Zhuge Shuang

Zhuge Shuang (d. 886) was a general of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who controlled Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan) for some time and who vacillated between allegiance to Tang and to the Qi state of the agrarian rebel Huang Chao.

Background and early career It is not known when Zhuge Shuang was born, but it is known that he was from Bochang (博昌, in modern Binzhou, Shandong). He was a local militia soldier at one point and served at his home county of Bochang, but after he was caned by the county magistrate for reasons lost to history, he deserted and became a beggar. When Pang Xun rebelled and took over Xu Prefecture (徐州, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu) in 868, Zhuge joined his army and became a low-level officer. When the imperial troops subsequently attacked Pang and Pang's strength was fading, Zhuge took some 100 soldiers and surrendered to the imperial army, along with fellow officer Yang Qun . He was eventually made the defender of Ru Prefecture (汝州, in modern Pingdingshan, Henan).

In late 880, with the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao approaching Chang'an, Emperor Xizong ordered the military governor of Hedong, Zheng Congdang, to give his troops to Zhuge and Zhu Mei, to have them take them to Chang'an to help stop the Huang attack, but it did not appear that Zhuge and Zhu had the opportunity to do so before Chang'an fell to Huang, forcing Emperor Xizong to flee to Chengdu. Huang declared himself the emperor of a new state of Qi. Zhuge subsequently camped his troops at the site of modern Xi'an, near Chang'an, opposing those of Huang's general Zhu Wen. Huang had Zhu Wen send overtures to Zhuge to persuade Zhuge to submit to Qi, and Zhuge subsequently did.

Takeover of Heyang Circuit After Zhuge Shuang submitted to Qi, Huang Chao commissioned him the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan) and sent him to Heyang to try to take it over. The Tang-commissioned military governor Luo Yuangao tried to resist him, but Luo's soldiers deserted Luo and surrendered to Zhuge, and Luo was forced to abandon Heyang and flee to Emperor Xizong. Zhuge thus took over Heyang. In spring 881, however, he submitted a petition to Emperor Xizong, offering to resubmit to Tang. Emperor Xizong accepted and commissioned him the military governor of Heyang.

Campaign against Han Jian and aftermaths In fall 882, Han Jian the military governor of nearby Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), who had ambitions of seizing nearby circuits' territory, attacked Heyang, defeating Zhuge Shuang at Xiuwu (修武, in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), and Zhuge abandoned Heyang and fled. Han subsequently left an army commanded by his officer Zhao Wenbian at Heyang to defend it, while he himself headed east and attacked Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong).

It was said that while Zhuge rose from the ranks of rebels, his rulings were logical, and the territory he governed had clear laws that were easy to follow, and therefore the people supported him.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 182. New Book of Tang, vol. 187. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 253, 254, 255, 256.