Han Jian (Zhenguo warlord) facts for kids

Han Jian (born 855, died 912) was a powerful military leader, known as a warlord, during the end of China's Tang dynasty. He later served the Later Liang state, which followed the Tang dynasty. Han Jian is most famous for holding Emperor Zhaozong of Tang under his control at Hua Prefecture (modern Weinan, Shaanxi) from 896 to 898. During this time, he sadly ordered the killing of several imperial princes.

Han Jian's Early Life and Career

How Han Jian Started in the Army

Han Jian was born in 855 in Xu Prefecture (modern Xuchang, Henan). His family, including his father Han Shufeng, had a long history of serving in the army. In 880, a rebel leader named Qin Zongquan took control of Cai Prefecture. Qin encouraged people to join his army, and Han Jian decided to join him.

Joining the Fight Against Rebels

In 881, a powerful court official named Yang Fuguang convinced a military governor named Zhou Ji to stop supporting the major rebel leader Huang Chao. Huang Chao had taken over the Tang capital, Chang'an, and forced Emperor Xizong to flee. Yang Fuguang also convinced Qin Zongquan to send troops to help fight Huang Chao. Yang organized his army into eight groups, and Han Jian was one of the commanders. From then on, Han Jian served under Yang Fuguang.

A New Path with Wang Jian

Yang Fuguang died in 883 while still fighting Huang Chao. After Yang's death, one of his commanders, Lu Yanhong, decided to lead his troops around, stealing from people. Han Jian and other commanders, including Wang Jian, followed Lu. Later in 883, Lu captured Xingyuan, a key city, and took control of the area. He made Han Jian and the others local officials, but he didn't let them actually go to their assigned areas. Lu was especially suspicious of Wang Jian and Han Jian because they were very good friends.

Wang Jian and Han Jian realized Lu's intentions. In late 884, they secretly left Lu and went to serve a trusted official of Emperor Xizong. After Emperor Xizong returned to Chang'an in 885, Han Jian was given important roles. He became the defender of Tong Pass and the leader of Hua Prefecture.

Han Jian's Time at Hua Prefecture

Making Hua Prefecture Prosperous

During this time, the Tang empire was divided among many warlords who were mostly interested in fighting and gaining more land. However, as the leader of Hua Prefecture, Han Jian focused on helping people. He encouraged those who had fled the wars to settle in Hua and strongly supported farming. It is said that within a few years, Hua Prefecture became very wealthy, both its government and its people. People at the time greatly praised Han Jian for his good leadership.

By 890, Han Jian was also given the title of military governor for a new area called Zhenguo Circuit, which included Hua Prefecture.

Battles and Political Struggles

In 890, Emperor Zhaozong, Emperor Xizong's brother, launched a campaign against Li Keyong, another powerful warlord. Han Jian led his army to join the emperor's forces and was also in charge of supplying them. The imperial army faced difficulties, and Han Jian's night attack against Li Keyong's adopted son, Li Cunxiao, was unsuccessful. After this, many imperial armies left the fight. Han Jian and the chancellor Zhang Jun were left to defend a city called Jin Prefecture. Li Cunxiao surrounded the city but eventually allowed Zhang and Han to escape. They had to tear down local homes to build rafts to cross the Yellow River and flee.

After this defeat, Li Keyong demanded that Zhang Jun and another chancellor, Kong Wei, be sent away. Instead, both Zhang and Kong fled to Hua Prefecture, where Han Jian protected them.

Dealing with Powerful Eunuchs and Warlords

In 891, accusations were made against a powerful eunuch named Yang Fugong. Yang fled and, along with his adopted sons, rebelled against the emperor. In 892, Han Jian, along with other warlords like Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu, asked Emperor Zhaozong to declare a campaign against Yang Fugong and his allies. They wanted Li Maozhen to lead the fight. The emperor was hesitant, but Li Maozhen started the campaign anyway. Li Maozhen eventually defeated the Yangs, and Han Jian's soldiers captured them as they tried to escape. Han Jian sent them to Chang'an, where they were executed.

In 895, a disagreement over who should lead Huguo Circuit led to a conflict between Han Jian, Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and the imperial government, as well as Li Keyong. The emperor sided with Li Keyong, which angered Han Jian and his allies. Han Jian and Wang Xingyu were also upset that their requests to take over two imperial army bases were denied.

In the summer of 895, Han Jian, Li Maozhen, and Wang Xingyu marched on Chang'an. They accused two former chancellors, Wei Zhaodu and Li Xi, of corruption. When Emperor Zhaozong refused to execute them, the warlords killed Wei and Li Xi anyway. They also forced the emperor to make changes to who controlled certain regions before returning to their own areas. However, they left troops in Chang'an to watch over the emperor.

Li Keyong's Intervention and Emperor's Flight

Han Jian and his allies' actions prompted Li Keyong to act. Li Keyong quickly defeated and killed Wang Yao, an ally of Han Jian. Then, Li Keyong advanced and surrounded Hua Prefecture, where Han Jian was. Han Jian begged Li Keyong to lift the siege. Li Keyong, hearing that Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu were trying to capture Emperor Zhaozong, quickly moved towards Wang Xingyu's territory. Wang Xingyu tried to flee but was killed by his own soldiers. Li Maozhen and Han Jian became very respectful towards the emperor out of fear. Li Keyong then asked to destroy Li Maozhen, but Emperor Zhaozong refused, wanting to keep a balance of power. Li Keyong withdrew, and it is said that Li Maozhen and Han Jian became arrogant again.

In 896, Emperor Zhaozong tried to reduce the pressure from Li Maozhen and Han Jian by creating new imperial guards led by imperial princes. Li Maozhen claimed the princes were planning to attack him and mobilized his forces to march on Chang'an again. Emperor Zhaozong sought help from Li Keyong, but Li Keyong could not respond. When Li Maozhen defeated one of the princes and approached Chang'an, Emperor Zhaozong decided to flee Chang'an with his officials and princes. Li Maozhen's forces then entered and burned Chang'an.

After leaving Chang'an, the emperor initially planned to flee to Li Keyong's territory. However, Han Jian repeatedly urged the emperor to come to Zhenguo (Hua Prefecture) instead. Han Jian argued that if the emperor went too far, he might never be able to return to the Chang'an area. Emperor Zhaozong and his followers were also tired of the long journey, so they went to Zhenguo.

Emperor Zhaozong's Stay at Hua Prefecture

When Emperor Zhaozong arrived at Zhenguo, his chancellors were afraid of Han Jian and hesitated to make decisions. Emperor Zhaozong asked Han Jian to help with policy decisions, but Han Jian declined. Meanwhile, another chancellor, Cui Yin, who had been removed from his post by Han Jian, sought help from Zhu Quanzhong. Zhu suggested that Cui Yin should be restored. Han Jian, fearing Zhu, recommended Cui's return, and Cui was indeed restored.

Emperor Zhaozong gave Han Jian an honorary title. He also put a chancellor named Sun Wo in charge of operations against Li Maozhen, with Han Jian as his assistant. However, Han Jian did not want the emperor to attack his long-time ally, Li Maozhen, who also begged for forgiveness. So, no actual attack happened.

Han Jian was worried about the imperial army soldiers commanded by the princes who had fled with the emperor. He falsely accused them of planning treason. He even had soldiers surround the emperor's temporary palace, demanding that the princes be stripped of their commands. Under this threat, Emperor Zhaozong was forced to remove the princes from their commands and execute an imperial guard commander who had protected him well. Han Jian then placed the imperial princes under house arrest, leaving Emperor Zhaozong with no forces he could control.

Knowing the emperor was unhappy with him, Han Jian tried to make amends. He urged Emperor Zhaozong to name his oldest son, Li You, as the crown prince. Emperor Zhaozong agreed, making Li You the crown prince (renamed Li Yu) and his mother, Consort He, the empress. Around the same time, Han Jian falsely accused two of the emperor's close friends and had them executed. He then used this as an excuse to remove two chancellors, Sun Wo and Zhu Pu, from their positions.

In 897, Li Maozhen, whose ally was losing battles, asked Emperor Zhaozong to punish Wang Jian for attacking his ally. Emperor Zhaozong, hoping to regain control of Fengxiang, issued orders to demote Wang Jian and transfer Li Maozhen to another area. He also made a prince, Li Sizhou, the new military governor of Fengxiang. When Li Sizhou went to Fengxiang, Li Maozhen refused to let him take over and surrounded him and his soldiers. Only after Han Jian wrote a letter to Li Maozhen did Li Maozhen lift the siege, allowing Li Sizhou to return to Zhenguo. Since Wang Jian also refused to follow the emperor's orders, the emperor's commands were canceled.

Soon after, another prince, Li Jiepi, returned from Li Keyong's territory, showing that Li Keyong could not help the emperor. With no help from Li Keyong, Han Jian demanded the deaths of Li Sizhou, Li Jiepi, and other imperial princes, accusing them of treason. Emperor Zhaozong tried to avoid this, but Han Jian and a eunuch named Liu Jishu acted on their own. They executed Li Sizhou, Li Jiepi, and seven other princes, including the emperor's uncle. Meanwhile, Han Jian threatened Li Maozhen's adopted son, who was in charge of Kuangguo Circuit. The adopted son fled, allowing Han Jian to take over Kuangguo. Emperor Zhaozong then made Han Jian the military governor of Kuangguo, in addition to Zhenguo.

Meanwhile, Zhu Quanzhong repeatedly asked Emperor Zhaozong to move the capital to Luoyang. Both Li Maozhen and Han Jian were worried that Zhu would attack them. So, they decided to repair the palaces in Chang'an for the emperor to return. They also made peace with Li Keyong. The palace repairs were finished in early 898. In late 898, Emperor Zhaozong and his court returned to Chang'an. Han Jian remained at Zhenguo. The emperor gave him an honorary title and made Hua Prefecture a special city, making Han Jian its mayor. He also made Han Jian the Duke of Xu.

Han Jian Joins Zhu Quanzhong

Shifting Loyalties

In 901, after Emperor Zhaozong was briefly removed from power by eunuchs but then restored, a chancellor named Cui Yin suggested that all eunuchs should be killed. This plan became known to the eunuchs, who allied with Li Maozhen and tried to remove Cui. Cui, fearing for his life, asked Zhu Quanzhong to bring an army to Chang'an to fight the eunuchs. When Zhu's forces approached, Han Jian's subordinate in Kuangguo surrendered to Zhu. Han Jian, fearing Zhu, sent his deputy to surrender.

A retired chancellor, Zhang Jun, met with Zhu and convinced him that Han Jian, who had been allied with Li Maozhen for a long time, should be removed. When Zhu met Han Jian to scold him for his past actions, Han Jian blamed everything on his deputy. Zhu executed the deputy but spared Han Jian. However, Zhu wanted to remove Han Jian from the area. So, he made Han Jian the military governor of Zhongwu Circuit and transferred the previous governor of Zhongwu to Kuangguo. It is said that the large amount of tax money Han Jian had collected during Emperor Zhaozong's stay at Hua Prefecture now fell into Zhu's hands.

Serving the New Dynasty

Zhu Quanzhong then surrounded Fengxiang. In 903, with Fengxiang suffering from a terrible famine, Li Maozhen surrendered Emperor Zhaozong to Zhu and asked for peace. With the emperor in his control, Zhu began to think about taking the throne for himself. He first forced Emperor Zhaozong to kill Cui Yin (who was trying to raise an army against Zhu). Then, he forced Emperor Zhaozong to leave Chang'an and move the capital to Luoyang.

As Emperor Zhaozong traveled to Luoyang, he stopped at Hua Prefecture for some time. At one point, Zhu Quanzhong came to meet him, along with Han Jian. Zhu held a feast in their honor. However, Han Jian warned Zhu that Emperor Zhaozong might be planning to assassinate him at the feast (Han Jian did this by stomping on Zhu's foot during the meal). Because of this warning, Zhu cut the feast short and left. Zhu was very grateful to Han Jian for this.

Later, Zhu made the Chang'an region into a new area called Youguo Circuit and made Han Jian its military governor. However, in 906, after Emperor Zhaozong had been assassinated under Zhu's orders and replaced by his son Emperor Ai, Zhu became concerned. Since Youguo was close to Fengxiang, Zhu worried that Han Jian might work with Li Maozhen again. So, Zhu transferred Han Jian to Pinglu Circuit and moved the previous governor of Pinglu to Youguo.

Han Jian's Final Years and Death

In 907, Zhu Quanzhong forced Emperor Ai to give up the throne to him, ending the Tang dynasty and starting the Later Liang dynasty. Zhu became Emperor Taizu of Later Liang. He made Han Jian an important official, a chancellor. It is said that by this time, Emperor Taizu was often violent and unreasonable, and very few officials dared to offer him advice. Han Jian, however, would do so, and Emperor Taizu appreciated his advice. In 909, Han Jian was removed from his chancellor position but given an honorary title. In 910, Han Jian was made the military governor of Kuangguo (which was the old Zhongwu Circuit).

In 912, Emperor Taizu was killed by his son, Zhu Yougui. Zhu Yougui falsely claimed that his adopted brother had committed the murder and had him killed. Zhu Yougui then took the throne. After Emperor Taizu's death, armies throughout the Later Liang realm became restless. However, Han Jian took no special precautions in Kuangguo. Soon after, one of his officers, Zhang Hou, started a rebellion and killed Han Jian. Han Jian's son, Han Congxun, who Zhu Yougui had sent to Kuangguo to announce the news of Emperor Taizu's death, was also killed in the rebellion.