Lantern Languages - a guide to Mandarin Chinese Language and Literature

Li Yuan Raises an Army (李渊起兵)




Today we are looking at a story called 李渊起兵 - Li Yuan Raises an Army. This is a true story that took place during the reign of Emproror Sui Yang Di (隋炀帝) during the Sui Dynasty (581 AD -618 AD). The story is about a general called Li Yuan 李渊 from the city of 太原. This story will be of interest to anyone interested in Chinese history or Chinese literature. This story was recorded in the History of the Sui Dynasty.



Historical Context



李渊起兵, the story Li Yuan Raises an Army, took place during reign of Emperor Sui (C) during the Sui Dynasty, one of the shortest dynasties in all Chinese history. Although a very short dynasty - it only lasted from 581-518 AD - the Sui was very important as there were many developments that laid the foundations for the immensely successful Tang Dynasty. Some of the most notable developments during the Sui Dynasty were:

However, although Emperor Sui Yang Di 隋炀帝, the last of the Sui Emperors, is notable for his achievements he is also known as a tyrant who embarked on many frivolous construction projects and was overly fond of costly wars including a notable losing campaign against the Kingdom of Korea. This meant that the Sui state was marked by economic problems which led to rebellions breaking out throughout the state and having to break these up only exacerbated the costs of running the state. The story Li Yuan Raises an Army 李渊起兵 takes place in this context.



Characters

Sui Yang Di 隋炀帝 - Sui Yang Di is the ruling emperor during the years that this story took place. He is a famous emperor in Chinese history with lots of achievements, but one who was also flawed and is remembered as something of a tyrant. The first character 隋 from his name denotes that he is an emperor from the Sui Dynasty. The second suggests greatness, while the third means ruler, or king. We could translate this honorary title, bestowed after his death, as Great Emperor of the Sui. His actual name was 杨广 and he will have been known by thus name in his early years.
Li Yuan 李渊 - Li Yuan 李渊 was a Government official and is introduced as the mayor of Tai Yuan 太源, a city in the centre of Shanxi Province, at the beginning of our story. Li Yuan was an ambitious leader, but very cautious.
Li Shi Min 李世民 - Li Shi Min is the second son of Li Yuan, and is a young man of around 20 when this story takes place. As a young man he is much more gung-ho than his Father and this father-son dynamic is central to the story.
Pei Ji 裴寂 - Pei Ji is a general running the household at the Emperor's Jinyang Palace, in the ancient city of Jinyang (now part of modern Taiyuan). Pei Ji and Li Yuan, are allies working together to run the city of Taiyuan and later they fight together against Emperor Sui yang Di.
Li Jian Cheng 李建成 and Li Yuan Ji 李元吉 - Li Jian Cheng and Li Yuan Ji are two of Sui Yand Di's other sons.

Places

Chang'an, modern day Xi'an 西安 - Chang'an, called Xi'an in modern times, was the capital city of China during the Sui and following Tang Dynasty. It is part of Shaanxi Province.
Taiyuan 太原 - Taiyuan is a city in modern day China, and during the Sui and Tang dynasty was an important city. It is the home of Li Yuan when our story starts.


The Story

Having introduced the context, the places and the characters, lets get on and read our story.....

During the reign of Sui Yang Di, Li Yuan was appointed the Mayor of a city called Tai Yuan, which he ruled with General Pei Ji among others. Together they were in command of the city's military force. At that time, the central government was very chaotic and rebellions were breaking out across the country. This left the citizens of the country to speculate privately on who would become the next emperor.
Li Yuan also had his own ambition to raise an army in rebellion, but his reservations meant he did not command his troops to strike out. However, his second son Li Shi Min was very brave and ambitious and he had no such hesitations in urging his father that the time had come. To this end Li Shi Min also consulted General Pei Ji and they came up with a plan that would trap Li Yuan, giving him no choice but to order his troops to rebel. Pei Ji was supervisor of Jinyang Palace, in the ancient city of Jinyang, near Taiyuan and one evening he encouraged Li Yuan to join him for a drinking session. At the end of the evening it is said Li Yuan had sex with two palace maids after drunkenly being thrown onto one of their beds by Pei Ji. Upon waking Li Yuan knew after sleeping with one of the Emperor's palace maid's, his days were numbered and he had to rebel.

At that time Li Yuan's other sons, Li Jian Cheng and Li Yuan Ji were away at a place near the capital, Xi'an. As his sons were not with him in Taiyuan and li Yuan was concerned that they could be taken prisoner or killed by Government forces if he launched his rebellion immediately. Therefore, he sent a secret message to his sons asking them to return to Taiyuan and decided to wait a few days until their return before launching his rebellion. However, while he made preparations for the rebellion and waited for his sons return, Li Yuan's plans came to the attention of two generals who were loyal to Emperor Sui Yang Di. They became suspicious when they recieved order to raise an army. These generals, who had been stationed in Taiyuan to support Li Yuan, were sceptical about Li Yuan's chances and decided to kill him before he had enough troops to launch his rebellion.

However, before the generals had a chance to put their plan into action Li Yuan's sons Li Jian Cheng and Li Yuan Ji returned home. As soon as they arrived home safely Li Yuan started putting his plans into action. His first act was to kill the two generals, thus removing any remaining barriers to raising an army for rebellion. He then led this army to the capital Chang'an, defeating any resistance that stood in his way. After defeating government forces in Chang'an he took the throne and set up the Tang Dynasty. History remembers him as 唐高祖 Emperor Gaozu of Tang.