Du Hongjian - During Emperor Daizong's Reign

During Emperor Daizong's Reign

In 762, both Emperor Xuanzong (then Taishang Huang (retired emperor)) and Emperor Suzong died in rapid succession, and Emperor Suzong's son Emperor Daizong took the throne. Du Hongjian was put in charge of the burials of Emperors Xuanzong and Suzong. After the two emperors were buried, he was given the honorific title of Guanglu Daifu (光祿大夫) and created the Duke of Wei. In 764, Emperor Daizong made him the deputy minister of defense again (now with the title Bingbu Shilang (兵部侍郎)) and gave him the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making him a chancellor de facto. He was soon also made Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau. In 765, when Emperor Daizong entered into a peace treaty with Tufan, he had Du and fellow chancellor Yuan Zai sign the treaty with the Tufan emissary.

In 766, after Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu) was thrown into a state of civil war after the military governor Guo Ying'ai (郭英乂) was killed by the military officer Cui Gan and several other military officers — Bo Maolin (柏茂琳), Yang Zilin (楊子琳), and Li Changkui (李昌夔) — rose to resist Cui, Emperor Daizong made Du the military governor of Xichuan as well as the deputy supreme commander of the region, to try to calm the circuit. On the way, though, Du heard that the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi), Zhang Xiancheng (張獻誠), had been defeated by Cui, and was afraid to advance. He sent messengers to make overtures to Cui, who acted as respectfully as possible and offered bribes to Du. When Du arrived at Chengdu, Cui treated him with the utmost formal respect but did not permit him any actual control over the governance. In response, Du repeatedly recommended to Emperor Daizong to let Cui become military governor while placating Bo, Yang, and Li Changkui by making them prefects of their prefectures. Emperor Daizong reluctantly agreed, although he initially made Cui only the mayor of Chengdu Municipality and the military commander, under Du. In 767, Du requested to return to Chang'an. Emperor Daizong agreed, and he made Cui the military governor and let Du resume his service as chancellor and made Cui the military governor — an action for which the people of the time criticized Du for, believing that he was encouraging rebellion. Upon his return to Chang'an, Du, a devout Buddhist, offered thanks to the Buddha by holding a vegetarian feast for over 1,000 Buddhist monks. Meanwhile, it was said that because Du and his chancellor colleagues Yuan and Wang Jin were all devout Buddhists, Emperor Daizong and the other officials were all influenced by them to become devout Buddhists as well.

In 769, Emperor Daizong wanted to put Du in charge of Luoyang, to replace Wang. Du declined, citing an illness, and was allowed not to go to Luoyang. He further resigned his other posts, including chancellor post, late in 769. He died on December 13, 769. Prior to his death, he undertook tonsure and formally became a Buddhist monk, and by his will was cremated with his ashes placed in a tower, pursuant to Buddhist customs, rather than buried in the ground per Chinese customs of the time, and was much criticized by popular opinions of the time. He was awarded posthumous honors.

Liu Xu, the lead editor of the Book of Tang, commented about Du:

Du Hongjian had the achievement of preserving the state but was not capable of defending cities. However, I disagree with the criticism at the time of how he had commissioned Cui Gan. At that time, Cui was able to resist Bo Zhenjie to the south and defeat Zhang Xiancheng to the north. He needed to be dealt with in finesse, not by power. That Cui eventually paid allegiance to the empire was indeed by Du's strategy; if Du had attacked him, he would have been a serious bandit to deal with. However, his worship of the Buddha to seek good fortune and his associations with others to foster his power are no ways for a gentleman to act.