Zhao Kuangning (趙匡凝)

Overview

The translated histories identify Zhao Kuangning as a general, military officer, official, and scholar. This record brings together 44 passages from 7 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Zhao Kuangning	趙匡凝	Zhào Kuāngníng
Courtesy	Guangyi	光儀	Guāngyí
Courtesy name	Guangyi	光儀	Guāngyí
Given	Kuangning	匡凝	Kuangning
Given name	Kuangning	匡凝	Kuangning
Given	Kuangning	匡凝	Kuāngníng
Surname	Zhao	趙	Zhao
Surname	Zhao	趙
Personal	Zhao Kuangning	趙匡凝	Zhao Kuangning
Personal name	Zhao Kuangning	趙匡凝	Zhao Kuangning
Personal name	Zhao Kuangning	趙匡凝	Zhào Kuāngníng

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0147, jiuwudaishi:017:s0221, jiuwudaishi:024:s0018, xinwudaishi:023:s0006, xinwudaishi:069:s0016
Sex: male
Strongly inferred · jiuwudaishi:031:s0083, jiuwudaishi:071:s0156, xinwudaishi:041:s0060

Roles

General
Military Officer
Official
Scholar
Warlord

Life and dates

Death

Manner: killed · Authority Person Id: Xu Wen (徐溫) · Place: Hailing / 海陵
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0083
Manner: killed at Hailing · Responsible Person Id: Xu Wen (徐溫)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0169, jiuwudaishi:017:s0171

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 開平二年十一月 · Regnal Year: 2 · Month: 11 · Western Year: AD 908
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:017:s0228, jiuwudaishi:017:s0230
Source Date: Text: 天復元年 · Regnal Year: 1 · Western Year: AD 901
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:017:s0221
Source Date: Text: Taizu's Xiangyang campaign · Western Year: AD 905
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:023:s0006, xinwudaishi:023:s0008
Source Date: Text: 光啟四年至天祐二年 · Western Interval: Start: AD 888 · End: AD 905
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:017:s0143, jiuwudaishi:017:s0160
Source Date: Text: 同光二年 · Western Year: AD 924
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:031:s0083
Source Date: Text: 唐之末 · Western Year: AD 907
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:069:s0016
Source Date: Text: 唐末 · Western Interval: Start: AD 880 · End: AD 907
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:041:s0066
Source Date: Text: 天復中 to next year after · Western Interval: Start: AD 901 · End: AD 905
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:024:s0018, jiuwudaishi:024:s0019
Source Date: Text: 天祐末 · Western Year: AD 907
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:071:s0156
Source Date: Text: 太祖攻匡凝 · Western Interval: Start: AD 905 · End: AD 907
Explicit event contextual date · xinwudaishi:041:s0075

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Sibling of Zhao Kuangming (趙匡明)
Kinship Term: younger brother / 弟 · Shared Parentage: uncertain · Subject Relative Age: younger
Kinship Term: brother / 弟 · Shared Parentage: uncertain · Subject Relative Age: elder
Kinship Term: younger brother / 弟 · Subject Role: elder brother · Object Role: younger brother · Subject Relative Age: elder · Shared Parentage: full
Kinship Term: younger brother / 弟 · Subject Role: elder-brother · Object Role: younger-brother · Subject Relative Age: elder · Shared Parentage: full
Child of Zhao Dexin (趙德諲)
Kinship Term: father / 父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Kinship Role: brothers · Count: 2
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:071:s0156
Kinship Role: brothers · Statement: brothers of one family / 一門昆仲 · Quantity: plural
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0230

Career and standing

Label: military commissioner of Jing-Xiang / 荊襄節度使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0067
Label: Xiangzhou military commissioner / 襄州節度使 · Action: confirmed
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0147
Label: Loyalty and Righteousness military commissioner / 忠義節度使 · Action: held
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0221
Label: Xiang commander / 襄帥 · Action: held · Place: Xiangyang / 襄陽
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:024:s0018
Status: exile · Action: banished · Place: Hailing / 海陵 · Authority Person Id: Yang Wo (渥)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0083
Action: stripped of offices and titles · Authority Person Id: the Founder (太祖) · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 天祐二年八月 · Western Year: AD 905
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0161

Places and affiliations

Label: Tang / 唐 · Relation: served
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0068, xinwudaishi:041:s0074
Place: Cai Prefecture / 蔡州
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0060
Place: Caizhou / 蔡州
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0141
Place: Guangling / 廣陵 · Relation: fled-to
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0075, xinwudaishi:041:s0077
Place: thousand li of rivers and mountains / 千里江山 · Relation: held-then-lost
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0230
Place: Xiangyang / Jing-Xiang / 荊襄 · Relation: held
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0067

Learning and skills

Skill: learning / scholarship / 學問 · Level: fond
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0069

Works and attributed material

Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true · Other Person Id: Zhu Quanzhong (朱全忠)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0074
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true · Other Person Id: Yang Xingmi (楊行密)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0078, xinwudaishi:041:s0079
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Provenance: Mode: direct-speech · Speaker Person Id: Zhao Kuangning (趙匡凝) · Other Person Id: Yang Wo (楊渥)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0170
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true · Other Person Id: Yang Wo (渥)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0082
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Provenance: Mode: direct-speech · Speaker Person Id: Zhao Kuangning (趙匡凝)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0158

Events and relationships

Kind: military · Role: defeated commander · Action: abandoned Xiangyang and fled after defeat by Yang Shihou · Other Person Id: Yang Shihou (楊師厚)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:023:s0006, xinwudaishi:023:s0007
Kind: military · Role: victor · Action: defeated · Other Person Id: Lei Yiangong (雷彥恭) · Place: Jingnan / 荊南
Explicit · xinwudaishi:069:s0016
Kind: travel · Role: fugitive · Action: fled-to-Wu
Explicit · xinwudaishi:069:s0017
Kind: military · Role: defeated-party · Action: fled-to-Yangzhou · Place: Yangzhou / 揚州
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:024:s0019
Kind: military · Role: defeated · Action: fled-to · Other Person Id: Yang Xingmi (楊行密)
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0075
Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: installed-self
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0066
Kind: political · Role: ruler · Action: lost-domain · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0230
Relation: ally-of · Person Id: Lei Yiangong (雷彥恭)
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0221

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: imposing, upright, severe; fond of learning; combined sternness with kindness · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0069
Assessment: with his brothers held a thousand li of rivers and mountains but lost the frontier walls and could not sustain the burden—compared to Liu Biao's sons · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0230
Kind: appearance-and-habit · Statement: grand in bearing, fastidious in dress, and used large mirrors
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0149, jiuwudaishi:017:s0150
Kind: physical-description · Statement: very imposing bearing
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0069
Item: several thousand scrolls / 數千卷 · Relation: collected; later seized from his residence
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0172
Item: several thousand volumes of books / 書數千卷 · Relation: collected
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0069

Source notes

Statement: with brother alone among circuits continued tribute to Tang without cease
Explicit · xinwudaishi:041:s0068

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 17Volume 17 Book of Later Liang 17: Biographies 7: Cheng Rui, Du Hong, Tian Yun, Zhao Kuangning, Zhang Ji, Lei Man · 20 passages

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趙匡凝， Next was Zhao Kuangning,

〈（《新唐書》：匡凝字光儀。）〉 (The 《New Book of Tang》 gives his style as Guangyi.)〉

匡凝以父功為唐州刺史兼七州馬步軍都校。 Kuangning became Tang prefect inspector and overall commander of seven prefectures' horse and foot through his father's merit.

及德諲卒，匡凝自為襄州留後，朝廷即以旄鉞授之。 When Dexin died Kuangning made himself acting commissioner and received the court commission.

匡凝氣貌甚偉，好自修飾，每整衣冠，必使人持巨鑒前後照之。 Tall and vain, he had great mirrors held before and behind him whenever he dressed.

光化初，匡凝以太祖有清口之敗，密附於淮夷，太祖遣氏叔琮率師伐之。 Early in Guanghua, after the Founder's defeat at Qingkou, Kuangning secretly sided with the Huai rebels and the Founder sent Shi Shucong against him.

俄而康懷英攻下鄧州，匡凝懼，遣使乞盟，太祖許之，自是附庸於太祖。 Kang Huaiying took Deng; Kuangning sued for peace, the Founder agreed, and he became a vassal.

及成汭敗於鄂州，匡凝表其弟匡明為荊南留後。 After Cheng Rui fell at Ezhou, Kuangning had his brother Kuangming made acting Jingnan commissioner.

是時唐室微弱，諸道常賦多不上供，惟匡凝昆仲雖強據江山，然盡忠帝室，貢賦不絕。 While Tang weakened and most circuits withheld tribute, the Zhao brothers still sent loyal levies from their strongholds.

太祖將期受禪，以匡凝兄弟並據藩鎮，乃遣使先諭旨焉。 As the Founder prepared to take the throne, he sent envoys ahead to the Zhao brothers holding the frontier commands.

匡凝對使者流涕，答以受國恩深，豈敢隨時妄有他誌。 Kuangning wept before the envoy and said the state's grace was too deep for him to change sides with the times.

八月，太祖親領大軍南征，仍請削匡凝在身官爵。 Month 8 the Founder marched south in person and had Kuangning stripped of rank.

及師厚濟江，匡凝以兵數萬逆戰，大為師厚所敗，匡凝乃燔其舟，單舸急棹，沿漢而遁於金陵。 Shihou crossed the river; Kuangning met him with tens of thousands, was routed, burned his fleet, and fled alone up the Han to Jinling.

〈（《新唐書》云：師厚由陰穀伐木為梁，匡凝以兵二萬瀕江戰，大敗，乃燔州，單舸夜奔揚州。 (The 《New Book of Tang》 says Shihou bridged Yin Valley, Kuangning lost twenty thousand along the river, burned the prefecture, and fled by night to Yangzhou.

《歐陽史》云：行密厚遇匡凝，其後行密死，楊渥稍不禮之。 Ouyang's 《History》 says Xingmi treated Kuangning well, but after Xingmi's death Yang Wo grew rude to him.

渥方宴食青梅，匡凝顧渥曰：「勿多食，發小兒熱。」 At a feast Wo ate green plums; Kuangning warned, "Do not eat too many—they bring fever in children."

諸將以為慢，渥遣匡凝海陵，後為徐溫所殺。）〉 Officers took it as insult; Wo exiled him to Hailing, where Xu Wen later killed him.)〉

初，匡凝好聚書，及敗，楊師厚獲數千卷於第，悉以來獻。 Kuangning had loved books; after his defeat Shihou seized thousands of scrolls from his house and presented them to the Founder.

〈（《新唐書》：滿以天復元年卒，子彥威自立，弟彥恭結忠義節度使趙匡凝以逐彥威。）〉 (The New Tang History says: Man died in Tianfu 1; his son Yanwei established himself; Yanwei's younger brother Yiangong joined Loyalty and Righteousness military commissioner Zhao Kuangning to drive out Yanwei.)

匡凝一門昆仲，千里江山，失守藩垣，不克負荷，斯乃劉景升之子之徒歟！ The Kuangning brothers held a thousand li yet lost their domain and could not sustain it—were they not Liu Biao's sons reborn?

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 24Volume 24 Book of Later Liang 24: Biographies 14: Li Ting, Lu Ceng, Sun Zhi, Zhang Jun, Zhang Yan, Du Xunhe, Luo Yin, Chou Yin, Duan Shen · 2 passages

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未幾，襄帥趙匡凝復奏為掌記，入為左補闕。 Soon Xiang commander Zhao Kuangning again named him chief recorder; he entered court as Left Supplementation Censor.

又明年，太祖為元帥，以襄陽貳於己，率兵擊破之，趙匡凝奔揚州，太祖復署珽為天平軍掌書記。 The next year, as commander-in-chief, the Founder attacked disloyal Xiangyang, broke it, and drove Zhao Kuangning to Yangzhou; he again made Ting secretary of the Tianping army.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 31Volume 31 Book of Later Tang 7: Zhuangzong Annals 5 · 1 passage

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〈（《五代會要》：太常禮院奏：「李茂貞封冊之命，宜準故襄州節度使趙匡凝之例施行。 (The 《Institutions of the Five Dynasties》 says the sacrifice office memorialized, "For Li Maozhen's enfeoffment patent, Zhao Kuangning's precedent should be followed.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 71Volume 71 Book of Later Tang 47: Biographies 23: Ma Yu, Si Kongting, Cao Tingyin, Xiao Xifu, Yao Zongzhi, Jia Fu, Ma Gao, Luo Guan, Chun Yuyan, Zhang Ge, Xu Ji, Zhou Xuanbao · 2 passages

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天祐末，節度使趙匡凝昆季深禮遇之，師授保養之道。 At the end of Tianyou the Zhao brothers, military commissioners of the region, honored him deeply and studied the arts of nurturing life under him.

梁攻襄陽，匡凝兄弟棄鎮奔蜀，寂偕行。 When Liang attacked Xiangyang, the Kuangning brothers abandoned their post and fled to Shu, and Ji went with them.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 23Volume 23 Later Liang Biographies 3: Yang Shihou, Wang Jingren, He Gui, Wang Tan, Ma Sixun, Wang Qianyu, Xie Yanzhang · 3 passages

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太祖攻趙匡凝於襄陽，遣師厚為先鋒。 Taizu of Liang struck Zhao Kuangning at Xiangyang and put Shihou in the van.

師厚取谷城西童山木為浮橋，渡漢水，擊匡凝，敗之，匡凝棄城走。 Shihou felled timber on Tong Mountain west of the valley city, bridged the Han, smashed Kuangning, and drove him from the city.

師厚進攻荊南，又走匡凝弟匡明，功為多，拜山南東道節度使、同中書門下平章事。 Shihou pushed into Jingnan and routed Kuangning’s brother Kuangming; for that he was made military governor of Shannan East Circuit and co-equal grand councilor.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 41Volume 41 Miscellaneous Biographies 21: Lu Guangchou, Tan Quanbo, Lei Man, Zhong Chuan, Zhao Kuangning · 14 passages

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趙匡凝 Zhao Kuangning

趙匡凝，字光儀，蔡州人也。 Zhao Kuangning, styled Guangyi, came from Cai Prefecture.

德諲卒，子匡凝自立。 Dexin died, and Kuangning seized power for himself.

是時，成汭死，雷彥恭襲取荊南，匡凝遣其弟匡明逐彥恭，太祖表匡凝荊襄節度使，以匡明為荊南留後。 Cheng Ru was dead and Lei Yan’gong had taken Jingnan. Kuangning sent his brother Kuangming to expel him. Zhu Wen made Kuangning commissioner of Jing-Xiang and Kuangming acting governor of Jingnan.

是時，唐衰，藩鎮不復奉朝廷，獨匡凝兄弟貢賦不絕。 Tang was failing and the warlords had stopped paying the court—only the Kuangning brothers still sent tribute without fail.

匡凝為人氣貌甚偉，性方嚴，喜自修飾，頗好學問，聚書數千卷，為政有威惠。 Kuangning was tall and stern, fastidious about his dress, fond of books, and kept libraries in the thousands. He ruled with iron and with mercy.

晉王李克用遣人以書幣假道於匡凝，以聘於楊行密，求歸儼等。 Li Keyong of Jin sent envoys with letters and gifts to ask passage through Kuangning’s lands and an audience with Yang Xingmi, seeking Yan and his men back.

是時，梁已破兗、鄆，遣氏叔琮、康懷英等攻匡凝，叔琮取泌、隨二州，懷英取鄧州，匡凝懼，請盟，乃止。 Liang had already taken Yan and Yun. Zhu Wen sent Shi Shuzong and Kang Huaiying against Kuangning. Shuzong seized Bi and Sui; Huaiying took Deng. Kuangning sued for peace, and the assault stopped.

太祖弒昭宗，將謀代唐，畏匡凝兄弟不從，遣使告之，匡凝對使者流涕答曰：「受唐恩深，不敢妄有佗誌。」 When Zhu Wen killed Zhaozong and moved to take the throne, he feared the Kuangning brothers would refuse him. He sent word ahead. Kuangning wept before the envoys and said: “Tang’s kindness to me runs deep. I dare not dream of any other allegiance.”

太祖遣楊師厚攻之，太祖以兵殿漢北，匡凝戰敗，以輕舟奔於楊行密。 Zhu Wen sent Yang Shihou against him and marched in person on the Han north. Kuangning broke, took a light boat, and fled to Yang Xingmi.

匡凝至廣陵，行密見之，戲曰：「君在鎮時，輕車重馬，歲輸於梁，今敗乃歸我乎？」 At Guangling Yang Xingmi greeted him with a jest: “In your own domain you sent light carts and heavy horses every year to Liang. Broken now, you run to me?”