Yang Xingmi

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Yang Xingmi was originally named Yang Xingmin. His father was a farmer. Yang lost his father when young and the family was poor. He was tall and physically strong, could lift an object weighing one hundred jin with one hand, and was said to be able to travel three hundred li in a day. The Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 134, says that he “lost his father young and was poor, possessed physical strength, and could travel three hundred li in a day.”

During the Qianfu era of Emperor Xizong of Tang, from 874 to 879, rebellions spread across Jiang-Huai. Yang participated in an uprising in the region and was captured after its defeat. Prefect Zheng Qi considered his appearance extraordinary, untied and released him. The New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 61, records that he was tall and powerful, could lift one hundred jin, was captured as a bandit when armed groups arose in Jiang and Huai during the Qianfu era, and was released because Zheng Qi found his appearance unusual.

Yang afterward enlisted as a prefectural soldier and was sent to garrison Shuofang, present-day Lingwu, Ningxia. He was soon promoted to squad leader and returned after completing frontier service. A local military officer strongly disliked him and ordered him sent to the frontier again. Before departure the officer pretended concern and asked what else Yang needed. Yang shouted that he needed only the officer's head, immediately cut it off, carried it away, and used the incident to launch an uprising, styling himself General Commander of the Eight Camps. Prefect Lang Youfu abandoned the city, and Yang occupied Luzhou, present-day Hefei.

Relief of Guangling and First Occupation of Yangzhou

In 883, the third year of the Zhonghe era, the Tang appointed Yang prefect of Luzhou. When Military Commissioner of Huainan Gao Pian was attacked by Bi Shiduo, Gao petitioned the emperor to make Yang an Adjutant. Yang led several thousand troops toward the relief, but by the time he reached Tianchang, present-day Tianchang, Anhui, Bi had imprisoned Gao Pian and called Qin Yan of Xuanzhou into Yangzhou. Unable to enter Yangzhou, Yang camped at Shugang.

Bi led tens of thousands against him. Yang feigned defeat, abandoned his camp, and fled. Bi's soldiers, short of provisions and extremely hungry, rushed into the captured camp to seize supplies. Yang turned back and attacked, heavily defeating Bi, who fled alone to Yangzhou and killed Gao Pian. When Yang heard of Gao's death, he ordered his entire army to wear white mourning clothes and weep toward the city for three days before attacking the western gate. Bi fled to Dongtang, allowing Yang to enter Yangzhou.

When Yang entered, the city's granaries were empty. The source describes extreme famine in which people killed one another for food and even husbands sold wives and fathers sold children to butchers, who slaughtered them like livestock. Thinking Yangzhou could not be held, Yang considered leaving. Qin Zongquan of Caizhou sent his younger brother Qin Zongheng to plunder Huainan. Bi Shiduo and Qin Yan returned to Dongtang and joined Qin Zongheng, while Yang closed the city and did not dare leave. Soon Qin Zongheng was killed by the subordinate commander Sun Ru, who captured Gaoyou, increasing Yang's fear.

Yang's retainer Yuan Xi advised killing Gao Pian's former commander Gao Ba and absorbing his troops. Yang accepted the plan, rewarded his army, captured and exterminated Gao Ba's household, and gained several thousand soldiers. Soon Sun Ru killed Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo, absorbed their armies, and attacked Yang. Yang considered moving to Hailing, but Yuan Xi argued that Hailing was difficult to defend while Luzhou was Yang's old base, with strong walls and ample provisions and could serve as a foundation for future operations. Yang therefore withdrew again to Luzhou.

Capture of Xuanzhou and Pacification of Huainan

After returning to Luzhou, Yang consulted Yuan Xi about the next direction of expansion. Yang initially intended to take Hongzhou in the west, but Yuan argued that Zhao Huang, newly occupying Xuanzhou, was violent and unpopular and therefore easier to attack. Yang accepted the advice, defeated Zhao at Heshan, and besieged Xuanzhou, present-day Xuancheng, Anhui. Zhao abandoned the city and fled but was caught and killed. Yang entered Xuanzhou.

In 889, the first year of the Longji era, the Tang court appointed Yang surveillance commissioner of Xuanzhou. He sent Tian Jun, An Renyi, Li Shenfu, and others into western Zhejiang against Suzhou, Changzhou, and Runzhou, present-day Zhenjiang. In 891 he took Chuzhou and Hezhou; in 892 he captured Chuzhou, present-day Huai'an, Jiangsu.

After driving Yang from Guangling, Sun Ru entered the city but over time also found it impossible to hold. He burned it, killed old, weak, and sick residents to feed his army, and drove his followers across the Yangtze, claiming a force of five hundred thousand, against Yang. Yang's commanders Tian Jun, Liu Wei, and others were defeated, and Yang considered withdrawing to Tongguan. His retainers Dai Yougui and Liu Wei argued that Sun's advance was fierce but unsustainable and recommended defending behind the walls, refusing battle, and allowing the enemy to exhaust itself. Yang followed the advice. As time passed, Sun's troops indeed ran short of provisions and suffered a major epidemic. Yang committed all his forces and defeated Sun, who was captured. Before execution Sun looked up at Liu Wei and reportedly said that he had heard Liu had proposed the strategy of refusing battle and that if he himself had possessed a commander like Liu he could never have been defeated. Yang accepted the surrender of several thousand survivors, covered their armor in black clothing, and formed them into a personal elite force called the “Black Cloud Corps.”

In the eighth month of 892, Yang entered Yangzhou again, and the Tang appointed him Military Commissioner of Huainan. From this point he was formally the strongest regional commander in Jiang-Huai.

Expansion in Jiang-Huai and the Battle of Qingkou

After taking Yangzhou, Yang continued to consolidate Jiang-Huai, gaining Runzhou, Changzhou, Chuzhou, Hezhou, Luzhou, Shouzhou, and other places and expanding toward western Zhejiang, western Huai, and the E-Yue region. In 895, the second year of the Qianning era, the Tang gave him the additional titles Acting Grand Tutor and Participant in Determining Government Matters. Tian Jun was stationed at Xuanzhou and An Renyi at Runzhou. Feng Hongduo, prefect of Shengzhou, submitted to Yang. He also sent Tian Jun and others raiding outward, taking the prefectures south of the Huai and east of the Yangtze and attacking Qian Liu's Suzhou, where they captured its prefect Cheng Ji.

In 897, the fourth year of Qianning, Zhu Jin of Yanzhou came under attack from Zhu Wen and sought aid from Li Keyong. Li sent Li Chengsi with several thousand elite cavalry. When Zhu Jin was defeated, he and Li Chengsi both fled to Yang Xingmi. Yang's troops were mostly men of Jiang and Huai, whom the source characterizes as physically weaker; the arrival of Zhu Jin's elite northern cavalry increased the army's strength. The same year Zhu Wen sent Ge Congzhou and Pang Shigu against Yang's Shouzhou. Yang defeated the Liang army at Qingkou and killed Pang Shigu. Ge Congzhou withdrew; Yang pursued to the Pi River and again heavily defeated Zhu's forces. After the Battle of Qingkou, Zhu Quanzhong could no longer contest Jiang-Huai with Yang, and the north-south balance became more stable.

Kingship and Suppression of Internal Revolts

In the third month of 902, the second year of the Tianfu era, Emperor Zhaozong of Tang was trapped at the base of Li Maozhen, Prince of Qi, in Fengxiang. He sent Li Yan, Imperial Proclamation Commissioner for Jiang-Huai, to appoint Yang Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Armies, Acting Grand Preceptor, and Secretariat Director and to enfeoff him as Prince of Wu, ordering him to campaign against Zhu Quanzhong. Yang continued to observe Tang reign dating. He established an edict office in Yangzhou and, whenever making an appointment or granting a title, first informed Li Yan before issuing the order, thereby presenting his regime's legitimacy as still dependent on the Tang house.

In Yang's later years tensions among Huainan regional commanders intensified. Tian Jun had long held Xuanzhou, An Renyi Runzhou, and Zhu Yanshou Shouzhou, and all were formidable and difficult to control. In 903, the third year of Tianfu, Tian Jun, An Renyi, and Zhu Yanshou rebelled in succession. Yang sent Li Shenfu, Tai Meng, Wang Maozhang, and others along different routes. Tian Jun and An Renyi were suppressed. Zhu Yanshou secretly supported Tian Jun; Yang feigned illness to summon Zhu into Guangling, arrested him, and had him executed. Internal disorder in Huainan was largely ended and the Yang regime stabilized again.

Death

In 905, the second year of the Tianyou era, Yang sent Liu Cun to continue attacking Ezhou, captured Du Hong, and further expanded westward. On the gengchen day of the eleventh month he died at age fifty-four. The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance places his death in the eleventh month of the second year of Tianyou and later accounts generally give 905. Hu Sanxing's commentary, however, cites a tomb inscription placing it in the second month of the third year of Tianyou, so 906 is also sometimes given. Yang's eldest son Yang Wo succeeded him. After Yang Wu was established, Yang Pu posthumously honored him as Emperor Taizu Wu and named his mausoleum Xingling.

Yang Xingmi, whose name was originally Yang Xingmin, was the son of a farmer and lost his father young, growing up poor. A big and powerful man, he could lift a hundred catties with his hands and walk three hundred li in a day. In the Qianfu years (874-879), when rebellious bands rose all over the Huai region, he was taken by government troops for taking part in the troubles, and the prefect Zheng Qi, struck by his looks, had him untied and set free.

He then enlisted as a soldier of the prefecture, serving far away in Shuofang, where he rose to be a captain; when his term ended and he returned, the local military clerks, who disliked him, sent him out again. On his way Yang Xingmi passed the clerk's lodging, and the clerk, feigning kindness, asked what he still lacked. Yang Xingmi said loudly that he lacked only his head, cut it off on the spot and carried it out, and rising in revolt declared himself commander of the eight camps; the prefect Lang Youfu fled from the city and Yang Xingmi occupied Luzhou. In 883 the Tang made him prefect of Luzhou.

When the military commissioner of Huainan, Gao Pian, was attacked by his subordinate Bi Shiduo, Gao Pian memorialized that Yang Xingmi be made his marshal, and Yang Xingmi brought several thousand men to his relief. Reaching Tianchang, he learned that Bi Shiduo had already imprisoned Gao Pian and called Qin Yan of Xuanzhou into Yangzhou; unable to enter, he camped at Shugang. Bi Shiduo came against him with tens of thousands; Yang Xingmi pretended defeat, abandoned his camp and fled, and Bi Shiduo's hungry soldiers rushed in to seize the stores. Yang Xingmi turned and fell on them, routed them utterly, and Bi Shiduo fled alone into the city and killed Gao Pian. Hearing of Gao Pian's death, Yang Xingmi had his army put on white mourning and weep toward the city for three days, then attacked the west gate; Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo fled to Dongtang and Yang Xingmi entered Yangzhou.

The city's granaries were empty when he entered, and the starving killed one another for food, husbands selling wives and fathers sons to the slaughterhouses. Meaning to hold it and finding that he could not, Yang Xingmi thought of leaving; but Qin Zongheng of Caizhou and Sun Ru had turned back to Dongtang and were strong, and he shut the gates and dared not move. His retainer Yuan Xi advised that with newly raised troops in an empty city, and commanders mostly Gao Pian's old men, only great kindness and firm control could hold them, and that Gao Ba, an old general of Gao Pian, would hardly serve him. Yang Xingmi summoned Gao Ba by military order; Gao Ba brought his troops into Guangling, and when Yang Xingmi thought to post him at Tianchang, Yuan Xi said that having summoned him out of suspicion he could hardly use him again, and that it were better to kill him and take his men. Yang Xingmi feasted the army, seized and destroyed Gao Ba and his clan, and took over several thousand of his soldiers.

Yang Xingmi afterward contended for Huainan with Sun Ru over many years, and at last defeated and killed him, holding the Huai country. With Yangzhou as his centre he settled the region, calling back the fugitives and restoring production, restraining his troops, so that the district grew quiet amid the disorder at the end of the Tang. In 902 the Tang enfeoffed him prince of Wu, making him the chief military commissioner of Huainan; he died in 905 and was succeeded by his son Yang Wo, and the state his family founded in Huainan was afterward known as Wu, Yang Xingmi being honoured as its founder. His career is typical of the late Tang military commissioners who rose out of disorder and passed from warlord to dynastic founder: a poor boy who made his way by strength and opportunity, established himself in the long wars of Huainan, and at last opened the way for his family and followers to one of the Ten Kingdoms.

Yang Xingmi's management of Huainan laid the ground for the territorial shape of the later Wu and Southern Tang. Many of the staff officers and commanders he employed became great ministers of Wu, and his policy of recalling the fugitives and restoring production gave the Huai region breathing space after the disorders at the end of the Tang. The territory he held as prince of Wu took in roughly the Huainan country of the modern Jiangsu and Anhui, and the successor of his house extended it further. The record of him is found chiefly in the Wu hereditary house in the two histories of the Five Dynasties and in the relevant part of the Comprehensive Mirror; notebooks and gazetteers preserve further stories of his early life and his employment of men, which may be read beside the standard histories.

Major Activities

Pacification of Jiang-Huai

Starting from Luzhou, Yang fought Bi Shiduo, Qin Yan, Sun Ru, and other powers. In 892 he destroyed Sun Ru, absorbed his troops, and held Yangzhou. He then sent Tian Jun and others outward and took the prefectures south of the Huai and east of the Yangtze, completing his unification of the Jiang-Huai region. The source distinguishes Yang from mobile plundering warlords such as Sun Ru by emphasizing that he did not simply burn and loot captured prefectures but tried to preserve local society and restore displaced populations, enabling his territory to become a stable rear base.

Victory at Qingkou

In 897 Zhu Wen sent Pang Shigu and Ge Congzhou south against Huainan in separate routes. Pang camped at Qingkou while Ge advanced on Shouzhou. Yang and Zhu Jin exploited the low terrain at Qingkou: Zhu Jin and Hou Zan led cavalry in a surprise attack on Pang's central force, while the defenders dammed the Huai and flooded the camp. Pang's army collapsed, Pang was killed, and Ge retreated on hearing the news. After Qingkou, Zhu Quanzhong could no longer contest Jiang-Huai with Yang and the north-south balance stabilized. The battle is treated as a key moment in Yang's establishment of an independent regional position.

Protecting the Territory and Restoring Production

After pacifying Jiang-Huai, Yang pursued policies of protecting the territory and people, gathering displaced households, reducing levies, and encouraging farming and sericulture. When he first entered Guangling he used army grain to relieve famine. After defeating Sun Ru, he “gathered the scattered survivors, allowed the people to rest, and made administration lenient and simple.” When military finances were insufficient, Yang considered exchanging tea and salt for the people's cloth. His secretary Gao Xu advised that after war the people should not be further burdened by monopolistic exactions and that tea and salt should instead be traded with neighboring circuits, capable magistrates selected, and farming encouraged. Yang followed the advice and did not forcibly compete for profit with the people. The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance says that after several years of Yang's administration, “public and private wealth were abundant, almost restoring the former peace.”

Selection and Employment of Talent

Yang paid attention to employing capable administrators. Tao Ya was known for generosity and effective governance, Liu Wei for caring for the people and resisting enemies, Luo Zhixiang for financial management, and Yuan Xi, Gao Xu, Dai Yougui, and others for strategy and administration. Yang also paid attention to governance after taking prefectures and tried to prevent abusive exactions by commanders from provoking rebellion. He successively employed Yuan Xi, Li Shenfu, Tai Meng, Zhu Jin, Li Chengsi, Shi Yan, and others as advisers or veteran generals and made use of their abilities.

Creation of the “Black Cloud Corps”

After destroying Sun Ru, Yang incorporated the survivors and selected five thousand elite soldiers. He supplied them generously with clothing and food, covered their armor in black, and called them the “Black Cloud Corps.” They became an important personal elite force of Huainan. Later Zhu Jin brought northern elite cavalry, giving the Huainan army strengths from both southern and northern military traditions. The Black Cloud Corps combined the roles of personal guard and elite field force and became one of the military cores of later Yang Wu.

Suppression of Internal Rebellions

In 903 Tian Jun, An Renyi, and Zhu Yanshou rebelled in succession. Yang sent Li Shenfu, Tai Meng, Wang Maozhang, and others by different routes. Li Shenfu declared that he had started as a common soldier when following the Prince of Wu and now, as a general, could not betray that favor merely to protect his wife and children; he then heavily defeated Tian Jun's forces. Tai Meng attacked Tian and killed him after his defeat. An Renyi's rebellion at Runzhou was also suppressed. Yang summoned Zhu Yanshou into Guangling by feigning illness, arrested him, and had him executed. Huainan's internal revolt was thereafter largely ended.

Personal Relations

• Yang Wo: Eldest son; succeeded Yang Xingmi after his death
• Yang Wei: Younger brother of Yang Wo
• Lady Zhu: Wife of Yang Xingmi and elder sister of Zhu Yanshou
• Yang Pu: Son; after the establishment of Yang Wu, posthumously honored Yang Xingmi as Emperor Taizu Wu
• Yuan Xi: Retainer and major strategist; advised the seizure of Xuanzhou and the killing of Gao Ba
• Dai Yougui: Retainer; advised holding defensively when Sun Ru attacked
• Gao Xu: Secretary; urged Yang to use tea-and-salt trade rather than burdensome monopolies against the people
• Luo Zhixiang: Financial administrator
• Tian Jun: Old associate from the same locality; held Xuanzhou and later rebelled and was killed
• An Renyi: Held Runzhou and later rebelled and was killed
• Li Shenfu: Senior general who suppressed Tian Jun's rebellion
• Tai Meng: General who destroyed Tian Jun
• Liu Wei: General who proposed a strategy of strong defense and denial of supplies
• Tao Ya: General known for generosity and effective administration
• Zhu Jin: Refugee from Yanzhou who distinguished himself at Qingkou
• Li Chengsi: Arrived from Hedong and brought strong northern cavalry into Huainan service
• Sun Ru: Principal opponent, eventually defeated, captured, and killed by Yang
• Zhu Wen (Zhu Quanzhong): Military Commissioner of Xuanwu, defeated by Yang at Qingkou
• Bi Shiduo: Former subordinate of Gao Pian who fought Yang for Yangzhou
• Qin Yan: Military Commissioner of Xuanzhou who allied with Bi Shiduo
• Zhao Huang: Held Xuanzhou and was destroyed by Yang
• Tian Jun, An Renyi, Zhu Yanshou: Commanders who rebelled late in Yang's life
• Gao Pian: Military Commissioner of Huainan; petitioned for Yang to be appointed Adjutant
• Emperor Xizong of Tang: Appointed Yang prefect of Luzhou in 883
• Emperor Zhaozong of Tang: Enfeoffed Yang as Prince of Wu in 902
• Zheng Qi: Prefect of Luzhou who released Yang after his arrest

Historical Assessment

Five Dynasties / Contemporary

• The Old History of the Five Dynasties called Yang “a man of high talent and rapid action” and said that after absorbing Sun Ru's forces he “gathered the scattered survivors, allowed the people to rest, and administered with lenience and simplicity, to the people's convenience.”
• The New History of the Five Dynasties said that Yang rose from a humble background but, after achieving power, was benevolent, forgiving, good at managing followers, frugal in personal conduct, and without major faults, and therefore could be called worthy.
• When Sun Ru was captured, he reportedly lamented that he had heard Liu Wei had devised the strategy that defeated him and said that if he had possessed a general like Liu, how could he have been defeated.

Song and Yuan Periods

• The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance says that after several years of Yang's management, “public and private wealth were abundant, almost restoring the former peace,” approving his role in restoring the Jiang-Huai economy.
• Hu Sanxing, commenting on the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, examined the date of Yang's death and cited a tomb inscription giving the second month of the third year of Tianyou.
• Sima Guang records Yang's activities in considerable detail and generally describes his policies of protecting the territory and people favorably.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Wang Fuzhi, in Du Tongjian Lun, expressed approval of Yang's restraint in warfare and his protection of his territory and people, distinguishing him from violent warlords such as Zhu Wen.
• Qing scholar Zhao Yi, in Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories, included Yang among rulers who successfully held a region and allowed the population some respite amid the divisions of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
• Ming and Qing historians often discussed Yang together with Qian Liu, regarding both as rulers who prioritized local security and allowed Wuyue and Jiang-Huai to remain relatively stable amid disorder.

Modern and Contemporary

• Modern research generally treats Yang as one of the most important founders of the Jiang-Huai political order at the transition from late Tang to the Five Dynasties. Militarily he destroyed Sun Ru and resisted Zhu Quanzhong; politically he moved from military governorship toward kingship while formally honoring Tang legitimacy; economically he restored production and regional order. These developments strongly influenced the later establishment of Yang Wu and its succession by Southern Tang.
• Some scholars argue that under Yang the Jiang-Huai region was already moving from postwar recovery toward regional prosperity. Yang Wu and Southern Tang continued similar policies, helping make the region one of the relatively prosperous areas of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
• Modern research often identifies the greatest difference between Yang and mobile plundering warlords such as Sun Ru in his effort to preserve captured localities and restore displaced populations rather than simply burn and loot them, allowing his territory to serve as a stable base.