Liu Daogui

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Liu Daogui came from the Liu clan of Pengcheng and claimed descent from Liu Jiao, Prince Yuan of Chu of the Western Han. His great-grandfather Liu Hun crossed the Yangtze to escape the Disaster of Yongjia at the end of the Western Jin and settled at Jingkou Ward in Dantu County, Jinling Commandery, present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. His grandfather Liu Jing rose to Administrator of Dong'an, while his father Liu Qiao served as a merit officer in his home commandery. Liu Qiao first married Zhao Anzong of Xiapi, who gave birth to Liu Yu. After Zhao died, Liu Qiao married Xiao Wenshou of Lanling, who gave birth to Liu Daolin and Liu Daogui.

Liu Daogui was described as outstanding and ambitious in youth and was highly regarded by his elder half-brother Liu Yu. Liu Yu had begun as a lower-ranking officer in the Beifu Army and gradually rose after making achievements in suppressing the Sun En Rebellion, attracting the attention of the Eastern Jin strongman Huan Xuan. Liu Yu recognized Liu Daogui’s unusual bearing and often discussed major plans with him, laying the groundwork for their later joint uprising against Huan Xuan.

Rising Against Huan Xuan

In the twelfth lunar month of 403, the second year of Yuanxing, Huan Xuan deposed Emperor An of Jin, Sima Dezong, at Jiankang, proclaimed himself emperor, and established the Huan Chu regime. At Jingkou, Liu Yu secretly contacted former Beifu officers including He Wuji, Liu Yi, and Meng Chang and plotted an uprising. Liu Daogui was then serving as an Army Staff Officer in the headquarters of General Who Conquers the Caitiffs Huan Hong, Inspector of Qingzhou, and was stationed with Huan Hong at Guangling, present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu. Liu Yu planned for Liu Daogui to cooperate with Liu Yi and Meng Chang in killing Huan Hong and seizing Guangling.

In the second lunar month of 404, the third year of Yuanxing, Liu Yu formally raised troops at Jingkou. Liu Daogui, Liu Yi, Meng Chang, and fifty or sixty armed followers entered Huan Hong’s headquarters while he was out hunting early in the morning, killed him, and seized Guangling. Liu Daogui then led the Guangling forces across the Yangtze and joined Liu Yu at Jingkou, advancing west together toward Jiankang. Huan Xuan was decisively defeated at Mount Fuzhou, abandoned Jiankang, and fled to his base at Jiangling while taking Emperor An with him.

After Liu Yu occupied Jiankang, he established a provisional court and had Sima Zun, Prince of Wuling, act under imperial authority to direct the officials. Liu Daogui was appointed General Who Rouses Martial Might and Administrator of Yichang. He then joined Liu Yi and He Wuji in pursuing Huan Xuan. At Penkou, present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi, Liu Daogui devised a plan to capture He Danzhi’s command vessel and shouted that He Danzhi had been killed. The enemy broke, allowing the rebel-suppression forces to seize Penkou and pacify Xunyang.

Battle of Zhengrongzhou and the Suppression of Huan Zhen

The army continued west and encountered Huan Xuan at Zhengrongzhou, in present-day Ezhou, Hubei. Huan Xuan had tens of thousands of troops while the anti-Huan force numbered fewer than ten thousand. The commanders were afraid and wanted to withdraw to Xunyang. Liu Daogui opposed retreat, arguing that because their forces were weaker in number, fear and hesitation would only invite attack and that victory in a decisive encounter depended on the stronger commander. He then personally led the advance and Liu Yi’s forces followed, decisively defeating Huan Xuan. Huan Xuan retreated to Jiangling, later abandoned the city and fled toward Shu, and was killed on the road by Feng Qian, a military officer of Yizhou.

After Huan Xuan’s death, Liu Daogui and the others believed the larger struggle over and marched slowly, failing to reach Jiangling in time. Huan Chu remnants led by Huan Zhen and Huan Qian seized Jiangling and again took control of Emperor An. Liu Daogui and He Wuji defeated Huan Mi at Matou and Huan Wei at Chongzhou. He Wuji wanted to attack Jiangling immediately, but Liu Daogui warned that advance and retreat had their proper time and that the Huan family had long been rooted in the western Chu region; Huan Zhen was a formidable fighter, so they should rest, rebuild strength, and defeat him by strategy rather than rush forward. He Wuji ignored the advice and was indeed defeated at Lingxi by Huan Zhen and Feng Gai, forcing the army back to Xunyang to refit.

In the tenth lunar month, the forces advanced west again. Liu Yi captured Lucheng, while Liu Daogui and He Wuji took Yanyue fortifications and captured Meng Shantu and Huan Xianke alive, then seized Xiakou and Baling. In the first lunar month of 405, the first year of Yixi, Liu Daogui, Liu Yi, and their forces reached Matou and, while Huan Zhen was resisting Administrator of Nanyang Lu Zongzhi, made a rapid attack on Jiangling. Huan Qian abandoned the city and fled north, allowing the anti-Huan forces to recover Jiangling. Huan Zhen’s army collapsed when he heard the city had fallen and he was later killed. Huan Qian first fled to Later Qin under Yao Xing, then to Qiao Zong in western Shu, and was finally killed by Liu Daogui when he attacked Jiangling again in 410.

Guarding Jingzhou

After Jiangling was pacified, Liu Daogui yielded credit to Liu Yi and He Wuji and placed himself after them. The Jin court rewarded him with appointment as General Who Assists the State, military supervisor of the regions north of the Huai, Inspector of Bingzhou, and continued Administrator of Yichang. Huan-family remnants still gathered in parts of Jingzhou, Xiangzhou, Jiangzhou, and Yuzhou. Liu Daogui was given additional military supervision over nine commanderies and suppressed the remaining groups as circumstances required.

In 405, Liu Daogui was transferred as Bearer of the Credential and military supervisor of Jingzhou, Ningzhou, Qinzhou, Liangzhou, Yongzhou, six provinces and the Henan region of Sizhou, Inspector of Jingzhou, and Colonel of the Southern Man. In 406, because of his role in suppressing Huan Xuan, he was enfeoffed as Duke of Huarong County with a fief of three thousand households. The source says that his government in Jingzhou was orderly and that both soldiers and civilians feared and loved him. In 407, after Liu Jingxuan’s unsuccessful campaign against western Shu, Liu Daogui, who had supervisory responsibility for the expedition, had his title reduced to General Who Establishes Might.

Defense of Jiangling and Later Years

In 410, the sixth year of Yixi, Lu Xun and Xu Daofu took advantage of Liu Yu’s northern campaign against Southern Yan to rebel in Lingnan, seize Jiangzhou, and threaten Jiankang. Qiao Zong of western Shu also attacked eastward, sending Huan Qian and Qiao Daofu toward Jiangling, while Later Qin ruler Yao Xing sent the general Gou Lin with cavalry to cooperate. Liu Daogui sent his Army Adviser Wang Zhenzhi together with Tan Daoji and Dao Yanzhi east to reinforce Jiankang, but they were defeated by Gou Lin at Xunyang. Lu Xun sent additional troops to Gou Lin, who advanced on Jiangling while Huan Qian attacked from another direction.

The Huan family had governed Jingzhou for many years and retained local support, and some soldiers and civilians in Jiangling secretly communicated with Huan Qian. To calm the city, Liu Daogui deliberately opened the gates and allowed anyone who wished to join Huan Qian to leave. The gesture instead inspired such fear and confidence that no one departed. Inspector of Yongzhou Lu Zongzhi arrived with several thousand troops. Liu Daogui’s officers doubted his intentions, but Liu Daogui rode out alone to meet him. Lu Zongzhi was moved, and the two joined forces against Huan Qian. Liu Daogui left Lu Zongzhi to defend Jiangling, personally advanced by land and water, decisively defeated Huan Qian, and forced him to flee in a single boat before he was killed. On learning of Huan Qian’s defeat, Gou Lin’s army collapsed; Liu Zun pursued and killed him at Baling.

Soon afterward Xu Daofu attacked Jiangling with thirty thousand troops. Lu Zongzhi had already returned to Xiangyang. Liu Daogui led the main force into battle and sent Liu Zun as a mobile detachment. At Yuzhangkou, Liu Daogui’s front line initially suffered a setback, but Liu Zun struck the enemy from the flank and decisively defeated Xu Daofu, taking more than ten thousand heads. Xu Daofu escaped by small boat to Penkou. In 411, the seventh year of Yixi, after the Lu Xun Rebellion was suppressed, Liu Daogui was promoted to General Who Conquers the West, awarded the Three Ducal Offices, and additionally made Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, but he firmly declined the higher military title and additional honors.

Liu Daogui governed Jingzhou for many years and, according to the source, did not intrude on the livelihood of the population. When he left office, he took nothing from the provincial stores. Two soldiers in his retinue secretly carried seating mats onto the boat for the return to the capital, and Liu Daogui publicly punished them.

In 412, the eighth year of Yixi, Liu Daogui requested to return because of illness. He was transferred as military supervisor over Yuzhou and Jiangzhou and six commanderies of Yangzhou and made Inspector of Yuzhou, but his illness prevented him from assuming the post. On the gengzi day of the intercalary sixth lunar month, July 25, he died in Jiankang aged forty-three. He was posthumously appointed Palace Attendant and Minister over the Masses and received the posthumous title Duke Liewu; his service in defeating Huan Qian was also recognized and he was posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Nan Commandery.

Liu Daogui was the youngest son of Liu Qiao and a half-brother of Liu Yu by a different mother, the empress Xiaoyi Xiao. The Liu family's great-grandfather Liu Hun had crossed the Yangtze in the disorders at the turn of the Western and Eastern Jin and settled at Jingkou in Dantu county; by Liu Daogui's generation the family was well rooted there. Unconventional and ambitious from youth, he was valued by his elder brother Liu Yu, who took him into his counsels for the destruction of Huan Xuan.

In the twelfth month of 403 Huan Xuan deposed the Jin emperor An and took the throne, founding the state of Huan Chu. Liu Yu secretly concerting with the old generals of the Northern Garrison army at Jingkou, and Liu Daogui being then a staff officer in the household of the governor of Qingzhou, Huan Hong, who held Guangling, Liu Yu had him join Liu Yi and Meng Chang in killing Huan Hong and seizing Guangling: Meng Chang persuaded Huan Hong to go hunting that day, and before dawn, when the gates opened to let the hunters out, Meng Chang, Daogui and Liu Yi led fifty or sixty braves straight into the headquarters, where Huan Hong was eating his gruel and was cut down on the spot. They gathered the troops, crossed the Yangtze and joined Liu Yu at Jingkou. Liu Yu had planned risings for the same day at Jingkou, Guangling, Liyang and the capital; in the second month of 404, when Jingkou rose, the capital and Liyang both failed and only Guangling answered — which made Liu Daogui's part the more important.

After Huan Xuan's defeat Liu Daogui was made a general and governor of Yichang and joined Liu Yi and He Wuji in pursuit. Huan Xuan posted Guo Quan and He Danzhi at Penkou with a line of warships; Liu Daogui attacked, took one vessel and raised the cry that He Danzhi was killed, which both the enemy and his own men believed, and pressing his advantage he routed them, took Penkou and went on to take Xunyang. The army going further west met Huan Xuan at Zhengrong islet: Huan Xuan had tens of thousands and the loyalists less than ten thousand, and the generals, afraid, wished to fall back on Xunyang. Liu Daogui argued that with numbers against them they must not hang back, for then they would be ridden down, and even at Xunyang could not hold; the day would go to the general who was bolder. He led the advance himself and Liu Yi followed, breaking Huan Xuan's army, so that he fled back to Jiangling, abandoned it, and was killed on the way west to Shu by the protector Feng Qian.

After Huan Xuan's death, Huan Zhen and Huan Qian and their remnant party again seized Jiangling and killed Wang Kangchan and those who had received the emperor. Liu Daogui and He Wuji broke Huan Mi at Matou and Huan Wei at Chongzhou; He Wuji, against advice, pressed straight on Jiangling and was beaten at Lingxi by Huan Zhen, so that the army fell back on Xunyang to repair ships and armor. In the tenth month it advanced again: Feng Gai held the east bank at Xiakou, Meng Shantu held Lucheng and Huan Xianke the Yanyue fort. Liu Yi took Lucheng while Liu Daogui and He Wuji took Yanyue, capturing Meng Shantu and Huan Xianke alive; Feng Gai fled, Xiakou was taken and Baling reduced. Just then the governor of Nanyang, Lu Zongzhi, rose against the Huan and threatened Jiangling from Xiangyang; Huan Zhen left Huan Qian to hold the city and marched against him, and Liu Daogui and Liu Yi, already at Matou, raided Jiangling, where Huan Qian abandoned the city and fled, so that it was recovered the same day and Huan Zhen, on hearing of it, saw his army dissolve. In the first month of 405 the loyalists broke Huan Qian and Huan Zhen, Jiangling was pacified, Huan Zhen was killed and Huan Qian fled to the Later Qin and afterward to Shu.

In the distribution of credit Liu Daogui put Liu Yi first, He Wuji second and himself last, and was made general of the state, commander of the northern Huai and governor of Bingzhou, retaining Yichang. He was afterward given the command of nine commanderies — Wuchang, Jiangxia, Sui, Yiyang, Suian, Xiyang, Runan, Yingchuan and Xincai — and destroyed the Huan remnants in Jing, Xiang, Jiang and Yu provinces. He became military commissioner of Jingzhou with the office of protector of the southern barbarians, commander by imperial warrant of the six provinces of Jing, Yi, Ning, Qin, Liang and Yong and of Henan in Sizhou, and was enfeoffed duke of Huarong county with three thousand households for his part in destroying Huan Xuan. In 407, when Liu Jingshu's expedition into Shu failed, Liu Daogui as commander was reduced to general of Jianwei. He governed Jingzhou seven years in all, and the histories say that he governed well, that his punishments and government were clear and reasonable, and that the officials and people both feared and loved him.

His defense of Jiangling during the rebellion of Lu Xun was especially admired. In 410, when Lu Xun and Xu Daofu rose in Lingnan while Liu Yu was on his northern campaign, took Jiangzhou and threatened the capital, and the general He Wuji was defeated and killed, Liu Daogui sent his marshal Wang Zhenzhi with the generals Tan Daoji and Dao Yanzhi to the court's aid, only to be beaten at Xunyang by the rebel Xun Lin. Lu Xun made Xun Lin protector of the southern barbarians and sent him on to Jiangling, where Xun Lin camped at Jiangjin and Huan Qian at Zhijiang, the two closing the roads between the towns. The Huan had governed Jingzhou for years and had the people's sympathy, so that many in Jiangling were of two minds and some wrote secretly to Huan Qian disclosing the city's dispositions. When the staff officer Cao Zongzong found the letters, Liu Daogui burned them all unread, and the people were calmed; he then assembled his officers and told them that with Huan Qian so near, many were weighing whether to stay or go, that the officials and troops who had come east with him were enough for the business, and that whoever wished to leave was free to do so, and he opened the gates at night and left them open until dawn, whereat all were overawed and none left. When the governor of Yongzhou, Lu Zongzhi, brought several thousand men from Xiangyang to the walls and his intentions were doubted by the Jingzhou staff, Liu Daogui rode out alone to meet him and Lu Zongzhi, moved, joined him. Leaving Lu Zongzhi in Jiangling and giving the seal of the southern protectorate to his aide Liu Zun, he attacked Huan Qian by land and water, routed him so that he fled in a single boat and was killed on the way; reaching Pukou he found Xun Lin's army dissolving on the news, and Liu Zun pursued and killed him at Baling — for which Liu Daogui was made general of the western expedition. Soon after, Lu Zongzhi returned to Xiangyang and Xu Daofu came on with thirty thousand men as far as Pozhong, terrifying the countryside; Liu Daogui made Liu Zun his flying column and faced Xu Daofu himself at the mouth of the Yuzhang river. When his vanguard broke, he grew only more resolute and inspired the army, while Liu Zun struck from the flank and routed the enemy utterly, killing more than ten thousand with the rest drowned, Xu Daofu escaping in a single boat to Penkou — and Jingzhou was saved a second time.

In 411, with Lu Xun's rebellion over, Liu Daogui was promoted general-in-chief of the western expedition with the honors of the three excellencies and made a cavalier attendant, all of which he firmly declined. Falling ill the next year, he asked to return to court and was transferred to the governorship of Yu province with command of the two provinces of Yu and Jiang and six commanderies of Yangzhou, retaining his warrant and other offices; too ill to take it up, he died at the capital in the intercalary month at forty-three, and was posthumously made an attendant gentleman and minister of education with twenty sword-bearers, given the posthumous name Liewu, and enfeoffed duke of Nanjun with five thousand households for the taking of Huan Qian. In 420, when Liu Yu took the abdication and founded the Liu Song, he was posthumously made grand marshal and prince of Linchuan. Rising with his brother in the Huan Xuan rebellion, often leading the van, and holding Jiangling alone against a strong enemy in the Lu Xun rebellion while steadying the people within, he is remembered in the histories as much for his refusal of credit, his burning of the letters and his solitary ride to meet Lu Zongzhi as for his victories.

Major Activities

Campaign Against Huan Xuan

Liu Daogui was one of the central participants in Liu Yu’s campaign against Huan Xuan. In the second lunar month of 404 he joined Liu Yi and Meng Chang in killing Huan Hong at Guangling, successfully coordinating with Liu Yu’s uprising at Jingkou. He then advanced west toward Jiankang and at Penkou captured He Danzhi’s command ship by stratagem, shouting that He Danzhi had been killed and breaking enemy morale, after which Penkou and Xunyang were taken. At the Battle of Zhengrongzhou, confronted by Huan Xuan’s much larger army, Liu Daogui rejected retreat and argued for a decisive battle. He led the advance himself and defeated Huan Xuan’s main force, in one of the key engagements that destroyed the Huan Chu regime.

Suppression of Huan Zhen and the Huan Remnants

After Huan Xuan’s death, Huan Zhen, Huan Qian, and other remnants retook Jiangling. Following He Wuji’s defeat at Lingxi, Liu Daogui and Liu Yi reorganized, captured Xiakou and Baling, and in the first lunar month of 405 took Jiangling, forcing Huan Zhen to flee and Huan Qian northward. Over the next several years, Liu Daogui, as Inspector of Jingzhou, remained at Jiangling and destroyed Huan remnants across Jingzhou, Xiangzhou, Jiangzhou, and Yuzhou, stabilizing control of the middle Yangtze region. When Huan Qian returned with forces from western Shu in 410, Liu Daogui killed him, bringing the Huan military threat to an end.

Defense of Jiangling Against Lu Xun’s Forces

During the Lu Xun Rebellion in 410, Jingzhou under Liu Daogui was a key Eastern Jin defensive zone in the middle Yangtze. Facing converging attacks by Huan Qian and Gou Lin, Liu Daogui calmed the population by opening the gates, rode alone to receive Lu Zongzhi and secure an alliance, defeated Huan Qian, and then pursued and destroyed Gou Lin’s force. Xu Daofu soon attacked with thirty thousand troops. Liu Daogui engaged frontally while Liu Zun struck from the flank at Yuzhangkou, decisively defeating the enemy and taking more than ten thousand heads. The battle secured Jingzhou and prevented Lu Xun from opening a second major front in the middle Yangtze, supporting Liu Yu’s suppression campaign around Jiankang.

Governing Jingzhou

Liu Daogui governed Jingzhou for seven years. The source says he was capable in government, that punishments and administration were clear and orderly, and that soldiers and civilians both feared and loved him. He burned letters showing communications between local people and Huan Qian rather than conducting broad reprisals, thereby quickly restoring confidence. When leaving office he took nothing from the provincial stores and restrained his followers from appropriating public property, behavior presented as unusually disciplined amid the corruption and violence of the late Eastern Jin.

Personal Relations

• Father: Liu Qiao, commandery merit officer under Eastern Jin
• Birth mother: Xiao Wenshou, later posthumously honored as Empress Xiaoyi after Liu Yu became emperor
• Elder half-brother: Liu Yu, Emperor Wu of Liu Song
• Full elder brother: Liu Daolin, later Prince Jing of Changsha
• Wife: Lady Cao
• Adopted son: Liu Yiqing, originally Liu Daolin’s second son, adopted as Liu Daogui’s heir
• Liu Yi: ally in the uprising against Huan Xuan, later came into conflict with Liu Yu
• He Wuji: fellow commander in the campaigns against Huan Xuan and Huan Zhen
• Meng Chang: joined Liu Daogui in killing Huan Hong at Guangling
• Lu Zongzhi: Inspector of Yongzhou who came to reinforce Jiangling and allied with Liu Daogui against Huan Qian
• Liu Zun: Consultative Army Adviser who led the mobile detachment that struck Xu Daofu from the flank at Yuzhangkou
• Tan Daoji and Dao Yanzhi: sent by Liu Daogui to reinforce Jiankang
• Huan Xuan: emperor of Huan Chu, defeated by Liu Daogui and his allies
• Huan Zhen: Huan Chu remnant leader who defeated He Wuji and was later destroyed
• Huan Qian: Huan-family remnant killed by Liu Daogui while attacking Jiangling in 410
• Gou Lin: Later Qin general who assisted Huan Qian and was pursued and killed by Liu Zun
• Xu Daofu: subordinate of Lu Xun who attacked Jiangling with thirty thousand troops and was decisively defeated by Liu Daogui at Yuzhangkou

Historical Assessment

Eastern Jin / Contemporary

• Liu Daogui’s biography in the Book of Song calls him outstanding and ambitious in youth and states that during his government of Jingzhou his punishments and administration were clear and orderly and the soldiers and people both feared and loved him.
• Liu Yu highly valued Liu Daogui and, according to the source, recognized his exceptional qualities and plotted the destruction of Huan Xuan with him. After Liu Daogui’s death, Liu Yu ordered Liu Yilong to observe mourning for him, illustrating the close fraternal relationship.
• Lu Zongzhi was moved when Liu Daogui rode out alone to receive him, after which the two allied against Huan Qian, an episode used to illustrate Liu Daogui’s courage and personal presence.

Southern Dynasties Period

• After the establishment of Liu Song, Liu Yu posthumously appointed Liu Daogui Grand Marshal and Prince of Linchuan Commandery, formally recognizing his contribution to the founding of the dynasty.
• In 432, the ninth year of Yuanjia, Emperor Wen of Liu Song, Liu Yilong, posthumously appointed Liu Daogui Grand Councilor and praised his deep understanding, clear judgment, loyalty in royal service, and benefits to the people.
• The History of the Southern Dynasties included Liu Daogui among the imperial clan biographies and described his strong personal cleanliness and disciplined habits.

Tang and Song Periods

• The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance records Liu Daogui’s speech at the Battle of Zhengrongzhou and preserves his maxim that in a decisive encounter the stronger commander prevails, presenting it as an exemplary military judgment.
• Tang historians compiling the Book of Jin cited Liu Daogui’s burning of compromising letters at Jingzhou as an example of calming and stabilizing the population.

Modern Period

• Tian Yuqing, in Aristocratic Politics of the Eastern Jin, discussing Liu Yu’s replacement of Jin, treats Liu Daogui’s control of Jingzhou as a key element in Liu Yu’s strategic grip on the middle Yangtze.
• Wang Zhongluo, in History of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, regards Liu Daogui’s defense of Jiangling during the Lu Xun Rebellion as an important precondition for Liu Yu’s successful suppression of the uprising around Jiankang.