Yuan Shuji
Encyclopedia
Yuan Shuji (died 706), formally Prince Zhenlie of Nanyang (南陽貞烈王), was an official of the Chinese
dynasty Tang Dynasty
and Wu Zetian
's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong
. He was a key figure in the coup that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705, but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi
and killed in exile in a cruel manner.
, Hebei
) and traced its ancestry to the late Han Dynasty
warlord Yuan Shao
. Both Yuan Shuji's grandfather Yuan Lingxi (袁令喜) and father Yuan Yihong (袁異弘) served as prefectural officials.
's Chang'an era (701-704), Yuan Shuji served as assistant chief judge of the supreme court (司刑少卿, Sixing Shaoqing) and military advisor to Wu Zetian's son Li Dan
the Prince of Xiang. As of 704, he was serving as Youtai Zhongcheng (右臺中丞), an imperial censor.
In spring 705, with Wu Zetian being ill, Cui entered into a plot with a number of officials and generals, including Zhang Jianzhi
, Cui Xuanwei
, Huan Yanfan
, and Jing Hui
, to kill her lovers Zhang Yizhi
and Zhang Changzong
. With agreement from Li Xian
the Crown Prince
(Wu Zetian's son and Li Dan's older brother), they acted on February 20, killing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and then surrounding Wu Zetian. While they allowed her to retain the title of "emperor," they had her put under house arrest at the secondary palace Shangyang Palace (上陽宮) and forced her to yield the throne to Li Xian, who was formerly emperor, and he was restored to the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong). During the coup, Yuan's responsibility was to accompany Li Dan and make sure that no unusual incidents would happen involving Li Dan, and after coup was successful, Yuan was immediately made, by an edict issued in Wu Zetian's name, Fengge Shilang (鳳閣侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, Fengge) and given the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事). Two days later, Emperor Zhongzong was formally restored.
and her lover Wu Sansi
the Prince of Liang (Wu Zetian's nephew and Emperor Zhongzong's cousin). Zhang fervently argued against the rise of Wu Sansi's power but was unable to do anything about it. In summer 705, by which time Emperor Zhongzong's trust in Yuan and his colleagues had completely been lost, Emperor Zhongzong, following Wu Sansi's recommendation, created the five coup leaders princes -- in Yuan's case, Prince of Nanyang -- but stripped them of chancellor positions. In spring 706, Yuan was further sent out of the capital Chang'an
to serve as the prefect of Yu Prefecture (豫州, roughly modern Zhumadian
, Henan
).
Later in spring 706, with all five of the coup leaders already out of the capital, Wu Sansi and Empress Wei made accusations against them, and they were demoted to more remote prefectures -- in Yuan's case, to be the prefect of Ying Prefecture (郢州, roughly modern Wuhan
, Hubei
). Wu Sansi then had his strategist Zheng Yin further accuse the five of them of having participated in the plot of Emperor Zhongzong's son-in-law Wang Tongjiao (王同皎) -- who was executed early in 706 after having been accused of plotting to kill Wu Sansi and deposing Empress Wei. The five were further demoted with the provisions that they would never be allowed to return to the capital Chang'an
, with Yuan becoming the military advisor to the prefect of Dou Prefecture (竇州, roughly modern Maoming
, Guangdong
). Wu Sansi then had accusations that Empress Wei was having affairs posted publicly in the eastern capital Luoyang
, with the intent of incensing Emperor Zhongzong -- and then accused the five coup leaders of being behind this public humiliation. He then had his associates propose that the five be killed. Emperor Zhongzong, citing that the five had been previously awarded iron certificates that guaranteed that they would not be executed in recognition of their contribution, ordered that they be reduced to commoner rank and permanently exiled to the Lingnan
region with their families -- in Yuan's case, to Huan Prefecture (環州, roughly modern Hechi
, Guangxi
). At the suggestion of Cui Shi
, Wu Sansi then sent the censor Zhou Lizhen (周利貞) to the Lingnan region under guise of reviewing the affairs of the region but with instructions to kill the five. When Zhou arrived at Yuan's place of exile, he forced Yuan to drink the juice of the poisonous plant Gelsemium
elegans, but Yuan did not die immediately -- a fact that traditional historians attributed to Yuan's frequently taking an alchemist
medication known as "yellow gold" (黃金). However, he suffered immensely from the poison and was angry over how he was treated, and he toiled on the ground, scratching it, causing his nails to fall off. Zhou then had him caned to death. After Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 and Li Dan, himself a former emperor, was restored (as Emperor Ruizong), Yuan and his colleagues were posthumously honored.
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
dynasty Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
and Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian , personal name Wu Zhao , often referred to as Tian Hou during the Tang Dynasty and Empress Consort Wu in later times, was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant...
's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Xiǎn , at times during his life Li Zhe and Wu Xian , was the fourth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710.Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu...
. He was a key figure in the coup that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705, but was later exiled due to false accusations instigated by Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi , formally Prince Xuan of Liang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and his aunt Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, becoming an imperial prince and chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian and subsequently, while only briefly chancellor during the second reign of Wu Zetian's son...
and killed in exile in a cruel manner.
Background
It is not known when Yuan Shuji was born. His family was from Cang Prefecture (滄州, roughly modern CangzhouCangzhou
Cangzhou is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, People's Republic of China. Cangzhou's urban center has a population of approximately 514,074 at the 2010 census which correspond to the built up area), while the prefecture-level administrative region in total has a population of 7,134,053...
, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
) and traced its ancestry to the late Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
warlord Yuan Shao
Yuan Shao
Yuan Shao was a warlord during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil war that occurred towards the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era...
. Both Yuan Shuji's grandfather Yuan Lingxi (袁令喜) and father Yuan Yihong (袁異弘) served as prefectural officials.
During Wu Zetian's reign
Sometime during Wu ZetianWu Zetian
Wu Zetian , personal name Wu Zhao , often referred to as Tian Hou during the Tang Dynasty and Empress Consort Wu in later times, was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant...
's Chang'an era (701-704), Yuan Shuji served as assistant chief judge of the supreme court (司刑少卿, Sixing Shaoqing) and military advisor to Wu Zetian's son Li Dan
Emperor Ruizong of Tang
Emperor Ruizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Dàn , known at times during his life as Li Xulun , Li Lun , Wu Lun , and Wu Dan , was the fifth and ninth emperor of Tang Dynasty...
the Prince of Xiang. As of 704, he was serving as Youtai Zhongcheng (右臺中丞), an imperial censor.
In spring 705, with Wu Zetian being ill, Cui entered into a plot with a number of officials and generals, including Zhang Jianzhi
Zhang Jianzhi
Zhang Jianzhi , courtesy name Mengjiang , formally Prince Wenzhen of Hanyang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong...
, Cui Xuanwei
Cui Xuanwei
Cui Xuanwei , né Cui Ye , formally Prince Wenxian of Boling , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong...
, Huan Yanfan
Huan Yanfan
Huan Yanfan , courtesy name Shize , formally Prince Zhonglie of Fuyang , briefly known during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang as Wei Yanfan , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong...
, and Jing Hui
Jing Hui
JIng Hui , courtesy name Zhongye , formally Prince Sumin of Pingyang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong...
, to kill her lovers Zhang Yizhi
Zhang Yizhi
Zhang Yizhi , formally the Duke of Heng , nickname Wulang , was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty who, along with his brother Zhang Changzong, became a lover of Wu Zetian and became very powerful late in her reign...
and Zhang Changzong
Zhang Changzong
Zhang Changzong , formally the Duke of Ye , nickname Liulang , was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty who, along with his brother Zhang Yizhi, became a lover of Wu Zetian and became very powerful late in her reign...
. With agreement from Li Xian
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Xiǎn , at times during his life Li Zhe and Wu Xian , was the fourth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710.Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu...
the Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
(Wu Zetian's son and Li Dan's older brother), they acted on February 20, killing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, and then surrounding Wu Zetian. While they allowed her to retain the title of "emperor," they had her put under house arrest at the secondary palace Shangyang Palace (上陽宮) and forced her to yield the throne to Li Xian, who was formerly emperor, and he was restored to the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong). During the coup, Yuan's responsibility was to accompany Li Dan and make sure that no unusual incidents would happen involving Li Dan, and after coup was successful, Yuan was immediately made, by an edict issued in Wu Zetian's name, Fengge Shilang (鳳閣侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, Fengge) and given the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事). Two days later, Emperor Zhongzong was formally restored.
During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign
Yuan Shuji, along with Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanwei, Huan Yanfan, and Jing Hui, were recognized as leaders in Emperor Zhongzong's restoration, and they were put into key positions and created dukes, with Yuan becoming continuing to serve as Fengge Shilang and carrying the greater chancellor designation of Tong Fengge Luantai Sanpin (同鳳閣鸞臺三品), and carrying the title of Duke of Nanyang. One of the main acts that Yuan was recorded to have done was to speak against the deputy minister of construction Yang Wulian (楊務廉), accusing Yang of encouraging wasteful construction and not making useful suggestions to the emperor, and Yang was demoted to be a prefectural prefect. Yuan was then further elevated to be Zhongshu Ling (中書令), the head of the legislative bureau (which by this point had been renamed Zhongshu Sheng (中書省)). Soon, however, Emperor Zhongzong became heavily influenced by his wife Empress WeiEmpress Wei (Zhongzong)
Empress Wei was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power...
and her lover Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi , formally Prince Xuan of Liang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and his aunt Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, becoming an imperial prince and chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian and subsequently, while only briefly chancellor during the second reign of Wu Zetian's son...
the Prince of Liang (Wu Zetian's nephew and Emperor Zhongzong's cousin). Zhang fervently argued against the rise of Wu Sansi's power but was unable to do anything about it. In summer 705, by which time Emperor Zhongzong's trust in Yuan and his colleagues had completely been lost, Emperor Zhongzong, following Wu Sansi's recommendation, created the five coup leaders princes -- in Yuan's case, Prince of Nanyang -- but stripped them of chancellor positions. In spring 706, Yuan was further sent out of the capital Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
to serve as the prefect of Yu Prefecture (豫州, roughly modern Zhumadian
Zhumadian
Zhumadian is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of Anhui to the east.Its population is 7,230,744 at the...
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
).
Later in spring 706, with all five of the coup leaders already out of the capital, Wu Sansi and Empress Wei made accusations against them, and they were demoted to more remote prefectures -- in Yuan's case, to be the prefect of Ying Prefecture (郢州, roughly modern Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
). Wu Sansi then had his strategist Zheng Yin further accuse the five of them of having participated in the plot of Emperor Zhongzong's son-in-law Wang Tongjiao (王同皎) -- who was executed early in 706 after having been accused of plotting to kill Wu Sansi and deposing Empress Wei. The five were further demoted with the provisions that they would never be allowed to return to the capital Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
, with Yuan becoming the military advisor to the prefect of Dou Prefecture (竇州, roughly modern Maoming
Maoming
Maoming is located in southwestern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. Facing the South China Sea to the city's south, Maoming city neighbors Zhanjiang in the west and is from Guangzhou and from Zhanjiang. The Maoming Port is a Grade I port that handled 16.8 million tons of cargo in...
, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
). Wu Sansi then had accusations that Empress Wei was having affairs posted publicly in the eastern capital Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
, with the intent of incensing Emperor Zhongzong -- and then accused the five coup leaders of being behind this public humiliation. He then had his associates propose that the five be killed. Emperor Zhongzong, citing that the five had been previously awarded iron certificates that guaranteed that they would not be executed in recognition of their contribution, ordered that they be reduced to commoner rank and permanently exiled to the Lingnan
Lingnan
Lingnan is a geographic area referring to lands in the south of China's "Five Ranges" which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. The region covers the Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of modern China and northern Vietnam...
region with their families -- in Yuan's case, to Huan Prefecture (環州, roughly modern Hechi
Hechi
-Administration:Hechi has 1 urban district, 1 city, 4 counties, and 5 autonomous counties.City:*Yizhou Urban District:*Jinchengjiang District Counties:*Nandan County -Administration:Hechi has 1 urban district, 1 city, 4 counties, and 5 autonomous counties.City:*Yizhou (宜州市)Urban...
, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
). At the suggestion of Cui Shi
Cui Shi
Cui Shi , courtesy name Chenglan , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian's sons Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong and grandsons Emperor Shang and Emperor Xuanzong...
, Wu Sansi then sent the censor Zhou Lizhen (周利貞) to the Lingnan region under guise of reviewing the affairs of the region but with instructions to kill the five. When Zhou arrived at Yuan's place of exile, he forced Yuan to drink the juice of the poisonous plant Gelsemium
Gelsemium
Gelsemium is a genus of flowering plants belonging to family Gelsemiaceae. The genus contains three species of shrubs to straggling or twining climbers. Two species are native to North America, and one to China and Southeast Asia....
elegans, but Yuan did not die immediately -- a fact that traditional historians attributed to Yuan's frequently taking an alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
medication known as "yellow gold" (黃金). However, he suffered immensely from the poison and was angry over how he was treated, and he toiled on the ground, scratching it, causing his nails to fall off. Zhou then had him caned to death. After Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 and Li Dan, himself a former emperor, was restored (as Emperor Ruizong), Yuan and his colleagues were posthumously honored.