Zhang Chengye

Zhang Chengye (846 – November 23, 922 ), né Kang (康), courtesy name Jiyuan (繼元), posthumous name Zhengxian (正憲), was a Chinese government official and eunuch. He originally served the Tang dynasty, but later became an important advisor to Former Jin princes Li Keyong and his successor Li Cunxu, who would later establish the Later Tang dynasty.

Background Zhang Chengye was born in 846, the year that Emperor Xuānzong of Tang took the throne. He was originally surnamed Kang, although it was not known whether he then carried the name of Chengye. He was from Tong Prefecture (同州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi).

Service during Tang During the Guangqi era (885–888) of Emperor Xuānzong's grandson Emperor Xizong, Zhang Chengye became the overseer of Heyang Base (郃陽鎮, in modern Weinan), He was later recalled to the palace to be an attending eunuch. By 902, Fengxiang was in desperate straits, with the people resorting to cannibalism. Han had Emperor Zhaozong issue an edict calling for the regional governors to all attack Zhu, and Zhang, as the eunuch monitor of Hedong, advocated that Li Keyong launch an army to aid Fengxiang. Li Keyong agreed, but shortly after he launched his army in spring 903 to attack Jin Prefecture (晉州, in modern Linfen, Shanxi), he heard that Li Maozhen had already capitulated and turned the emperor over to Zhu, so he withdrew. Meanwhile, shortly after Li Maozhen turned over the emperor, Emperor Zhaozong, under the advocacy of Cui and Zhu, issued an edict ordering a general slaughter of all eunuchs. Li Keyong did not want to directly disobey the edict, but wanted to save Zhang, so he hid Zhang at Hulü Temple , while executing a condemned criminal in his stead. In 904, after Zhu had forcibly moved Emperor Zhaozong to the eastern capital Luoyang and then assassinated Emperor Zhaozong, Li Keyong publicly restored Zhang as the eunuch monitor.

Service during Jin In 907, Zhu Quanzhong forced Emperor Zhaozong’s successor Emperor Ai of Tang to yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. Li Keyong, who then carried the Tang-bestowed title of Prince of Jin, refused to recognize the Later Liang emperor and continued to use the Tang era name of Tianyou, but became effectively the sovereign of his own state of Jin. (Li Maozhen, carrying the title of Prince of Qi, and Yang Wo, carrying the title of Prince of Hongnong (later known as Wu), were two other major regional warlords who also continued to use the Tang era name of Tianyou; another warlord, Wang Jian the Prince of Shu, soon claimed imperial title himself, establishing Former Shu.) Zhang Chengye, still using Tang-bestowed titles as well, continued to serve Li Keyong.

In spring 908, Li Keyong became gravely ill. He entrusted his son and heir Li Cunxu to his brother Li Kening, Zhang, officers Li Cunzhang (an adoptive son of Li Keyong's) and Wu Gong , and secretary Lu Zhi , and then died. They supported Li Cunxu to succeed Li Keyong as the Prince of Jin and the military governor of Hedong. However, soon thereafter, Li Keyong's adoptive son Li Cunhao encouraged Li Kening, who was having policy disagreements with Zhang and Li Cunzhang, to seize the position for himself, and Li Kening agreed, planning to seize Li Cunxu and kill Zhang and Li Cunzhang, and then submit to Later Liang. When Li Cunxu found this out, he conferred with Zhang, Li Cunzhang, Wu, Li Cunjing (李存敬, another adoptive son of Li Keyong's), and Zhu Shouyin and formulated a plan to counter it. They preemptively arrested and executed Li Kening and Li Cunhao, affirming Li Cunxu's hold on the throne. (At Zhang's suggestion, Li Cunxu even sent an emissary to congratulate Liu, in order to get him to believe that the Jin prince was fearful of him so that he would be unprepared for the coming Jin attack.)

In spring 912, the Jin attack against Yan got underway, with Zhou commanding the Jin army in a joint operation with the Zhao general Wang Deming (Wang Rong's adoptive son) and the Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei) army commanded by Cheng Yan (whose military governor, Wang Chuzhi, was also a Jin ally). Zhou won victory after victory against Yan, and by spring 913 was putting Yan's capital You Prefecture (幽州, in modern Beijing) under siege after capturing nearly every other Yan city. When Li Cunxu sent Zhang to the front to consult with Zhou on the next step, Liu sent an emissary to Zhang, offering to surrender, but Zhang, citing his past record of turning against his own promises, refused to accept his surrender. After Zhang returned to Li Cunxu's headquarters, Li Cunxu left Zhang in charge there and himself headed for You Prefecture — where he initially agreed to accept Liu's surrender, offering to spare Liu's life, but after Liu reneged, renewed the siege. You Prefecture fell, and Liu, after initially fleeing, was captured, ending Yan and allowing Jin to seize its territory.

Over the years, during Li Cunxu's campaigns, Zhang was in charge of governing the people and overseeing the financial welfare of the state. It was said that he encouraged farming and frugality. He also was in charge of purchasing and manufacturing weapons, acquiring horses, collecting taxes, and enforcing laws fairly. When Li Cunxu wanted to spend money frivolously for gambling or games, he would refuse to approve the expenditures — leading to a confrontation in 917 during a feast where, Li Cunxu, then drunk, threatened to kill Zhang. When Li Cunxu's mother Lady Dowager Cao heard what was happening, she immediately sent a messenger to summon Li Cunxu to her mansion; by this point, Li Cunxu was also regretting what he was doing, and tried to apologize to Zhang, but Zhang would initially not accept the apology. After Li Cunxu went to see Lady Dowager Cao, she sent a messenger to apologize to Zhang, stating, "My young son has offended the Tejin [(特進, the Tang title that Zhang carried)]. I have already whipped him for this offense." The next day, she took Li Cunxu to see Zhang to apologize to him. Zhang continued to serve Li Cunxu. However, when Li Cunxu subsequently, in the name of the Tang emperor, bestow the greater titles of Kaifu Yitong Sansi , general of the imperial guards, and the Duke of Yan on Zhang, Zhang refused those titles, and for the rest of his life continued to use only titles actually granted to him during Tang. It was said that it was through Zhang's efforts that Lu Zhi, who several times offended Li Cunxu's brothers, was not punished.

By 921, with repeated victories over Later Liang (then ruled by Emperor Taizu's son and successor Zhu Zhen) and with his having discovered the Tang imperial seal — which had been lost decades earlier during Huang Chao's rebellion — Li Cunxu began considering claiming imperial title. When Zhang heard this, he went from Jin's capital Taiyuan Municipality to Li Cunxu's then-location at Wei Prefecture (魏州, in modern Handan, Hebei) to try to dissuade him, pointing out that Jin's public appeal had been for the reestablishment of Tang, and that the appeal would be lost if Li Cunxu himself took the throne:

Li Cunxu continued to state that it was due to the generals' desires that he was considering taking the throne. Zhang, seeing that it was impossible to stop, cried bitterly and returned to Taiyuan. He grew ill there. He died in winter 922. Lady Dowager Cao visited his mansion and wore mourning clothes as if she were a daughter. After Li Cunxu eventually claimed imperial title to establish Later Tang, he posthumously honored Zhang and gave him the posthumous name Zhenxian (貞憲, honest and fair). Zhang Chengye is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.

Notes and references

History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 72. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 38. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 260, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271.