Liu Jianfeng

Liu Jianfeng (; died May 17, 896), courtesy name Ruiduan (銳端), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang dynasty. He controlled Wu'an Circuit (武安, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan) from 894 to his death in 896.

Background It is not known when Liu Jianfeng was born, but it is known that he was from Langshan (朗山, in modern Zhumadian, Henan). At some point, he became an officer at Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan) and was stationed at Cai Prefecture (蔡州, in modern Zhumadian), which Langshan belonged to, as part of the effort to resist the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao, serving alongside his Zhongwu Circuit colleague Sun Ru, and both served under Qin Zongquan the military governor of Fengguo Circuit (奉國, headquartered at Cai Prefecture). They continued to serve under Qin after Qin had rebelled against the rule of Emperor Xizong and declared himself emperor.

Service under Sun Ru In 886, Qin Zongquan put Sun Ru in command of an army to attack Tang's Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan); Sun prevailed over the acting military governor of Heyang, Zhuge Zhongfang , and took over the circuit. Despite the victory, Zhang Ji , who also served under Sun, secretly stated to Liu Jianfeng, "Lord Qin is harsh and paranoid, and will soon be destroyed. We have to find a way to avoid this fate ourselves." Liu, who saw the wisdom in Zhang's words, befriended him. (Yang subsequently took Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuanzhou, Anhui and became its military governor.)

In spring 891, Sun launched the initial phase of an ambitious plan to first destroy Yang Xingmi and then Zhu. He took all of the army available to him and headed for Xuanshe's capital Xuan Prefecture .

Seizure of Wu'an Circuit Instead of attacking Zhennan Circuit, Liu Jianfeng's army continued to head southwest, toward Wu'an Circuit, which was then ruled by Deng Chuna. When Liu reached Liling (醴陵, in modern Zhuzhou, Hunan) in summer 894, Deng sent his subordinates Jiang Xun and Deng Jichong to defend Longhui Pass (龍回關, in modern Shaoyang, Hunan) against Liu's advance. Ma Yin advanced to the pass and sent a messenger to Jiang and Deng Jichong. The messenger persuaded Jiang and Deng Jichong that Liu's arrival was foretold by the stars and that their army would be unable to resist his. At the suggestion of the messenger, Jiang and Deng Jichong disbanded their army. Liu then had his soldiers put on the uniforms that Jiang's and Deng Jichong's army wore, and then quickly advanced to Wu'an's capital Tan Prefecture (in modern Changsha, Hunan). When they arrived there, the Tan Prefecture's defenders mistook them for Jiang's and Deng Jichong's army, and therefore took no precautions. Liu's army directly headed for the headquarters, where Deng Chuna was holding a feast. They captured Deng Chuna, and Liu executed him and claimed the title of acting military governor.

Death In winter 895, after Jiang Xun's request to be the prefect of Shao Prefecture (邵州, in modern Shaoyang) was rebuffed by Liu Jianfeng, he and Deng Jichong rose to oppose Liu. They quickly captured Shao Prefecture and tried to pressure Tan Prefecture. In spring 896, Liu sent Ma Yin to attack Jiang and Deng, and Ma had initial successes.

However, while this campaign was still going on, it was said that Liu had become arrogant and alcoholic after he took over the circuit. He also carried on an affair with the beautiful wife of his officer Chen Shan . Chen, angry, used a hammer to assassinate Liu. The soldiers initially supported Zhang Ji to succeed Liu, but Zhang declined and eventually supported Ma.

Notes and references

New Book of Tang, vol. 190. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 256, 257, 258, 259, 260.