Li Daliang
Li Daliang (
During the Sui dynasty[edit]
Li Daliang was from Jingyang, close to Daxing, the Sui dynasty capital (which would become Chang'an, the Tang dynasty capital after 618). His great-grandfather Li Yan (
Under Emperor Gaozu of Tang (Li Yuan)[edit]
In 618, Li Daliang joined Li Yuan (posthumously known as Emperor Gaozu) who founded the Tang dynasty. He was appointed county magistrate of Tumen (
In 620, Li Daliang participated in the campaign against warlord Wang Shichong, leading an army towards Xiangyang defended by Wang Shichong's nephew Wang Honglie (
In 623, Li Daliang was named Pacification Commissioner (
After a while, Zhang Shan'an's soldiers arrived and demanded Li Daliang return their general. Li Daliang had someone tell them that Zhang Shan'an didn't want to return because he was serious about surrendering. Zhang Shan'an's soldiers thought they were betrayed and deserted, so they all scattered. Li Daliang led his men to capture many of them. Zhang Shan'an was delivered to Chang'an (and eventually killed). In February 624, Li Daliang led his soldiers to You Prefecture (猷州; around modern Xuancheng), where Fu Gongshi had laid a siege. He defeated Fu Gongshi to save You Prefecture.[5] After Fu Gongshi was killed soon after, the emperor rewarded Li Daliang with hundreds of maidservants, but Li Daliang set them all free, saying:[2]
Most of you are from good families, and reduced to this only because of war and misfortune. How do I have the heart to treat you as lowly slaves!
When Li Yuan heard of this, he gasped in admiration, but resent him another 20 girls. Afterwards Li Daling served as Commander-in-Chief (
Under Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin)[edit]
Li Shimin (posthumously known as Emperor Taizong) became the Tang emperor in 626. The following year Li Daliang was assigned to Jiaozhou. When he left his post in Yue Prefecture, he left behind hundreds of volumes of his writing as he felt they would help his successors. Later he returned to the capital to serve as Chief Minister of the Court of the Imperial Treasury (
You banned hunting a long time ago, but your messenger is looking for an eagle. If this is your idea, you are violating your own edict; if this is his idea, you are using the wrong person.
The emperor praised Li Daguang's loyalty and honesty, and wrote this reply: "What is there for me to worry about if I have ministers like you!" He also endowed Li Daliang with a foreign vase in his personal possession, as well as the historical text Annals of Han (
In 630, Illig Qaghan was captured as the Göktürk tribesmen scattered in the Yiwu region (around modern Hami City, Xinjiang). Li Shimin appointed Li Daliang Pacification Commissioner of the Xibei Circuit (
Pacifying domestic people should take priority over winning over foreign people. China is akin to a tree trunk, with the Four Barbarians being branches and leaves. Giving resources in China to the Four Barbarians is like uprooting a tree and thinking it would benefit the branches and leaves.
Li Shimin listened to his advice and left the Göktürks outside of Tang's border.[3]
In 634, Li Daliang was sent to Jiannan Circuit as an Inspection Commissioner (
Later that year, Li Shimin decided to carry out a major campaign against the hostile western neighbor Tuyuhun. Li Daliang was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Hedong Circuit under general Li Jing. The force led by Li Jing, Li Daliang, and general Xue Wanjun (薛萬
At some point Li Daliang was appointed General-in-Chief of the Right Guard (
In May 643, Li Shimin created his son Li Zhi his crown prince, and Li Daliang was appointed Right Defense Guard Commander for the Crown Prince (
It was around this time Li Daliang reencountered Zhang Bi, the general who spared his life in the Sui dynasty, by chance on the street. With tears in his eyes, he held Zhang Bi's hands and humbly offered him all his money. Zhang Bi refused. Li Daliang then told the emperor how indebted he was to Zhang Bi, and the emperor promoted Zhang Bi from a Palace Construction Aide (
In November 644, as Li Shimin prepared to lead an army against Goguryeo, he went to Luoyang and appointed Li Daliang vice-governor of the capital Chang'an, under governor Fang Xuanling who had spoken highly of him.[1] But soon Li Daming fell ill. When Li Shimin heard of it, he personally prepared medicine and ordered it delivered to him by the relay system, but Li Daliang's symptoms did not improve. On his deathbed, Li Daliang wrote a petition to the emperor, advising him to abandon the campaign against Goguryeo and instead focus on properly managing the Chang'an area.[3] (The first campaign in the Goguryeo–Tang War in 645 turned out to be a failure.)
When news of his death reached Li Shimin, the emperor broke down and cried. Imperial sessions were suspended for three days, and Li Daliang received the posthumous name "Yi" (懿; meaning "virtuous") as well as many posthumous titles. Li Daliang had lived simply so that when he died there was no jade or pearl at home to put in his coffin as was the tradition. Instead, he was buried with only rice and cloth. In fact, Li Daliang had spent a lot of money giving proper burials to relatives without offspring. He had also helped raise so many orphans, that 15 people not his own children mourned him like their father during the funeral. Li Daliang was buried in Zhao Mausoleum,[3] where Li Shimin would later also be buried.
Notes and references[edit]
- Liu Xu; et al. (945). Jiu Tang Shu (
舊 唐 書 ) [Old Book of Tang] (in Chinese). - Ouyang Xiu; et al. (1060). Xin Tang Shu (
新 唐 書 ) [New Book of Tang] (in Chinese). - Sima Guang (1086). Zizhi Tongjian (
資 治 通 鑑 ) [Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government] (in Chinese).