Duan Siliang

Biography

Part in the Founding of Dali

Duan Siliang was a younger brother of Duan Siping, also known as Duan Sizhou. The histories record that he took part when Duan Siping founded the Dali polity and afterwards enjoyed his brother's trust and appointments; the full texts available do not list specific campaigns or offices, so no military exploits are invented from the phrase "he rendered service". Another account gives his father as Duan Baolong and confirms the brotherly relation with Duan Siping.

Deposing His Nephew to Take the Throne

After Duan Siping died his son Duan Siying succeeded. One account says that in 945 (1st year of the Wenjing era, Dali) Duan Siliang deposed his nephew and changed the era name to Zhizhi the following year. Another says that in 946 Duan Siliang and the chancellor Dong Jialuo carried out a coup and forced Duan Siying to abdicate and become a monk, while also preserving the variant that Duan Siying died first and the people raised Duan Siliang. On whether Duan Siying was deposed or was succeeded after his death, that account sets different traditions side by side; the text follows its main line that Duan Siliang deposed his nephew and took the throne, without erasing the other version.

Death and Succession

The main text of another account states that Duan Siliang died in 952 (7th year of the Zhizhi era, Dali), was given the posthumous title Shengci Wenwu and the temple name Taizong, and was succeeded by his son Duan Sicong; the information card of a further account puts the last year of his reign at 951. That account records his death in 951 with the variant of 952 as well. The sources available here cannot settle the question independently, so the text takes the main text of the first account as primary and records the differences separately.

Major Activities

Political and institutional context

The cached record places Duan Si Liang within the institutions and conflicts of Dali.

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 Siliang's accession was a major turning point in the early succession to the Dali throne, but the direct material concerns chiefly the founding of the polity, the deposition of his nephew, the change of era name and the transfer of the throne, and his personal style of rule cannot be inferred from later phrases such as "iron-handed". The variant in another account, in which Duan Siying died first and Duan Siliang was raised by others, is also a reminder to treat the course of the coup with caution.