Taizu of Later Liang (梁太祖)

Overview

Taizu of Later Liang was a ruler and Warlord.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Nickname	Zhu the Third	朱三

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 875 to AD 907 黃巢起…太祖即位
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 20-21, 34

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Sibling of Zhu Quanyu (朱全昱)
elder brother 兄 · Full siblings · paternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 16
Sibling of Zhu Cun (朱存)
elder brother 兄 · Full siblings · paternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 16, 28
Child of Emperor Mu (穆皇帝)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 26
Parent of Zhu Youyu (朱友裕)
father 父 · paternal line
Strongly inferred · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 43, 45-46
Parent of Last Emperor of Later Liang (梁末帝)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 37
Spouse of Honored Consort Chen (陳昭儀)
honored consort 昭儀 · Concubinage
Strongly inferred · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 58
Child of Empress Wenhui (文惠皇后王氏)
mother 母 · maternal line
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 15-16
Spouse of Empress Yuanzhen (元貞皇后張氏)
wife 婦 · Primary marriage
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 37

Origins and identity

Lineage Zhu house of Later Liang 梁朱氏
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 16, 26

Career and standing

military commissioner 節度使
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 21, 26
military governor of Xuanwu 宣武節度使
c. AD 883 遂鎮宣武 · Appointed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 21
Director of Works (honorary / acting) 檢校司空
Held
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 53
Entered
Bandit
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 20
Held
Laborer
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 17
ordered execution 將斬之
Ordered · With Zhu Youyu (朱友裕)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 45

Show 2 more source-backed claims

pardon 免
Pardoned · With Zhu Youyu (朱友裕)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 47
acceded as Liang Taizu 太祖即位
AD 907 太祖即位
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 34, 55

Places and affiliations

Polity Later Liang 後梁 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 34, 55
Polity Tang 唐 · Relation Surrendered to
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 21
At Xuanwu 宣武 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 21

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · Mode named-speech Speaker Taizu of Later Liang (梁太祖)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 26

Events and relationships

Attacked Guangzhou
AD 879 從黃巢攻廣州 · Military · Follower · With Huang Chao (黃巢)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 20
Deserted and destroyed
c. AD 883 太祖背巢降唐，反以破巢 · Military · Defector · With Huang Chao (黃巢)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 21
Established four ancestral temples
AD 907 太祖即位，立四廟 · Ritual · Founder
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 34
Feasted and toasted mother
Ritual · Son · With Empress Wenhui (文惠皇后王氏)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 25
Sent carriages to fetch mother
Domestic · Son · With Empress Wenhui (文惠皇后王氏) · At Xiao County 蕭縣
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 22
Sent to become nun
Religious · Authority · With Wife of Zhu Jin (朱瑾妻)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 52

Show 7 more source-backed claims

Summoned orphans home
Domestic · Uncle
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 29
Took defeated rivals wife
Personal · Captor · With Wife of Zhu Jin (朱瑾妻) · At Fengqiu 封丘
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 48
Turned to debauchery after empress death
Personal · Subject · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 57
Worked for food
Domestic · Laborer · With Liu Chong (劉崇)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 17-18
Relation Defeated · Person Huang Chao (黃巢)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 21
Relation Follower of · Person Huang Chao (黃巢)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 20
Relation Defeated · Person Zhu Jin (朱瑾)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passage 48

Assessments and attributes

Assessment harsh, violent, and much given to killing · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 13, passages 18, 30, 39

References in the histories

Search passages

History

30 passages

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 13Volume 13: The Later Liang Imperial Family · 30 passages

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梁太祖母曰文惠皇后王氏，單州單父人也。 Taizu of Liang’s mother, posthumously Empress Wenhuì, was a Wang of Shanfu in Shanzhou.

其生三子：長曰廣王全昱，次曰朗王存，其次太祖。 She bore three sons: Quanyu, Prince of Guang; Cun, Prince of Lang; and youngest of all, Taizu.

太祖壯而無賴，縣中皆厭苦之。 Taizu in his prime was a wastrel; the whole county loathed and endured him.

崇患太祖慵墮不作業，數加笞責，獨崇母憐之，時時自為櫛沐，戒家人曰：「朱三非常人也，宜善遇之！」 Chong hated Taizu’s idleness and beat him often; only Chong’s mother pitied him, bathing and combing his hair herself, and told the family: “Zhu the Third is no ordinary man—treat him kindly!”

黃巢起，太祖與存俱亡為盜，從黃巢攻廣州，存戰死。 When Huang Chao rebelled, Taizu and Cun both took to the hills; marching on Guangzhou under Chao, Cun was killed in battle.

居數歲，太祖背巢降唐，反以破巢，遂鎮宣武。 Within a few years Taizu deserted Chao for Tang, then turned and shattered Chao’s forces, and took the Xuanwu command.

使者至門，后惶恐走避，謂劉氏曰：「朱三落魄無行，作賊死矣，何以至此邪！」 At the knock on the door the empress shrank back in terror and told the Lius: “Zhu the Third was a good-for-nothing who turned bandit—he must be dead. Why have you come?”

使者具道太祖所以然，后乃驚喜泣下，與崇母俱載以歸，封晉國太夫人。 The envoy told the whole story; the empress wept for joy. She and Chong’s mother rode back together, and she was created Grand Lady of Jin.

太祖置酒太夫人前，舉觴為壽，歡甚。 Taizu spread a feast before the Grand Lady, raised his cup to her long life, and made merry.

太祖啟曰：「朱五經平生讀書，不登一第，有子為節度使，無忝於先人也。」 Taizu said: “Zhu of the Five Classics studied all his life yet never won a degree; he has a son who commands a circuit—he need not blush before the ancestors.”

太祖莫知其故，后曰：「朱二與汝俱從黃巢，獨死蠻嶺，其孤皆在午溝，汝今富貴，獨不念之乎？」 Taizu did not understand; the empress said: “Your brother Zhu the Second followed Huang Chao with you and died alone in the south; his children still live at Wugou—are you too grand now to remember them?”

太祖泣涕謝罪，乃悉召存諸子以歸。 Taizu wept and begged pardon, then sent for all of Cun’s sons and brought them home.

太祖剛暴多殺戮，后每誡之，多賴以全活。 Taizu was brutal and bloodthirsty; the empress often checked him, and many owed their lives to her.

太祖即位，立四廟，追尊皇考為穆皇帝，后曰文惠皇后。 After Taizu’s accession he founded four temples, raising his father to Emperor Mu and his mother to Empress Wenhuì.

太祖元貞皇后張氏，單州碭山縣渠亭里富家子也。 Taizu’s Empress Yuanzhen was a Zhang of Quetingli in Dangshan, Shanzhou, born to a rich household.

太祖少以婦聘之，生末帝。 Taizu betrothed her in his youth; she bore Youzhen, the Last Emperor.

太祖貴，封魏國夫人。 When Taizu’s star rose, she was created Lady of Wei.

后賢明精悍，動有禮法，雖太祖剛暴，亦嘗畏之。 Worthy, keen, and exact in deportment, she could awe even the brutal Taizu.

太祖每以外事訪之，后言多中。 He often asked her counsel on state matters, and she was usually right.

太祖時時暴怒殺戮，后嘗救護，人賴以獲全。 When Taizu raged and killed, she often intervened; many lived because of her.

太祖嘗出兵，行至中途，后意以為不然，馳一介召之，如期而至。 Once Taizu had marched halfway on campaign when the empress decided the move was wrong and sent a lone rider to call him back; he returned on the day she named.

郴王友裕攻徐州，破朱瑾於石佛山，瑾走，友裕不追，太祖大怒，奪其兵。 Youyu, Prince of Chen, besieged Xuzhou and routed Zhu Jin at Stone Buddha Mountain; Jin escaped, but Youyu let him go. Taizu raged and relieved him of command.

后陰使人教友裕脫身自歸，友裕晨馳入見太祖，拜伏庭中，泣涕請死，太祖怒甚，使左右捽出，將斬之。 The empress secretly coached Youyu to give himself up; at dawn he rode in, threw himself on the courtyard stones, wept, and asked to die. Taizu ordered him dragged out for execution.

太祖意解，乃免。 Taizu relented and spared him.

太祖已破朱瑾，納其妻以歸，后迎太祖於封丘，太祖告之。 After Taizu broke Zhu Jin and brought Jin’s wife away, the empress met him at Fengqiu and he told her what he had done.

后遽見瑾妻，瑾妻再拜，后亦拜，淒然泣下曰：「兗鄆與司空同姓之國，昆仲之間，以小故興干戈，而使吾姒至此； The empress went straight to Jin’s wife; Jin’s wife bowed low, and the empress bowed in return, weeping: “Yan and Yun share our house’s surname; brothers drew swords over a trifle, and your plight could have been mine—

太祖為之感動，乃送瑾妻為尼，后嘗給其衣食。 Taizu was touched and had Jin’s wife tonsured; the empress often sent her food and clothes.

司空，太祖時檢校官也。 “Director of Works” was the honorary post Taizu then held.

太祖即位，追冊為賢妃。 At Taizu’s accession she was posthumously created Worthy Consort.

后已死，太祖始為荒淫，卒以及禍云。 After her death Taizu turned to debauchery, and disaster followed—or so the record runs.