Duan Zhengyan

Biography

Early Years

Duan Zhengyan was born in the latter half of the eleventh century (1083), while his uncle Duan Zhengming was on the throne. Earlier, in 1081, the Dali emperor Duan Shouhui, under pressure from Gao Zhisheng and his son Gao Shengtai, had abdicated to become a monk on the grounds of frequent disasters during his reign, passing the throne to his cousin Duan Zhengming. After thirteen years of Duan Zhengming's reign, popular support gradually turned to Gao Shengtai, who accepted Duan Zhengming's abdication and became emperor, adopting the era name Shangzhi. Duan Zhengyan was exceptionally intelligent from childhood and loved weapons and martial arts; in 1090 he became a student of the Tiantai Buddhist masters Liuxuan and Miaocheng.

In 1094, Duan Zhengming, under pressure from the all-powerful Gao Shengtai, abdicated to become a monk. In 1096 (the second year of Shangzhi), Gao Shengtai fell ill and died, leaving instructions to his son Gao Taiming to return the throne to the Duan clan; Gao Taiming obeyed his father's dying wish, abolished the "Great Central Kingdom" (Da Zhongguo), restored Duan Zhengchun, and himself took the offices of chancellor and Duke of the Central Realm. All decrees issued from his household, and the people called him "Prince Gao" (Gao Guozhu).

Accession

In 1108 (the second year of Daguan under Emperor Huizong of Song), Emperor Wen'an Duan Zhengchun became a monk and ceded the throne to his son Duan Zhengyan. The following year Duan Zhengyan adopted the era name Rixin, later using Wenzhi, Yongjia, Baotian, and Guangyun.

At his accession, tribute arrived from all quarters: "at the Zhongyuan Festival in the seventh month, the various regions presented gold and silver, silks, treasures, rhinoceros horn and ivory by the tens of thousands, with oxen and horses covering the Cangshan range." But good times did not last: in the first year of Zhenghe of the Northern Song, an earthquake struck Dali, "destroying sixteen temples" and countless dwellings.

Years of Turmoil

In the first year of Wenzhi (1110), the thirty-seven tribes of the east rebelled, and Chancellor Gao Taiming led troops to suppress them. Soon after, Gao Taiming died, and Gao Taiyun administered state affairs. In 1111, Duan Zhengyan ordered Gao Taiming to quell the rebellion of the Wuman of eastern Yunnan, and afterward reduced taxes and levies.

After Gao Taiming's death, of his eight sons, Gao Zhichang died in exile after being convicted of an offense. His followers Gao Yi and Gao He, seeking vengeance, plotted to assassinate Duan Zhengyan while he was offering incense at a temple, but the plot was discovered and they were captured. Duan Zhengyan, however, "praised their loyalty, pardoned them, and erected a tomb for them as righteous men."

In the first year of Xuanhe of the Northern Song, the Muning, Yuan, Yi, Po, Ma, and other tribes rebelled; an expedition set out in the third month but was defeated. Later the thirty-seven tribes rebelled again, taking Shanchan, where Gao Mingqing, son of Gao Taiming, was killed. The Gao clan's power nonetheless endured: the ministers, judging that Gao Mingqing's nephew Gao Liangcheng (grandson of Gao Taiming) was virtuous, asked to install him as chancellor with the title Duke of the Central Realm. In the fifth month of the first year of Jingkang (1126), a great fire broke out in the capital Yangjumie City, destroying 3,900 households.

In 1141, Duan Zhengyan married his daughter Princess Zhaoqing, daughter of Consort Wang, to Gao Liangcheng, and the Gao and Duan clans became linked by marriage generation after generation; Duan Zhengyan's own empress was Gao Liangcheng's aunt.

Friendship with the Song

Duan Zhengyan actively developed foreign trade and, through the Observer-in-chief of Guangzhou, Huang Lin, opened channels to the upper levels of the Song government. In 1115, Emperor Huizong ordered Huang Lin to establish an office at Binzhou (present-day Binyang, Guangxi), where "all petitions were to await the emperor's decision." In 1116, Duan Zhengyan sent a tribute mission led by Li Zicong and Li Boxiang to the Song, presenting 380 horses as well as musk, bezoar, fine felt, and other goods. In 1117 the Dali mission presented a state letter to the Northern Song court, and Emperor Huizong invested Duan Zhengyan as Grand Master of the Palace with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon, Acting Minister of Works, Military Governor of Yunnan, Grand Pillar of the State, and King of Dali; when the mission departed, the Song conferred a copy of the imperial calendar, signifying Dali's adoption of the Song calendar.

After the Jingkang upheaval, as the Song declined, relations between Duan Zhengyan and the Song court gradually grew distant.

Abdication and Monastic Life

Though Duan Zhengyan governed well, during his reign the Gao clan was torn by fierce internal strife that unsettled the polity, the tribes rebelled repeatedly, and natural disasters were frequent. Worn out, he resolved to withdraw. In the eleventh year of Guangyun (1147), after the childless Empress Gao died and with many consorts and sons, "because of his sons' internal strife and external rebellion, he abdicated and became a monk." The struggle among his sons was controlled by the various Gao factions, and amid the Gao clan's internal feuds, fratricidal conflict ended with victory for Duan Zhengxing (full brother of Princess Zhaoqing), supported by Gao Liangcheng, who succeeded to the throne.

Duan Zhengyan died in 1176; his temple name was Xianzong and his posthumous title Xuanren Emperor, and he is known to history as the Xuanren Emperor of Dali.

Balancing the Gao Clan

Gao Taiming had favored his youngest son Gao Zhichang in his lifetime and contemplated bypassing his elder sons. Duan Zhengyan exploited the resentment of Gao Taiyun and Gao Mingshun toward Gao Zhichang, deliberately favoring Gao Mingshun so as to set the Gao clan against itself, thereby consolidating Duan rule for a time. Gao Zhichang openly complained before the assembled court that the throne should by rights have been his, and as a result he was sent into exile.

Marriage Alliances

To further balance the Gao clan, Duan Zhengyan actively concluded marriage alliances with the surrounding tribes as a source of external support. His harem was numerous, and both the thirty-seven Wuman tribes and Mengle (the Xishuangbanna region) were at various times his marriage partners.

Magnanimity

Duan Zhengyan was a ruler of great magnanimity. Two military officers under Gao Zhichang, nursing a grudge, attempted to assassinate him but failed and were captured. Far from torturing them, Duan Zhengyan held that their act was a righteous demonstration of loyalty to their master and released them. The two assassins later committed suicide, and Duan Zhengyan decreed that a "Tomb of the Righteous" be built for them.

A Note on His Dates

It is widely claimed online that Duan Zhengyan lived to the age of ninety-four, supposedly according to the Wusi Temple Lamp Records. Scholars have shown, however, that the three works in the Da Li Gu Yishu Chao (Collection of Lost Dali Texts) from which such claims derive were in fact modern forgeries written after the 1970s with no historical value; the biographical details of Duan Heyu they contain are pure fabrication.

Family, Buddhist Study and Accession

Duan Zhengyan (1083-1176), of the Bai people and also known as Duan Heyu, was a son of the Wen'an emperor of Dali and the sixteenth ruler of the kingdom. He "was clever beyond other men from childhood and very fond of swords and spears," and in 1090 took as masters the Tiantai monks Liuxuan and Miaocheng. In 1094 his uncle, the Baoding emperor Duan Zhengming, under pressure from the powerful minister Gao Sheng tai, "gave up the throne to become a monk on the ground that disasters had been frequent in his reign" and abdicated in favour of his cousin Duan Zhengming; after thirteen years, men's hearts turned to Gao Sheng tai, who accepted the abdication and took the throne with the era name Shangzhi, so that Dali was briefly interrupted and Duan Zhengyan fell from the imperial house to a subject. It is recorded that one evening in the second year of his reign Gao Sheng tai was suddenly taken dizzy, and knowing he would not recover, charged his son Gao Taiming to restore the throne to the Duan; in 1096 Gao Taiming obeyed, gave up the imperial title and returned the government to the Duan, and Duan Zhengyan's father Duan Zhengchun was raised to the throne. The Gao ascendancy was not ended, however: Gao Taiming's "orders all issued from his own house, and the people called him the 'lord of Gao,' and when Persia, Kunlun and other states came with tribute they first paid their respects to the chancellor." In 1108 Duan Zhengchun, sick at heart, became a monk and abdicated in favour of his son.

Tribute, Investiture and Intercourse with Song

At Duan Zhengyan's accession tribute came in from every side, but the splendour did not last. He soon sent Gao Taiming to put down the revolt of the eastern Wu Man and afterwards reduced taxes; he actively developed foreign trade, "using Huang Lin, the observation commissioner of Guangzhou, as a bridge to open relations with the upper levels of the Song court," and in 1115 had Huang Lin establish an office at Binzhou, "all memorials and requests awaiting his decision." In 1116 he sent a tribute mission to Song, and in 1117 a Dali embassy presented its letter of state; Emperor Huizong of Song invested him as grand master of the golden purple and king of Dali, and when the embassy set out gave it a calendar, "in token that Dali accepted the Song calendar." In the same year he sent Li Zicong and Li Boxiang as chief and deputy envoys to Song, reaching the capital the next year with three hundred and eighty horses and musk, bezoar and fine felt, and was invested as grand master of the golden purple, acting minister of works, commander of Yunnan, pillar of state and king of Dali. After the Jingkang catastrophe Song declined and relations grew distant. A material witness to that intercourse survives: the Metropolitan Museum in New York holds a copy of the Vimalakirti Sutra written in gold on dark-blue paper, which Duan Zhengyan specially presented when the Song mission returned after completing his investiture in 1118.

Domestic Turmoil, the Gao Feuds and His Abdication

His reign of some forty years saw troubles within and without together. In 1111 an earthquake at Dali "damaged sixteen temples" and countless houses; in 1110 the thirty-seven eastern tribes rose and were put down by the chancellor. After Gao Taiming's death one of his eight sons, Gao Zhichang, was exiled and died, whereupon his followers Gao Yi and Gao He plotted revenge and tried to kill Duan Zhengyan as he visited a temple; discovered and taken, Duan Zhengyan "admired the two men's sense of honour, pardoned them and built a tomb of righteous men for them." In 1119 the tribes of Muning, Yuan, Yi, Po and Ma rebelled, the punitive expedition in the third month was defeated, and the thirty-seven tribes rose again, took Shanshan and killed Gao Mingqing who held it. The Gao power stood firm, yet Duan Zhengyan was not wholly passive: since Gao Taiming had favoured his youngest son Gao Zhichang and intended to set aside the eldest, Duan Zhengyan exploited the quarrel between Gao Zhichang and Gao Mingshun, deliberately inclining to Gao Mingshun, so that the Gao fell out among themselves and "for a time the rule of the Duan was consolidated"; to balance the Gao he also married into the neighbouring tribes, his consorts coming largely from the thirty-seven Wu Man tribes. As chancellor, Gao Liangcheng "took ritual for his clothing, good faith for his armour and wisdom for his heart and liver; those who came from afar he enfeoffed with land, and those who would not submit he attacked with troops, and from this the empire was greatly transformed." Yet "in his reign the Gao broke into violent feuds that shook the government, the tribes rebelled from time to time and disasters were frequent," so that he was worn out and thought of retirement; in 1147 he abdicated and became a monk under the name Guanghong, the histories saying that "because his sons quarrelled within and the tribes rebelled without, he gave up the throne to become a monk" — the quarrel of the sons being controlled by the several Gao factions and accompanied by the mutual slaughter of kin within the Gao group, until Duan Zhengxing won and succeeded. He died in 1176 at the age of ninety-four, with the temple name Xianzong and the posthumous name emperor Xuanren, known in history as the Xuanren emperor of Dali.

Major Activities

Political

By his achievements Duan Zhengyan may be called an outstanding ruler with both civil and military talents. He governed diligently and loved his people, deeply sympathized with the sufferings of the common people, ruled with benevolence, and lightened corvée and taxes. The people of Dali wholeheartedly supported him.

Military

During his reign the thirty-seven tribes rose in rebellion and were suppressed by Chancellor Gao Taiming, with Gao Mingqing, fourth son of Gao Taiming, garrisoning Shanchan; but when the tribes rebelled again, Gao Mingqing was defeated and killed, and only Gao Liangcheng could retrieve the situation. In Duan Zhengyan's time, civil strife broke out in Jiaozhi (the Vietnamese Ly dynasty, later renamed Annam by Emperor Xiaozong of Song); Weng Shenli, claiming to be an illegitimate son of Ly Can Doc, fled to Dali. Taking advantage of the death of Ly Duong Hoan and the recent accession of Ly Than Tô, Dali sent Weng Shenli back to Jiaozhi to contest the throne. With Dali's support, Weng won victory after victory and quickly occupied a broad area of northern Jiaozhi, but before long he was defeated and captured.

Foreign Relations

Duan Zhengyan's principal achievements lay in diplomacy. He pursued a policy of conciliation and maintained very friendly relations with neighboring states, especially the Song. During his reign Dali sent tribute to the Song many times, presenting gifts and music, winning the goodwill of the Song rulers and receiving many rewards in return.

Culture

Through Duan Zhengyan's efforts, exchanges between the Han people and the ethnic minorities of the southwest became increasingly frequent, greatly promoting ethnic integration. Under the lasting influence of migrants from the Central Plains and of the Central Plains dynasties, the Dali Kingdom was deeply sinicized: its official written language was Chinese, and many surviving Dali steles and poems in Chinese are elegant in style; some institutions imitated those of the Central Plains dynasties, such as the Six Bureaus system modeled on the Tang dynasty's Six Ministries; the supreme rulers of Dali also called themselves emperors and had temple and posthumous names; and Dali held examinations to select officials, established Confucian offices, and read the Confucian classics. A gilded manuscript of the Vimalakirti Sutra on indigo paper, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, bears witness to the friendly relations between Dali and the Song: it was a gift specially presented by Duan Zhengyan in 1118 when the Song investiture mission returned home.

His Foreign Policy, and the Sinicisation of Dali

Duan Zhengyan's chief achievement is generally held to be in foreign affairs. He pursued a comparatively conciliatory policy and kept very friendly relations with the neighbouring states, above all with Song: in his reign Dali sent tribute many times, "offering gifts and music, winning the favour of the Song rulers and receiving many rewards in return," and Song, to honour him, invested him as grand master of the golden purple, acting minister of works, pillar of state, commander of Yunnan and king of Dali. The opening he found for dealings with the Song court he sought himself, as Song passed from Northern to Southern and the neighbouring powers rose and fell: first using Huang Lin as a bridge, then setting up the office at Binzhou for memorials, until the investiture was completed in the Zhenghe years and the southern Silk Road kept open. One judgment of him runs: "He laboured at government for nearly forty years and still could not recover the least part of it — the tendency of the times was like water flowing downward, and it was impossible to hold it back or dam it," which shows the gap between his efforts and the age's drift.

In culture, his reign was one of deep Sinicisation: "because of the peoples who had migrated from the Central Plain and the lasting influence of the Central Plain's dynasties, Dali was deeply Sinicised. Its official script was Chinese; many surviving Dali inscriptions and poems in Chinese are elegant; some institutions copied those of the Central Plain, such as the six boards, modelled on the Tang six ministries; its ruler too was called emperor and had a temple and posthumous name; and Dali held examinations and appointed Confucian officials who read the Confucian books." Through his efforts intercourse between the Chinese and the peoples of the southwest became ever more frequent, "greatly promoting the fusion of peoples." As to his person, the histories record his magnanimity: when two officers, bearing a grudge, tried to assassinate him and were taken, he did not have them tortured but held their act "a righteous deed of loyalty to their master" and released them; when they afterwards killed themselves he had a "tomb of righteous men" built for them. It is also held that he was the original of Duan Yu in The Eightfold Path of the Heavenly Dragon, "both being courteous noblemen accomplished in lute, chess, calligraphy and painting," and the author of the Poetry Notes of the Jade Lotus and a Manual of the Lute.

Personal Relations

• | Relation | Person | Notes |
• |---| --- |---|
• | Father | Duan Zhengchun | Emperor Wen'an |
• | Uncle | Duan Zhengming | Emperor Baoding, abdicated in 1094 |
• | Empress | Empress Gao | First wife, childless, died early; aunt of Gao Liangcheng |
• | Empress | Empress Wang | Formerly Consort De, honored as empress when her son Duan Zhengxing succeeded |
• | Son | Duan Zhengxing | Emperor Zhengkang, also known as Duan Yichang |
• | Daughter | Princess Zhaoqing | Daughter of Consort Wang; married Gao Liangcheng |

Historical Assessment

Ni Tui of the Qing dynasty, in his Dianyun Linian Zhuan, wrote: "He strove diligently in governance for forty years, yet in the end could not turn back even one part in ten thousand of the tide—for the trend of the times flows downward like water, and a swollen torrent cannot be dammed." Duan Zhengyan witnessed the Song's transition from the Northern Song to the Southern Song and the shifting fortunes of the powers around him. By reading the situation and seeking out openings for contact with the upper levels of the Song state, he ultimately fulfilled the aspiration of several generations for Song investiture, thereby keeping the Southern Silk Road open.