Li Siye
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Li Siye (
Background
[edit]It is not known when Li Siye was born. His family was from Jingzhao (
In 748, when Gao Xianzhi, then the deputy military governor of Anxi, led an army against Lesser Bolü (
During the Battle of Talas
[edit]In 751, Li Siye followed Gao Xianzhi in a campaign west against the Abbasid Caliphate that climaxed in the Battle of Talas. The Tang and Abbasid forces were locked in battle for several days, before the Karluks turned against Gao, causing Gao's forces to collapse. Only a few thousand survived. Gao tried to regather the scattered army, but Li Siye pointed out that continued battle would mean annihilation of the remaining troops, urging Gao to retreat. Gao agreed. Li Siye served as the rearguard and was able to successfully keep the path of flight open—as Gao's allied Ferghana (拔汗
An Lushan Rebellion
[edit]In 755, the general An Lushan rebelled against Tang, and by 756, the forces of his Yan dynasty were approaching the Tang capital Chang'an, forcing Xuanzong to flee to Jiannan Circuit (
In fall 757, with joint forces of Tang, under overall command by Suzong's son Li Chu the Prince of Guangping, and Tang's allied Uyghurs, poised to attack Chang'an to recapture it from Yan forces. When the forces battled west of Chang'an, Tang forces initially suffered losses and was about to collapse. Li Siye, seeing this situation, took off his upper clothing and rode on his horse, battering fleeing soldiers with his staff, to stop the panic. With the panic under control, Tang forces counterattacked and defeated Yan forces, forcing them out of Chang'an and allowing Tang to recapture Chang'an.[5] He also contributed to capturing Luoyang from An Lushan's son An Qingxu (who had assassinated An Lushan earlier in 757 and become the emperor of Yan). For Li Siye contributions, he was made the minister of army supplies (
An Qingxu withdrew to Yecheng and took up defensive position there. Tang forces converged on Yecheng and put it under siege, but with the Tang forces under 10 different jiedushi, the attack was disorganized. Li Siye was often a leader in the assaults on Yecheng. In spring 759, during one of the attacks on Yecheng's defenses, he was hit by a stray arrow. He rested in the camp, and for some time it appeared that his wound would heal. However, when Tang forces launched a subsequent attack, when Li Siye heard the war drums being played, he yelled out in a loud voice, and suddenly, he bled profusely from his wound and died.[6][7] When the news reached Emperor Suzong, he was shocked, and issued an edict praising Li Siye. He posthumously created Li Siye the Prince of Wuwei and allowed Li Siye's son Li Zuoguo (
Notes and references
[edit]- ^
兩 千 年 中 西曆 轉換 - ^ Li Siye's biographies in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang actually gave the governor's name as Ma Lingcha (
馬 靈 詧), but most other traditional sources – including other biographies in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang – gave the name as Fumeng Lincha. Compare Old Book of Tang, vol. 109 Archived 2007-12-10 at the Wayback Machine and New Book of Tang, vol. 138 Archived 2007-12-26 at the Wayback Machine, with Old Book of Tang, vol. 104 Archived 2008-04-19 at the Wayback Machine [biography of Gao Xianzhi], New Book of Tang, vol. 135 Archived 2007-12-26 at the Wayback Machine [biography of Gao Xianzhi], and Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 215, 216. - ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 216.
- ^ The Zizhi Tongjian, which provided the account about Li Siye's and Duan's initial disagreement and later agreement, actually indicated that both of them were then serving at Hexi (
河西 , headquartered in modern Wuwei, Gansu), but as that was inconsistent with all other accounts of where Li Siye and Duan were then serving, it appears far more likely that they were then still at Anxi. See Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 218. - ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 220.
- ^ Old Book of Tang, vol. 109.
- ^ New Book of Tang, vol. 138.
- Old Book of Tang, vol. 109.
- New Book of Tang, vol. 138.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 215, 216, 218, 220, 221.
- Tang dynasty jiedushi
- Tang dynasty generals at war against Tibet
- Tang dynasty nonimperial princes
- 8th-century births
- 759 deaths
- Politicians from Xi'an
- Tang dynasty generals from Shaanxi
- Protector generals of the Protectorate General to Pacify the West
- Tang dynasty people killed in battle
- People of An Lushan Rebellion