Fan Yanguang, courtesy name Zihuan or Zigui, formally the Prince of Dongping, was a general from the state of Later Tang and Later Jin during the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
32 Facts About Fan Yanguang
1.
2.
Fan Yanguang was a close associate of the Later Tang's second emperor Li Siyuan, serving three terms as Li Siyuan's chief of staff, and subsequently continued to serve as a general.
3.
Fan Yanguang's rebellion was not successful, and after Shi promised to spare him, he surrendered.
4.
Fan Yanguang was, nevertheless, later killed by Shi's general Yang Guangyuan, probably with Shi's implicit, if not explicit, approval.
6.
Fan Yanguang volunteered, and was able to deliver the letter to Li Cunxu.
8.
Fan Yanguang commissioned Fan Yanguang as one of the directors of palace affairs.
9.
Fan Yanguang appeared to have then returned to Luoyang to again serve as a director of palace affairs, for that was the office he was described as having in winter 927.
10.
Li Siyuan was initially sending Fan Yanguang to try to see if he could persuade Zhu not to resist, but Fan Yanguang believed that he needed to attack the Bian defenses quickly so that the defenses could not be solidified, and so, at his request, he was given 500 soldiers to accompany him.
11.
In 928, Fan Yanguang was made one of Li Siyuan's chiefs of staff.
12.
Fan Yanguang was thereafter made the military governor of Chengde Circuit.
13.
Fan Yanguang was given the honorary title of acting Taibao.
14.
Fan Yanguang was apparently subsequently recalled to the imperial government, for, as of fall 930, he was referred to as the former military governor of Chengde without being referred to by other titles.
15.
In fall 931, Fan Yanguang was given the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, thus designating him as a chancellor.
16.
In 932, it was said that it was at Fan Yanguang's urging that Li Siyuan sent the generals Yao Yanchou and Kang Fu against Dangxiang tribesmen, to try to stop them from pillaging against imperial messengers and foreign ambassadors in the region between Ling and Bin Prefectures.
17.
However, when Meng quickly defeated Dong thereafter, Fan Yanguang changed his recommendation and recommended taking a conciliatory posture with Meng, which Li Siyuan accepted.
18.
Shi, Zhao, and Fan Yanguang were all wanting to leave the imperial court to avoid confrontations with Li Congrong, but Li Siyuan would not allow them to leave.
19.
Subsequently, in winter 933, Fan Yanguang was allowed to resign, and was made the military governor of Chengde; he was replaced by Feng Yun.
20.
Fan Yanguang therefore took his army and advanced to Liao Prefecture.
21.
Fan Yanguang was suspicious of Zhao's intentions, and refused the overture, claiming that his army was deep in enemy territory already and could not rendezvous with Zhao's, preventing his army from being merged into Zhao's.
22.
Fan Yanguang sent a secret letter to Mi Qiong, who had taken over Chengde Circuit after Chengde's military governor Dong Wenqi had, at Zhao's invitation, joined Zhao's army and was then detained by Khitan along with Zhao, by slaughtering Dong's family and seizing Dong's considerable wealth.
23.
Fan Yanguang, wanting to silence him and seize his wealth, sent soldiers and surprised Mi on the way, killing him and seizing his wealth, while claiming to Shi that the killing was accidental.
24.
Meanwhile, Fan Yanguang was enticed by the fact that when he was still a common citizen, one fortuneteller named Zhang had predicted that he would become general and chancellor, and then once he reached those positions, Zhang visited him again and, when interpreting a dream that Fan Yanguang had where a snake entered his navel, predicted that because snakes and dragons were of the same kind, it was a sign of enthronement.
25.
Fan Yanguang decided to gather his troops, and he summoned all the prefects of the prefectures within Tianxiong, preparing to rebel.
26.
Fan Yanguang launched his troops in summer 937 and headed toward the Yellow River ford at Liyang, with Sun and Feng serving as his commanders.
27.
Shi's general Zhang Congbin joined Fan Yanguang's rebellion, killing Shi's son Shi Chongxin the military governor of Heyang Circuit and Shi Chong'ai the defender of Luoyang, taking over both Heyang Circuit and Luoyang itself.
28.
However, as Fan Yanguang's army was crossing the Yellow River, Yang Guangyuan attacked Sun and Feng, crushing Fan Yanguang's army, which he then was forced to withdraw to Yedu.
29.
In fall 940, Fan Yanguang asked to retire to his mansion at Heyang, and Shi agreed.
30.
Fan Yanguang carried the treasures that he had accumulated through the years with him.
31.
Shi refused, but when Yang subsequently requested to have Fan Yanguang moved to Luoyang, Shi agreed.
32.
Shortly after, Yang had his son Yang Chenggui take soldiers and surround Fan Yanguang's mansion, trying to force him to suicide.