Duan Shou Hui

Biography

Enthronement after Yang Yizhen's Coup

Duan Shouhui was a nephew of Duan Lianyi. In 1080 (3rd year of the Yuanfeng era, Northern Song) Yang Yizhen murdered Duan Lianyi and made himself ruler. Gao Zhisheng ordered Gao Shengthai to lead the Cuanbo troops against Yang Yizhen, and after the victory he raised Duan Shouhui to the throne. Both encyclopedic accounts confirm the decisive role of the two Gao father and son in this change of regime. One account says that "after the enthronement the era name was changed to Shangming", another says "the era name was changed to Shangming the following year"; the entry uses the Shangming era only for the timeline item of 1081 (1st year of the Shangming era, Dali) and does not infer from it that the era was already in use in 1080.

Gao Family Rule and Abdication

After Duan Shouhui came to the throne, Gao Zhisheng received the office of Buxie, that is chancellor, and Gao Shengthai the title of marquis of Shanchan, so military and political power lay mainly with the Gao family. In 1081 (4th year of the Yuanfeng era, Northern Song) Duan Shouhui abdicated to become a monk and Duan Zhengming was installed. A further Chinese account records that an unusual celestial phenomenon was taken as the reason for the abdication but also notes a variant in which Gao Shengthai deposed him, while another account stresses pressure from the Gao family. The account of the celestial sign belongs to the political explanations of the time and cannot be taken as a proven direct cause of the abdication. The two encyclopedic accounts have no reliable record of his activities after taking monastic vows or of the year of his death.

Gao Family Dominance and Abdication

Duan Shouhui reigned for only one year. Two features of his reign stand out: the continuation of the Dali tradition of "governing by Buddhism", and the forced retirement of a ruler under the dominance of a powerful minister. He used a single era name, Shangming (1081), and is therefore known in the histories as the Shangming Emperor of Dali, listed as the thirteenth ruler in the Dali line. To reward the Gao father and son for raising him to the throne he made Gao Zhisheng Buxie, that is chancellor, and Gao Shengthai marquis of Shanchan, so that the Gao family effectively controlled military and political power and a peculiar arrangement took shape in which "the Duan house takes the imperial title and the Gao family holds power". After his abdication Duan Zhengming succeeded, and Dali entered the period of the Gao "Duke of China" dictatorship. His cousins included Duan Zhengming and Duan Zhengchun, and his cousin's son was Duan Zhengyan, the prototype of Duan Yu in later fiction.

As to why he abdicated, the sources give both a voluntary abdication and a forcible deposition: one account says that, taking an eclipse of sun and moon and stars appearing by day as a sign of heaven's displeasure, he abdicated in favour of Duan Zhengming, a grandson of Duan Silian, and became a monk, one of the nine Dali rulers who took monastic vows; another says he was deposed by Gao Shengthai. The two accounts stand side by side in the sources and neither should be written up as undisputed fact.

Major Activities

Political and institutional context

The cached record places Duan Shou Hui within the institutions and conflicts of Ming.

Source-based record

Personal Relations

• Relationships are recorded from the cached source text and should be read together with the related entries listed below.

Historical Assessment

Duan Shouhui's short rule is often used to illustrate the growth of the Gao chancellors' power in the later Dali kingdom. That judgement rests on events: the Gaos' raising him to the throne, the offices they received and their further installation of a ruler after his abdication. As for why he abdicated, the sources offer voluntary abdication, abdication because of a celestial sign, and forcible deposition side by side, and none of these should be written up as an undisputed fact.