Luo Zhouhan

Luo Zhouhan , formally the Duke of Changsha , was a teenage general of the Chinese state Later Liang of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He inherited Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) from his grandfather Luo Hongxin and father Luo Shaowei, who controlled Tianxiong in a semi-independent manner late in Later Liang's predecessor state Tang dynasty as military governor (Jiedushi). Luo Zhouhan, however, was in a position of weakness due to his young age after inheriting the circuit, and soon, the Later Liang general Yang Shihou, who had coveted Tianxiong, forcibly seized it. Luo was transferred to Xuanyi Circuit (宣義, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan) and died there shortly after.

Background It is not known which year Luo Zhouhan was born — although, as referred to below, he died some time from 913 to 915 at the age of 13, so he must have been born sometime between 900 and 902. His grandfather Luo Hongxin had taken over Tianxiong Circuit, then also known as Weibo Circuit , late in the Tang dynasty after a successful rebellion against then-ruling military governor Le Yanzhen. His father Luo Shaowei would later inherit the circuit and become a reliable ally of the major warlord Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered, in modern Kaifeng, Henan), allowing the Luo family to safely hold Tianxiong after Zhu seized the Tang throne and started a new Later Liang as its Emperor Taizu. Luo Zhouhan had one older brother, Luo Tinggui , who died early, and two younger brothers, Luo Zhoujing

Emperor Taizu was touched, and, while appreciative of Luo's offer, commissioned Luo Zhouhan as the deputy military governor and put Luo Zhouhan in temporary command, stating to Luo Shaowei's messenger: Concerned that Luo Zhouhan was too young and his officers too independent to control against an attack by Later Liang's northern rival Jin, Emperor Taizu temporarily assigned the official Li Zhen to Tianxiong as its deputy military governor and also sent the officer Du Tingyin to Tianxiong's capital Wei Prefecture to assist Luo and Li in defending the city. However, he must die in 914, as the epitaph of his younger brother Luo Zhoujing indicted.

Notes and references

History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 14. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 39. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 267, 268.