Duan Su Shun

Biography

Accession and Conflicting Chronology

Duan Sushun was a son of Duan Sicong. One account states clearly that he acceded in 969, and the page for Duan Sicong in another account also places his predecessor's death in 969; the entry on Duan Sushun in that account nevertheless begins with "reigned 968 to 985" and "changed the era name in 969", while its later text says that he changed the era name in the year he took the throne and that 985 was the seventeenth year of Mingzheng. If the first year of Mingzheng is 969, then 985 is indeed the seventeenth year; the text therefore follows the later text of that account and the other account in adopting 969 for the accession and the era change, and preserves the variant in the summary without making the reigns of father and son overlap.

Unrest on the Frontier

Both sources record that during Duan Sushun's reign Zhang Zongqi and Dailian Nongtu raised a revolt on the frontier, which was finally put down. The later part of one account is fuller, saying that Duan Zibiao, Duan Yanzhen and others were ordered to lead troops, took the relevant strongholds and then assembled the leaders of the thirty-seven tribes at Shicheng. The other account does not list these commanders or the course of the assembly; the details are therefore limited to what that account contains, and no exact month, day or extent of the revolt is calculated.

Death

Duan Sushun died in 985 (17th year of the Mingzheng era, Dali) and was given the posthumous title Yingdao, and his son Duan Suying succeeded him. Neither account provides a verifiable location for his tomb, and nothing is filled in where the material is insufficient.

Major Activities

Political and institutional context

The cached record places Duan Su Shun 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 Sushun reigned for about seventeen years, and the surviving material records his personal administration only to a limited extent. The summary in one account even says that "the events are not known", yet its later text adds the frontier revolt, which shows that the summary should not be taken to mean that there was nothing to record at all. The clearest verifiable effect of his reign is the continuation of the Duan line on the throne and the maintenance of his rule through one frontier conflict; other broad appraisals lack supporting detail.