Song Shenxi

Song Shenxi (died August 18, 833 ), courtesy name Qingchen , was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving briefly as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wenzong. He was most known for planning with Emperor Wenzong to eliminate the power of the eunuchs from the court but then being falsely implicated in a plot to overthrow Emperor Wenzong and replace the emperor with Emperor Wenzong's brother Li Cou, the Prince of Zhang. As a result, Song was exiled and died in exile.

Background It is not known when Song Shenxi was born, and, while his family was listed as "the Songs of Guangping" (廣平, in modern Handan, Hebei) in the table of the chancellors' family trees in the New Book of Tang, Song's biography in the New Book of Tang indicated that his family's origin had been lost to history. It is known that his grandfather was named Song Su and that his father was named Song Shuye . he invited Song to serve as a secretary, and it was said that thereafter Song successively served under regional governors. Song Shenxi was made Hubu Langzhong , a supervisory official at the ministry of census (戶部, Hubu), and was also put in charge of drafting edicts. In 828, he was made Zhongshu Sheren , a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng), as well as full imperial scholar (翰林學士, Hanlin Xueshi). It was said that because of Song's reputation, there was much public expectation for him as a chancellor, but he was not actually all that capable in his acts. No one dared to openly state that Song was falsely accused, although the mayor of Jingzhao, Cui Guan , and the chief judge of the supreme court Wang Zhengya both submitted petitions that the arrested individuals be transferred to the jurisdiction of the proper governmental authorities rather than be held inside the palace — and it was said that it was because of this that the situation did not escalate. Meanwhile, under interrogation, Yan stated that Song had sent Wang Shiwen to meet with Li Cou to form the plot.

Two days later, Emperor Wenzong summoned the senior officials, including the heads of the various key agencies of the imperial government, to inquire them as to what they opined. A number of advisory officials, including Cui Xuanliang , Li Guyan, Wang Zhi , Lu Jun , Shu Yuanbao , Jiang Xi , Pei Xiu , and Wei Wen , begged Emperor Wenzong to reopen the discussions with chancellors and move the entire investigations to the proper governmental authorities. Emperor Wenzong told them that he had already discussed with the high-level officials and ordered them to withdraw. Cui bowed and wept, stating, "One should be careful even when executing a commoner, and even more care should be paid when killing a chancellor." Emperor Wenzong's anger somewhat subsided, and he summoned the chancellors again. Niu then stated, "The highest that a subject can reach is chancellor, and Song Shenxi is already a chancellor. If the accusations were true, he could still only be chancellor, and why would he pursue that? Surely that was not what he was planning." Meanwhile, Zheng, fearing that the officials would win out and that a second round of investigations would show the truth, suggested to Wang Shoucheng that no executions be carried out, and instead Song should be exiled.

The next day, Li Cou was demoted in title to be the Duke of Chao County, while Song was exiled to be the military advisor to the prefect of Kai Prefecture (開州, in modern Chongqing). It was said that Song, while chancellor, was refusing bribes from all around the empire, and when his mansion was seized and searched, all that were found were documents relating to his receiving and rejecting the bribes that were sent to him, and there was much mourning over his exile.

Song would never be allowed to return to Chang'an while alive, and he died in 833 while still serving as Kai Prefecture. Emperor Wenzong ordered that his body be allowed to be returned to Chang'an for burial. In 836 — after a plot that Emperor Wenzong had with Zheng Zhu (who had, by that point, turned against the eunuchs) and Li Xun to slaughter the eunuchs (known as the Ganlu Incident) failed, leading to Zheng's and Li Xun's deaths — Song's reputation and offices were posthumously restored, and he was given further posthumous honors. His son Song Shenwei was made a county sheriff.

Family According to New Book of Tang, volume 75, Song Shenwei was the second son of Shenxi. The eldest son of Shenxi was named Song Qiu and had a son named Song Xuan with the courtesy name Taowen .

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 167. New Book of Tang, vol. 152. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 243, 244.