Li Hanzhi (Chinese: 李罕之; 842 – July 26, 899), formally the Prince of Longxi (隴西王), nickname Li Moyun (李摩雲), was a Chinese Buddhist monk, military general, politician, and warlord of the late medieval Tang dynasty. He was initially a follower of the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao, and later became a Tang general, mostly known for his service under Li Keyong. He was known for ferocity in carrying out raids.
Li Hanzhi was born in 842, during the reign of Emperor Wuzong. He was from Xiangcheng (項城, in modern Zhoukou, Henan). His father Li Wen (李文) was, and his family had been, farmers for generations. It was said that in his youth, Li Hanzhi was strong and dextrous, and he was capable of fighting several people at the same time. He initially studied Confucian doctrines, but could not achieve much in doing so, and thereafter became a Buddhist monk. However, because his behavior was not proper, wherever he went, he found no acceptance; in particular, when he begged for food at Suanzao (酸棗, in modern Xinxiang, Henan), no one would give him any food. In anger, he abandoned his monk clothing and became a bandit in the region. At that time, as Huang Chao had risen in rebellion against then-reigning Emperor Xizong, Li joined Huang and became a key general in Huang's army. In 879, however, when Gao Pian the Tang military governor (Jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) sent his officers Zhang Lin (張璘) and Liang Zuan (梁纉) to attack Huang, the Huainan army initially prevailed, and Li surrendered to the Huainan army, along with Qin Yan, Bi Shiduo, and Xu Qing (許勍). (It was after this defeat that Huang took his army south to the Lingnan region.)
Initial service under Gao Pian and Zhuge Shuang
Gao Pian made Li Hanzhi an officer in his army, and later commissioned as the prefect of Guang Prefecture (光州, in modern Xinyang, Henan). At a later point, when Qin Zongquan the military governor of Fengguo Circuit (奉國, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan) rebelled against Tang and seized nearby territory, Li was pressured by the Fengguo army and abandoned Guang Prefecture. He returned home to Xiangcheng and gathered his forces there, and submitted to Zhuge Shuang the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan). Zhuge made him the prefect of Huai Prefecture (懷州, in modern Luoyang, Henan).
In 883, Han Jian the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), who had captured Heyang at one point but then lost it to Zhuge, attacked Heyang again. Zhuge sent Li to engage Han, and Li defeated Han at Wuzhi (武陟, in modern Jiaozuo, Henan) and repelled his attack. (As a result of the defeat, Han was subsequently overthrown by his officer Le Xingda, and was killed shortly after.) Subsequently, when Emperor Xizong commissioned Zhuge as one of the commanders of the forces against Qin, Zhuge commissioned Li as his deputy, as well as the defender of the Tang eastern capital Luoyang. As Luoyang had been laid waste by the wars by that point, Li made Shengshan Temple (聖善寺) his headquarters. Meanwhile, when Li Keyong, the ethnically Shatuo military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), went through Luoyang on the way back to Hedong after a campaign against Huang, Li welcomed him and formed a friendship with him.
In 885, Qin sent his general Sun Ru to attack Luoyang. Li battled Sun for several months, but eventually ran out of food supplies, so he abandoned Luoyang and set up his headquarters at Mianchi (澠池, in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), allowing Sun to seize Luoyang. However, Sun abandoned Luoyang after a month (after burning the palaces at Luoyang), and Li was able to take his army and return to Luoyang.
In 886, Zhuge died, and initially the officers Liu Jing (劉經) and Zhang Quanyi supported Zhuge's son Zhuge Zhongfang (諸葛仲方) as the acting military governor, but Liu held the actual authorities. He feared that Li would not easily be controllable, so he entered Luoyang himself and attacked Li at Mianchi. Li defeated him and slaughtered most of his army. Li then prepared to give chase across the Yellow River (as Heyang's capital, the city of Heyang, was just north of the Yellow River). Liu sent Zhang to resist Li, but by this point, Zhang was also alienated by Liu's domination of the circuit, and then instead joined Li in attacking Heyang. They were, however, defeated by Liu, and withdrew to Huai Prefecture.
However, Sun soon returned to the region and captured Heyang, forcing Zhuge Zhongfang to flee to Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan). Sun himself claimed the title of military governor of Heyang, but Zhang, who was then still at Huai Prefecture, and Li, who by that point was at Ze Prefecture (澤州, in modern Jincheng, Shanxi), held out and refused to submit to Sun. In 887, after Xuanwu's military governor Zhu Quanzhong defeated Qin when Qin attacked him, the generals that Qin sent out to the surrounding territory, including Sun, all abandoned their campaigns. After Sun abandoned Heyang, Li and Zhang entered Heyang, and jointly sought aid from Li Keyong. Li Keyong sent his officer An Jinjun (安金俊) to aid them and commissioned An the prefect of Ze, Li the military governor of Heyang, and Zhang the mayor of Luoyang.
Li Hanzhi and Zhang Quanyi had a close friendship initially, but the friendship gradually waned over Li's lack of respect for Zhang's campaign to rebuild Luoyang. Further, even though Zhang tried to supply Li's army well, Li often seized Zhang's subordinates and tortured them if they could not satisfy Li's demands. In 888, while Li was preparing a campaign against Wang Chongying the military governor of Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), Wang secretly persuaded Zhang to turn against Li. Zhang thus took his forces and attacked Heyang, capturing it and taking Li's family captive. Zhang then claimed the title of military governor of Heyang. Li fled to Ze Prefecture and sought aid from Li Keyong.
Li Keyong sent his officer Kang Junli to assist Li Hanzhi to try to recapture Heyang, with Li Cunxiao, Xue Atan (薛阿檀), Shi Yan (史儼), An Jinjun, and An Xiuxiu (安休休) assisting Kang. Zhang defended against the siege, but soon ran out of food. He thus sought aid from Zhu Quanzhong. Zhu sent Ding Hui, Ge Congzhou, and Niu Cunjie (牛存節) to aid Zhang. They inflicted losses on the Hedong army, causing An Xiuxiu to desert (as he feared punishment for the defeat). When the Xuanwu forces next acted as if they were going to cut off Hedong forces' escape path through the Taihang Mountains, Kang took the Hedong forces and withdrew. Zhu commissioned Ding as the acting military governor of Heyang, while returning Zhang to Luoyang as its mayor. Li Hanzhi, meanwhile, withdrew to Ze Prefecture and continued to claim the title of military governor of Heyang; he also sent his son Li Qi (李頎) to Hedong to serve under Li Keyong. It was said that he spent his days raiding the region as far east as Huai and Meng (孟州, in modern Luoyang) Prefectures and as far west as Jin (晉州, in modern Jincheng) and Jiang (絳州, in modern Yuncheng) Prefectures, such that the region became completely depopulated. In particular, there was a fort built by the people on Mount Moyun (摩雲山, in modern Yuncheng) to defend themselves during the wars. In the past, no army was able to come close to the fort, but Li Hanzhi captured it, earning him the nickname of Li Moyun. When he subsequently tried to again join forces with Hedong troops later that year to recapture Heyang, however, he was repelled by Ding.
Li Hanzhi thereafter often served under Li Keyong in Li Keyong's campaigns. In 889, for example, Li Keyong sent him and Li Cunxiao to attack Meng Fangli the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, long headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi, although Meng was then having his headquarters at Xing Prefecture (邢州, in modern Xingtai, Hebei)). They defeated Meng's forces, and Meng committed suicide. Meng Fangli's brother Meng Qian tried to hold out against the Hedong forces with aid from Xuanwu, but soon was forced to surrender.