Recent from talks
Wei Gao
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Wei Gao
Wei Gao (韋皋) (745 – September 13, 805), courtesy name Chengwu (城武), formally Prince Zhongwu of Nankang (南康忠武王), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Tang dynasty. He was a long-time (from 785 to 805) military governor (Jiedushi) of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan) who was most known for his campaigns against Tibetan Empire and his reopening of relationship between Tang and Nanzhao.
Wei Gao was born in 745, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the Tang dynasty capital Chang'an). His sixth-generation ancestor Wei Fan (韋範) had accomplishments during Tang's two predecessor dynasties, the Northern Zhou and Sui dynasty.
Early in the Dali era (766-779) of Emperor Xuanzong's grandson Emperor Daizong, Wei served as one of the ceremonial pallbearers for the burial of Emperor Xuanzong's son and Emperor Daizong's father Emperor Suzong, and thereafter was made an officer at Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi). In 782, during the reign of Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong, when the chancellor Zhang Yi was made the military governor (Jiedushi) of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), he invited Wei to serve on his staff as an assistant overseeing military farming, and also put Wei in charge of the army stationed at Long Prefecture (隴州, in modern Baoji).
In 783, soldiers from Jingxuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang, Gansu), at Chang'an to await deployment to the east for wars against warlords, mutinied after not receiving rewards that they believed they deserved, and Emperor Dezong fled to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). The Jingyuan soldiers supported Zhang Yi's predecessor as military governor of Fengxiang Circuit, Zhu Ci as their leader. As Zhu Ci had been removed from his command by Emperor Dezong due to a rebellion by his brother Zhu Tao, he resented Emperor Dezong, and he soon declared himself emperor of a new state of Qin. The Fengxiang officer Li Chulin (李楚琳) mutinied, killed Zhang, and submitted to Zhu. Meanwhile, another former subordinate of Zhu's, Niu Yun'guang (牛雲光), stationed at Long Prefecture, was ready to rise against Wei and seize Long Prefecture for Zhu, but when he was discovered, he fled toward Chang'an. On the way, however, he met Zhu's emissary Su Yu (蘇玉), who wanted to try to persuade Wei to submit, and thus they returned to Long Prefecture together. Wei pretended to be ready to submit, but instead, after welcoming them into the city, killed them. He then led the soldiers in swearing an oath to Emperor Dezong, sent his cousins Wei Ping (韋平) and Wei Yan (韋弇) to Fengtian to report the events to Emperor Dezong, and also sought aid from Tufan. Emperor Dezong made Long Prefecture into its own circuit — Fengyi Circuit (奉義) and made Wei its military governor. Zhu then sent another emissary to Wei, promising to make him the military governor of Fengxiang; Wei executed the emissary. After Zhu was defeated and Emperor Dezong returned to Chang'an in 784, he summoned Wei and made him a general of the imperial guards. Under the suggestion of the chancellor Xiao Fu, he also considered Wei as a possible replacement for Chen Shaoyou (陳少遊) as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), but did not actually do so.
In 785, Emperor Dezong made Wei Gao the military governor of Xichuan Circuit, replacing Zhang Yanshang. In 787, with Tufan making repeated incursions into Tang territory and Tufan's vassal Nanzhao (which had previously been a Tang vassal) making overtures to Wei indicating that its king Yimouxun (異牟尋) was considering resubmitting to Tang, Wei, with Emperor Dezong's approval, wrote to Yimouxun, seeking further reconciliation between Tang and Nanzhao. He also seek to aid the effort persuading Ju Nashi (苴那時), the chieftain of Nanzhao's neighbor Wudeng Tribe (勿鄧), to serve as a go-between.
In 788, when Tufan was ready to launch a campaign against Xichuan Circuit with 100,000 men, it requested Nanzhao to also mobilize and aid its forces. Wei, knowing that Yimouxun was hesitating in his choice between the two potential suzerains, wrote a letter addressed to Yimouxun congratulating him on agreeing to submit to Tang — and intentionally had the letter delivered to Tufan through Nanzhao's neighboring tribes (collectively known as the Dongman (東蠻), located in modern Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan). Tufan, beginning to suspect Nanzhao's loyalty, stationed 10,000 men on the road between Tang and Nanzhao. Yimouxun, in anger over this action, withdrew his own troops and did not aid in the Tufan campaign. Wei subsequently defeated Tufan forces at Qingxi Pass (清溪關, in modern Ya'an, Sichuan), and after several further defeats, Tufan forces withdrew.
In 789, Wei sent his officer Cao Youdao (曹有道), in conjunction with forces of Dongman and Lianglinman (兩林蠻, located in modern Liangshan), attacked Tufan's Qinghai (青海) and Lacheng (臘城) Circuits (both located southeast of Qinghai Lake), and the forces battled at Xi Prefecture (雟州, in modern Liangshan). The Tufan forces were defeated, and during the battle, and the Tufan general Qizang Zhezhe (乞藏遮遮) was killed. It was said that after Qizang's death, Wei was continuously successful against Tufan forces over the next few years, recapturing Xi Prefecture.
Meanwhile, Wei was continuously writing to Yimouxun, but Yimouxun did not respond. Nevertheless, Nanzhao was sending fewer and fewer men to assist Tufan on campaigns. In 791, Wei made further overture to Nanzhao by sending his officer Duan Zhongyi (段忠義), who was originally from Nanzhao and who had served as an emissary for Yimouxun's grandfather Geluofeng (閤羅鳳), as an emissary back to Nanzhao. (This drew an incident between Tufan and Nanzhao when Tufan found out, forcing Yimouxun to turn someone with a similar profile to Duan to Tufan. Tufan further reacted by demanding that Nanzhao officials' sons be sent to Tufan as hostages to ensure Nanzhao's loyalty, and the Nanzhao people became further resentful of Tufan.) Around this time, there was also an incident when the chief of Wudeng, Ju Mengchong (苴夢沖), resubmitted to Tufan and was cutting off the communication line between Tang and Nanzhao, and Wei sent an army to kill Ju, reopening the communication line.
Hub AI
Wei Gao AI simulator
(@Wei Gao_simulator)
Wei Gao
Wei Gao (韋皋) (745 – September 13, 805), courtesy name Chengwu (城武), formally Prince Zhongwu of Nankang (南康忠武王), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Tang dynasty. He was a long-time (from 785 to 805) military governor (Jiedushi) of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan) who was most known for his campaigns against Tibetan Empire and his reopening of relationship between Tang and Nanzhao.
Wei Gao was born in 745, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the Tang dynasty capital Chang'an). His sixth-generation ancestor Wei Fan (韋範) had accomplishments during Tang's two predecessor dynasties, the Northern Zhou and Sui dynasty.
Early in the Dali era (766-779) of Emperor Xuanzong's grandson Emperor Daizong, Wei served as one of the ceremonial pallbearers for the burial of Emperor Xuanzong's son and Emperor Daizong's father Emperor Suzong, and thereafter was made an officer at Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi). In 782, during the reign of Emperor Daizong's son Emperor Dezong, when the chancellor Zhang Yi was made the military governor (Jiedushi) of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), he invited Wei to serve on his staff as an assistant overseeing military farming, and also put Wei in charge of the army stationed at Long Prefecture (隴州, in modern Baoji).
In 783, soldiers from Jingxuan Circuit (涇原, headquartered in modern Pingliang, Gansu), at Chang'an to await deployment to the east for wars against warlords, mutinied after not receiving rewards that they believed they deserved, and Emperor Dezong fled to Fengtian (奉天, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). The Jingyuan soldiers supported Zhang Yi's predecessor as military governor of Fengxiang Circuit, Zhu Ci as their leader. As Zhu Ci had been removed from his command by Emperor Dezong due to a rebellion by his brother Zhu Tao, he resented Emperor Dezong, and he soon declared himself emperor of a new state of Qin. The Fengxiang officer Li Chulin (李楚琳) mutinied, killed Zhang, and submitted to Zhu. Meanwhile, another former subordinate of Zhu's, Niu Yun'guang (牛雲光), stationed at Long Prefecture, was ready to rise against Wei and seize Long Prefecture for Zhu, but when he was discovered, he fled toward Chang'an. On the way, however, he met Zhu's emissary Su Yu (蘇玉), who wanted to try to persuade Wei to submit, and thus they returned to Long Prefecture together. Wei pretended to be ready to submit, but instead, after welcoming them into the city, killed them. He then led the soldiers in swearing an oath to Emperor Dezong, sent his cousins Wei Ping (韋平) and Wei Yan (韋弇) to Fengtian to report the events to Emperor Dezong, and also sought aid from Tufan. Emperor Dezong made Long Prefecture into its own circuit — Fengyi Circuit (奉義) and made Wei its military governor. Zhu then sent another emissary to Wei, promising to make him the military governor of Fengxiang; Wei executed the emissary. After Zhu was defeated and Emperor Dezong returned to Chang'an in 784, he summoned Wei and made him a general of the imperial guards. Under the suggestion of the chancellor Xiao Fu, he also considered Wei as a possible replacement for Chen Shaoyou (陳少遊) as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), but did not actually do so.
In 785, Emperor Dezong made Wei Gao the military governor of Xichuan Circuit, replacing Zhang Yanshang. In 787, with Tufan making repeated incursions into Tang territory and Tufan's vassal Nanzhao (which had previously been a Tang vassal) making overtures to Wei indicating that its king Yimouxun (異牟尋) was considering resubmitting to Tang, Wei, with Emperor Dezong's approval, wrote to Yimouxun, seeking further reconciliation between Tang and Nanzhao. He also seek to aid the effort persuading Ju Nashi (苴那時), the chieftain of Nanzhao's neighbor Wudeng Tribe (勿鄧), to serve as a go-between.
In 788, when Tufan was ready to launch a campaign against Xichuan Circuit with 100,000 men, it requested Nanzhao to also mobilize and aid its forces. Wei, knowing that Yimouxun was hesitating in his choice between the two potential suzerains, wrote a letter addressed to Yimouxun congratulating him on agreeing to submit to Tang — and intentionally had the letter delivered to Tufan through Nanzhao's neighboring tribes (collectively known as the Dongman (東蠻), located in modern Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan). Tufan, beginning to suspect Nanzhao's loyalty, stationed 10,000 men on the road between Tang and Nanzhao. Yimouxun, in anger over this action, withdrew his own troops and did not aid in the Tufan campaign. Wei subsequently defeated Tufan forces at Qingxi Pass (清溪關, in modern Ya'an, Sichuan), and after several further defeats, Tufan forces withdrew.
In 789, Wei sent his officer Cao Youdao (曹有道), in conjunction with forces of Dongman and Lianglinman (兩林蠻, located in modern Liangshan), attacked Tufan's Qinghai (青海) and Lacheng (臘城) Circuits (both located southeast of Qinghai Lake), and the forces battled at Xi Prefecture (雟州, in modern Liangshan). The Tufan forces were defeated, and during the battle, and the Tufan general Qizang Zhezhe (乞藏遮遮) was killed. It was said that after Qizang's death, Wei was continuously successful against Tufan forces over the next few years, recapturing Xi Prefecture.
Meanwhile, Wei was continuously writing to Yimouxun, but Yimouxun did not respond. Nevertheless, Nanzhao was sending fewer and fewer men to assist Tufan on campaigns. In 791, Wei made further overture to Nanzhao by sending his officer Duan Zhongyi (段忠義), who was originally from Nanzhao and who had served as an emissary for Yimouxun's grandfather Geluofeng (閤羅鳳), as an emissary back to Nanzhao. (This drew an incident between Tufan and Nanzhao when Tufan found out, forcing Yimouxun to turn someone with a similar profile to Duan to Tufan. Tufan further reacted by demanding that Nanzhao officials' sons be sent to Tufan as hostages to ensure Nanzhao's loyalty, and the Nanzhao people became further resentful of Tufan.) Around this time, there was also an incident when the chief of Wudeng, Ju Mengchong (苴夢沖), resubmitted to Tufan and was cutting off the communication line between Tang and Nanzhao, and Wei sent an army to kill Ju, reopening the communication line.