Wei Zhaodu

Wei Zhaodu (韋昭度) (died June 4, 895 ), courtesy name Zhengji (正紀), formally the Duke of Qi (岐公), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xizong and Emperor Xizong's brother Emperor Zhaozong. With imperial power dwindling, Wei's fellow chancellor Cui Zhaowei, who associated with the warlords Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han Jian, encouraged Li, Wang, and Han to march on the capital Chang'an. Once the three warlords arrived there, they put Wei and fellow chancellor Li Xi to death.

Background It is not known when Wei Zhaodu was born. He was from Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the Tang dynasty capital Chang'an). His family was not known to be prominent, as it had no known connections to the families of other chancellors named Wei, and his grandfather Wei Shou and father Wei Pang were not listed with any offices. Wei Zhaodu passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class in 867, during the reign of Emperor Yizong,

During Emperor Xizong's reign In the middle of the Qianfu era (874-879) of Emperor Yizong's son and successor Emperor Xizong, Wei Zhaodu went through a series of promotions — becoming a supervisory official at one of the ministries at the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng), then becoming in charge of drafting edicts and being made Zhongshu Sheren , a mid-level official at the legislative bureau (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng). Wei followed Emperor Xizong there, and once they arrived in Chengdu he was made deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, Bingbu Shilang) as well as chief imperial scholar (翰林學士承旨, Hanlin Xueshi Chengzhi). Subsequently, when the imperial guards battled Li Changfu, it was said that one of the reasons why the imperial guard soldiers were inspired was that Wei left his family members in the imperial guard camp to show his faith in their ability to defeat Li Changfu. Subsequently, the imperial guards, commanded by Li Maozhen, was able to defeat Li Changfu, who was then killed by his own subordinate Xue Zhichou . After Li Changfu's defeat, Emperor Xizong gave Wei the honorific title of Taibao (太保, one of the Three Excellencies) and also gave him the greater chancellor designation of Shizhong (侍中, head of the examination bureau (門下省, Menxia Sheng)). Yet later, after Emperor Xizong returned to Chang'an, he made Wei Zhongshu Ling (中書令, the head of the legislative bureau).

During Emperor Zhaozong's reign Emperor Xizong died shortly after arriving in Chang'an in spring 888, and was succeeded by his younger brother Emperor Zhaozong. During Emperor Zhaozong's period of mourning, Wei Zhaodu served as regent.

However, by 891, even though Chengdu was in desperate straits, with serious famine inside the city, Wei was still unable to capture the city. With the imperial government having just been crushed in a failed attempt to defeat Li Keyong, it was running out of resources in the campaign against Chen. In spring 891, therefore, Emperor Zhaozong ordered that Chen's titles be restored, and that Gu and Wang return to their own circuits (Wang's having been made the military governor of Yongping Circuit (永平, headquartered in modern Chengdu as well). Wang, however, did not want to give up the campaign against Chen, and initially tried to persuade Wei to maintain the campaign. However, Wang then decided to intimidate Wei into returning to Chang'an so that he could take over the campaign against Chen himself. He thus provoked Gu's officers into killing Wei's subordinate Luo Bao under accusations that Luo was corrupt, to intimidate Wei. Wei, in fear, claimed to be ill and transferred his command to Wang, returning to Chang'an by himself. Upon his return to Chang'an, he was made the defender of the eastern capital Luoyang, no longer chancellor. (Wang was subsequently able to force Chen to surrender and seize Xichuan to be his own domain.)

However, Wang was not placated, particularly because Wei's chancellor colleague Cui Zhaowei was secretly associating with Li Maozhen and Wang, and informing, through his cousin Cui Ting , who was Wang's deputy military governor, that it was Wei who opposed his commission as Shangshu Ling. In spring 895, Wang and Li Maozhen thus submitted petitions accusing Wei of being incompetent and accusing another chancellor that Cui also resented, Li Xi, of being wicked. Emperor Zhaozong was forced to remove Li Xi, but not even that placated Wang and Li Maozhen. In fear, Wei requested retirement, and was allowed to retire as Taifu (太傅, the emperor's teacher). Nevertheless, in summer 895, Li Maozhen and Wang, along with their colleague Han Jian, marched on Chang'an and demanded Wei's and Li Xi's deaths. Emperor Zhaozong, even under duress, initially would not approve, but Wang nevertheless seized Wei and Li Xi and executed them. After Li Keyong defeated Wang later in the year, and Wang was killed in flight, Emperor Zhaozong ordered Wei's titles restored, that he be properly buried, and that he be given posthumous honors.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 179. New Book of Tang, vol. 185. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 254, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260.