, Gao believed that the signs of misfortune pointed to Zhou, and believed himself to be safe.

In summer 887, though, with Qin Zongquan, a former Tang general who had proclaimed himself emperor at Cai Prefecture (蔡州, in modern Zhumadian, Henan), preparing an attack on Huainan Circuit, Gao prepared to defend against Qin's attack. At this time, though, Bi, who was one of the commanders commissioned to resist Qin, came to believe that Lü was going to act against him next, and therefore gathered his forces, along with fellow officers Zheng Hanzhang and Zhang Shenjian and rose against the headquarters forces then nominally under Gao but actually under Lü's control. Bi's forces put Yang Prefecture under siege. With Bi proclaiming that he would surrender himself if Gao put Lü and Zhang Shouyi to death, Gao, fearing that Lü would slaughter Bi's family and precipitate a further battle, took Bi's family under his own protection. From this point on, the battle for Yang Prefecture effectively became a three-way battle between Bi, Gao, and Lü.

With Bi's forces unable to capture Yang Prefecture quickly, however, Bi sought aid from Qin Yan, who was then the governor (觀察使, Guanchashi) of Xuanshe Circuit (宣歙, headquartered in modern Xuancheng, Anhui). Qin sent his officer Qin Chou to aid Bi. Soon, Yang Prefecture fell, and Lü fled. Bi briefly took control of the headquarters, before turning it over to Qin Yan as he promised. Qin Yan and Bi then put Gao and his family members under arrest at a Taoist temple.

Meanwhile, Lü, now outside Yang Prefecture, issued a letter in Gao's name summoning the officer Yang Xingmi, then the prefect of Lu Prefecture (廬州, in modern Hefei, Anhui) to aid him. Yang gathered the troops of Lu Prefecture and nearby He Prefecture (和州, in modern Chaohu, Anhui) and headed for Yang Prefecture. Yang and Lü joined their forces, and they were soon joined by several other officers, including Zhang Shenjian. While he could not capture Yang Prefecture quickly, Yang defeated every attack that Qin and Bi made against him, and Qin and Bi began to believe that Gao was using magic against their forces. A female sorcerer, Wang Fengxian , informed Qin that a famous person would need to die to end Yang Prefecture's misfortunes, and Qin therefore resolved to put Gao to death. On 24 September, he sent his officer Liu Kuangshi to execute Gao, Gao's sons, brothers, nephews, and their families. The bodies were thrown into a single pit.

After Yang Xingmi captured Yang Prefecture later in the year and forced Qin Yan and Bi to flee, Yang bestowed on Gao's grandnephew Gao Yu the honorary title of deputy military governor and had him be in charge of reburying Gao Pian and his family. Before Gao Pian could be reburied, however, Gao Yu himself died, and later, Gao Pian's old subordinate Guang Shiqian reburied Gao Pian.