Wang Chengzong

Wang Chengzong (died 820) was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty who served a military governor (jiedushi) of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). He, like his grandfather Wang Wujun and father Wang Shizhen before him, ruled the circuit in a de facto independent manner from the imperial government, drawing two imperial campaigns against him, both of which he withstood. After the defeat of his ally Wu Yuanji in 817, he submitted to imperial authority, and, after his death, his brother Wang Chengyuan left the circuit, ending his family's hold on Chengde.

Background It is not known when Wang Chengzong was born, although it was known that he was born before his brother Wang Chengyuan, who was born in 801. He was the oldest son of Wang Shizhen, who was then deputy military governor of Chengde under Wang Chengzong's grandfather Wang Wujun. After Wang Shizhen succeeded Wang Wujun as military governor in 801, Wang Chengzong eventually became the acting governor of Chengde's capital Heng Prefecture (恆州, in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) as well as deputy military governor of the circuit—effectively, Wang Shizhen's designated successor.

First campaign of resistance against the imperial government Wang Shizhen died in 809, and Wang Chengzong claimed the title of acting military governor. Soon thereafter, his uncle (Wang Shizhen's brother) Wang Shize , fearing imperial punishments for Wang Chengzong's claiming the title without imperial sanction, fled to territory held by the imperial government and submitted to Emperor Xianzong. Meanwhile, Emperor Xianzong considered forcibly imposing another military governor on Chengde and attacking it if Wang Chengzong refused to yield. The chancellor Pei Ji and the imperial scholar Li Jiang believed such a course of action to be imprudent, pointing out that Chengde would be difficult to conquer. The powerful eunuch Tutu Chengcui, however, advocated a campaign against Chengde, as did Lu Congshi the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi). Emperor Xianzong hesitated, and considered another course of action—making Wang Chengzong military governor, but ordering Wang to surrender two of Chengde's six prefectures, De (德州, in modern Dezhou, Shandong) and Di (棣州, in modern Binzhou, Shandong) Prefectures, to be formed into a new circuit.

Meanwhile, Wang was becoming apprehensive about the lack of imperial approval for his succession. When Emperor Xianzong sent the official Pei Wu to Chengde to comfort the soldiers, Wang offered to surrender De and Di Prefectures. After Pei returned to the Tang capital Chang'an, Emperor Xianzong issued an edict naming Wang military governor of Chengde, while forming a separate circuit, Baoxin Circuit , out of De and Di Prefectures and naming a relative of Wang's by marriage, Xue Changchao the prefect of De Prefecture, its military governor. Wang's ally Tian Ji'an the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), however, informed Wang that Xue had received the position by turning to the imperial government; in response, Wang had Xue arrested and brought back to Heng Prefecture. When Emperor Xianzong subsequently ordered Wang to allow Xue to assume his post, Wang refused, and Emperor Xianzong responded by stripping Wang of his titles and commissioning Tutu as the commander of the forces against Chengde.

Shortly after, Wu Yuanheng was assassinated—probably by assassins sent by Li—and another official who advocated for the campaign against Wu Yuanji, Pei Du, was nearly also killed. Suspicions fell on eight Chengde officers stationed at Chang'an, headed by Zhang Yan . Wang Chengzong's uncle Wang Shize himself reported that Zhang and the other Chengde officers must be responsible. The Chengde officers were arrested and interrogated by Pei Wu and the imperial censor Chen Zhongshi . Under intense interrogation, probably including torture, Zhang and the others confessed to assassinating Wu Yuanheng and were executed. In fall 815, Emperor Xianzong issued an edict declaring Wang's guilt and refusing to accept his tributes, but not declaring a campaign against Wang by this point; rather, the edict called on Wang to examine himself and repent.

By 817, the expenditures of the imperial forces in waging campaigns against Chengde and Zhangyi simultaneously were so high and the returns so low that Emperor Xianzong was reconsidering his strategy. Listening to the chancellor Li Fengji and other officials who advocated concentrating on defeating Zhangyi first, in summer 817, Emperor Xianzong ordered the circuits attacking Chengde to withdraw their forces back to their own circuits. Emperor Muzong gave Wang Chengzong posthumous honors.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 142 . New Book of Tang, vol. 211 . Zizhi Tongjian, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241.