Liu Shouwen

Liu Shouwen (died 910) was a warlord who ruled Yichang Circuit (義昌, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) as its military governor (jiedushi) late in the Chinese Tang dynasty and early during Tang's succeeding Later Liang state. He was a son of Liu Rengong the military governor of the larger Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing) and followed his father's orders. After his father was overthrown and put under house arrest by his younger brother Liu Shouguang, he tried to attack Liu Shouguang, but was captured in battle and subsequently killed by his brother.

Background It is not known when Liu Shouwen was born. His father Liu Rengong was a Lulong Circuit officer who took over the circuit with the military support of the major warlord Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) in 895, but then turned against Li in 897 and became an independent warlord. Liu Shouwen appeared to be the oldest son, and it is known that he was older than his brother Liu Shouguang, and that he had a sister who married the Lulong officer Dan Keji .

As military governor of Yichang

During Tang In 899, Liu Rengong launched his plan with 100,000 soldiers from Lulong and Yichang Circuits, heading first toward Bei Prefecture (貝州, in modern Xingtai, Hebei), which belonged to Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei). He captured Bei Prefecture and slaughtered its people, and then headed toward Weibo's capital Wei Prefecture . Weibo's military governor Luo Shaowei sought aid from Xuanwu's military governor Zhu Quanzhong, and Zhu sent his generals Li Si'an and Zhang Cunjing to aid Luo. Liu Rengong made Liu Shouwen and Dan Keji his forward commanders, stating to Liu Shouwen, "You are 10 times as brave as Li Si'an. You should first capture him, and then capture Luo Shaowei." Liu Shouwen and Dan subsequently engaged Li, but were ambushed in a trap set by Li and his subordinate Yuan Xiangxian. 30,000 Lulong soldiers were killed, as was Dan; Liu Shouwen barely escaped. Subsequently, a joint counterattack by Xuanwu and Weibo forces further crushed Liu Rengong's main force, and Liu Rengong and Liu Shouwen fled back to their own territory.

In 906, Luo, who was fearful of the traditional power that the Weibo headquarter guard corps had in the circuit, slaughtered them with Zhu's support. The other troops were shocked by Luo's actions, and some of the soldiers rebelled under the leadership of the officer Shi Renyu , who took over Gaotang (高唐, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong) and claimed to be acting military governor. He sought aid from Hedong and Yichang. In response, Liu Shouwen attacked Weibo's Bei and Ji (冀州, in modern Hengshui, Hebei) Prefectures. When Zhu sent Xuanwu troops to reinforce Ji's defense, however, Liu Shouwen withdrew. (Meanwhile, the Xuanwu officers Li Zhouyi and Fu Daozhao captured Gaotang and killed Shi.)

Later in the year, after helping Luo to put out the remaining rebellions in Weibo, Zhu attacked north and put Cang Prefecture under siege. Liu Rengong's attempts to aid Liu Shouwen were unsuccessful, and the city was soon running out of food, causing the people to resort to eating dirt or cannibalizing each other. When Zhu tried to persuade Liu Shouwen to surrender, Liu Shouwen responded respectfully, "I, your servant, am a son to the ruler of You Prefecture [(幽州, Lulong's capital)]. The Prince of Liang [(i.e., Zhu)] is trying to get the entire domain to submit to his righteousness. If a son rebels against his father and surrenders, why would you want such a follower?" Zhu admired him for his words, and slowed down the siege. Later in the year, after hearing news that Ding Hui the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi) had submitted to Li Keyong, Zhu prepared to withdraw from Cang Prefecture. As Zhu had had much food supply shipped to the front, he was ordering that the food supply be burned or sunk into the water. Liu Shouwen wrote Zhu:

In summer 909, Liu Shouwen launched another attack, this time after sending gifts to persuade Khitan and Tuyuhun tribes to fight on his side against Liu Shouguang as well. He engaged Liu Shouguang at the Battle of Jisu (雞蘇, in modern Tianjin), and initially defeated his brother but during the victory, Liu Shouwen declared to his troops, "Do not kill my brother!" As he did, Liu Shouguang's general Yuan Xingqin, who recognized Liu Shouwen, charged toward him and captured him, and subsequently, the battle turned into a rout against the Yichang troops. Liu Shouguang put Liu Shouwen under arrest and headed toward Cang Prefecture. Liu Shouwen's assistants Lü Yan and Sun He initially supported Liu Shouwen's son Liu Yanzuo as his successor and put up a defense, and the defense held, even after Liu Shouguang took Liu Shouwen to the city to show the troops that Liu Shouwen had been captured. The food supplies ran out, and the army resorted to slaughtering the weaker residents for food. In spring 910, Liu Yanzuo surrendered, and Liu Shouguang had his son Liu Jiwei take over Yichang. Liu Shouguang soon after had Liu Shouwen assassinated, then blamed the assassination on the killer and executed the killer.

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