Li Tongjie

Li Tongjie (李同捷) (died June 1, 829 ) was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty. After the death of his father Li Quanlüe (李全略) in 826, Li Tongjie tried to take over Henghai Circuit (橫海, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei), which his father had been the military governor (jiedushi) of, and he rejected a subsequent imperial edict for him to serve at a different circuit. A subsequent imperial campaign against him ensued, defeating him in 829. He surrendered and was executed by the imperial official Bo Qi (柏耆).

Background It is not known when Li Tongjie was born. His father Li Quanlüe was originally named Wang Rijian (王日簡), but in 822, soon after Wang Rijian was made the military governor of Henghai, then-reigning Emperor Muzong gave Wang Rijian the imperial surname of Li and the new personal name of Quanlüe. Li Tongjie thus must have been born with the surname of Wang as well, although it is not known whether the personal name of Tongjie was also a changed one. While Li Quanlüe served as military governor, Li Tongjie served as his deputy.

In response, however, Emperor Wenzong ordered that Wu Chongyin the military governor of nearby Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong), himself a former military governor of Henghai, be made the military governor of Henghai. To placate Li Tongjie, Emperor Wenzong made him the military governor of Yanhai Circuit (兗海, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong). Fearing that the military governor of the nearby circuits would encourage Li Tongjie to resist, Emperor Wenzong bestowed honorific titles on Shi Xiancheng the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), Li Zaiyi the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), Kang Zhimu (康志睦) the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Weifang, Shandong), and Wang Tingcou the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei).

In spring 829, Li You captured one of the Henghai prefectures, De Prefecture (德州, in modern Dezhou, Shandong), and the De garrison fled to Chengde. Li Tongjie, seeing that he was nearing defeat, sent letters to Li You, offering to surrender. Li You agreed to accept his surrender and reported this to the imperial government; he also sent his officer Wan Hong (萬洪) into Henghai's capital Cang Prefecture (滄州), to take over control of the city from Li Tongjie. Emperor Wenzong sent Bo to the front to comfort the troops, but Bo, believing that Li Tongjie might be planning treachery, instead rode into Cang Prefecture with several hundred cavalry soldiers. He found an excuse and executed Wan, and then seized Li Tongjie and his family members, beginning to escort them to Chang'an. It was said that in the aftermaths of the campaign, Henghai was covered with bones, and only about 30-40% of the population remained.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 143. New Book of Tang, vol. 213 Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 243, 244.