Li Jue

Li Jue (李珏 or 李玨) (c. 784?–852? ), courtesy name Daijia , formally Duke Zhenmu of Zanhuang , was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Wenzong and (briefly) Emperor Wenzong's brother Emperor Wuzong. He was considered one of the leaders of the Niu Faction in the Niu-Li Factional Struggles.

Background and early career Li Jue was born in 784, or possibly 785, during the reign of Emperor Dezong.

In his youth, Li Jue's family lived in Huaiyin (淮陰, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu). He lost his father early, and he was said to have served his mother with well-known filial piety. After attaining adulthood, he passed the imperial examinations, in the Mingjing class, which was not considered as prestigious as the Jinshi class. When the former chancellor Li Jiang, who was then the prefect of Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi), saw Li Jue, he stated to Li Jue that it was inappropriate for someone as talented as he to have only passed the Mingjing class, so he recommended Li Jue to enter the Jinshi examinations, and Li Jue passed with high scores. The military governor (Jiedushi) of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), Wu Chongyin, subsequently invited Li Jue to serve on his staff. After Li Jue later passed a special examination for those making good rulings, he was made the sheriff of Weinan County (渭南, in modern Weinan). He was eventually made You Shiyi , a low-level advisory official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng). That year, shortly after Emperor Muzong ended his mourning period for his father, he wanted to hold a grand feast in honor of the great generals Li Guangyan and Li Su. Li Jue, believing this to be inappropriate so soon after Emperor Xianzong's death, submitted a petition jointly with his colleagues Yuwen Ding , Wen Yu , Wei Guan , and Feng Yao , urging against it. It was said that while Emperor Muzong did not accept their advice, he treated them with kindness. As Li Jue's repeated advice was not accepted, he left the capital Chang'an to serve as the magistrate of Xiagui County (下邽, in modern Weinan). Later, during the reign of Emperor Muzong's son Emperor Jingzong of Tang, when the former chancellor Niu Sengru served as the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan, Hubei), he invited Li Jue to serve as his secretary.

During Emperor Wenzong's reign

Before chancellorship At some point, probably early during the reign of Emperor Jingzong's younger brother Emperor Wenzong, Li Jue was recalled to Chang'an to serve as a low-level imperial censor with the title of Dianzhong Shiyushi . The chancellor Wei Chuhou, impressed with him, stated, "He is someone who is capable of cleaning up the government halls. Why have him just serve as someone who attacks?" Li Jue was subsequently made Libu Yuanwailang , a low-level official at the ministry of rites (禮部, Libu).

In 836 — after Zheng and another close associate of Emperor Wenzong's, Li Xun, had been killed after failing in a plot that they hatched with Emperor Wenzong to slaughter the powerful eunuchs

Chancellorship Immediately, Li Jue's chancellor colleague Chen Yixing was said to despise Yang Sifu and offered to resign, but Chen's request to resign was not accepted by Emperor Wenzong. Further, as Yang advocated for Li Zongmin, who had been exiled, to be moved closer to the capital, and Chen and another chancellor, Zheng Tan, both opposed. It was said that from this point, Yang and Li Jue were often in a factional struggle against Chen and Zheng, causing Emperor Wenzong to be unable to rule on their proposals easily. Meanwhile, as Emperor Wenzong had a love of poetry, he considered establishing imperial scholar positions dedicated to the study of poetry, but Li Jue opposed, pointing out that the popular poetry at the time were stylistically elegant but devoid of content. Emperor Wenzong thus did not carry out his original idea. In 848, Li Jue was recalled to Chang'an to serve as the minister of census (戶部尚書, Hubu Shangshu). He subsequently served stints as the military governor of Heyang Circuit and minister of civil service affairs (吏部尚書, Libu Shangshu), before eventually serving as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu). He was also created the Duke of Zanhuang. He died in 852, or possibly 853, and was given posthumous honors.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 173. New Book of Tang, vol. 182. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 241, 245, 246, 248.