He Hongjing

He Hongjing (; – ), né He Chongshun , formally the Duke of Chu , was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who ruled Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) as its military governor (jiedushi) in de facto independence from the imperial government.

Background It is not completely clear when He Chongshun was born, but it appeared that he was born in either 806 or 807.

In 840, He Jintao died, and the soldiers supported He Chongshun to serve as acting military governor. Initially, the imperial government had Li Zhifang the military governor of Hezhong and Liu Yue the military governor of Yichang Circuit (義昌, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) write He Chongshun, encouraging him to submit control of Weibo to the imperial government and go to the capital Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Wenzong's brother and successor Emperor Wuzong, but after He Chongshun refused to follow their suggestions, relented, as Emperor Wuzong, new to the throne, did not want to fight a campaign against Weibo. Emperor Wuzong thereafter made his granduncle Li Wan the Prince of Fu the nominal military governor of Weibo while commissioning He Chongshun the deputy military governor. In 841, Emperor Wuzong made He Chongshun the military governor.

Also in 843, Liu Congjian the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi) died, and his adopted son (and biological nephew) Liu Zhen took control of Zhaoyi without imperial sanction. The lead chancellor Li Deyu, believing that He Hongjing and fellow de facto independent military governor Wang Yuankui, of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), could be persuaded to not support Liu Zhen and instead fight for the imperial cause, suggested that Emperor Wuzong issue them an edict that pointed out that the imperial government had been allowing Weibo and Chengde to be in de facto independence, but that Zhaoyi's situation was different, implicitly guaranteeing continued imperial noninterference if they acted against Zhaoyi. It was said that when He Hongjing and Wang Yuankui received the edict, they, in apprehension, agreed. Subsequently, Emperor Wuzong put Wang and He Hongjing in charge of capturing the three Zhaoyi prefectures east of the Taihang Mountains. Specifically, He Hongjing was ordered to attack Ming Prefecture (洺州, in modern Handan).

After the Zhaoyi campaign In 859, by which time Emperor Wuzong's cousin Emperor Yizong was emperor, Emperor Yizong bestowed the honorary title of Zhongshu Ling on He Hongjing. Emperor Yizong also created him the Duke of Chu.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 181 New Book of Tang, vol. 210. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 246, 247, 248, 249, 250.