Background

It is not known when An Chongrong was born. His family was from Shuo Prefecture (朔州, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi). His grandfather An Congyi (安從義) served as the prefect of Li Prefecture (利州, in modern Guangyuan, Sichuan), while his father An Quan (安全) served as the prefect of Sheng Prefecture (勝州, in modern Ordos, Inner Mongolia) and the commander of the infantry and cavalry soldiers at Zhenwu Circuit (振武, then probably headquartered in modern Hohhot, Inner Mongolia). An Chongrong himself was said to be strong and good at both archery and horsemanship.

During Later Tang

During the Changxing era (930-933) of the Later Tang emperor Li Siyuan, An Chongrong served as a military commander at Zhenwu (which was then headquartered in modern Shuozhou). He had once committed an offense and was imprisoned, and then-military governor (Jiedushi) of Zhenwu, Gao Xingzhou, wanted to put him to death. An Chongrong's mother went to the Later Tang imperial government, then located at Luoyang, to appeal for his life. Li Siyuan's chief of staff An Chonghui protected An Chongrong, and An Chongrong was not put to death. It was not known what the aftermaths of that incident exactly were, but apparently at some point An Chongrong was free and became an officer at Zhenwu again.

In 936, Shi Jingtang (Li Siyuan's son-in-law), the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) rebelled against then-emperor Li Congke (Li Siyuan's adoptive son). He sent his officer Zhang Ying to entice An Chongrong to join his rebellion. Both An Chongrong's older brother and mother tried to stop him from doing so, and tried to kill Zhang. However, An Chongrong persuaded his older brother and mother that if he could use two arrows to hit targets 100 steps away, they would be signs that Shi would become emperor and that he would be a military governor. He then hit the targets, so his older brother and mother allowed him to take his soldiers and join Shi's army. Shi was pleased, and promised him that he would be made a military governor. An subsequently served under Shi's general Liu Zhiyuan in defending Hedong's capital Taiyuan against the siege by the Later Tang general Zhang Jingda, whom Li Congke sent to attack Shi.

During Later Jin

Shi Jingtang sought aid from Later Tang's northern rival Khitan Empire, promising to cede 16 prefectures to the north to the Khitan if the Khitan would support him as the emperor of China. Khitan's Emperor Taizong agreed and, in fall 936, arrived at Taiyuan and crushed Zhang Jingda's troops. He then declared Shi emperor of a new state of Later Jin. The joint Khitan/Later Jin forces then advanced toward Luoyang. Believing defeat to be inevitable, Li Congke committed suicide with his family, ending Later Tang. Shi entered Luoyang and took over the Later Tang lands.

During the transition from Later Tang to Later Jin, the Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) officer Mi Qiong (秘瓊) used the opportunity to seize control of the circuit (with Chengde's military governor Dong Wenqi (董溫琪)'s having been captured by the Khitan) while trying to aid Zhang). In spring 937, Shi commissioned An Chongrong as the military governor of Chengde and Mi as the defender of Qi Prefecture (齊州, in modern Jinan, Shandong), sending An to seize control from Mi. He also first sent the officer Wang Jingchong to Chengde's capital Zhen Prefecture to persuade Mi to submit, while sending the Khitan officer Zhao Siwen with An to intimidate Mi. However, he secretly told An, "If Mi Qiong refuses to receive you, I will give you a different circuit. Do not forcibly seize the circuit, in case it creates other problems." This caused An to lose respect for Shi, believing that if Shi was easily intimidated by Mi — viewed by An to be an aged administrator — then he himself could more easily intimidate the emperor with his military abilities. Mi did not dare to resist An, however, and he allowed An to take control of the circuit and departed himself for Qi. (Mi was subsequently ambushed and killed by Fan Yanguang the military governor of Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), as Fan had unsuccessfully tried to persuade Mi into a joint rebellion against Later Jin and feared that Mi would leak the news, and was also enticed by the wealth — which Mi gained by killing Dong's family and seizing Dong's wealth — that Mi was carrying.)

At Chengde, An was said to be diligent — whereas the other military governors of the time often took bribes and ruled according to the amount of bribes they received, An was attentive to the administration of laws and often used logic in ruling on cases. His subordinates therefore also did not dare to receive bribes. There was one occasion when a couple was claiming that their son was not filially pious. An gave the father a sword and said, "Kill him yourself." The father wept and stated, "I do not have the heart to do so." The mother cursed at the father and took the sword herself, chasing the father away. An, finding this illogical, inquired further, and found out that she was a stepmother, not the son's birth mother. He chased her out and then shot her to death with an arrow. This much impressed the people of the realm, and he initially enjoyed popularity. As a result, however, he became arrogant, and he began to gather troops, believing that he could seek the throne (just as Li Congke and Shi did), stating, "The Son of Heaven's throne is based on those who have strong armies and healthy horses, not based on preordination." However, the people began to see him as overly harsh when, on one occasion, he, out of anger, killed his officer Jia Zhang (賈章) on false excuse of Jia's committing treason, and slaughtered Jia's entire household, except for Jia's daughter. Jia's daughter, however, did not want to live alone, and sought to share her father's fate, so he killed her as well.

Part of the territory that Shi ceded to the Khitan (which, by this point, has renamed their state Liao) included territory inhabited by the Tuyuhun tribespeople. The Tuyuhun were mistreated by the Liao. An enticed them to join his army, and so large Tuyuhun contingents fled to his territory in or about 940. Subsequently, Emperor Taizong angrily rebuked Shi, and Shi, under Liao pressure, forcibly expelled the Tuyuhun and sent them back to Liao.

This aggravated An, who had long been (at least publicly) ashamed of how Shi had submitted to Emperor Taizong, not only as subject, but also titularly as son. (However, despite public protestations against Liao, he was also in secret communications with the Liao military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), Liu Xi (劉唏).) He himself was arrogant to Liao emissaries whenever they passed through Chengde, and, if they were particularly distasteful to him, would kill them. In 941, he submitted a lengthy, public petition to Shi, in which he urged, in harsh terms, the repudiation of the alliance with Liao. He also wrote letters with similar contents to the important officials at the imperial court and the military governors throughout the Later Jin realm. Shi's advisor Sang Weihan, then the military governor of Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong), wrote him and suggested that he (Shi) head to Yedu (鄴都, Tianxiong's capital) and take up court there, so that he could react quickly if An did rebel. Shi did so. Once he reached Yedu, he wrote An, stating:

The letter, however, did not change An's mind, and he became even more arrogant. He also heard that An Congjin the military governor of Shannan East Circuit (山南東道, headquartered in modern Xiangyang, Hubei) was also planning to rebel against Shi, and therefore sent secret messengers establishing an alliance with An Congjin.

At the same time, Shi sent Liu Zhiyuan to Hedong to serve as its military governor, to also monitor the situation with An. Liu enticed the Tuyuhun chieftain Bai Chengfu (白承福), who had previously submitted to An Chongrong, into joining the Hedong army with his tribesmen. That, and the failure of Dada and Qibi (契苾) tribesmen to join An Chongrong (as he had claimed that they would), hampered the impact of An's public pronouncements.

Nevertheless, when An Congjin shortly after rebelled against Later Jin, An Chongrong resolved to rebel anyway. Shi sent his brother-in-law Du Chongwei against An Chongrong, with Ma Quanjie serving as Du's deputy. When the armies encountered each other, An's officer Zhao Yanzhi surrendered to Du (although he was nevertheless killed after the surrender), causing a general rout of An's army. An fled back to Zhen and took up defense there. In spring 942, a Chengde officer opened a water gate and allowed Du's army into the city, and An was captured and executed. Shi had An's head painted (for preservation) and delivered it to Emperor Taizong.

Notes and references

• Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 98.

• New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 51.

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 280, 281, 282, 283.

家世

祖父安從義，官利州刺史。父安全，官至勝州刺史、振武蕃漢馬步軍都指揮使。

生平

安重榮臂力過人，善騎射，後唐長興年間，在父親所屬的振武軍中任巡邊指揮使。他通曉文吏事務，後因犯法被下獄治罪。當時高行周為帥，想殺了他，安重榮之母趕赴京城向族人樞密使安重誨求情，討得後唐明宗的赦免詔書才被釋放。後唐清泰二年（935年），身兼太原尹、北京留守、河東節度使三要職的石敬瑭在晉陽舉兵反叛，派人暗地招納代北的安重榮。安重榮率領1000餘名騎兵趕赴太原，投于石敬瑭麾下。次年石敬瑭在契丹的幫助下推翻後唐，稱帝建立後晉，安重榮被授為成德軍（治鎮州，今河北正定）節度使。

安重榮精明幹練，處事決斷，每遇訴訟案件，親臨大堂明辯曲直，依法裁決。至于百姓徭役、課稅、倉庫耗費等大事，他更是事必躬親。因此手下諸司官員不敢貪贓枉法，胡作非為，鎮州一帶得以保境息民。曾經有一對夫婦控告他們的兒子不孝順，安重榮當面詰問，並拔出劍交給那位父親，讓他自己殺掉兒子，那位父親哭著說：「不忍心啊！」而母親卻在一旁大聲叫罵，奪下他的劍追殺兒子。安重榮大惑不解，詢問後才知道是繼母，便呵斥他的繼母出去，拿出弓箭，從後面一箭將她射死。聽說此事的人無不大快人心。

安重榮出身于軍伍，從小軍官一躍而成為一個大鎮節度使，他目睹後唐末帝李從珂、晉高祖石敬瑭靠兵變得踐帝位的事實，也滋長了謀權篡位之心，曾對別人說：「天子，兵強馬壯者當為之，寧有種耶！」他向朝廷奏請的要求超過底線，被權臣否決，內心憤憤不平，于是聚集亡命之徒，收集購買戰馬，企圖叛亂。

安重榮一次因暴怒殺死部校賈章，宣稱賈章陰謀叛亂，賈章有一個女兒，安重榮想放了她，賈氏女卻說：「我一家三十口，在兵亂中死了二十八口，只剩我父女二人，今日我父親死了，我保存性命有什麼用！」再三請死，最後被殺。鎮州人聽聞後，感嘆賈氏女的貞烈，厭惡安重榮的殘酷。

安重榮對契丹人深惡痛絕，每次見到契丹使者，必定大罵不已。而晉高祖石敬瑭和契丹約定為父子，安重榮對石敬瑭的卑躬屈膝嚴重不滿，天福六年（941年），契丹使臣拽剌等數十騎路過鎮州，安重榮威逼羞辱他，拽剌出言不遜，安重榮將其全部殺死，契丹主耶律德光知道後大怒，責令後晉嚴懲安重榮。安重榮于是秘密聯合吐谷渾節度使白承福、赫連公德、襄州安從進等人，並上表指責石敬瑭向契丹稱臣，自稱兒皇帝，「詘中國以事外蕃」，並起兵聲討，當時鎮州有旱蝗之災，安重榮領軍裹挾數萬飢民，向鄴都（今河北大名東北）進發。晉高祖派天平軍節度使杜重威率軍抵禦。天福六年（941年）冬十二月十三日，兩軍在宗城（今河北威縣東）破家堤相遇，安重榮列偃月陣，晉軍不能破。杜重威懼陣欲退，被指揮使王重胤勸止，王重胤說：「兩兵方交，退者先敗。」重胤以為偃月陣中軍雖強，但兩邊太弱。杜重威先以左右隊擊其兩翼，王重胤領兵擊中軍。安重榮部將趙彥之兵敗投降，安重榮退至後方輜重營，陣列崩潰後，安軍被殺和凍死者二萬餘人。重榮與十餘騎向北逃回鎮州，後被杜重威斬殺，時為天福七年（942年）正月初二。石敬瑭命漆其頭顱，函送契丹。並改鎮州為恆州，改成德軍為順國軍，以杜重威為節度使。

安重榮的兒子安德裕還不到兩歲，乳母抱著他逃跑被俘，軍校秦習因與安重榮有舊而收養他為孫，後來恢複本姓。

清代史學家王夫之點評說：「事雖逆而名正者，安重榮也」。

安重榮德政碑

2000年6月，河北正定（鎮州）出土了一尊重約107噸的巨型青石贔屭碑座並18塊大小不均的巨碑殘塊，這通巨碑，記載了碑主人「進檢校太傅、進封武威郡開國侯」的封號。只是涉及到碑主人名字、官職處都被砸斷，因此，目前已經找到殘碑文字數百言，可沒有一處碑主人的名字。這正說明砸毀該碑就是毀滅其主人業績。好在碑文中還殘留（成）「德軍節度使安」和「軍節度使、鎮深等州觀察處（置使）」的字樣，中國複旦大學陳尚君教授其新編《新出石刻唐代文學研究》中認為：「在正定出土的巨大殘碑」，「據我考証，此碑應即《冊府元龜》所載後晉天福二年太子賓客任贊撰文的《安重榮德政碑》。幾年後，安重榮謀反被殺，碑也遭砸碎」。

參考書目

• 《舊五代史》卷九八〈安重榮傳〉

• 《新五代史》卷五一〈安重榮傳〉