Liu Xu

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Liu Xu hailed from a scholarly bureaucratic family in Guiyi, Zhuozhou (modern Hebei). Possessing an elegant demeanor and cultured presence, he and his elder brother Liu Xuan and younger brother Liu Hao were celebrated throughout the Yan and Ji regions for their avid love of learning, popularly referred to as the "Three Lius." During the chaotic collapse of the Tang Dynasty and the onset of the Five Dynasties, northern China was repeatedly ravaged by warring warlords. When Liu Xuan was murdered by local enemies, Liu Xu was forced to flee to Cangzhou. This period of wandering amidst upheaval exposed him to the harsh realities of civilian destitution and forged his resilience. Following Jin Prince Li Cunxu's conquest of Cangzhou in 913, Liu Xu entered official service within the Jin administrative sphere. ### Service in Later Tang and Elevation to Chancellor In 923, Li Cunxu proclaimed himself Emperor of Later Tang (Emperor Zhuangzong) and established his capital at Luoyang. Recognizing Liu Xu's literary repute, Zhuangzong summoned him to court as Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Hanlin Academician. When Emperor Mingzong (Li Siyuan) took the throne in 926 after the Xingjiaomen Mutiny, he valued Liu Xu's refined intellect and promoted him to Vice Minister of War, subsequently making him an Academician of the newly founded Duanming Hall. In 932 (the third year of Changxing), Mingzong promoted Liu Xu to Vice Director of the Secretariat, Minister of Justice, and Joint Manager of Affairs with the Secretariat-Chancellery (Grand Chancellor). Rising directly from Duanming Academician to the prime ministership was regarded as a singular distinction. ### Political Friction and Fiscal Reforms When Emperor Modi (Li Congke) seized power in 934, he discovered that treasury accounts were severely depleted despite claims of surplus. Enraged, Modi dismissed the finance commissioners and placed Liu Xu in charge of the State Finance Commission (San Si). Thorough and discerning, Liu Xu thoroughly audited the account ledgers and discovered that regional clerks were using decades of uncollectible residual tax debts to extort local prefectures. Liu Xu boldly decreed a universal remission of all accumulated historical arrears. While the general populace rejoiced at this benevolent measure, corrupt finance clerks were deeply resentful. At court, Liu Xu was an in-law of the veteran chancellor Feng Dao. When Feng was replaced by Li Yu, friction erupted. Li Yu harbored bitter contempt for Feng Dao and frequently taunted Liu Xu whenever bureaucratic bottlenecks occurred: "This was all the doing of your honourable in-law!" Liu Xu took offense, and as both men were unyielding, bitter mutual recriminations paralyzed the administration. Seeking relief from their strict oversight, clerks amplified their discord, prompting Emperor Modi to dismiss both chancellors in 935, demoting Liu Xu to Right Executive of State Affairs. ### Service in Later Jin and Presentation of the Tang History In 936, Shi Jingtang founded the Later Jin dynasty. Following the suppression of Zhang Congbin's revolt in 937, Emperor Gaozu appointed Liu Xu Regent of the Eastern Capital (Luoyang) and Supervisor of Salt and Iron, relying upon his administrative steadiness. In 944, under Emperor Chudi, Liu Xu was elevated to Sikong and Grand Chancellor, once again managing the State Finance Commission. In 945, the monumental compilation of the Old Book of Tang (Jiu Tangshu) was concluded. Initiated under Zhao Ying and organized by chief historians including Zhang Zhaoyuan, the project was officially presented to the throne under Liu Xu's name per the standard practice that the presiding chief chancellor signed off on dynastic histories. In 947, when the Khitan Liao forces sacked Kaifeng, Liu Xu retired with the title of Grand Guardian due to deteriorating eyesight. He died in 947 in the aftermath of the fall of Later Jin, aged sixty.

Major Activities

Official Supervision of the Old Book of Tang

Liu Xu's foremost historical legacy is his official stewardship over the completion of the Old Book of Tang. Commissioned in 941, the project gathered surviving Tang imperial daily records, ministerial drafts, and family genealogies from across the realm. Comprising 200 volumes—including 20 Annals, 30 Treatises, and 150 Biographies—the work is celebrated for preserving verbatim primary edicts, administrative documents, and memorials from the late Tang that would otherwise have vanished. ### Fiscal Reform of the State Finance Commission During his administration of the State Finance Commission in 934 and 944, Liu Xu launched sweeping audits that exposed deep-seated clerical corruption. By eliminating fictitious bookkeeping and forgiving unpayable residual taxes, he relieved local communities from chronic exploitation by rapacious revenue clerks. ### Political and Diplomatic Governance Across three dynasties, Liu Xu maintained high administrative authority in Luoyang and Kaifeng, governing the eastern capital during the delicate transitional period following regional mutinies and stabilizing metropolitan administration.

Personal Relations

• Elder Brother: Liu Xuan, murdered by family enemies during regional chaos in Hebei.
• Younger Brother: Liu Hao, acclaimed for classical erudition alongside Liu Xu.
• In-Law: Feng Dao, eminent statesman of the Five Dynasties, allied through marriage. ### Colleagues and Historical Collaborators
• Li Yu: Co-chancellor in Later Tang, whose acerbic friction with Liu Xu led to their joint dismissal.
• Zhao Ying: Later Jin chancellor who laid the organizational framework for the Old Book of Tang.
• Zhang Zhaoyuan: Historian who served as the executive editor of the Old Book of Tang.
• Cui Jujian: Minister of Imperial Sacrifices who clashed with Liu Xu over ancestral naming taboos. ### Emperors
• Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang: Enlisted Liu Xu into the central bureaucracy.
• Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang: Promoted Liu Xu to Academician and Grand Chancellor.
• Emperor Modi of Later Tang: Appointed him to head the State Finance Commission before demoting him.
• Emperor Gaozu of Later Jin: Appointed him Regent of Luoyang.
• Emperor Chudi of Later Jin: Reappointed him Grand Chancellor.

Historical Assessment

Five Dynasties and Northern Song

• *Historical Accounts (Old Five Dynasties History):* Noted that when Liu Xu was dismissed from the finance commission, corrupt clerks openly cheered at the gates, proving from the negative perspective his relentless assault on bureaucratic corruption.
• Northern Song Historiography: While scholars such as Ouyang Xiu criticized the Old Book of Tang for rough prose and occasional duplication, Sima Guang heavily utilized its source materials for the Tang sections of the Zizhi Tongjian. ### Ming and Qing Dynasties
• *Zhao Yi (Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories): Extolled the Old Book of Tang* for preserving the vivid, authentic prose of early Tang historians, noting that biographies such as those of Feng Changqing and Guo Ziyi possessed an enduring tragic vitality unmatched by later summaries. ### Modern Scholarship

Modern historians recognize that although Liu Xu signed the work primarily due to his ministerial office, the preservation of Tang institutional treatises on taxation, law, and geography in the Old Book of Tang provided the cornerstone for all modern understanding of medieval Chinese political institutions.