Liang Chongyi - Background

Background

It is not known when Liang Chongyi was born, but it is known that his family was from the Tang capital Chang'an. He became known for his strength and was said to be able to fold gold and straighten out metal hooks. He became an archer in the imperial guards and later served under the general Lai Tian in Tang's struggle against rebel Yan forces during the Anshi Rebellion. He was said to be silent and liked by other soldiers, and eventually became an officer. He continued to follow Lai late in the Anshi Rebellion as Lai became the military governor (jiedushi) of Shannan East Circuit. During this time, Lai became hesitant to periodically visit Chang'an to pay respect to Emperor Suzong, because of his poor relationships with the powerful eunuchs, led by Li Fuguo.

After Emperor Suzong's death in 762, Emperor Suzong's son and successor Emperor Daizong, then under heavy influence by Li Fuguo (as Li Fuguo held the command of the imperial guards and therefore controlled the capital), tried to remove Lai from his power base by moving him to Huaixi Circuit (淮西, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan). Lai, however, was fearful of the move, and both he and his army favored staying in Shannan East, and so declined the move to Huaixi. Emperor Daizong relented and kept him at Shannan East. After Li Fuguo was removed from power later in the year, however, Lai accepted honorary titles as the minister of defense and chancellor and reported to Chang'an to meet Emperor Daizong. Once he got to Chang'an, however, his old enmity with the new eunuch in charge of the imperial guards, Cheng Yuanzhen, flared up, and Cheng induced another official, Wang Zhongsheng (王仲升), into accusing Lai being complicit with Yan generals during the Anshi Rebellion. Lai was removed from his posts and exiled, but was further ordered to commit suicide on the way to exile.

Prior to Lai's visiting Chang'an, however, he had left several key officers stationed at various prefectures of Shannan East. When they heard of Lai's death, they, including Liang, who was then at Nanyang (南陽, in modern Nanyang, Henan), fled their posts back to Xiang Prefecture (襄州), the capital prefecture for Shannan East. Neither he nor two other officers, Li Zhao (李昭) and Xue Nanyang (薛南陽), was initially willing to claim leadership, but the soldiers supported him, and so he took command. He soon executed Li and Xue and blamed the disturbance on them. Emperor Daizong was unable to do anything against Liang at that point, so he made Liang the reserve military governor, and shortly after military governor, of Shannan East. Liang took Lai's body and reburied it with honor, and further built a temple dedicated to Lai. He went as far as to avoid using Lai's old office and main hall, to show respect.