Li Jipeng

Biography

Hereditary Rule and Youthful Succession Li Jipeng, known natively as Weiming Jipeng, was a native of Mizhi in Yinzhou (modern Mizhi County, Shaanxi Province). His lineage was the preeminent aristocratic clan of the Pingxia Tanguts, who had governed the Dingnan Circuit as hereditary military commissioners since the late Tang dynasty. His ancestors controlled five strategic frontier commanderies: Xia, Yin, Sui, You, and Jing. In 978 AD, his father Li Guangrui passed away, and his elder brother Li Jiyun assumed office. When Li Jiyun died in 980 AD, nineteen-year-old Li Jipeng was acclaimed acting commissioner. Emperor Taizong of Song confirmed his status as Military Commissioner of Dingnan. However, youthful inexperience undermined his authority; senior clan uncles such as Li Kewen and Li Kexian bitterly resented his accession, repeatedly sending secret memorials to Kaifeng denouncing his incompetence and sparking acute internal discord. ### Surrender of the Five Commanderies Recognizing that tribal dissension was intractable and that Emperor Taizong had consolidated imperial authority following the fall of Northern Han, Li Jipeng made an epochal strategic choice. In March 982 AD, accompanied by his mother Lady Cui and extended family, Li Jipeng traveled to Kaifeng. Prostrating before Emperor Taizong, he surrendered the registries, maps, and fortresses of all five commanderies, requesting incorporation into the imperial civil administration. Exhilarated, Emperor Taizong lavished him with silk and silver, appointed him Military Commissioner of Zhangde, and granted him lavish estates in the capital. Imperial administrators and garrisons under Yin Xian and Cao Guangshi marched into Xia Prefecture to assume direct control. ### The Rise of Li Jiqian and Imperial Reappointment However, Li Jipeng's capitulation outraged the anti-imperial faction among the Tanguts. His cousin, Li Jiqian, fiercely condemned the betrayal of ancestral soil. Fleeing into the Ordos desert at Dijinze, Li Jiqian rallied nomad clans, launching a fierce guerrilla war that repeatedly severed Song supply routes and slew senior commanders. In 988 AD, senior chancellor Zhao Pu proposed an 'using barbarians to check barbarians' policy: "Li Jiqian's revolt claims to preserve the clan. If we return Li Jipeng to Xia Prefecture, old loyalties will undermine Jiqian's support!" Embracing the scheme, Emperor Taizong summoned Li Jipeng, stroked his back, and bestowed the imperial surname Zhao and name Baozhong. Elevated to Joint Manager of State Affairs (Chancellor rank) and confirmed as Military Commissioner of Dingnan, Zhao Baozhong returned to Xia Prefecture with imperial fanfare. ### Double Allegiance and Demise in Exile Reinstalled at Xia Prefecture, Zhao Baozhong found himself trapped between irreconcilable worlds. Formally commissioned to suppress the insurrection, he was bound by blood to Li Jiqian and understood that tribal loyalty favored regional independence. Zhao Baozhong adopted an ambiguous, hedging posture—reporting military clashes to Song while secretly coordinating with Li Jiqian to maintain regional leverage. By 994 AD, Emperor Taizong detected Zhao Baozhong's duplicity and deployed General Li Jilong with massive reinforcements. When Li Jiqian's forces encircled Xia Prefecture, Zhao Baozhong panicked. Discerning that the commissioner's duplicity would bring imperial retribution, garrison commander Zhao Guangsi executed a night coup, binding Zhao Baozhong and delivering him to the Song vanguard. The Song army demolished the ancient ramparts of Xia Prefecture, turning the century-old fortress into ruins. Dragged to Kaifeng in iron chains, court ministers demanded his execution for treason. Remembering his 982 AD surrender of the five commanderies, Emperor Taizong sighed: "Jipeng was weak and misguided; I cannot bear to execute him." He pardoned his life, stripping him of titles and creating him Marquis of Forgiven Guilt (Youzui Hou), confined to Kaifeng. Under Emperor Zhenzong, he was created Duke of Lai and reassigned to southern prefectures including Yuezhou and Fuzhou. In 1004 AD, he was transferred to Adjutant of Yongzhou, succumbing to illness in exile with age at death unconfirmed.

Major Activities

The 982 AD Territorial Surrender In 982 AD, Li Jipeng surrendered the five Dingnan commanderies to Emperor Taizong, temporarily enabling Song to absorb the Ordos loop without open warfare. ### Restored as Zhao Baozhong In 988 AD, he was bestowed the imperial surname Zhao and personal name Baozhong by Emperor Taizong, returning to Xia Prefecture to execute Chancellor Zhao Pu's frontier containment strategy. ### Catalyst for Tangut Statehood His shifting loyalties between Song and Li Jiqian directly precipitated the razing of Xia Prefecture and forged the furnace in which the independent Western Xia state was ultimately born.

Personal Relations

• Elder Brother: Li Jiyun, Military Commissioner of Dingnan.
• Cousin: Li Jiqian, founding ancestor of Western Xia (Emperor Wulie).
• Uncles: Li Kewen, Li Kexian, rival commanders of Dingnan. ### Sovereigns and Grandees - Emperor Taizong of Song: Granted imperial surname, pardoned his life as Marquis of Forgiven Guilt.
• Emperor Zhenzong of Song: Created him Duke of Lai.
• Zhao Pu: Song chancellor who proposed Li Jipeng's return to Xia Prefecture.
• Zhao Guangsi: Subordinate commander who arrested and surrendered Li Jipeng to Song.

Historical Assessment

Dynastic Historiographical Perspectives - Tuotuo et al. (History of Song): "Jipeng inherited authority in his youth; facing clan discord, he surrendered his territory, receiving generous imperial favor. When Jiqian rebelled, the court sent him to govern Xia, yet he straddled both sides until captured. That Taizong spared him and created him marquis demonstrated supreme imperial mercy!"

• Li Tao (Longer Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian): "Zhao Baozhong nominally suppressed rebels while covertly colluding with them. The fall of Xia Prefecture stemmed from his duplicity."
• Wu Guangcheng (Records of Western Xia Affairs): "Jipeng surrendered five commanderies to preserve his family; his subsequent vacillation was driven by inescapable tribal ties." ### Modern Scholarship - Li Fanwen (General History of Western Xia): "Li Jipeng represents the tragic dissolution of the old Dingnan ruling house. His territorial surrender provoked Li Jiqian's revolt, inadvertently catalyzing the militarization that culminated in Western Xia independence."