Pang Xun (龐勛; died October 14, 869) was the leader of a major rebellion, by soldiers from Xu Prefecture (徐州, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), against the rule of Emperor Yizong of the Chinese Tang dynasty, from 868 to 869. He was eventually defeated by the Tang general Kang Chengxun, who was assisted by the Shatuo general Zhuye Chixin.
Background of the Xu Prefecture soldiers
It is not known when Pang Xun was born, and little is known about his background other than that he was from Xu Prefecture and that his father Pang Juzhi (龐舉直) was still alive at the time of his eventual rebellion.
Xu Prefecture had a long-standing military tradition in the middle-to-late Tang dynasty, and had long been the capital of Wuning Circuit (武寧), which was created to control and cut off the communications between the then-rebellious Pinglu (平盧, then-headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) and Zhangyi (彰義, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan) Circuits. However, the soldiers from Xu Prefecture, particularly since the time of the military governor Wang Zhixing, had become arrogant and lax in discipline, such that there were frequent mutinies against military governors (jiedushi) that the imperial government sent to govern Wuning. For the imperial government, the last straw apparently came in 862, when the soldiers of the Yindao (銀刀, "silver sword") corps mutinied and expelled the imperially commissioned military governor Wen Zhang (溫璋). The imperial government commissioned the general Wang Shi as Wen's replacement. Wang, once he arrived at Xu Prefecture, had the soldiers that he brought from Zhongwu (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan) and Yicheng (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan) Circuits slaughter the Yindao soldiers, killing several thousands. Then-reigning Emperor Yizong then issued an edict rebuking the people of and disbanding Wuning Circuit. Xu Prefecture was put under the jurisdiction of Yanhai Circuit (兗海, headquartered in modern Jining, Shandong); of Wuning's other prefectures, Hao Prefecture (濠州, in modern Chuzhou, Anhui) was put under the jurisdiction of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu); and Su (宿州, in modern Suzhou, Anhui) and Si (泗州, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu) Prefectures were made into a new Susi Circuit, with its capital at Su Prefecture, but with a lesser status than before—not having a military governor, but only a governor (觀察使, Guanchashi).
In 863, after a disturbance where bandits intruded into Xu Prefecture and killed a number of officials before the attack was repelled by the prefect Cao Qing (曹慶), the headquarters of Susi Circuit was moved back to Xu Prefecture, and thereafter it was known as Xusi Circuit, governing Xu, Hao, Su, and Si Prefectures, thus restoring the prior Wuning territory, but still under the lesser status of governance by a governor, rather than a military governor.
In 864, with the southwestern parts of the Tang empire dealing with frequent Dali attacks, Emperor Yizong issued an edict recounting Xu Prefecture's military tradition and ordering the military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi) to recruit 3,000 men from Xu Prefecture to be stationed at Yong Prefecture (邕州, in modern Nanning, Guangxi) to guard against Dali attacks; the edict promised that once the troubles with Dali were over, the soldiers would be allowed to return home. Apparently, however, only 2,000 men were actually recruited, and of those, 800 were sent to Gui Prefecture (桂州, in modern Guilin, Guangxi), with a promise that they would be allowed to return home after three years. Pang was one of these men, and he served as an assistant to the commander, in charge of food supplies. At the end of the three years, the soldiers were hoping to return home, but the governor of Xusi, Cui Yanzeng (崔彥曾), under the advice of his officer Yin Kan (尹勘), decided to extend their stay at Gui Prefecture, because the expenses of recruiting new soldiers were considered too high. When this order reached Gui Prefecture, the Xu Prefecture soldiers were incensed.
Initial uprising and journey back to Xu Prefecture
At that time, the governor of Gui District (桂管, headquartered at Gui Prefecture), Li Cong (李叢), had just left Gui District to take up his new position as governor of Hunan Circuit (湖南, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan), and the new governor of Gui had not arrived yet. The Xu Prefecture officers Xu Ji (許佶), Zhao Keli (趙可立), Yao Zhou (姚周), and Zhang Xingshi (張行實)—all of whom had previously been bandits but who had submitted to the government after being given officer commissions—took the opportunity to mutiny in fall 867. They killed their commander Wang Zhongfu (王仲甫) and supported Pang as their leader. The mutineers pillaged the armory, seizing weapons, and began their march home; as they went, they pillaged the territory, and the local governments were unable to resist. Emperor Yizong initially sent the high-level eunuch Zhang Jingsi (張敬思) to Pang and issued a pardon for Pang and his soldiers, permitting them to return to Xu Prefecture; in response, the Xu soldiers stopped their pillaging. When they reached Hunan Circuit, they turned in their weapons and armor. They then went on ships and headed east on the Yangtze River. Meanwhile, Emperor Yizong also ordered Cui Yanzeng to not cause the mutineers to be alarmed, so Cui issued repeated mildly-worded orders to Pang's soldiers, trying to comfort them. In response, Pang also submitted respectfully-worded reports to Cui.
While the Xu soldiers were en route down the Yangtze, however, they, particularly Xu Ji, considered their situation and concluded that their crimes were even greater than those of the Yindao—and that the only reasons why the imperial government issued a pardon were to prevent them from further pillaging or becoming bandits; they came to believe that they would be slaughtered upon return to Xu. They therefore used their wealth to equip themselves with armor and weapons. When they reached Huainan Circuit, the military governor of Huainan, Linghu Tao, provided them with food, even though Linghu's officer Li Xiang (李湘) pointed out that the Xu soldiers would eventually create further disturbances, as Linghu was only interested in preserving the peace for Huainan. Meanwhile, Pang recruited those Yindao soldiers who escaped the massacre and other bandits to add to the numbers of his soldiers.
On October 22, Pang reached Si Prefecture. The prefect Du Tao (杜慆) invited the soldiers to a feast and put on a play for entertainment. Before the start of the play, the leader of the actors, as was customary, was addressing the guests, when the Xu soldiers believed that he was parodying them, and they seized him and threatened to kill him. However, Du had prepared for this, and after this initial action, nothing else came of this.
On October 23, Pang reached Xucheng (徐城, near Si Prefecture). Pang and Xu Ji announced to the soldiers that it was their belief that once they arrived in Xu, the soldiers would be slaughtered or at least exiled. They announced that their plan was to attack and seize Xu Prefecture and force the imperial government to allow them to keep it. The soldiers largely agreed, and Pang executed 12 people who did not; he sent messengers with the heads of the 12 to report to Cui that those 12 had encouraged a rebellion, and that he was presenting their heads as sign of submission. When Pang's messengers reached Cui, he arrested and interrogated them and found out the truth. Meanwhile, Pang submitted another petition demanding that Cui relieve Yin Kan, as well as two other key officers, Du Zhang (杜璋), and Xu Xingjian (徐行儉) of their duties, and further demanding that the returning soldiers be allowed to be stationed separately from the main corps. Cui gathered his officers and discussed how to react to this; most officers, by this point, realized Pang's intentions and advocated attacking Pang. As a result, Cui had the officer Yuan Mi (元密) lead 3,000 men to attack Pang, and also ordered the Su and Si Prefectures to cut off Pang's paths as well.