Li Hanzhi (; 842 – July 26, 899), formally the Prince of Longxi (), nickname Li Moyun (), 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.
Background
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 () 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 () and Liang Zuan () to attack Huang, the Huainan army initially prevailed, and Li surrendered to the Huainan army, along with Qin Yan, Bi Shiduo, and Xu Qing (). (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 () 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 () and Zhang Quanyi supported Zhuge's son Zhuge Zhongfang () 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.